Universal naming scheme for peer-to-peer resources

• US 20050195838A1
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bjorner, Nikolaj S., Teodosiu, Dan, Breunig, Markus M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,562,149 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities

Abstract

Peer devices register with a resource locator service so that the peer devices can be uniquely identified in a networking environment. An addressing scheme addresses a peer resource in the networking environment based on the unique identifier of a peer device that is a master publisher of the resource. Based on the addressing scheme, the resource locator service can track the location of the master publisher of the resource as well as additional locations of peer devices that have cached the resource and made it available. In various embodiments, the resource locator service can service requests for peer resources by providing a list of locations where the resource is expected to be available or, in the case of non-compatible requester, provide access to the resource itself.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a peer notification at a resource naming service (RNS) server, said peer notification being received from a peer platform through a networking environment; and

updating a record based on the peer notification, said record to enable the RNS server to service requests for peer resources stored at a plurality of peer resources with network locations of respective peer devices in the networking environment.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein a network location for a particular peer device is dynamically allocated, wherein the peer notification comprises a current network address for the particular peer device, and wherein updating the record comprises:

storing the current network address in a record entry corresponding to the particular peer device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the peer notification comprises a periodic ping to notify the RNS server that a peer device associated with the peer platform is currently available to serve peer resources stored at the associated peer device.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the RNS server determines that the peer device is not currently available if the periodic ping is not received within a particular time interval after a previous peer notification from the peer platform.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein updating the record comprises:

storing an indication when the peer device is not currently available until a new peer notification is received indicating that the peer device is again available so that the RNS server will not service requests for resources stored on the peer device with a network location for the peer device while the peer device is determined to be unavailable.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the peer notification comprises a logout indicator to notify the RNS server that a peer device associated with the peer platform is no longer available to serve peer resources stored at the peer device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein updating the record comprises:

storing an indication when the peer device is not currently available until a new peer notification is received indicating that the peer device is again available so that the RNS server will not service requests for resources stored on the peer device with a network location for the peer device while the peer device is determined to be unavailable.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

synchronizing a clock at the peer platform to a master clock to provide uniform version numbers for peer resources based on the master clock.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the clock at the peer platform is synchronized at initial login and at periodic intervals thereafter.

10. A machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions to implement a method comprising:

receiving a peer notification at a resource naming service (RNS) server, said peer notification being received from a peer platform through a networking environment; and

updating a record based on the peer notification, said record to enable the RNS server to service requests for peer resources stored at a plurality of peer resources with network locations of respective peer devices in the networking environment.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 10 wherein a network location for a particular peer device is dynamically allocated, wherein the peer notification comprises a current network address for the particular peer device, and wherein updating the record comprises:

storing the current network address in a record entry corresponding to the particular peer device.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 10 wherein the peer notification comprises a periodic ping to notify the RNS server that a peer device associated with the peer platform is currently available to serve peer resources stored at the associated peer device.

13. The machine readable medium of claim 12 wherein the RNS server determines that the peer device is not currently available if the periodic ping is not received within a particular time interval after a previous peer notification from the peer platform.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 13 wherein updating the record comprises:

storing an indication when the peer device is not currently available until a new peer notification is received indicating that the peer device is again available so that the RNS server will not service requests for resources stored on the peer device with a network location for the peer device while the peer device is determined to be unavailable.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 10 wherein the peer notification comprises a logout indicator to notify the RNS server that a peer device associated with the peer platform is no longer available to serve peer resources stored at the peer device.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 15 wherein updating the record comprises:

storing an indication when the peer device is not currently available until a new peer notification is received indicating that the peer device is again available so that the RNS server will not service requests for resources stored on the peer device with a network location for the peer device while the peer device is determined to be unavailable.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 10, the method further comprising:

synchronizing a clock at the peer platform to a master clock to provide uniform version numbers for peer resources based on the master clock.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 17 wherein the clock at the peer platform is synchronized at initial login and at periodic intervals thereafter.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a resource naming service (RNS) server to receive a peer notification, said peer notification being received from a peer platform through a networking environment; and

a cache coupled to the RNS server, said RNS server to update a record based on the peer notification, said record to enable the RNS server to service requests for peer resources stored at a plurality of peer resources with network locations of respective peer devices in the networking environment.