Technique for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network
First Claim
1. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peerto-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, the method comprising:
- selecting a first information file;
generating, using fingerprinting algorithm, a first fingerprint ID relating to the content of the first information file; and
identifying the first information file using the first fingerprint ID.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an improved technique for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network. According to specific embodiments of the present invention, each file accessible in the peer-to-peer network is assigned a respective hash ID or fingerprint ID which is used to describe the contents of that file. Files in the peer-to-peer network may be identified and/or accessed based upon their associated hash ID values. In this way it is possible to identify identical files stored in the peer-to-peer network which have different file names and/or other metadata descriptors. Since the content of all files having the same hash ID will be identical, an automated process may be used to retrieve the desired content from one or more of the identified files.
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Citations
87 Claims
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1. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peerto-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, the method comprising:
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selecting a first information file;
generating, using fingerprinting algorithm, a first fingerprint ID relating to the content of the first information file; and
identifying the first information file using the first fingerprint ID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first message to the database system, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string; and
receiving a first response from the database system, the first response including first information relating to identified files stored in the network which match the first search string;
the first information further including an associated fingerprint ID for each identified file. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21)
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14. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first message to a first peer device, the first message corresponding to a request to retrieve a first file identified by a first fingerprint ID, wherein the first message includes the first fingerprint ID, and wherein the first fingerprint ID is different than a filename associated with the first file; and
receiving a first portion of the file content of the first file from the first peer device in response to the first message.
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16. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the method comprising:
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receiving file information from selected peer devices, the file information relating to shared files stored at each of the selected peer devices;
the file information including a filename for each shared file, and including a HASH ID for each shared file;
storing the file information in at least one data structure at the database system; and
identifying a desired shared file in the network using its associated HASH ID.
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19. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the method comprising:
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receiving a first message from a first peer device, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string;
generating a first response to the first message, the response including a first list of file records relating to files stored in the network which match the first search string, wherein each file record includes an associated HASH ID and an associated filename; and
providing the first list of file records to the first peer device.
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22. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the method comprising:
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identifying a first network addresses corresponding to a first peer device which has been identified as storing a first information file associated with a first HASH ID;
identifying a second network addresses corresponding to a second peer device which has been identified as storing a second information file associated with the first HASH ID;
transmitting a first message to the first peer device requesting a first portion of file content of the first information file from the first peer device; and
transmitting a second message to the second peer device requesting a second portion of file content of the second information file from the second peer device. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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29. A method for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the method comprising:
requesting from a first plurality of peer devices a respective portion of file content from a respective information file, each respective information file being identified as having identical file content and having an identical first HASH ID being associated therewith.
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37. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to select a first information file;
the system being further configured or designed to applying a fingerprinting algorithm to the content of the selected file to thereby generate a first fingerprint ID relating to the content of the first information file; and
the system being further configured or designed to identify the first information file using the first fingerprint ID.
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45. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to transmit a first message to the database system, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string; and
the system being further configured or designed to receive a first response from the database system, the first response including first information relating to identified files stored in the network which match the first search string;
the first information further including an associated fingerprint ID for each identified file.
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50. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to transmit a first message to a first peer device, the first message corresponding to a request to retrieve a first file identified by a first fingerprint ID, wherein the first message includes the first fingerprint ID, and wherein the first fingerprint ID is different than a filename associated with the first file; and
the system being further configured or designed to receive a first portion of the file content of the first file from the first peer device in response to the first message. - View Dependent Claims (51)
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52. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to receive file information from selected peer devices, the file information relating to shared files stored at each of the selected peer devices;
the file information including a filename for each shared file, and including a HASH ID for each shared file;
the system being further configured or designed to storing the file information in at least one data structure at the database system; and
the system being further configured or designed to identify a desired shared file in the network using its associated HASH ID. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54)
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55. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to receive a first message from a first peer device, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string;
the system being further configured or designed to generate a first response to the first message, the response including a first list of file records relating to files stored in the network which match the first search string, wherein each file record includes an associated HASH ID and an associated filename; and
the system being further configured or designed to provide the first list of file records to the first peer device. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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58. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to identify a first network addresses corresponding to a first peer device which has been identified as storing a first information file associated with a first HASH ID;
the system being further configured or designed to identify a second network addresses corresponding to a second peer device which has been identified as storing a second information file associated with the first HASH ID;
the system being further configured or designed to transmit a first message to the first peer device request a first portion of file content of the first information file from the first peer device; and
the system being further configured or designed to transmit a second message to the second peer device request a second portion of file content of the second information file from the second peer device.
