Systems and methods are described for using peer-to-peer collaboration to
enhance streaming of multimedia content. A peer-paired pyramid streaming
(P.sup.3S) architecture is introduced that is a hybrid of a client/server
structure and a peer-to-peer structure. Clients are hierarchically
organized and those that are in the same level are coupled to form
peer-pairs. The peers in a peer-pair cooperate by utilizing a connection
between them. Streaming is enhanced by allowing each peer to download
different portions of a stream and sharing portions not in possession of
the other. Error recovery is enhanced by allowing a peer to retrieve a
dropped packet from its corresponding peer. A colored overlay is used
with a P.sup.3S structure to improve streaming throughput.