PEER-TO-PEER DOWNLOAD WITH QUALITY OF SERVICE FALLBACK

• US 20080133535A1
• Filed: 11/30/2006
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Fischer, Donald, Pennington, Havoc
• Granted Patent: US 7,996,550 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/108 characterised by resources being split in blocks or fragments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1085 involving dynamic management of active down- or uploading connections

Abstract

An embodiment relates generally to a method for playing for a file. The method includes initiating a playback for a selected file on a reserved server, where the selected file is also distributed in segments across a peer-to-peer network. The method also includes initiating a retrieval of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network or reserved server and ordering the retrieved segments of the selected file for playback. The method further includes switching playback of the selected file between the peer-to-peer network and reserved server according to the real-time performance and availability of the peer-to-peer network and reserved server.

Claims

1. A method for playing a file, the method comprising:

initiating a playback for a selected file on a reserved server, wherein the selected file is also distributed in segments across a peer-to-peer network;

initiating a retrieval of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network;

ordering the retrieved segments of the selected file for playback and

switching playback of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network in response to retrieved segments ready for playback.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining an index structure for monitoring the playback of the selected file.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback; and

retrieving the subsequent segment from the reserved server in response to determining the subsequent segment of the selected file is not ready for playback.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining whether the next subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback from the peer-to-peer network; and

switching the playback of the selected file to the next subsequent segment of the selected file.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of an unstructured peer-to-peer network and a structured peer-to-peer network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of Bit Torrent, Napster, Gnutella, and KaZaA.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of Chord, Pastry, Tapestry, Content Addressable Network, and Tulip.

8. An apparatus comprising means to implement the method of claim 1.

9. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

10. An apparatus for delivering a file, the apparatus comprising:

a control module configured to interface with a reserved server and a peer-to-peer network, wherein the control module is configured to receive a request for a file, initiate a playback of the file on a reserved server;

initiate a retrieval of the file from the peer-to-peer network, wherein the file is stored in segments in the peer-to-peer network;

ordering the retrieved segments of the file for playback; and

switch playback of the file from the peer-to-peer network in response to retrieved segments ready for playback.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control module is further configured to maintain an index structure for monitoring the playback of the selected file.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control module is further configured to determine whether a subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback and retrieve the subsequent segment from the reserved server in response to determining the subsequent segment of the selected file is not ready for playback.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the control module is further configured to determine whether the next subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback from the peer-to-peer network and switch the playback of the selected file to the next subsequent segment of the selected file.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of an unstructured peer-to-peer network and a structured peer-to-peer network.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of Bit Torrent, Napster, Gnutella, and KaZaA.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of Chord, Pastry, Tapestry, Content Addressable Network, and Tulip.

17. A system for delivering a file, the system comprising:

a reserved server configured to store a plurality of files;

a peer-to-peer network configured to store the plurality of files, wherein each file is distributed through the peer-to-peer network as segments; and

a quality of service client configured to initiate a playback for a user-selected file on the reserved server;

initiate a retrieval of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network in response to the initiation of the playback;

order the retrieved segments of the selected file for playback; and

switch playback of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network in response to retrieved segments ready for playback.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the quality of service client is further configured to maintain an index structure for monitoring the playback of the selected file.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the quality of service client is further configured to determine whether a subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback and retrieve the subsequent segment from the reserved server in response to determining the subsequent segment of the selected file is not ready for playback.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the quality of service client is further configured to determine whether the next subsequent segment of the selected file is ready for playback from the peer-to-peer network and switching the playback of the selected file to the next subsequent segment of the selected file.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the peer-to-peer network is one of an unstructured peer-to-peer network and a structured peer-to-peer network.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the file is a music file.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the file is a video file.

24. A method for playing a file, the method comprising:

initiating a retrieval of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network, wherein the selected file is also distributed in segments on a reserved server;

ordering the retrieved segments of the selected file for playback and

switching playback of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network to the reserved server in response to retrieved segments ready for playback and when at least one of the segments is not available from the peer-to-peer network.

25. A method for playing a file, wherein segments of the file are distributed in a peer-to-peer network and a reserved server, the method comprising:

requesting segments of the file from both the peer-to-peer network and the reserved server;

scheduling retrieval of segments of the selected file from the peer-to-peer network and the reserved server based on responses from the peer-to-peer network and the reserved server; and

switching playback of segments of the selected file based on the retrieval of the segments from the peer-to-peer network and the reserved server.