APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING PEER-TO-PEER CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT SERVICE PROVIDERS

• US 20120246301A1
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Vyrros, Andrew H., Adler, Mitch, Abuan, Joe S., Sauerwald, Conrad, Jeong, Hyeonkuk, Wood, Justin N., Garcia, Roberto
• Granted Patent: US 9,667,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/216 using geographical information, e.g. location of the game device or player using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/34 using peer-to-peer connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/71 using secure communication between game devices and game servers, e.g. by encrypting game data or authenticating players
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/795 for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/408 Peer to peer connection
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/532 using secure communication, e.g. by encryption, authentication
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5546 using player registration data, e.g. identification, account, preferences, game history
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5566 by matching opponents or finding partners to build a team, e.g. by skill level, geographical area, background, play style
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5573 player location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/7459 using Bloom filters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2567 for reachability, e.g. inquiring the address of a correspondent behind a NAT server
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

In one embodiment of the invention, service providers generate bloom filters with the user ID codes of registered users and exchange the bloom filters with one another. In response to a request to locate a first user, a first service provider will query its own registration database to determine if the first user is registered with the first service provider. If the first user is not registered with the first service provider, then the first service provider will query its bloom filters to identify other service providers with which the first user may be registered. A positive response from a bloom filter indicates that the first user may or may not be registered with the service provider associated with that bloom filter, and a negative response indicates with certainty that the first user is not registered with the service provider associated with that bloom filter.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request at a first service provider to locate a first user, the request including an identification (ID) code for the first user;

querying a registration database to determine if the first user is registered with the first service provider;

if the user is not registered with the first service provider, then querying a plurality of bloom filters, each bloom filter associated with a different service provider;

receiving a positive or negative response from each of the bloom filters, a positive response indicating that the first user may or may not be registered with the service providers associated with those respective bloom filters, and a negative response indicating with certainty that the first user is not registered with the service providers associated with those respective bloom filters; and

transmitting a request to locate the first user only to those service providers for which a positive response has been received.

2. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving responses back from those service providers for which a positive response has been received, the responses indicating with certainty whether the first user is registered with each respective service provider; and

providing network connection data to a second user for establishing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connection with the first user, the network connection data identifying the service provider with which the first user is registered.

3. The method as in claim 1 wherein the ID code comprises an alphanumeric string.

4. The method as in claim 1 wherein the ID code comprises an email address.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein the ID code comprises a telephone number.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein if the first user is registered with the first service provider, then providing network connection data to a second user for establishing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connection with the first user, the network connection data identifying a network address managed by the first service provider.

7. The method as in claim 1 wherein if the first user is not registered with the first service provider but is registered with a second service provider identified by a bloom filter, then using the second service provider as a proxy to transmit connection data to the first user, the connection data including networking data needed to establish a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection from the first user to a second user which is registered with the first service provider.

8. The method as in claim 7 further comprising:

using the first service provider as a proxy to provide connection data of the first user to the second user, the connection data needed to establish a P2P connection from the second user to the first user.

9. The method as in claim 6 wherein the network address comprises a TCP/IP address.

10. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a plurality of updates to a user registration database, the updates including new identification (ID) codes associated with new users registered with a first service provider;

using the new ID codes and a plurality of existing ID codes associated with existing users already registered with the first service provider to generate a bloom filter; and

transmitting the new bloom filter to each of a plurality of other service providers, the bloom filter usable by the plurality of other service providers to determine with certainty that certain ID codes do not identify users registered with the first service provider.

11. The method as in claim 10 further comprising:

receiving bloom filters generated by each of the other service providers, the bloom filters usable by the first service provider to determine with certainty that a given ID code does not identify a user registered with each of the respective service providers.

12. The method as in claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a query at a first bloom filter associated with a particular service provider, the query including an identification (ID) code associated with a user, the bloom filter responsively generating a positive or a negative response, a positive response indicating that the first user may or may not be registered with the particular service provider associated with the bloom filters, and a negative response indicating with certainty that the first user is not registered with the particular service provider associated with the bloom filter; and

transmitting a request to locate the first user to the particular service provider only if a positive response has been received.

13. A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by one or more machines, causes the machines to perform the operations of:

receiving a request at a first service provider to locate a first user, the request including an identification (ID) code for the first user;

querying a registration database to determine if the first user is registered with the first service provider;

if the user is not registered with the first service provider, then querying a plurality of bloom filters, each bloom filter associated with a different service provider;

receiving a positive or negative response from each of the bloom filters, a positive response indicating that the first user may or may not be registered with the service providers associated with those respective bloom filters, and a negative response indicating with certainty that the first user is not registered with the service providers associated with those respective bloom filters; and

transmitting a request to locate the first user only to those service providers for which a positive response has been received.

14. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 comprising additional program code executed by the machines to perform the additional operations of:

receiving responses back from those service providers for which a positive response has been received, the responses indicating with certainty whether the first user is registered with each respective service provider; and

providing network connection data to a second user for establishing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connection with the first user, the network connection data identifying the service provider with which the first user is registered.

15. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 wherein the ID code comprises an alphanumeric string.

16. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 wherein the ID code comprises an email address.

17. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 wherein the ID code comprises a telephone number.

18. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 wherein if the first user is registered with the first service provider, then providing network connection data to a second user for establishing a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connection with the first user, the network connection data identifying a network address managed by the first service provider.

19. The machine-readable medium as in claim 13 wherein if the first user is not registered with the first service provider but is registered with a second service provider identified by a bloom filter, then using the second service provider as a proxy to transmit connection data to the first user, the connection data including networking data needed to establish a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection from the first user to a second user which is registered with the first service provider.

20. The machine-readable medium as in claim 19 further comprising:

using the first service provider as a proxy to provide connection data of the first user to the second user, the connection data needed to establish a P2P connection from the second user to the first user.

21. The machine-readable medium as in claim 18 wherein the network address comprises a TCP/IP address.

22. A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by one or more machines, causes the machines to perform the operations of:

receiving a plurality of updates to a user registration database, the updates including new identification (ID) codes associated with new users registered with a first service provider;

using the new ID codes and a plurality of existing ID codes associated with existing users already registered with the first service provider to generate a bloom filter; and

transmitting the new bloom filter to each of a plurality of other service providers, the bloom filter usable by the plurality of other service providers to determine with certainty that certain ID codes do not identify users registered with the first service provider.

23. The machine-readable medium as in claim 22 further comprising:

receiving bloom filters generated by each of the other service providers, the bloom filters usable by the first service provider to determine with certainty that a given ID code does not identify a user registered with each of the respective service providers.

24. The machine-readable medium as in claim 23 further comprising:

receiving a query at a first bloom filter associated with a particular service provider, the query including an identification (ID) code associated with a user, the bloom filter responsively generating a positive or a negative response, a positive response indicating that the first user may or may not be registered with the particular service provider associated with the bloom filters, and a negative response indicating with certainty that the first user is not registered with the particular service provider associated with the bloom filter; and

transmitting a request to locate the first user to the particular service provider only if a positive response has been received.