System and method for facilitating a credit system in a peer-to-peer content delivery network

• US 7,937,362 B1
• Filed: 04/28/2006
• Issued: 05/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TV Bank Corporation
• Original Assignee: Roxbeam Media Network Corp. (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Xinyan, Lian, Qiao
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vo; Truong V
• Application Number:
  US11/413,941
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• Field of Search: 707/821, 707/809, 707/641, 707/622
• US Class Current: 707/622
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A system and method facilitate a credit system for providing user incentives to encourage data sharing in a P2P network. The credit system maintains a user credit database and respectively increases or decreases a user'"'"'s credits based on the data uploaded to or downloaded from other peer nodes. The credit system can also associate a user'"'"'s credits with economic value or rewards to encourage the user to share data with other peer nodes. In one embodiment, the credit system maintains a credit record for each user. The credit system increases the credit for a user based on the amount of data a peer node associated with the user uploads to other peer nodes in the P2P network. The credit system also decreases the credit for the user based on the amount of data downloaded by the peer node associated with the user.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating a credit system to provide user incentives in a peer-to-peer overlay (P2P) network, the method comprising:

receiving an upload report from a first peer node, wherein an unverified entry in the upload report comprises a destination user identifier and the amount of data uploaded, by a first user associated with the first peer node to a second peer node associated with a second user;

receiving a download report from the second peer node, wherein an entry in the download report indicates the amount of data received by the second user at the second peer node from the first peer node;

verifying the unverified entry in the upload report by matching the amount of uploaded data and the destination user identification in the unverified entry in the upload report to the corresponding amount of downloaded data in the second user'"'"'s entry and the second user'"'"'s identification in the download report; and

increasing credit for the first user in proportion to the verified amount of data uploaded by the first user from the first peer node to the second peer node; and

decreasing credit for the second user in proportion to the verified amount of data downloaded by the second user at the second peer node from the first peer node.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

increasing an economic value of an account for the first user based on the increased credit.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a download report from the first peer node, wherein the download report indicates the amount of data downloaded by the first peer node from a second peer node associated with a second user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an upload report from the second peer node, wherein the upload report indicates the amount of data uploaded by the second peer node to the first peer node associated with the first user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying the amount of data downloaded by the first peer node; and

decreasing the credit for the first user with whom the first peer node is associated based on the verification.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

decreasing an economic value of an account for the first user based on the decreased credit.

7. A credit system to provide user incentive in a P2P network, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a credit management mechanism configured to;

receiving an upload report from a first peer node, wherein an unverified entry in the upload report comprises a destination user identifier and the amount of data uploaded, by a first user associated with the first peer node to a second peer node associated with a second user;

receive a download report from the second peer node, wherein an entry in the download report indicates the amount of data received by the second user at the second peer node from the first peer node;

verifying the unverified entry in the upload report by matching the amount of uploaded data and the destination user identification in the unverified entry in the upload report to the corresponding amount of downloaded data in the second user'"'"'s entry and the second user'"'"'s identification in the download report; and

increasing credit for the first user in proportion to the verified amount of data uploaded by the first user from the first peer node to the second peer node; and

decreasing credit for the second user in proportion to the verified amount of data downloaded by the second user at the second peer node from the first peer node.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the credit management mechanism is configured to:

increase an economic value of an account for the first user based on the increased credit.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a report receiving mechanism configured to receive a download report from the first peer node, wherein the download report indicates the amount of data downloaded by the first peer node from a second peer node associated with a second user.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the report receiving mechanism is further configured to:

receive an upload report from a second peer node, wherein the upload report indicates the amount of data uploaded by the second peer node to the first peer node associated with the first user.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a verification mechanism configured to verify the amount of data downloaded by the first peer node; and

wherein the credit management mechanism is configured to decrease the credit for the first user with whom the first peer node is associated based on the verification.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the credit management mechanism is configured to:

decreasing an economic value of an account for the first user based on the decreased credit.