Systems and methods for establishing gateway bandwidth sharing ad-hoc networks

• US 7,873,019 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wrp IP Management, LLC
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Finn, Peter G., Mullins, Philip K., Dawson, Christopher J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Li, Jenny S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang; Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Siddiqui; Kashif
• Application Number:
  US11/755,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20080298327A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,328 Days
• Field of Search: 370310-350
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/108 characterised by resources being split in blocks or fragments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1091 Interfacing with client-server systems or between P2P systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54

Abstract

Sytems and methods for establising gateway bandwidth sharing ad hoc networks. In a first aspect, a method includes establishing a relationship with a gateway that retrieves data from a remote location and divides the data into at least a first portion and a second portion. The method further includes establising an ad hoc network comprising at least one local lender, receiving the first portion from the gateway via the at least one local lender, receiving the second portion from the gateway, and joining the first portion and the second portion to re-create the data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a relationship with a gateway that retrieves data from a remote location and divides the data into at least a first portion and a second portion;

establishing an ad hoc network comprising at least one local lender;

receiving the first portion from the gateway via the at least one local lender;

receiving the second portion from the gateway;

joining the first portion and the second portion to re-create the data;

the gateway receiving lender information from a borrower, the lender information including;

availability of each of a plurality of potential lenders, available bandwidth of each of the plurality of potential lenders, price of each of the plurality of potential lenders, and reliability of each of the plurality of potential lenders;

the gateway determining, based on the lender information, one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network; and

the gateway apportioning, based on the lender information, the data file amongst the one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the second portion from the gateway comprises receiving the second portion from the gateway via a second local lender of the ad hoc network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one local lender comprises a wireless computing device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the first portion is transferred from the gateway to the at least one local lender via wireless telephony communication, and

the receiving the first portion from the gateway via the at least one local lender comprises receiving the first portion via local wireless communication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network comprises locating the plurality of potential lenders.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network comprises querying the plurality of potential lenders for availability of lending bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network comprises choosing the at least one local lender from the plurality of potential lenders.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or based on advertising content to one or more third parties.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 1.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving a remote location for a data file;

receiving an identity of at least one lender;

downloading an entirety of the data file from the remote location;

after the downloading, dividing the data file into at least a first portion and a second portion;

transferring the first portion and the second portion separately to a borrower of an ad hoc network;

the gateway device receiving lender information from the borrower, the lender information including;

availability of each of the plurality of potential lenders, available bandwidth of each of the plurality of potential lenders, price of each of the plurality of potential lenders, and reliability of each of the plurality of potential lenders;

the gateway device determining, based on the lender information, one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network; and

the gateway device apportioning, based on the lender information, the data file amongst the one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network,

wherein the receiving the remote location for the data file comprises a gateway device receiving the remote location for the data file from the borrower;

the receiving the identity of at least one lender comprises the gateway device receiving an identity of a plurality of potential lenders from the borrower; and

the gateway device performs the downloading, the dividing, and the transferring.

28. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the gateway device sending to the borrower a status message related to the transferring;

monitoring a status of the ad hoc network; and

the gateway device re-apportioning the data file amongst members of the ad hoc network based on the monitoring.

11. A method, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

establish a relationship with a gateway device;

establish an ad hoc network amongst local devices; and

receive a data file from a remote location via the gateway device and the local devices, or transmit a data file to a remote location via the local devices and the gateway device,

the gateway device receiving lender information from a borrower, the lender information including;

availability of each of a plurality of potential lenders, available bandwidth of each of the plurality of potential lenders, price of each of the plurality of potential lenders, and reliability of each of the plurality of potential lenders;

the gateway device determining, based on the lender information, one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network; and

the gateway device apportioning, based on the lender information, the data file amongst the one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network comprises locating the plurality of potential lenders.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network further comprises querying the plurality of potential lenders for availability of lending bandwidth.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the establishing an ad hoc network further comprises choosing the local devices from the plurality of potential lenders.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the data file from the remote location comprises:

receiving a first portion of the data file from a first one of the local devices;

receiving a second portion of the data file from either the gateway device or a second one of the local devices; and

joining the first portion and the second portion to recreate the data file.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the transmitting the data file to the remote location comprises:

dividing the data file into a first portion and a second portion;

transferring the first portion to a first one of the local devices; and

transferring the second portion to either the gateway device or a second one of the local devices.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the steps of claim 16 are provided by a service provider under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or based on advertising content to one or more third parties.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 16.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising sending identities of the local devices to the gateway device.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer usable non-transitory storage medium having a computer readable program embodied in the medium, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computing device causes the computing device to:

establish a relationship between a borrower and a gateway device;

establish an ad hoc network amongst local devices; and

receive a data file from a remote location via the gateway device and the local devices, or transmit a data file to a remote location via the local devices and the gateway device,

the gateway device receiving lender information from the borrower, the lender information including;

availability of each of a plurality of potential lenders, available bandwidth of each of the plurality of potential lenders, price of each of the plurality of potential lenders, and reliability of each of the plurality of potential lenders;

the gateway device determining, based on the lender information, one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network; and

the gateway device apportioning, based on the lender information, the data file amongst the one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the receiving a data file comprises:

receiving a first portion of the data file from a first one of the local devices;

receiving a second portion of the data file from either the gateway device or a second one of the local devices; and

joining the first portion and the second portion to recreate the data file.

22. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the transmitting the data file comprises:

the borrower dividing the data file into a first portion and a second portion;

the borrower transferring the first portion to a first one of the local devices; and

the borrower transferring the second portion to either the gateway device or a second one of the local devices.

23. A system comprising a server having a database containing data associated with one or more lenders and a borrower in an ad-hoc network, and at least one of a hardware and software component configured to:

establish a relationship between the borrower and a gateway device;

establish an ad hoc network amongst the borrower and the one or more lenders; and

one of receive a data file from a remote location via the gateway device and the one or more lenders, and transmit a data file to a remote location via the one or more lenders and the gateway device, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component comprises a processor,

the gateway device receiving lender information from the borrower, the lender information including;

availability of each of a plurality of potential lenders, available bandwidth of each of the plurality of potential lenders, price of each of the plurality of potential lenders, and reliability of each of the plurality of potential lenders;

the gateway device determining, based on the lender information, one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network; and

the gateway device apportioning, based on the lender information, the data file amongst the one or more of the plurality of potential lenders to be used in the ad hoc network.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component is configured to:

receive a first portion of the data file from a first one of the local devices;

receive a second portion of the data file from either the gateway device or a second one of the local devices; and

join the first portion and the second portion to recreate the data file.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component is configured to:

divide the data file into a first portion and a second portion;

transfer the first portion to a first one of the one or more lenders; and

transfer the second portion to either the gateway device or a second one of the one or more lenders.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the at least one of a hardware and software component.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component resides on a server provided by a service provider.