Method for improving local descriptors in peer-to-peer file sharing
AssigneeIllinois Institute of Technology
InventorsOphir Frieder, Wai Gen Yee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for improving searches in a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing system that includes a plurality of server computers. A content file, identified by a descriptor including at least one metadata term and a mathematical identifier that uniquely identifies the content file in one of the server computers, is selected for searching. Other server computers are searched to find one or more matching content files; one that has a descriptor with a mathematical identifier matching the mathematical identifier of the first content file. The descriptors of the matching content files are returned to the searching server computer and used to expand the local descriptor.
Claims26
In a method for searching a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing system of a plurality of server computers, wherein a search query is routed to the server computers for comparing query terms to a descriptor of each of a plurality of server content files in one or more of the server computers and returning as search results a descriptor of each of matching server content files, and wherein the descriptor includes at least one metadata term and a key, the improvement comprising:
- expanding a first descriptor of a content file of one of the server computers using a second descriptor of a matching server content file of another of the server computers.
A method for improving searches in a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing system including a plurality of server computers, the method comprising:
- one of the server computers automatically selecting a first content file in one of the server computers, wherein the first content file includes a first descriptor comprising at least one metadata term and a key that uniquely identifies the content file;
- the one of the server computers automatically searching at least one other of the server computers to find a second content file having a second descriptor including a key matching the key of the first content file;
- one of the at least one other of the server computers returning the second descriptor to the one of the server computers;
- and
- the one of the server computers automatically expanding the first descriptor using the second descriptor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.