SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REMOTE NETWORK TOPOLOGY DISCOVERY

• US 20170070593A1
• Filed: 09/04/2015
• Published: 03/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ward-Graham, Max, Cooper, Nicholas Mark Vasic
• Granted Patent: US 11,108,883 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for obtaining data about a network having at least a first node and a second node. A server transmits to the first node a first request for the first node to send a communication to the second node. The server is outside of the network, and the first request includes a first address of the first node and a second address of the second node. The server receives, from the first node, an indication of whether the communication to the second node is successful. The server receives, from the first node, a second request for access to a file stored on the server, determines that the file is stored locally at the second node, and transmits, to the first node, an instruction to retrieve the file from the second node, when the communication to the second node is successful.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining data about a network having at least a first node and a second node, the method comprising:

transmitting, from a server to the first node, a first request for the first node to send a communication to the second node, wherein;

the server is outside of the network, and

the first request includes a first address of the first node and a second address of the second node;

receiving, at the server from the first node, an indication of whether the communication to the second node is successful.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the server from the first node, a second request for access to a file stored on the server;

determining, by the server, that the file is stored locally at the second node; and

transmitting, from the server to the first node, an instruction to retrieve the file from the second node, when the communication to the second node is successful.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, at the server, a temporal pattern of the first node entering and exiting the network; and

identifying a file that is stored on the server as being previously accessed by the first node.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining that the second node has more storage capacity than the first node;

transmitting, from the server to the second node, a copy of the file; and

in response to receiving a second request from the first node for access to the file, transmitting an instruction to the first node to retrieve the file from the second node.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining that the second node has more storage capacity than the first node includes receiving an indication of a device type at each of the first node and the second node.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the server from the first node, a link delay between the first node and the second node when the communication to the second node is successful; and

updating, at the server, a network model to reflect the received indication and the received link delay.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a first network, and the first request includes a plurality of second addresses for the second node, wherein each second address in the plurality of second addresses describes a location of the second node in a plurality of networks including the first network.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving, at the server from the first node, another indication of which, if any, of the plurality of second addresses was used to successfully communicate with the second node.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the server from a third node, a message indicating that the first node sent the communication that is meant for the second node to the third node.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating the transmitting the first request to the first node at a frequency that is based on a device type of the first node.

11. A system for obtaining data about a network having at least a first node and a second node, the system comprising at least one computer processor at a server that is configured to:

transmit, to the first node, a first request for the first node to send a communication to the second node, wherein;

the server is outside of the network, and

the first request includes a first address of the first node and a second address of the second node;

receive, from the first node, an indication of whether the communication to the second node is successful.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

receive, from the first node, a second request for access to a file stored on the server;

determine that the file is stored locally at the second node; and

transmit, to the first node, an instruction to retrieve the file from the second node, when the communication to the second node is successful.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

identify a temporal pattern of the first node entering and exiting the network; and

identify a file that is stored on the server as being previously accessed by the first node.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

determine that the second node has more storage capacity than the first node;

transmit, to the second node, a copy of the file; and

in response to receiving a second request from the first node for access to the file, transmit an instruction to the first node to retrieve the file from the second node.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to determine that the second node has more storage capacity than the first node by receiving an indication of a device type at each of the first node and the second node.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

receive, from the first node, a link delay between the first node and the second node when the communication to the second node is successful; and

update a network model to reflect the received indication and the received link delay.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the network is a first network, and the first request includes a plurality of second addresses for the second node, wherein each second address in the plurality of second addresses describes a location of the second node in a plurality of networks including the first network.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to receive, from the first node, another indication of which, if any, of the plurality of second addresses was used to successfully communicate with the second node.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to receive, from a third node, a message indicating that the first node sent the communication that is meant for the second node to the third node.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to repeat transmitting the first request to the first node at a frequency that is based on a device type of the first node.