# US 2018/0025399 A1 · Crowd-sourced cloud computing in a multiple resource provider environment

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- Number: US 2018/0025399 A1
- Document ID: US20180025399A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/214,003
- Filed: 2016-07-19
- Published: 2018-01-25
- Earliest claimed: 2016-07-19
- Assignees: Cisco Technology, Inc.
- Applicants: Cisco Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: Plamen Nedeltchev; David Delano Ward; Alon Shlomo Bernstein; Mohit Agrawal
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180025399A1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0603: {Catalogue creation or management}
- G06F 9/5061: {Partitioning or combining of resources}
- G06F 16/9535: Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
- G06F 16/9536: Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
- G06F 16/9558: {Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations}
- G06F 16/958: Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
- G06Q 30/0625: {by formulating product or service queries, e.g. using keywords or predefined options}
- H04L 67/51: Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
- G06Q 10/40: Business processes related to social networking or social networking services
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

A crowd-sourced cloud environment allows for, and benefits from, modes of interaction between among the service providers (including the “resource providers” and the “cloud provider”) and consumers (also referred to herein as “tenants”) that are not practiced in a DC-centric cloud environment—specifically, the use of Internet-based social networking technology and Internet-based online marketplace technology to facilitate resource pooling and interaction between crowd-sourced cloud resource providers, the cloud provider, and crowd-sourced cloud consumers.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
receiving, by one or more computing devices and for each of a plurality of resource providers, a registration request for participation of resources of each respective provider in a crowd-sourced computing cloud, each registration request comprising provider characteristics and a specification of the resources, each resource specification comprising resource specification parameters;
registering, by the one or more computing devices, the specified resources and provider characteristic of each of the plurality of providers in a database as available for supporting cloud computing services;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered based on the registered resources of at least one provider; and
publishing, by the one or more computing devices, a searchable service catalog comprising an entry for each determined crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered, each service catalog entry comprising an identifier for at least one provider of the service described in the service catalog entry.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
publishing, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider,
wherein at least one provider identifier in at least one service catalog entry is hyperlinked to the profile catalog entry of the provider associated with the service described in the at least one service catalog entry.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the provider catalog is organized as a social network application.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
at least one received registration request comprises data indicating an intent of a first resource provider to pool a subset of the first resource provider's resources with resources of one or more other resource providers for participation in the crowd-sourced computing cloud; and
the method further comprising:
publishing, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics including any intent to pool resources, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider;
receiving, by the one or more computing devices from a second registered provider, a request to pool a subset of the second provider's registered resources with the subset of the registered resources of the first provider; and
pooling, by the one or more computing devices, the subset of the second provider's registered resources and the subset of the registered resources of the first provider to support a common service in a crowd-sourced computing cloud,
wherein determining at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered is based on the pooled resources.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the data indicating an intent of the first provider to pool a subset of the first resource provider's resources with the resources of one or more other providers comprises a restriction on the characteristics of the registration request of the other providers.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein determining at least one service to be offered comprises:
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a set of services that a subset of resources registered by at least one provider is capable of offering;
presenting, by the one or more computing devices to the at least one provider, an identification of each service in the set of services that the subset of resources registered by at least one provider is capable of offering; and
receiving, by the one or more computing device from the at least one provider, a selection of at least one service from the presented identification.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the one or more computing devices from a consumer, a selection of a published service;
provisioning, by the one or more computing devices, the selected service; and
operating, by the one or more computing devices and the resources of the service, the provisioned service.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein:
operating comprising collecting, by the one or more computing devices, operating metrics for each provisioned service, and
the method further comprising:
publishing, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider; and
updating, by the one or more computing devices, each published provider profile based on the collected operating metrics applicable to services offered using resources specified in the provider profile,
wherein each service catalog entry comprises one of a link to the published profile of the provider offering the service and a summary of the collected operating metrics applicable to the resource provider.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, further comprising:
publishing, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider;
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, feedback from a consumer with respect to a particular service; and
updating, by the one or more computing devices, each published profile based on the received feedback applicable to services offered using computing resources specified in the profile.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the determined service is one of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS).

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the published service catalog is organized as an online marketplace.

### Claim 12

Logic encoded on one or more tangible media for execution and when executed operable to:
receive, by one or more computing devices and for each of a plurality of resource providers, a registration request for participation of resources of each respective provider in a crowd-sourced computing cloud, each registration request comprising provider characteristics and a specification of the resources, each resource specification comprising resource specification parameters;
register, by the one or more computing devices, the specified resources and provider characteristic of each of the plurality of providers;
determine, by the one or more computing devices, at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered based on the registered resources of at least one provider; and
publish, by one or more computing devices, a searchable service catalog comprising an entry for each determined crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered, each service catalog entry comprising an identifier for at least one provider of the service described in the service catalog entry.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The logic of claim 12, further encoded on one or more tangible media for execution and when executed operable to:
publish, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider,
wherein at least one provider identifier in at least one service catalog entry is hyperlinked to the profile catalog entry of the provider associated with the service described in the at least one service catalog entry.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The logic of claim 12, wherein the provider catalog is organized as a social network application.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The logic of claim 12, wherein:
at least one received registration request comprises data indicating an intent of a first resource provider to pool a subset of the first resource provider's resources with resources of one or more other resource providers for participation in the crowd-sourced computing cloud; and
the logic is further encoded on one or more tangible media for execution and when executed operable to:
publish, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics including any intent to pool resources, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider;
receive, by the one or more computing devices from a second registered provider, a request to pool a subset of the second provider's registered resources with the subset of the registered resources of the first provider; and
pool, by the one or more computing devices, the subset of the second provider's registered resources and the subset of the registered resources of the first provider to support a common service in a crowd-sourced computing cloud,
wherein determining at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered comprises determining at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered based on the pooled resources.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The logic of claim 15, wherein the data indicating an intent of the first provider to pool a subset of the first resource provider's resources with the resources of one or more other providers comprises a restriction on the characteristics of the registration request of the other providers.

### Claim 17

A system, comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to:
receive, for each of a plurality of resource providers, a registration request for participation of resources of each respective provider in a crowd-sourced computing cloud, each registration request comprising provider characteristics and a specification of the resources, each resource specification comprising resource specification parameters;
register the specified resources and provider characteristic of each of the plurality of providers;
determine at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered based on the registered resources of at least one provider; and
publish a searchable service catalog comprising an entry for each determined crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered, each service catalog entry comprising an identifier for at least one provider of the service described in the service catalog entry.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the processor further executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to:
publish, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider,
wherein at least one provider identifier in at least one service catalog entry is hyperlinked to the profile catalog entry of the provider associated with the service described in the at least one service catalog entry.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the provider catalog is organized as a social network application.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein:
at least one received registration request comprises data indicating an intent of a first resource provider to pool a subset of the first resource provider's resources with resources of one or more other resource providers for participation in the crowd-sourced computing cloud; and
the processor further executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to:
publish, by the one or more computing devices, a catalog of provider profiles, each provider profile based on the received registration requests, the catalog of provider profiles searchable by provider characteristics including any intent to pool resources, resource specification parameters, and services determined to be offered by the profiled provider;
receive, by the one or more computing devices from a second registered provider, a request to pool a subset of the second provider's registered resources with the subset of the registered resources of the first provider; and
pool, by the one or more computing devices, the subset of the second provider's registered resources and the subset of the registered resources of the first provider to support a common service in a crowd-sourced computing cloud,
wherein determining at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered comprises determining at least one crowd-sourced cloud computing service to be offered based on the pooled resources.