Bidding network

• US 8,014,389 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2005
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zarbana Digital Fund LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lippershy Celestial LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander, Khan, Shabbir
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao; Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rutkowski; Jeffrey M
• Application Number:
  US11/296,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20070133571A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,100 Days
• Field of Search: 370/395.2, 370/400, 370/395.21, 370/401, 370/353, 370/354, 370/356, 370/377, 370/384, 370/385, 370/386, 370/396, 370/395.3, 370/428, 709/227, 709/238, 709/242, 709/244, 709/225, 709/226, 709/243, 709/249, 705/26, 705/37
• US Class Current: 370/385
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/145 trading network capacity or selecting route based on tariff
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of transmitting digital objects to a destination. In particular, disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of facilitating bidding for the business of forwarding digital objects in a data transmission network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

a computing device receiving, through a first network, a digital transmission form specifying a bid request for transmission of a particular digital object to a destination node, wherein the destination node is in a second network, and wherein the first network is configured to manage the forwarding of digital objects via the second network;

the computing device forwarding the digital transmission form to a plurality of nodes in the first network;

the computing device receiving a bid reply from a different node in the first network, wherein the bid reply indicates an ability of one or more of the plurality of nodes in the first network to manage the forwarding of the particular digital object via the second network, and wherein the bid reply includes a service term; and

the computing device using the received bid reply to cause the particular digital object to be forwarded from a source node in the second network to the destination node in the second network without being forwarded through the computing device or the different node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular digital object includes digital audio content or digital video content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the particular digital object to be forwarded from the source node to the destination node includes causing the particular digital object to be forwarded without traveling via any network link of the first network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital transmission form is received from the source node or an Internet service provider.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the computing device maintaining an account of accrued charges associated with services rendered on behalf of the source node or the Internet service provider.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the different node via which the bid reply is received is one of the plurality of nodes in the first network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the service term includes at least a price term.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a node in the second network and is a node in the first network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular digital object is a portion of a larger digital object.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the service term includes at least a term specifying a quality-of-service for transmission.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the computing device altering information within the digital transmission form prior to forwarding the digital transmission form to the plurality of nodes in the first network.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving multiple bid replies from the one or more of the plurality of nodes in the first network.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second network includes a first wireless communication link.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a computing platform including a memory and a processor, wherein the computing platform is configured to;

receive a digital transmission form via a first network coupled to the computing platform, wherein the digital transmission form specifies a bid request for transmission of a particular digital object to a destination node, wherein the destination node is in a second network, and wherein the first network is configured to manage the forwarding of digital objects via the second network;

initiate forwarding of the digital transmission form to a plurality of nodes in the first network;

receive a first bid in reply to the digital transmission form, wherein the first bid is received from one of the plurality of nodes in the first network, wherein the first bid includes a service term; and

in response to the first bid, cause the particular digital object to be transmitted from a source node in the second network to the destination node in the second network without being forwarded through the computing platform or the one of the plurality of nodes in the first network from which the first bid was received.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the computing platform is further configured to receive a plurality of bids in reply to the digital transmission form, wherein at least one of the plurality of bids is for a sub-object of the particular digital object.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the service term includes a term indicating a time of delivery for a transmission for the particular digital object.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first network includes communication links that are not part of the second network;

and

wherein the second network is configured to include at least one of the plurality of nodes in the first network.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the destination node is not an ultimate destination of a transmission of the particular digital object.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the digital transmission form specifies a plurality of destination nodes in the second network, and wherein the computing platform is further configured to cause the particular digital object to be transmitted to the plurality of destination nodes in the second network.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the digital transmission form specifies a plurality of destination nodes in the second network, and wherein the received bid from the one of the plurality of nodes is a bid for transmission of the particular digital object to one of the plurality of destination nodes.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the computing platform is further configured to cause payment to be made in response to the destination node re-transmitting the particular digital object to other downstream nodes.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the particular digital object includes digital audio content or digital video content, and wherein the service term includes a price term.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the particular digital object is a portion of a larger digital object.

24. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the computing platform is configured to alter information in the digital transmission form prior to initiating forwarding of the digital transmission form to the plurality of nodes in the first network.

25. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second network includes a first wireless communication link.

26. An apparatus comprising:

first means for receiving a digital transmission form through a first network, wherein the digital transmission form specifies a bid request for transmission of a particular digital object through at least a portion of a second network to a first destination within the second network, and wherein the first network includes a plurality of devices configured to manage the transmission of digital objects through the second network;

second means for forwarding the digital transmission form to one or more of the plurality of devices in the first network;

third means for receiving a bid from a different node in the first network indicating an ability of the one or more devices to manage the transmission of the particular digital object through the at least a portion of the second network, wherein the bid includes a service term; and

fourth means for causing the particular digital object to be transmitted from a source node in the second network through the at least a portion of the second network to at least the first destination node in the second network in accordance with the received bid, wherein said causing the particular digital object to be transmitted does not include the particular digital object being forwarded through the apparatus or the different node.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the particular digital object is a sub-object of another digital object.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the second means for forwarding the digital transmission form is further for altering information in the digital transmission form prior to said forwarding.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said fourth means is further for causing the particular digital object to be wirelessly transmitted through the at least a portion of the second network.

30. An article comprising a non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform operations including:

receiving, via a first network, a digital transmission form specifying a bid request for transmission of a particular digital object to a destination node, wherein the destination node is in a second network, and wherein the first network is configured to manage the forwarding of digital objects via at least a portion of the second network;

forwarding the digital transmission form to a plurality of nodes in the first network;

receiving information from one or more of the plurality of nodes, wherein the received information includes a bid reply received from a different node, wherein the bid reply includes a service term and indicates an ability of the one or more of the plurality of nodes to manage the forwarding of the particular digital object via the at least a portion of the second network; and

causing the particular digital object to be forwarded from a source node in the second network to the destination node via the at least a portion of the second network without being forwarded through the computing device or the different node.

31. The article of claim 30, wherein the digital transmission form specifies a plurality of destination nodes, and wherein the operations further include causing the particular digital object to be forwarded to the plurality of destination nodes without being forwarded through at least one additional node of the first network.

32. The article of claim 30, wherein the operations further include altering information in the digital transmission form prior to said forwarding, wherein the altered information is based, at least in part, on the received information from the one or more of the plurality of nodes.

33. The article of claim 30, wherein the bid request specifies a quality of service requested for forwarding of the particular digital object, and wherein the service term in the bid reply includes an indication of whether the quality of service requested will be provided.

34. The article of claim 30, wherein the information received from the one or more of the plurality of nodes includes a plurality of competing bid replies.

35. The article of claim 30, wherein the service term includes a timeliness requirement for a transmission of the particular digital object.

36. The article of claim 30, wherein the computing device is configured to connect to the first network via a first communication link;

and

wherein the computing device is configured to connect to the second network via a second communication link that is separate from the first communication link.

37. The article of claim 30, wherein the second network is a wireless network.