CARRIER-GRADE PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) NETWORK, SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20110113480A1
• Filed: 04/24/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZTE Corporation, ZTE USA, Inc. (ZTE Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ZTE Corporation, ZTE USA, Inc. (ZTE Corporation)
• Inventors: Mo, Li, Zhu, Weiyong, Ma, Larry Shaoyan
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/505 Clust
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1091 Interfacing with client-server systems or between P2P systems

Abstract

A computing network, including: a plurality of peer computing devices including code, which when executed by a peer computing device causes the executing peer computing device to cooperate with at least one other of the peer computing devices; at least one server including code, which when executed by the at least one server locates at least one of the peer computing devices; and at least one mediator including code, which when executed by the at least on mediator collects information from at least some of the peer computing devices; wherein, the peer computing devices, at least one sever and at least one mediator are communicatively coupled via an at least carrier-grade telecommunications network being suitable for enhancing co-operation among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices relative to best-efforts communications among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices.

Claims

1. A computing network, comprising:

a plurality of peer computing devices comprising code, which when executed by a peer computing device causes the executing peer computing device to cooperate with at least one other of the peer computing devices;

at least one server comprising code, which when executed by the at least one server locates at least one of the peer computing devices; and

at least one mediator comprising code, which when executed by the at least one mediator collects charging information from at least some of the peer computing devices;

wherein, the peer computing devices, at least one server and at least one mediator are communicatively coupled via an at least carrier-grade telecommunications network being suitable for enhancing cooperation among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices relative to best-efforts communications among the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein the at least one mediator comprises code, which when executed by the at least one mediator collects charging information from at least one of the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein the at least one mediator delivers information indicative of the collected charging information to a billing system corresponding to the carrier-grade telecommunications network.

4. The network of claim 1, wherein the carrier-grade telecommunications network comprises wireless links between ones of the peer computing devices.

5. The network of claim 1, wherein the carrier-grade telecommunications network comprises an IP based network.

6. The network of claim 5, further comprising:

at least one IP interworking gateway communicatively coupled to at least one-other IP based network and comprising code, which when executed by the at least one IP interworking gateway causes the executing IP interworking gateway to cooperate with at least one of the peer computing devices;

wherein, the IP interworking gateway is communicatively coupled via the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network to the peer computing devices.

7. The network of claim 5, further comprising

an non-IP interworking gateway communicatively coupled to at least one-other non-IP based network and comprising code, which when executed by the at least one non-IP interworking gateway causes the executing non-IP interworking gateway to cooperate with at least one of the peer computing devices;

;

wherein, the non-IP interworking gateway is communicatively coupled via the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network to the peer computing devices.

8. The network of claim 1, further comprising a user authentication and authorization computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one charging mediator and comprising code, which when executed by the authentication and authorization computing device authorizes peer computing devices.

9. The network of claim 8, wherein the user authentication and authorization computing device is also an accounting computing device.

10. The network of claim 8, wherein the user authentication and authorization computing device provides a digital token, wherein at least some of the peer computing devices determine at least one of:

what services at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices is able to provide, and the service group the at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices belongs to, responsively to receipt of the digital token.

11. The network of claim 1, wherein at least one of the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices comprises code, which when executed by the at least one cooperating peer computing device causes the at least one cooperating peer computing device to request a class of service change.

12. The network of claim 11, wherein for the requesting at least one cooperating peer computing device, the carrier-grade telecommunications network selectively provides best-efforts communications prior to the class of service change request, and carrier-grade communications after the class of service change request.

13. The network of claim 12, further comprising a quality of service coordinator communicatively coupled to the carrier-grade telecommunications network, and comprising code, which when executed by the at least one quality of service coordinator causes the at least one quality of service coordinator to cause the carrier-grade telecommunications network to selectively provide best-efforts grade communications prior to the class of service change request, and carrier-grade communications after the class of service change request.

14. The network of claim 1, wherein the at least one mediator code collected charging information is associated with service requests from ones of the cooperating peer computing devices.

15. The network of claim 1, wherein the at least one mediator code collected charging information is associated with services provided by ones of the cooperating peer computing devices.

16. A computer program product being tangibly embodied in at least one computer-readable medium and comprising computing device executable code for use with an at least carrier-grade telecommunications network, said code comprising:

code for causing at least some of a plurality of peer computing devices to cooperate with one another over the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network to provide at least carrier-grade telecommunications network native peer-to-peer application support; and

,

code for collecting charging information from at least some of the cooperating ones of the peer computing devices and providing data indicative of at least a portion of the collected charging information to a billing system associated with the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the code further comprises code for receiving a quality of service change request from at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices, and modifying a class of service associated with the at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices responsively to the received request.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the code further comprises:

code for receiving a quality of service change request from at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices; and

,

code for causing the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network to selectively provide best-efforts grade communications prior to the class of service change request, and carrier-grade communications after the class of service change request.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the code further comprises:

code for receiving a quality of service change request from at least one of the cooperating peer computing devices; and

,

code for causing the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network to selectively provide best-efforts grade communications after the class of service change request, and carrier-grade communications prior the class of service change request.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the data indicative of at least a portion of the collected charging information communicated to the billing system associated with the at least carrier-grade telecommunications network is associated with a service broker model.