Method and device for exchanging data between mobile stations in a peer to peer network

• US 20060271688A1
• Filed: 05/16/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Viger, Pascal, Maze, Frederic
• Granted Patent: US 8,086,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00137 Transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00148 Storage information retrieval G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00164 at a remote location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3247 Data linking a set of images to one another, e.g. sequence, burst or continuous capture mode

Abstract

In order to share digital data in a peer to peer communication network, a partial version of the data is firstly transmitted to destination stations, and: a collection of data is created in which an identifier is associated with each data item and to each data identifier there is allocated a label indicating whether the complete version of the data item is available on the network; the existence of the collection is notified to at least one destination station; and, on the reception of information on availability on the network of the complete versions of the data of the collection: the collection is updated; and the updating of the shared collection is notified to the destination station or stations.

Claims

1. Method of sharing digital data in a peer to peer network, according to which there is transmitted, to stations for which said data are intended, firstly, a partial version of the shared data, said method comprising steps according to which:

a collection of data is created, in which an identifier is associated with each data item and there is allocated to each data identifier a label indicating whether the complete version of the data item is available on the network;

the existence of said collection is notified to at least one destination station; and

on reception of availability information on the network of the complete versions of the data of the collection;

said collection is updated; and

the updating of the shared collection is notified to said at least one destination station.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the data represent fixed digital images and the partial version of a data item is a version of an image having a resolution lower than that of the original image.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the data represent a digital video and the partial version of a data item is the first image of the video at a resolution lower than that of the original video.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of said method are implemented by a central server.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the data collection is created on reception of a request to share digital data coming from a mobile station, and the reception of information on the availability on the network of the complete versions of the data takes place after connection of said mobile station with a peer station of the network and on synchronization of the collection between said mobile station and said peer station.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the data collection is created on reception of a request to share digital data coming from a first peer station in the network, and the reception of information on the availability on the network of the complete versions of the data takes place after the making available of complete versions of the data by a second peer station in the network.

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of creating the collection and of notification of the existence of the collection are implemented by a mobile station, the steps of updating the collection and of notification of updating of the collection being performed by a peer station in the network or by a central server.

8. Method according to claim 1, wherein all the steps of said method are implemented by a peer station in the network.

20. Data server in a peer to peer communication network, comprising:

means for storing data;

a Web server;

a display interface, coupled to said Web server, and

a database,

said server being adapted to execute software that implements a method according to claim 1.

9. Method of sharing digital data in a peer to peer communication network, according to which a partial version of the shared data is firstly transmitted to stations for which said data are intended, said method comprising steps according to which, at a destination station:

on reception of a notification indicating the existence of a collection of data comprising an identifier associated with each data item, a label having been allocated to each data identifier in order to indicate whether the complete version of the data item is available on the network,

the labels associated with the data identifiers of the collection are analyzed;

in the case of the existence of labels indicating that the complete version of a data item is not available on the network, the processing rights associated with said data item are restricted; and

on reception of a notification to update the collection, the restriction of the processing rights is eliminated.

10. Method according to claim 9, further comprising a step of displaying the restrictions of the processing rights.

11. Method according to claim 9, wherein the restriction of the processing rights is a prohibition on requesting a complete version of the data item and/or a prohibition on printing the data item if the data item is an image and/or a prohibition on a new sharing of this data item.

21. Information storage means that can be read by a computer or a microprocessor storing instructions of a computer program, permitting the implementation of a method according to claim 9.

22. Partially or totally removable information storage means that can be read by a computer or a microprocessor storing instructions of a computer program, permitting the implementation of a method according to claim 9.

23. Computer program product able to be loaded into a programmable apparatus, comprising sequences of instructions for implementing a method according to claim 9, when this program is loaded into and executed by the programmable apparatus.

12. Device for sharing digital data in a peer to peer communication network, in which stations for which said data are intended are adapted to receive, firstly, a partial version of the shared data, said device comprising:

means for creating a collection of data, in which an identifier is associated with each data item and a label is allocated to each data identifier, said label indicating whether the complete version of the data item is available on the network;

means for notifying the existence of said collection to at least one destination station;

means for updating said collection; and

means for notifying the updating of the shared collection to said at least one destination station.

13. Device according to claim 12, wherein the data represent fixed digital images and the partial version of the data item is a version of an image having a resolution lower than that of the original image.

14. Device according to claim 12, wherein the data represent a digital video and the partial version of a data item is the first image of the video at a resolution lower than that of the original video.

15. Device according to claim 12, wherein the means of creating the collection are adapted to create the collection of data on reception of a request to share digital data coming from a mobile station.

16. Device according to claim 12, wherein the means of creating the collection are adapted to create the data collection on reception of a request to share digital data coming from a first peer station in the network.

17. Device for sharing digital data in a peer to peer network, in which stations for which said data are intended are adapted to receive, firstly, a partial version of the shared data, said device comprising, at a destination station:

means for analyzing, on reception of a notification indicating the existence of a data collection comprising an identifier associated with each data item, a label having been allocated to each data identifier in order to indicate whether the complete version of the data item is available on the network, the labels associated with the data identifiers of the collection;

means for restricting the processing rights associated with said data item in the case of the existence of labels indicating that the complete version of a data item is not available on the network; and

means for eliminating the restriction of the processing rights on reception of a notification to update the collection.

18. Device according to claim 17, further comprising means of displaying the restrictions on the processing rights.

19. Method according to claim 17, wherein the restriction on the processing rights is a prohibition on requesting a complete version of the data and/or a prohibition on printing the data item if the data item is an image and/or a prohibition on a new sharing of this data item.