Protocol Overview

Overview

Livepeer is a full-stack platform for video streaming & AI. The video streaming software is underpinned by a network of actors that perform the work needed to compute, transcode & orchestrate video & AI jobs in the Livepeer network.

The Livepeer Protocol is the underlying code that enforces the mechanisms and rules to ensure the reliability, cooperation and coordination of these decentralised actors.

Core Concepts

Livepeer Protocol

The protocol is the ruleset + on-chain logic governing:

• staking
• delegation
• inflation & rewards
• orchestrator selection
• slashing
• probabilistic payments
• verification rules

The economic and coordination layer that enforces correct behavior.

Livepeer Network

The network is the actual running system of machines performing work:

• Orchestrators (GPU nodes)
• Transcoders / Workers
• Gateways
• Broadcasters
• Verification processes
• Job routing
• Real-time AI & video compute

It is the live, operational decentralized GPU mesh running video + AI jobs.

Protocol vs Network

Layer	Description
Livepeer Protocol	On-chain crypto-economic incentives & coordination; staking; payments.
Livepeer Network	Off-chain nodes performing real-time work (transcoding, inference, routing).
Relationship	The network runs the compute; the protocol governs, secures, and pays it.

The protocol governs. The network performs the work.

The protocol determines the rules of the game The network is the players & participants.

On-chain vs Off-chain

Livepeer protocol = Arbitrum One (L2) Livepeer token (LPT) = Ethereum mainnet (L1) Livepeer network (GPU nodes + gateways) = off-chain execution layer

Livepeer Actors

A Livepeer actor is any role or entity that participates in the Livepeer protocol or network and performs actions defined by the system. In Livepeer architecture, “actor” is a formal category used to describe participants with distinct responsibilities, incentives, and interactions. Actors are fundamental to describing how the network functions end-to-end.

INSERT LIVEPEER ACTOR DIAGRAM HERE [THIS ONE LOOKS OLD (whitpaper)

Broadcasters (deprecated -> Gateway)

Who: The users and builders of the network.

What they do:

Orchestrators (GPU Nodes)

aka: Transcoders / Workers

Who:

What they do:

Gateways

aka: Broadcasters

Who:

What they do:

Delegators

Who:

What they do:

Historical Livepeer Actors:

1. Orchestrator

GPU node that performs transcoding / AI jobs, earns fees + staking rewards.

2. Transcoder (Worker)

Child processes or machines managed by an orchestrator to perform compute.

3. Broadcaster

Client submitting jobs (video or AI) into the network.

4. Delegator

LPT holder who stakes to an orchestrator.

3. Broadcaster (now a behavior, not an actor)

In modern Livepeer, which has expanded beyond just video transcoding:

A gateway acts as a broadcaster when submitting video A service (e.g., Studio) can also be a broadcaster The term is no longer treated as a standalone actor Broadcaster is no longer considered its own actor - it’s now a function performed by a gateway or service, not a role a user operates.

“Broadcaster” is now just a function gateways perform, not a user-facing or protocol-facing actor

4. Worker (legacy)

Workers are still used, but only inside GPU node setups.

Workers are not protocol actors

They do not appear on-chain

They are implementation detail for orchestrator/GPU Node setups

5. Delegator (protocol-defined actor)

They stake LPT

They help secure the network

They share in inflation + orchestrator rewards

Protocol Actors

GPU Node (Orchestrator) — supply-side compute provider

Delegator — stake from demand side

Network / Execution Actors

Gateway Node — submits and manages jobs (AI/video)

Worker — internal compute role (not user-facing)

Behaviors (not actors anymore)

Broadcaster — any gateway/service sending video or AI jobs

Transcoder — a type of worker behavior