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65. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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at least one CPU memory at least one interface for communicating with other devices in the peer-to-peer network;
the system being configured or designed to request from a first plurality of peer devices a respective portion of file content from a respective information file, each respective information file being identified as having identical file content and having an identical first HASH ID being associated therewith. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for selecting a first information file;
computer code for generating, using fingerprinting algorithm, a first fingerprint ID relating to the content of the first information file; and
computer code for identifying the first information file using the first fingerprint ID. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for transmitting a first message to the database system, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string; and
computer code for receiving a first response from the database system, the first response including first information relating to identified files stored in the network which match the first search string;
the first information further including an associated fingerprint ID for each identified file.
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82. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective fingerprint ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the computer program product comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for transmitting a first message to a first peer device, the first message corresponding to a request to retrieve a first file identified by a first fingerprint ID, wherein the first message includes the first fingerprint ID, and wherein the first fingerprint ID is different than a filename associated with the first file; and
computer code for receiving a first portion of the file content of the first file from the first peer device in response to the first message.
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83. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the computer program product comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for receiving file information from selected peer devices, the file information relating to shared files stored at each of the selected peer devices;
the file information including a filename for each shared file, and including a HASH ID for each shared file;
computer code for storing the file information in at least one data structure at the database system; and
computer code for identifying a desired shared file in the network using its associated HASH ID.
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84. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the computer program product comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for receiving a first message from a first peer device, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string;
computer code for generating a first response to the first message, the response including a first list of file records relating to files stored in the network which match the first search string, wherein each file record includes an associated HASH ID and an associated filename; and
computer code for providing the first list of file records to the first peer device.
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85. A computer program product for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the computer program product comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;
computer code for identifying a first network addresses corresponding to a first peer device which has been identified as storing a first information file associated with a first HASH ID;
computer code for identifying a second network addresses corresponding to a second peer device which has been identified as storing a second information file associated with the first HASH ID;
computer code for transmitting a first message to the first peer device requesting a first portion of file content of the first information file from the first peer device; and
computer code for transmitting a second message to the second peer device requesting a second portion of file content of the second information file from the second peer device.
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86. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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means for identifying a first network addresses corresponding to a first peer device which has been identified as storing a first information file associated with a first HASH ID;
means for identifying a second network addresses corresponding to a second peer device which has been identified as storing a second information file associated with the first HASH ID;
means for transmitting a first message to the first peer device requesting a first portion of file content of the first information file from the first peer device; and
means for transmitting a second message to the second peer device requesting a second portion of file content of the second information file from the second peer device.
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87. A system for accessing information in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peer devices and a database system accessible by at least a portion of the peer devices, each of the peer devices being configured to store information files, and further being configured to share content from selected information files with at least a portion of the other peer devices in the network, wherein each shared file in the network has a respective HASH ID associated therewith relating to its file content, the HASH ID being different from a respective filename associated with each file, the system comprising:
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means for receiving a first message from a first peer device, the first message including a search request for locating files in the network which match a first search string;
means for generating a first response to the first message, the response including a first list of file records relating to files stored in the network which match the first search string, wherein each file record includes an associated HASH ID and an associated filename; and
means for providing the first list of file records to the first peer device.
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Specification