Initializing relationships between devices in a network

• US 7,478,126 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2003
• Issued: 01/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Lea, Rodger, McKay, Philip, Wibisono, Himgan, Hoch, Michael, Gauba, Ravi, Harwayne, Michael S., Liu, Jeff, Wang, Sidney, Tambata, Ippei, Coppinger, Elizabeth, Prohel, Andrew M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phuoc H
• Application Number:
  US10/407,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20030233399A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,111 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/204, 709217-224, 709/232, 709/205, 709/227
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1854 with non-centralised forwarding system, e.g. chaincast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A relationship initiation between devices in a network is described. According to one embodiment, persona information is exchanged between devices in a network. Based upon the persona information, a user of a device may initiate a relationship with another device.

Claims

1. A computerized method comprising:

communicating persona information associated with a first user from a first peer device to a first set of one or more peer devices on a peer-to-peer network, wherein the peer network comprises the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer-to-peer devices;

receiving persona information associated with a first set of one or more users corresponding to the first set of peer devices;

communicating persona information associated with a second user from a second peer device to a second set of one or more peer devices on the peer-to-peer network, wherein the peer-to-peer network further includes the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices;

receiving persona information associated with a second set of one or more users corresponding to the second set of peer devices;

generating a first visualization map of the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users, the first visualization map displaying the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer-to-peer network;

generating a second visualization map of the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information of the second user and the second set of one or more users, the second visualization map displaying the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer network; and

initiating a relationship between the first peer device and each of the peer devices in the first set of one or more peer devices that satisfy the common interest identified in the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating persona information includes broadcasting the persona information associated with the first user to a plurality of peer devices in the peer-to-peer network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating persona information includes transmitting a first message from the first peer device to one of the first set of one or more peer devices for forwarding to a third peer device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving the first message from the third peer device, the first message including persona information associated with a third user associated with the third peer device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users for a common interest.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a relationship includes swapping an electronic file with one of the first set of one or more devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a relationship includes initializing an instant messaging session with one of the first set of one or more users.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a relationship includes initializing a gaming session with one of the first set of one or more users.

9. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more peer devices and the second set of one or peer devices include peer devices common to each set of one or more peer devices.

10. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more peer devices includes the second peer device.

11. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the second set of one or more peer devices includes the first peer device.

12. A machine-readable storage medium having embodied thereon executable instructions to cause a device to perform a method comprising:

communicating persona information associated with a first user from a first peer device to a first set of one or more peer devices on a peer-to-peer network, wherein the peer network comprises the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer-to-peer devices;

receiving persona information associated with a first set of one or more users corresponding to the first set of peer devices,

communicating persona information associated with a second user from a second peer device to a second set of one or more peer devices on the peer-to-peer network, wherein the peer-to-peer network further includes the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices;

receiving persona information associated with a second set of one or more users corresponding to the second set of peer devices;

generating a first visualization map of the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information for the first user and the first set of one or more users, the first visualization map displaying the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer-to-peer network;

generating a second visualization map of the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information of the second user and the second set of one or more users, the second visualization map displaying the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer network; and

initiating a relationship between the first peer device and each of the peer devices in the first set of one or more peer devices that satisfy the common interest identified in the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein communicating persona information includes broadcasting the persona information associated with the first user to a plurality of peer devices in the peer-to-peer network.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein communicating persona information includes transmitting a first message from the first peer device to one of the set of one or more peer devices for forwarding to a third peer device.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving the first message from the third peer device, the first message including persona information associated with a third user associated with the third peer device.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising:

analyzing the persona information of the first user and first set of one or more users for a common interest.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein initiating a relationship includes swapping an electronic file with the one of the set of one or more devices.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein initiating a relationship includes initializing an instant messaging session with one of the set of one or more users.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the initiating a relationship includes initializing a gaming session with one of the set of one or more users.

20. A system comprising;

a first peer device to exchange persona information with a first set of one or more devices in a peer-to-peer network, the first peer device comprising,

a first processor coupled to a first memory through a first bus, the first memory storing persona information associated with a first user, and

a first relationship initiation process to visually identify a user on a network that shares a common interest with the first user, the relationship initiation process executed by the first processor from the first memory to cause the first processor to communicate the persona information associated with the first user to a first set of one or more peer devices on the peer-to-peer network, the first device being one of a plurality of peer devices on the network, to receive persona information associated with a first set of one or more users corresponding to a first set of one or more devices, to generate a first visualization map of the devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users, the first visualization map displaying the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer-to-peer network, and to initiate a relationship with the first device based on the common interest; and

a second peer device to exchange persona information with a second set of one or more devices in a peer-to-peer network, the second peer device comprising,

a second processor coupled to a second memory through a second bus, the second memory storing persona information associated with a second user, and

a second relationship initiation process to visually identify a user on a network that shares a common interest with the second user, the relationship initiation process executed by the second processor from the second memory to cause the second processor to communicate the persona information associated with the second user to a second set of one or more peer devices on the peer-to-peer network, the second device being one of a plurality of peer devices on the network, to receive persona information associated with a second set of one or more users corresponding to a second set of one or more devices, to generate a second visualization map of the devices relative to a common interest identified in the persona information of the second user and the second set of one or more users, the second visualization map displaying the second peer device and the second set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer-to-peer network.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor to broadcast the persona information associated with the first user to the plurality of peer devices.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor to transmit a first message to one of the first set of one or more devices, wherein the one of the first set of one or more devices is to forward the first message to a third device, the third device being one of the plurality of peer devices on the network.

23. The system of claim 22, the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor to receive the first message from the one of the first set of one or more devices, the first message including persona information associated with a third user associated with a third peer device.

24. The system of claim 20, the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor to analyze the persona information of the first user and the first set of one or more users for a common interest.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor, when initiating a relationship, to swap an electronic file with the first set of one or more peer devices.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor, when initiating a relationship, to initiate an instant messaging session with one of the first set of one or more users.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the first relationship initiation process further causes the first processor, when initiating a relationship, to initiate a gaming session with one of the first set of one or more users.

28. An apparatus comprising:

means for exchanging persona information with a first set of one or more peer devices in a peer-to-peer network, wherein each of the exchanged persona information corresponds to one of a first user associated with the apparatus and one of a first set of one or more users corresponding to the first set of one or more peer devices and said means for exchanging includes means for transmitting persona information of the first user to each of the first set of one or more peer devices and each of the first set of one or more peer devices generates a visualization map specific to that peer device based on the transmitted persona information of the apparatus and the stored persona information of that peer device;

means for generating a visualization map specific to the apparatus relative to a common interest identified in the persona information for the first user and first set of one or more users, the visualization map displaying the first peer device and the first set of one or more peer devices as a sub-community of the peer-to-peer network; and

means for initializing a relationship with the device based on the common interest, the means for exchanging coupled with the means for initializing.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for exchanging further includes:

a means for receiving a reply message from that one of the first set of one or more peer devices, the reply message to include the persona information of the user of the peer device.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising:

a means for analyzing the persona information received in the reply message.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a means for generating a user interface to display the visualization.

32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for initializing a relationship includes a means for performing a conversation over the network between one of the first set of one or more peer devices and the apparatus.

33. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for initializing a relationship includes a means for swapping a content file over the network between the first set of one or more peer devices and the apparatus.

34. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the means for initializing a relationship includes a means for performing a gaming session over the network between one of the first set of one or more peer device and the apparatus.