US 7,340,500 B2 · Providing peer groups in a peer-to-peer environment

Abstract

A system and method for providing peer groups in a peer-to-peer environment. A peer group may be one or more peers in a peer-to-peer environment that share a set of network services and content. A peer group may define an implicit scope for messages originating from members peers of the peer group. A peer group may provide redundant services and content for greater reliability. In one embodiment, interaction among peers and peer groups in the peer-to-peer environment may be implemented using protocols that are platform-independent as to programming language implementations and network transports. In one embodiment, peers may discover existing peer groups and join the existing peer groups. In one embodiment, peers may create new peer groups.

Claims95

Dependent claims

A peer-to-peer network environment, comprising:

a plurality of peer groups, wherein each peer group comprises a plurality of peer group members, and wherein each peer group member comprises a network node configured to communicate with other members of its peer group over one or more networks;
and
a plurality of peer nodes configured to participate in a peer discovery protocol to discover other peer nodes and to discover one or more of the plurality of peer groups, wherein said discovering one or more of the plurality of peer groups comprises discovering one or more peer group advertisements for the one or more of the plurality of peer groups;
a subset of said plurality of peer nodes configured to participate in a membership protocol for joining said discovered peer groups;
wherein each peer group defines a common set of services available to members of that peer group;
and
wherein a plurality of members of one of said plurality of peer groups are configured to share a network service or content with other members of said peer group only, so that said peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said network service or said content.

4 more elements

A peer node, comprising:

a processor;
a network interface operable to couple the peer node to a network;
a memory operable to store program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to:
join a peer group in accordance with a membership protocol;
upon joining said peer group, instantiate one or more of a common set of services defined for said peer group;
and
share a network service or content with other members of said peer group only, so that said peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said network service or said content;
wherein, in said joining said peer group, the program instructions are further executable to:
send an apply message to said peer group, wherein said apply message is formatted in accordance with said membership protocol;
receive a first acknowledge message formatted in accordance with said membership protocol in response to the apply message, wherein the first acknowledge message comprises an application credential;
send a join message including the application credential to said peer group, wherein said join message is formatted in accordance with said membership protocol;
and
receive a second acknowledge message formatted in accordance with said membership protocol in response to said join message, the second acknowledge message comprises a membership credential and a peer group advertisement for said peer group, wherein the peer group advertisement includes information about the common set of services available to members of said peer group.

10 more elements

A peer computing system, comprising:

a plurality of peer nodes;
means for a subset of said plurality of peer nodes to discover other peer nodes and discover one or more peer groups according to a discovery protocol, wherein said discovering one or more peer groups comprises discovering one or more peer group advertisements for the peer groups;
means for the subset of said plurality of peer nodes to join said discovered peer groups according to a membership protocol;
and
means for each of the one or more peer groups to share a common set of services among member peer nodes of the particular peer group only, so that the particular peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said services.

2 more elements

A method, comprising:

forming a plurality of peer groups in a peer-to-peer network, wherein each peer group comprises a subset of a plurality of peers;
the plurality of peers participating in a peer discovery protocol to discover other peers and to discover one or more of the plurality of peer groups, wherein said discovering one or more of the plurality of peer groups comprises discovering one or more peer group advertisements for the one or more of the plurality of peer groups;
a subset of the plurality of peer nodes participating in a membership protocol for joining said discovered peer groups;
each peer group defitting a common set of services available to member peers of the particular peer group;
and
member peers of each peer group sharing network services or content with other member peers of the particular peer group only, so that the particular peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said network services or said content.

3 more elements

A method, comprising:

a peer node sending a discovery query message, wherein the discovery query message is formatted in accordance with the discovery protocol;
the peer node receiving a message in response to the discovery query message including one or more peer group advertisements each comprising a description of a particular peer group, requirements for joining the particular peer group, and a pipe endpoint advertisement indicating where to send a message to apply for membership in the particular peer group, wherein the response message is formatted in accordance with the discovery protocol;
the peer node joining one of the particular peer groups in accordance with a membership protocol;
upon joining said peer group, the peer node instantiating one or more of a common set of services defined for said peer group;
and
the peer node sharing a network service or content with other members of said peer group only, so that said peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said network service or said content.

3 more elements

A method, comprising:

a peer node creating an advertisement for a peer group, wherein said advertisement for the peer group comprises:
an identifier for the peer group;
a description of a common set of services to be instantiated within the peer group by members of the peer group;
and
a membership service advertisement indicating how other peers are allowed to request to join the peer group;
and
a peer node publishing, in accordance with a discovery protocol, at least a portion of said advertisement for the peer group including said identifier and said membership service advertisement;
and
the peer node further instantiating a membership service, wherein said membership service implements a membership protocol for joining the peer group for allowing any peer node to apply for membership in the peer group in accordance with the membership protocol.

6 more elements

A method, comprising:

a peer node in a peer-to-peer network initiating a peer group discovery query in accordance with a peer discovery protocol;
the peer node receiving a peer group advertisement for a peer group;
the peer node joining said peer group in accordance with a membership protocol;
and
the peer node sharing a common set of services with other peers in said peer group only, so that said peer group defines a limited domain of availability for said services.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Providing peer groups in a peer-to-peer environment

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Providing peer groups in a peer-to-peer environment

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Abstract

Claims95