Rendezvous for locating peer-to-peer resources

A rendezvous node, comprising:

• a processor;
• a port operable to couple the peer node to a network;
• and
• a memory operable to store program instructions, wherein the program instructions are
• executable by the processor to:
• communicate with one or more peer nodes on a peer-to-peer network;
• cache one or more resource advertisements for network resources, wherein each of said resource advertisements comprises an indication of how to access the corresponding network resource, wherein said resource advertisements are discoverable by said one or more peer nodes;
• and receive one or more discovery queries for discovering said network resources, wherein the one or more discovery queries are formatted in accordance with a discovery protocol.

A peer-to-peer network, comprising:

• a plurality of peer nodes, wherein each peer node comprises a network node configured to communicate with one or more other ones of said peer nodes over the peer-to-peer network;
• means for the peer nodes to discover other of the peer nodes;
• means for each of the peer nodes to communicate with other of the peer nodes;
• means for the peer nodes to form peer groups and sharing network resources in the peer-to-peer environment;
• one or more rendezvous nodes, wherein each rendezvous node comprises a network node configured to communicate with said plurality of peer nodes;
• means for caching on each rendezvous node one or more resource advertisements for discovery by the peer nodes on the peer-to-peer network, wherein each resource advertisement comprises an indication of how to access a corresponding network resource, wherein said one or more resource advertisements are formatted in accordance with a peer-to-peer platform discovery protocol.

A method, comprising:

• a rendezvous node communicating with one or more peer nodes on a peer-to-peer network;
• the rendezvous node caching one or more resource advertisements for network resources, wherein each of said resource advertisements comprises an indication of how to access the corresponding network resource;
• the rendezvous node receiving one or more discovery queries for discovering said network resources, wherein the one or more discovery queries are formatted in accordance with a discovery protocol;
• and one or more peer nodes discovering said resource advertisements.

A tangible, computer-accessible storage medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

• a rendezvous node communicating with one or more peer nodes on a peer-to-peer network;
• the rendezvous node caching one or more resource advertisements for network resources, wherein each of said resource advertisements comprises an indication of how to access the corresponding network resource;
• the rendezvous node receiving one or more discovery queries for discovering said network resources, wherein the one or more discovery queries are formatted in accordance with a discovery protocol;
• and one or more peer nodes discovering said resource advertisements.