METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR SHARING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT WITHIN A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK

• US 20090094317A1
• Filed: 01/09/2008
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Venkitaraman, Narayanan
• Granted Patent: US 9,106,490 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5084 Providing for device mobility network addressing or numbering for mobility support in wireless networks H04W8/26; mobile IP H04W80/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/34 Modification of an existing route

Abstract

A system, method and communication device configuration for sharing multimedia content between network devices, such as UPnP or UPnP/DLNA devices and mobile communication devices, across different local networks or subnets. One possible system arrangement or architecture is based on the communication devices forming groups and then sharing UPnP control messages across the groups. The system arrangement supports enabling group member access to UPnP devices that are in other group devices or reachable via other group devices. By enabling devices to form groups across wide-area networks and distribute UPnP messages within the group members, the system effectively extends the range of a UPnP network. Devices include an overlay middleware and an xDLNA application to provide the functionality to form or join a device group and communicate multimedia content with other devices in the group as if the devices are within the same local network.

Claims

1. A method for sharing multimedia content between at least one communication device in a local network and at least one communication device a non-local network, comprising the steps of:

receiving by a first communication device in the local network a first message including information corresponding to a non-local communication device in the non-local network, wherein the first message information includes non-local IP address information and non-local port information;

mapping by the first communication device the non-local IP address information and the non-local port information from the first message to corresponding local IP address information and local port information;

sending by the first communication device a second message to at least one second communication device in the local network, wherein the second message includes local IP address information and local port information that corresponds to the communication device in the non-local network;

receiving by the first communication device a third message sent to the local IP address and the local port from the at least one second communication device in the local network, wherein the third message includes local IP address information and local port information that corresponds to the at least one second communication device in the local network; and

mapping by the first communication device the local IP address information and the local port information from the third message to corresponding non-local IP address information and non-local port information.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

sending by the first communication device a fourth message to the non-local communication device in the non-local network, wherein the fourth message includes non-local IP address information and non-local port information that corresponds to the non-local communication device.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step of sending the fourth message includes determining that the fourth message is not fully transmitted and stopping the reception of packets corresponding to the local IP address and the local port of the corresponding to non-local communication device.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of the first communication device creating a TCP listener for the local IP address information and the local port information corresponding to the non-local communication device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of the first communication device locating at least one peer device in the non-local network and establishing a communication session between the first communication device and the peer device in the non-local network.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of determining information corresponding to a local communication device and sending the information to the peer-device in the non-local network.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of the first communication device sending the second message includes sending the second message to at least one of a loopback address, a multicast address, and a unicast address.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of the first communication device sending the second message includes periodically retransmitting the second message and stopping the periodic retransmission in response to a determination by the first communication device that the non-local communication device is not reachable by the first communication device

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of the first communication device receiving the third message includes determining that only a first portion of the third message was received, and waiting for at least one second portion of the third message to be received before performing the mapping step and the fourth message sending step.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the information corresponding to the non-local communication device includes at least one of the contents of a NOTIFY message corresponding to the non-local communication device and the contents of a response to an M-SEARCH message.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the message information includes a content-length field, and wherein at least one of the mapping steps includes updating the content-length field based on a change in the number of bytes that results from mapping the IP address information and the port information.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of the first communication device sending the second message includes determining if portions of the second message being sent is not fully transmitted and stopping the reception of packets from the non-local communication device.

13. A network communication device, comprising:

a controller configured to communicatively connect the network communication device to a first network;

an overlay middleware module coupled to the controller and configured for identifying at least one network device in a second network; and

an xDLNA application module coupled to the controller and configured for at least one of forming a device group with the at least one network device in the second network identified by the overlay middleware and joining a device group that includes the at least one network device in the second network identified by the overlay middleware,

wherein the xDLNA application is configured to find a peer xDLNA application within the at least one network device identified by the overlay middleware and communicate with the found xDLNA application in such a way that a DLNA application from the first network communicates with a DLNA application within the second network.

14. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the xDLNA application module is configured to obtain device information about at least one communication device in the first network and provide the obtained device information to at least one other xDLNA application within the device group.

15. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the xDLNA application module is configured to re-advertise information received from another xDLNA application module.

16. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the xDLNA application module is configured to receive a message having at least one of an IP address and a port number that are not local to the device group, and wherein the xDLNA application is configured to modify at least one of the IP address and the port number to an IP address and a port number that are local to the device group, and propagate the received message to at least one device in the first network.

17. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the device is configured to operate according to at least one of a set of guidelines established by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), and at least one protocol from a set of universal plug and play (UPnP) protocols.

18. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed on a programmed processor, carry out a method for sharing multimedia content between at least one communication device in a first local network and at least one communication device in a second non-local network, comprising:

instructions for receiving by a first communication device in the first network a packet sent by a DLNA application in the first network to an address corresponding to a second communication device in the second network;

instructions for generating a second packet by the first communication device based on information in the first packet;

instructions for enabling the transmission of at least a portion of the second packet to a third device in the second network if the first communication device determines that at least a portion of the second packet can be transmitted to the third device; and

instructions for pausing the transmission of packets by the DLNA application in the first network to an address corresponding to the second communication device in the first network if the first communication device determines that at least a portion of the second packet cannot be transmitted to the third device.

19. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the enabling instructions include instructions for finding a communication device in the second network other than the third device, instructions for determining that at least a portion of the second packet can be transmitted to the communication device in the second network other than the third device, and instructions for transmitting at least a portion of the second packet to the communication device in the second network other than the third device.

20. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the step of generating the second packet includes instructions for modifying at least one of an IP address and port information in the first packet.