Method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture for reliable low-bandwidth information delivery across mixed-mode unicast and multicast networks

An article of manufacture, comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions that are stored thereon and executable by a processor of one of a plurality of distributed communication devices, to:
• communicate with other ones of said communication devices in an IP multicast network without use of a centralized server, each of said communication devices being associated with a respective human player having respective player properties that include a set of human specific properties that are communicated to other ones of said communication devices so that each communication device is aware of respective player properties of all communicatively coupled communication devices in said IP multicast network;
• and
• update an information base, said information base being updated to remove the respective player properties of any of said communication devices that are communicatively decoupled from said IP multicast network and to add the respective player properties of any new ones of said communication devices that are communicatively coupled to said IP multicast network.

A network computing apparatus, comprising:

• a communication device communicatively coupleable with a plurality of distributed communication devices adapted to communicate with each other in an IP multicast network without use of a centralized server, at least one of said communication devices configured to be associated with a respective human player having respective player properties associated with the at least one of said communication devices that are able to be communicated to other ones of said communication devices so that each communication device is aware of respective player properties of all communicatively coupled communication devices in said IP multicast network, wherein each of said communication devices is associated with a respective information base configured to be updated to remove the respective player properties of any of said communication devices that are communicatively decoupled from said IP multicast network and to add the respective player properties of any new ones of said communication devices that are communicatively coupled to said IP multicast network, the communication device including:
• a processor adapted to perform said update of the respective information base of the communication device;
• a storage unit coupled to said processor and adapted to store the respective information base that includes the respective player properties of the communication device and the respective player properties of coupled other ones of said communication devices;
• and
• a communication interface coupled to said processor and to said storage unit and coupleable to said IP multicast network, and adapted to send and receive respective player properties of said devices and other communication with other ones of said devices via said IP multicast network.