METHOD FOR EFFICIENT CONTENT DISTRIBUTION USING A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKING INFRASTRUCTURE
First Claim
1. A method for distributing, from a first computing device to a second computing device over a network, a software product update from a content server, the method comprising:
- obtaining the software product update, by the first computing device, from the content server via a connection, the first computing device being a client of the content server and a peer in the network;
communicating, by the first computing device, to one or more peers in the network that the software product update is available to be obtained from the first computing device;
locating, by the second computing device, a closest peer closest to the second computing device, that comprises the software product update, where more than one peer has obtained the software product update;
determining, by the second computing device, that the first computing device is the closest peer to the second computing device that comprises the software product update; and
obtaining the software product update, by the second computing device, from the first computing device via the network, the first computing device connected to the second computing device via a second network, the content server external to the second network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method for efficiently distributing content by leveraging the use of a peer-to-peer network infrastructure. In a network of peers, a handful peers can receive content from centralized servers. These peers can then flood this content out to more clients who in turn can send the content along to others. Ultimately, a request for content can be fulfilled by locating the closest peer and obtaining the content from that peer. In one embodiment the method can be used to distribute content by creating content distribution groups of one or more client computing devices and redirecting requests for content from the server to the content distribution group. A further contemplated embodiment efficiently streams time sensitive data through the use of a spanning tree architecture of peer-to-peer clients. In yet another embodiment the present invention provides for more efficient use of bandwidth for shared residential broadband connections.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for distributing, from a first computing device to a second computing device over a network, a software product update from a content server, the method comprising:
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obtaining the software product update, by the first computing device, from the content server via a connection, the first computing device being a client of the content server and a peer in the network; communicating, by the first computing device, to one or more peers in the network that the software product update is available to be obtained from the first computing device; locating, by the second computing device, a closest peer closest to the second computing device, that comprises the software product update, where more than one peer has obtained the software product update; determining, by the second computing device, that the first computing device is the closest peer to the second computing device that comprises the software product update; and obtaining the software product update, by the second computing device, from the first computing device via the network, the first computing device connected to the second computing device via a second network, the content server external to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for distributing, from a first computing device to a second computing device over a network, a software product update from a content server, the system comprising:
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one or more processing units; and memory comprising instructions that when executed by at least one of the one or more processing units, perform a method comprising; obtaining the software product update, by the first computing device, from the content server via a connection, the first computing device being a client of the content server and a peer in the network; communicating, by the first computing device, to one or more peers in the network that the software product update is available to be obtained from the first computing device; and providing the software product update, by the first computing device, to the second computing device via the network, based at least in part upon a determination of a closest peer closest to the second computing device that comprises the software product update, where more than one peer has obtained the software product update, where the first computing device is determined to be the closest peer to the second computing device that comprises the software product update, where the first computing device is connected to the second computing device via a second network, and where the content server is external to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that when executed perform a method for receiving, by a second computing device from a first computing device over a peer-to-peer network, a software product update from a content server, the method comprising:
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locating, by the second computing device, a closest peer closest to the second computing device, that comprises the software product update, where more than one peer has obtained the software product update; determining, by the second computing device, that the first computing device is the closest peer to the second computing device that comprises the software product update; and obtaining the software product update, by the second computing device, from the first computing device via the peer-to-peer network, where the software product update is obtained by the first computing device from the content server via a connection, the first computing device being a client of the content server and a peer in the peer-to-peer network, where one or more peers in the peer-to-peer network are communicated to by the first computing device that the software product update is available to be obtained from the first computing device, where the first computing device is connected to the second computing device via a second network, and where the content server is external to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification