Server-Side Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Media Streaming
OwnerAlan Rossinventor
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Abstract
The present invention is a method and system of exchanging data between client computers and a server in a P2P network, wherein the server acts as a client in a pure P2P network and client computers exchange data from the servers. Further, the present invention uses thin client software installed at the client computers and it contacts the server to either download data or get a streaming media file. The present invention provides a reduction in complexity for a client computer in a Peer-to-Peer network system through reduced functionality and load at the client computer.
Claims20
Method for file streaming comprising the steps of:
- entering a user search for a file on a website on a multi-user network;
- passing the website request to a first module;
- searching a multi-user network by said first module for a list of matching files;
- presentation to the user of a list of matching files;
- selection of a file by the user;
- passing the selection request to a second module;
- downloading the file from peers to the server;
- and
- streaming the file to the user via a third module.
A system for file streaming, comprising:
- a single server accessing a multi-user network;
- multiple thin client access devices to said multi-user network;
- means for providing a search for any type of file available on said multi-user network;
- means allowing a user, on the multi-user network, to pass a requested file from a thin client access device to a first module which searches the multi-user network for a list of matching files;
- means for presenting list of matching files to a user;
- means for the user choosing a matching file, and passing the request to a second module that uses the multi-user network to download the requested file, on the server side;
- and
- means for a third module to streams the requested file to the user's thin client access device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.