Method and system for downloading updates

• US 20060130037A1
• Filed: 12/14/2004
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mackay, Jason F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,716,660 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide the ability for a software provider to distribute software updates to several different recipients utilizing a peer-to-peer environment. The invention described herein may be used to update any type of software, including, but not limited to, operating software, programming software, anti-virus software, database software, etc. The use of a peer-to-peer environment with added security provides the ability to minimize download time for each peer and also reduce the amount of egress bandwidth that must be provided by the software provider to enable recipients (peers) to obtain the update.

Claims

1. A method for updating a first computing device, the method comprising:

receiving a list of available updates;

determining a needed update from the list of available updates, wherein the needed update is segmented into a plurality of pieces;

receiving a list of computing devices, wherein the list of computing devices identifies, for each piece of the plurality of pieces, at least one computing device that makes that piece available for download;

downloading each piece of the plurality of pieces from the plurality of computing devices, wherein at least two of the plurality of pieces are downloaded from different computing devices; and

updating the software of the first computing device utilizing the downloaded pieces.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a list of update options for the needed update, wherein each update option is segmented into a plurality of pieces;

selecting an update option from the list of update options; and

wherein receiving a list of computing devices, includes receiving a list of computing devices identifying, for each piece of the selected update option, at least one computing device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the list of update options includes, for the needed update, a full patch, and at least one delta patch.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the delta patch includes a filename and an expected hash value for a file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a needed update includes scanning the first computing device to determine its current state, and comparing the current state with the list of available updates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of computing devices includes, for at least one of the plurality of pieces, an identification of a plurality of computing devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing devices are identified by an Internet protocol address.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the software includes:

assembling the downloaded pieces into a patch; and

installing the patch.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each downloaded piece is confirmed based on a hash of the piece.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an identification of downloaded pieces; and

sharing the identified downloaded pieces with other computing devices.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identification of downloaded pieces includes a hash value of each downloaded piece.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein upon a predetermined point, the identified downloaded pieces are not shared.

13. A method for providing a peer list to a client for downloading software updates, the method comprising:

transmitting a list identifying an available update;

receiving a peer list request for the available update;

generating a peer list identifying a plurality of peers, wherein each identified peer makes available for download at least a portion of the available update; and

transmitting the peer list.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the list identifying an available update, identifies a plurality of available updates.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the list identifies, for the available update, a plurality of update options.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of update options include a full patch, and at least one delta patch.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

in response to transmitting a list identifying an available update, receiving a request for update options for the available update;

generating a list identifying a plurality of update options for the available update; and

transmitting the list identifying a plurality of update options.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein receiving a peer list request includes, receiving a peer list request for one of the plurality of update options.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving an identification of a cached piece of the available update; and

updating a master peer list for the available update.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the available update is divided into a plurality of pieces and wherein the peer list identifies at least one peer for each of the plurality of pieces.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein one of the identified peers is a host computer.

22. In a computer system having a computer-readable medium including a computer-executable program therein for performing the method of obtaining an update, the method comprising:

receiving a list of available updates;

identifying a needed update from the list of available updates;

requesting a peer list for the needed update;

receiving a peer list for the needed update, wherein the peer list identifies a plurality of pieces of the needed update, and identifies for each piece, a computing device that makes that piece available for download; and

downloading each of the pieces from the identified computing devices.

23. The computer system of claim 22, wherein the peer list identifies for each of the plurality of pieces, a plurality of sub-pieces, and identifies for each sub-piece, a computing device that makes that sub-piece available for download.

24. The computer system of claim 23, wherein the peer list identifies for each of the plurality of sub-pieces, a plurality of sub-sub-pieces, and identifies for each sub-sub-piece, a computing device that makes that sub-sub-piece available for download.

25. The computer system of claim 22, wherein the peer list identifies a hash value for each piece.

26. The computer system of claim 25, wherein downloading includes:

hashing the downloaded piece to obtain a second hash value; and

comparing the first hash value and the second hash value to confirm the validity of the downloaded piece.

27. The computer system of claim 22, further comprising:

assembling each of the downloaded pieces; and

installing the update.

28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the peer list includes a first hash value for the update;

and wherein the method further includes;

hashing the assembled pieces to obtain a second hash value; and

comparing the first hash value and the second hash value to confirm the validity of the update.

29. The computer system of claim 22, further comprising:

storing at least one of the downloaded pieces in a cache;

transmitting an identification of the cached piece; and

making the cached piece available for download.

30. The computer system of claim 22, wherein downloading each of the pieces from the identified computing devices includes:

confirming the authenticity of a downloaded piece.

31. The computer system of claim 22, wherein downloading each of the pieces includes:

randomly picking a piece to download; and

randomly picking a computing device from which to download the piece.

32. The computer system of claim 22, wherein downloading each of the pieces includes:

identifying a piece with a least number of computing device that make that piece available for download; and

downloading the piece with the least number of computing devices that make that piece available for download.