Centrally enhanced peer-to-peer resource sharing method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of operating a peer-to-peer network having a multiplicity of clients, each of the multiplicity of clients having a unique client address and able to connect to or disconnect from the peer-to-peer network at any time, and a server having a list of client addresses, said method comprising the steps of:
- determining, at the server, which of the multiplicity of clients is connected to the peer-to-peer network;
generating, at the server, a list of connected client addresses in response to the step of determining;
communicating from the server to a first of the multiplicity of clients a first unique seed list comprising a first portion of the list of connected client addresses;
communicating from the server to a second of the multiplicity of clients a second unique seed list comprising a second portion of the list of connected client addresses, the first unique seed list including a second client address corresponding to the second client and the second unique seed list including a third client address corresponding to a third of the multiplicity of clients;
communicating a search request from the first client to at least the second client by utilizing the first unique seed list;
communicating the search request from the second client to at least the third client by utilizing the second unique seed list;
communicating from the third client to an external authentication process an identification signal;
at the external authentication process authenticating the identification signal by determining if the identification signal was originated by the first client; and
communicating from the external authentication process to the third client an authentication signal in response to an affirmative authentication by said step of authenticating.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A peer-to-peer network has a server that maintains a list of addresses of clients connected to the peer-to-peer network. The server generates seed lists for each of the clients connected to the network from the server maintained list. The clients conduct peer-to-peer searches using the seed list provided by the server. The seed lists may be either randomly generated or generated to facilitate network objectives. The clients may periodically request seed list refreshing. The peer-to-peer network may further include authentication and authorization search security checks.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of operating a peer-to-peer network having a multiplicity of clients, each of the multiplicity of clients having a unique client address and able to connect to or disconnect from the peer-to-peer network at any time, and a server having a list of client addresses, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining, at the server, which of the multiplicity of clients is connected to the peer-to-peer network; generating, at the server, a list of connected client addresses in response to the step of determining; communicating from the server to a first of the multiplicity of clients a first unique seed list comprising a first portion of the list of connected client addresses; communicating from the server to a second of the multiplicity of clients a second unique seed list comprising a second portion of the list of connected client addresses, the first unique seed list including a second client address corresponding to the second client and the second unique seed list including a third client address corresponding to a third of the multiplicity of clients; communicating a search request from the first client to at least the second client by utilizing the first unique seed list; communicating the search request from the second client to at least the third client by utilizing the second unique seed list; communicating from the third client to an external authentication process an identification signal; at the external authentication process authenticating the identification signal by determining if the identification signal was originated by the first client; and communicating from the external authentication process to the third client an authentication signal in response to an affirmative authentication by said step of authenticating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A client in a peer-to-peer network, the network having a server and a multiplicity of clients having searchable resources, each of the multiplicity of clients having a unique client address, the client comprising:
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a seed list receiver that receives and stores a seed list of client addresses from the server; and a peer-to-peer network search dispatcher that forwards a resource search request to client addresses of the seed list, wherein the resource search request includes a credentials signal indicative of an initiating client initiating the resource search request and said peer-to-peer network search dispatcher further communicates the credential signal to an authorization process external to the client and receives at least one of a plurality of predetermined authorization signals in response thereto, and said client further comprises; a memory able to store a plurality of resources, each of the plurality of resources having at least one corresponding access attribute; and a search engine that selectively searches at least one of the plurality of resources in response to a comparison of the credentials signal and the at least one access attribute of each of the plurality of resources. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method in a client in a peer-to-peer network, the network having a server and a multiplicity of clients having searchable resources, each of the multiplicity of clients having a unique client address, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a seed list of client addresses from the server; and forwarding a resource search request to client addresses of the seed list, wherein the resource search request includes a credentials signal indicative of an initiating client initiating the resource search request, and the method further comprises the step of; selectively searching at least one of a plurality of resources stored at the client, wherein each of the plurality of resources having at least one corresponding access attribute and said step of selectively searching searches in response to a comparison of the credentials signal and the at least one access attribute of each of the plurality of resources, wherein the resource search request includes a credentials signal unique to an initiating client initiating the resource search request, the method further comprising the steps of; communicating the credential signal to an authorization process external to the client; and receiving at least one of a plurality of predetermined authorization signals in response thereto. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification