Bandwidth Sharing

• US 20170063721A1
• Filed: 08/28/2015
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McCarrick, Michael D
• Granted Patent: US 9,923,841 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/82 Miscellaneous aspects

Abstract

Techniques are described for bandwidth sharing. In one embodiment, a computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium has program code embodied therewith. The program code is executable by a computing device to provide a first key to a first user, provide a second key to a second user, receive the second key from the first user and, responsive to receiving the second key from the first user, allocate an amount of bandwidth normally allocated to the first user to the second user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for bandwidth sharing, the method comprising:

providing a first key to a first user;

providing a second key to a second user;

receiving the second key from the first user;

responsive to receiving the second key from the first user, allocating an amount of bandwidth normally allocated to the first user to the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

restricting the allocated amount of bandwidth to a set amount.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating a time out value with the second key and

bounding the allocated amount of bandwidth to the time out value.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

revoking the allocation of bandwidth.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the second key from the first user includes receiving a request from the first user through a graphical user interface.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the second key from the first user includes receiving a request from the first user through a cellular phone network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocated bandwidth is regulated by an internet service plan.

8. A computer system for bandwidth sharing, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to provide a first key to a first user;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to providing a second key to a second user;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to receive the second key from the first user; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to, responsive to receiving the second key from the first user, allocate an amount of bandwidth normally allocated to the first user to the second user.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to restrict the allocated amount of bandwidth to a set amount.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to associate a time out value with the second key and bound the allocated amount of bandwidth to the time out value.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein:

program instructions to receive the second key from the first user includes program instructions to receive a request from the first user through a graphical user interface.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein:

program instructions to receive the second key from the first user includes program instructions to receive a request from the first user through a cellular phone network.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to receive the second key from the second user and reallocate the bandwidth to the second user.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories to provide a plurality of keys to the second user and loan one or more of the plurality of keys to one or more other users.

16. The program product of claim 14, further comprising code executable to:

restrict the allocated amount of bandwidth to a set amount.

17. The program product of claim 14, further comprising code executable to:

associate a time out value with the second key and

bound the allocated amount of bandwidth to the time out value.

18. The program product of claim 14, wherein the second key represents a partial amount of bandwidth assigned to the second user.

19. The program product of claim 14, wherein the code to receive the second key from the first user includes code to receive a request from the first user through a graphical user interface.

20. The program product of claim 14, wherein the code to receive the second key from the first user includes code to receive a request from the first user through a cellular phone network.

15. A computer program product for modeling business intelligence data, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a computing device to:

provide a first key to a first user;

provide a second key to a second user;

receive the second key from the first user; and

responsive to receiving the second key from the first user, allocate an amount of bandwidth normally allocated to the first user to the second user.