Optimizing communication using scaleable peer groups

• US 7,640,299 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2006
• Issued: 12/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kaler, Christopher G., Hasha, Richard L., Kakivaya, Gopala Krishna R., Wilson, Hervey Oliver
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer; Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eskandarnia; Arvin
• Application Number:
  US11/325,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20060117025A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1059 Inter-group management mechanisms, e.g. splitting, merging or interconnection of groups
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1065 Discovery involving distributed pre-established resource-based relationships among peers, e.g. based on distributed hash tables [DHT] pre-configuration of logical or physical connections H04L67/1053
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• 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

Implementations of the present invention relate in part to optimizations to peer-to-peer communication systems. For example, one implementation relates to use of a smart transceiver that creates, caches, and manages communication channels dynamically between peers. Another implementation relates to use of a central tracking object that can be used to efficiently register and distribute peer messages among the various peers. In one implementation, the central tracking object is shared amongst peers in the group. Still another implementation relates to associating peer groups with namespaces, and for including peer groups of one namespace within still other peer groups of different namespaces. These and other aspects of the invention can also be used to ensure delivery intent of a given peer message is preserved, and to ensure that optimal numbers of messages are communicated to any given peer at any given time.

Claims

1. At a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer communication system in which the peer communicates messages with a peer group of one or more other peers, a method of optimizing communication of peer messages among the one or more peers in the peer group based on one or more delivery constraints, comprising the acts of:

the peer computer system receiving a peer message over a peer-to-peer communication network from an originating peer, the peer message for delivery to one or more recipient peers in the peer group, the peer message including one or more delivery constraints indicative of a message delivery intent of the originating peer for the message;

referencing a central tracking object, the central tracking object for sharing messaging sending and receiving annotations among the peers in the peer group, the sending and receiving annotations indicating any of the peers that previously sent or received the peer message such that the sending and receiving annotations relate to the one or more delivery constraints of the peer message, the central tracking object stored at least in part in a designated share partition at the peer computer system such that at least part of the central tracking object is shareable with other peers to propagate sending and receiving message annotations with other peers;

accessing sending and receiving annotations for the peer message from the central tracking object;

evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message; and

determining what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent based on the delivery constraint evaluation so as to preserve the delivery intent of the originating peer for the message.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more delivery constraints comprise the delivery intent delivering the peer message to any one of the one or more peers in a peer group so as to conserve resources by limiting delivery of the peer message to a single peer in the peer group.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the act of evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message comprises an act of identifying from the central tracking object that the peer message has already been delivered to a different one of the one or more peers in the peer groups;

wherein the act of determining what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent comprises an act of determining that the peer message is to be discarded; and

further comprising;

an act of discarding the peer message to preserve the delivery intent of delivering the peer message to any one of the one or more peers in the peer groups.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more delivery constraints comprise the delivery intent of having one peer, from among any peers that receive the message, respond to the peer message so as to conserve resources by limiting the number of generated responses to the peer message.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message comprises an act of identifying from the central tracking object that no response has been sent from any of the one or more peers in the peer group;

wherein the act of determining what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent comprises an act of determining that a peer response message is to be sent; and

further comprising;

an act of sending the peer response message; and

an act of registering an entry in the central tracking object that the peer computer has sent a response to the peer message.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the central tracking object is shared among all of the one or more peers in the peer group.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an act of registering an entry with a central tracking object that indicates that a new peer message is intended to be sent to any one of the one or more peers in the peer group.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an act of receiving a different peer message from one of the one or more peers in the peer group, the different peer message indicating that it is to be sent to any of the one or more peers.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the acts of:

identifying from a central tracking object that there is no registration entry indicating that the different peer message has been received by any of the one or more peers; and

processing the different peer message.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the act of evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message comprises an act of identifying a registration entry at the central tracking object, the registration entry indicating that the different peer message has already been received by at least one of the one or more peers;

and further comprising;

