Peer-to-peer file sharing

• US 20070136370A1
• Filed: 12/09/2005
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Illinois Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Illinois Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Frieder, Ophir, Yee, Wai
• Granted Patent: US 7,779,006 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1834 implemented based on peer-to-peer networks, e.g. gnutella p2p communication protocols H04L67/104

Abstract

A peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing system is provided with an enhanced search method for a client node therein. A search from the client contains a primary search of metadata words and a secondary search of content file keys taken from the primary search results. The results of the secondary search are then used to rerank the results of the primary search before the client displays the results of the search to the user. Metadata distribution schemes can also be used to further enhance the utility of the system. Enhanced P2P file searching accuracy is thus provided. Applications for selective peer-to-peer communication may further be employed.

Claims

1. A P2P system in which a user performs a search of the system for a content file, comprising:

a) inputting a P2P search query using metadata terms into a client computer;

b) performing a primary search of the P2P system using metadata terms relating to the P2P search query;

c) returning the results of the primary search to the computer;

d) grouping the results of the primary search and ranking N number of the groups according to a first ranking metric;

e) selecting a metadata descriptor from each of the N number of the groups of the primary search and performing a secondary search of the P2P system based on said metadata descriptors; and

f) grouping the results of the secondary search according to a second ranking metric and reranking the results of the primary search according to the results of the secondary search.

2. The P2P system of claim 1 further comprising displaying the reranked search results in human perceivable form.

3. The P2P system of claim 1 wherein a primary search ranking function is group size.

4. The P2P system of claim 1 wherein a secondary search ranking function is one of either term frequency or precision.

5. The P2P system of claim 1 further comprising a metadata distribution scheme of most-frequent term.

6. The P2P system of claim 1 wherein the secondary search uses a metadata descriptor comprising a key that uniquely identifies a content file.

7. The P2P system of claim 1 further comprising applications for selective peer-to-peer communication.

8. The P2P system of claim 7 wherein said applications for selective peer-to-peer communication include at least one of a security system and a fee system.

9. A P2P system having a method of gathering and ranking search results, comprising:

a) inputting a P2P search query into a computer;

b) performing a primary search of a P2P system using metadata terms relating to the initially entered query;

c) grouping the results of the primary search according to their hash keys and ranking N number of the groups;

d) performing a secondary search of the P2P system using the hash keys; and

e) grouping the results of the secondary search and reranking the results of the primary search according to the results of the secondary search.

10. The P2P system according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

a) ranking the groups of the primary search by a primary ranking function to determine N number of ranked search results groups;

b) grouping the results of the secondary search by hash key in the client computer;

c) ranking the results of the secondary search by a secondary ranking function;

d) reranking the results of the primary search according to the results of the secondary search ranking; and

e) displaying the reranked primary search results in human perceivable form.

11. The P2P system of claim 10 wherein the primary search ranking function is group size.

12. The P2P system of claim 11 wherein the secondary search ranking function is one of either term frequency or precision.

13. The P2P system of claim 12 further comprising a metadata distribution scheme of most-frequent term.

14. The P2P system of claim 9 further comprising applications for selective peer-to-peer communication.

15. The P2P system of claim 14 wherein said applications for selective peer-to-peer communication include at least one of a security system and a fee system.

16. A method of improving the ranking of search results in a peer-to-peer system using individual computers, comprising the steps of:

a) issuing a primary query of word descriptors to peers in the P2P system;

b) receiving and ranking the results from the primary query;

c) selecting the hash keys of the selected N results of the primary query;

d) issuing a plurality of secondary queries for the selected N hash keys;

e) receiving the results of the secondary query; and

f) using the results of the secondary query to rerank the results of the primary query.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising displaying the reranked search results in human perceivable form.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein a primary search ranking function is group size.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein a secondary search ranking function is one of either term frequency or precision.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising a metadata distribution scheme of most-frequent term.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the secondary search uses a metadata descriptor comprising a key that uniquely identifies a content file.

22. The method of claim 16 further comprising applications for selective peer-to-peer communication.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said applications for selective peer-to-peer communication include at least one of a security system and a fee system.