A strategy of query result ranking and merging for P2P information retrieval systems

This paper proposes a fully distributed strategy to rank and merge the results retrieved from different peers in P2P information retrieval systems. First, the challenges of query answering in P2P IR systems are investigated and the issue of retrieved results ranking and merging is identified. Second, a fully distributed strategy is developed and its implementing issues are addressed. Finally, an extensive experimental study is conducted and the results verify the effectiveness of this proposed strategy.