Selection of peers to cluster within a peer-to-peer network
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorSteven Wright
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Peer-to-peer networks may be established by considering various characteristics of the peers when clustering the peers within the network. The characteristics may include operational criteria such as the cost of data transfer by each peer, the type and status of power being supplied to each peer, and the bandwidth available to each peer. The peer-to-peer networks may be established by requiring credentials to gain access to the peer-to-peer network, where those credentials may be a network access identifier that has previously been used to gain access to an underlying data network of the peer-to-peer network. The operational criteria used to select peers for clustering may be stored and accessed through association to the credentials used to gain access to the peer-to-peer network.
Claims18
A method of providing a peer-to-peer network, comprising:
- determining, at a control node, a data cost classification for a plurality of peers;
- building, at the control node, a query list of peers for a current peer by adding information about peers of the plurality for the current peer to query to the query list based on the data cost classification of each of the peers of the plurality, wherein adding information about peers of the plurality to query to the query list comprises choosing which of the peers to add to the query list based on the data cost classification of each of the peers, wherein choosing the peers to place on the query list is further based on the data cost classification of the current peer;
- receiving, at the control node, a request from the current peer to join the peer-to-peer network, wherein the control node then determines the data cost classification for the current peer by performing a look-up of an identifier provided by the current peer within a database specifying the data cost classification associated with the identifier provided by the current peer, wherein the data cost classification of the current peer is provided to the database upon registration of the current peer with the control node device or the data cost classification of the current peer is dynamically provided to the database as a data plan of the current peer changes;
- and
- providing, by the control node, the query list to the current peer for selecting peers to query.
A control node device for providing a peer-to-peer network, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- determine a data cost classification for a plurality of peers;
- build a query list of peers for a current peer to query by adding information about peers of the plurality to query to the query list based on a data cost classification of each of the peers of the plurality, wherein adding information about peers of the plurality to query to the query list comprises choosing which of the peers to add to the query list based on the data cost classification of each of the peers, wherein choosing the peers to place on the query list is further based on the data cost classification of the current peer;
- receive a request from the current peer to join the peer-to-peer network;
- determine the data cost classification for the current peer by performing a look-up of an identifier provided by the current peer within a database specifying the data cost classification associated with the identifier provided by the current peer, wherein the data cost classification of the current peer is provided to the database upon registration of the current peer with the control node or the data cost classification of the current peer is dynamically provided to the database as a data plan of the current peer changes;
- and
- provide the query list to the current peer for selecting peers to query.
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium containing instructions that relate to providing a peer-to-peer network that when executed by a processor within a control node cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
- determining operational criteria including data cost classification for a plurality of peers;
- building a query list of peers for a current peer by adding information about peers of the plurality for the current peer to query to the query list based on the data cost classification of each of the peers of the plurality, wherein adding information about peers of the plurality to query to the query list comprises choosing which of the peers to add to the query list based on the data cost classification of each of the peers, wherein choosing the peers to place on the query list is further based on the data cost classification of the current peer;
- receiving a request from the current peer to join the peer-to-peer network and determining the data cost classification for the current peer by performing a look-up of an identifier provided by the current peer within a database specifying the data cost classification associated with the identifier provided by the current peer, wherein the data cost classification of the current peer is provided to the database upon registration of the current peer with the control node or the data cost classification of the current peer is dynamically provided to the database as a data plan of the current peer changes;
- and
- providing the query list to the current peer for selecting peers to query.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.