an act of discarding the different peer message in response to the indication that the message has already been received.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an act of receiving a different peer message from one of the one or more peers in the peer group, the different peer message indicating that it requires only one response from the one or more peers in the peer group.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the act of evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message comprises an act of identifying from the central tracking object that there is no registration entry indicating that an answer has been sent in response to the different peer message by any of the one or more peers;

further comprising;

an act of sending a response for the different peer message; and

an act of registering an entry in the central tracking object indicating that the response has been sent for the different peer message.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the act of evaluating the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message comprises an act of identifying from any of the central tracking object or a different central tracking object owned by another of the one or more peers that there is a registration entry indicating that an answer has been sent in response to the different peer message by any of the one or more peers;

and further comprising;

an act of discarding the different peer message.

14. At a peer un a peer-to-peer communication system in which the peer communicates messages with a peer group of one or more other peers, a computer program product implementing a method for optimizing communication of peer messages among the one or more peers in the peer group based on delivery constraints, the computer program product comprising one or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the peer to perform the method, including the following:

receive a peer message over a peer-to-peer communication network from an originating peer, the peer message for delivery to one or more recipient peers in the peer group, the peer message including one or more delivery constraints indicative of a message delivery intent of the originating peer for the message;

reference a central tracking object, the central tracking object for sharing messaging sending and receiving annotations among the peers in the peer group, the sending and receiving annotations indicating any of the peers that previously sent or received the peer message such that the sending and receiving annotations relate to the one or more delivery constraints of the peer message, the central tracking object stored at least in part in a designated share partition at the peer computer system such that at least part of the central tracking object is shareable with other peers to propagate sending and receiving message annotations with other peers;

evaluate the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message; and

determine what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent based on the delivery constraint evaluation so as to preserve the delivery intent of the originating peer for the message.

15. The computer program product recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more delivery constraints comprise the delivery intent of delivering the peer message to any one of the one or more peers in the peer group so as to conserve resources by limiting delivery of the peer message to a single peer in the peer group.

16. The computer program product recited in claim 15, wherein computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to evaluate the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message comprise wherein computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to identify from the central tracking object that the peer message has already been delivered to a different one of the one or more peers in the peer group;

wherein computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to determine what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent comprises an act of determining that the peer message is to be discarded; and

further comprising;

computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to discard the peer message to preserve the delivery intent of delivering the peer message to any one of the one or more peers in the peer groups.

17. The computer program product recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more delivery constraints comprise the delivery intent of having one peer, from among any peers that receive the message, respond to the peer message so as to conserve resources by limiting the number of generated responses to the peer message.

18. The computer program product recited in claim 15, wherein computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to evaluate the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to identify from the central tracking object that no response has been sent from any of the one or more peers in the peer group;

computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to determine what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to determine that a peer response message is to be sent; and

further comprising;

computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to send the peer response message; and

computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer to register an entry in the central tracking object that the peer computer has sent a response to the peer message.

19. A peer computer system, the peer computer system comprising:

one or more processors;

system memory; and

one or more computer storage media having stored there on computer-executable instructions representing a peer in a peer group, the peer configured to;

receive a peer message over a peer-to-peer communication network from an originating peer, the peer message for delivery to one or more recipient peers in the peer group, the peer message including one or more delivery constraints defining a message delivery intent of the originating peer for the message, the delivery constraints indicating how many peers are to receive the peer message and how many peers are to respond to the peer message so as to conserve resources by reducing network traffic within the peer group;

reference a central tracking object, the central tracking object for sharing messaging sending and receiving annotations among the peers in the peer group, the sending and receiving annotations indicating any of the peers that previously sent or received the peer message such that the sending and receiving annotations relate to the one or more delivery constraints of the peer message, the central tracking object stored at least in part in a designated share partition at the peer computer system such that at least part of the central tracking object is shareable with other peers to propagate sending and receiving message annotations with other peers;

evaluate the one or more delivery constraints for the peer message based on the accessed sending and receiving annotations for the peer message; and

determine what, if any, further peer messages are to be sent based on the delivery constraint evaluation so as to preserve the delivery intent of the originating peer for the message.