Formation and rearrangement of lender devices that perform multiplexing functions

• US 8,320,414 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Christopher J., Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Li, Jenny S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): CATTUNGAL, AJAY P
• Application Number:
  US11/755,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300889A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,007 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254, 370/328, 370/329, 370/331, 370/338, 370/337, 370/351, 370/352, 370/401, 370/466, 370/537, 370/539, 709/223, 709/235, 709/238, 709/246, 709/244, 709/249, 709/203
• US Class Current: 370/539
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method comprises establishing an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth and establishing one lender of the at least two lenders as a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network between the borrower and lenders of the at least two lenders of bandwidth. The method may include providing a computer infrastructure to perform the steps of the invention. A system is also provided which includes 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 hardware and/or software component. The system may further includes computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium to perform processes of the invention.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth; and

establishing one lender of the at least two lenders as a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network between the borrower and lenders of the at least two lenders of bandwidth,

wherein the ad-hoc network is established such that the borrower communicates with the multiplexer via a cellular communication protocol, and the borrower communicates with another one of the at least two lenders via a local wireless communication protocol that is different than the cellular communication protocol;

the establishing the one lender of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower designating the one lender of the at least two lenders to act as the multiplexer; and

the establishing the one lender of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower transmitting locations of some of the at least two lenders to the multiplexer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer has a bandwidth that is at least equal to an aggregated bandwidth of lenders of the at least two lenders.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the multiplexer has a bandwidth greater than an aggregated bandwidth of the lenders of the at least two lenders.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is configured to connect directly with lenders of the at least two lenders and the borrower.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is an intelligent device configured to perform multiplexing functions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing of the ad hoc network comprises:

creating a table and broadcasting the table over a network;

receiving the table in a substantially completed state from the at least two lenders;

selecting which of the at least two lenders meets established requirements to be the multiplexer based on information in the substantially completed table; and

requesting the one lender to be the multiplexer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the table is updated with information designating that the multiplexer is performing multiplexer functions for the ad hoc network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is performed in response to a borrower request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is performed proactively.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the borrower makes a determination as to whether the one lender meets requirements to be the multiplexer.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the established multiplexer is no longer available, or unable or unwilling to perform multiplexing functions.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining is found by not receiving data of the data flow.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising halting the dataflow after a predetermined period of time has expired.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising remaining in a multiplexed environment by establishing another lender of the at least two lenders as a new multiplexer.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating a table with a flag that a new multiplexer is requested and broadcasting the updated table, with at least one of the at least two lenders responding by updating the table with a desire to be the new multiplexer.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. A method, comprising:

establishing an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth by broadcasting a table to the at least two lenders;

requesting one of the at least two lenders to be a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network based on required criteria; and

establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer based on information provided by the at least two lenders which meets the required criteria,

wherein the ad hoc network is established such that the borrower communicates directly with another lender of the at least two lenders via a local wireless communication protocol;

the ad hoc network is configured for the borrower and the other lender to communicate with the multiplexer via a cellular communication protocol that is different than the local wireless communication protocol;

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower designating the one of the at least two lenders to act as the multiplexer; and

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower transmitting locations of some of the at least two lenders to the multiplexer.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the multiplexer has a bandwidth that is at least equal to an aggregated bandwidth of lenders of the at least two lenders.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the multiplexer has a bandwidth greater than an aggregated bandwidth of the lenders of the at least two lenders.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the multiplexer is an intelligent device configured to perform multiplexing functions.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the table is updated with information designating that the multiplexer is performing multiplexer functions for the ad hoc network.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is performed in response to a borrower request or proactively.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining that the established multiplexer is no longer available, or unable or unwilling to perform multiplexing functions.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising remaining in a multiplexed environment by establishing another lender of the at least two lenders as a new multiplexer.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising updating the table with a flag that the new multiplexer is requested and broadcasting the updated table, with at least one of the at least two lenders responding by updating the table with a desire to be the new multiplexer.

27. The method of claim 18, wherein the steps of claim 18 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.

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

29. A method for providing a formation of a multiplexed ad-hoc network, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

establish an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth by broadcasting a table to the at least two lenders;

request one of the at least two lenders to be a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network; and

establish the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer based on required criteria provided by the borrower,

wherein the ad hoc network is established such that the borrower communicates directly with another lender of the at least two lenders via a local wireless communication protocol;

the ad hoc network is configured for the borrower and the other lender to communicate with the multiplexer via a cellular communication protocol that is different than the local wireless communication protocol;

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower designating the one of the at least two lenders to act as the multiplexer; and

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower transmitting locations of some of the at least two lenders to the multiplexer.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the establishing the multiplexer is based on information provided by the at least two lenders which meets the required criteria.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the multiplexer has a bandwidth that is at least equal to or greater than an aggregated bandwidth of lenders of the at least two lenders.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is established in response to a borrower request or proactively.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising determining that the established multiplexer is no longer available, or unable or unwilling to perform multiplexing functions and remaining in a multiplexed environment by establishing another lender of the at least two lenders as a new multiplexer.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising updating the table with a flag that a new multiplexer is requested and broadcasting the updated table, with at least one of the at least two lenders responding by updating the table with a desire to be the new multiplexer.

35. 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 for establishing an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth by broadcasting a table to the at least two lenders;

requesting one of the at least two lenders to be a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network based on required criteria; and

establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer based on information provided by the at least two lenders which meets the required criteria,

wherein the ad hoc network is established such that the borrower communicates directly with another lender of the at least two lenders via a local wireless communication protocol;

the ad hoc network is configured for the borrower and the other lender to communicate with the multiplexer via a cellular communication protocol that is different than the local wireless communication protocol;

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower designating the one of the at least two lenders to act as the multiplexer; and

the establishing the one of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower transmitting locations of some of the at least two lenders to the multiplexer.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component is configured to:

determine that the multiplexer is no longer available, or unable or unwilling to perform multiplexing functions; and

establish another lender of the at least two lenders as a new multiplexer.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the at least one of a hardware and software component.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one of a hardware and software component resides on a server provided by a service provider.

39. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer usable medium being an apparatus that stores the program code, the computer program product includes at least one component to:

establish an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth; and

establish one lender of the at least two lenders as a multiplexer to manage data flow over the ad-hoc network between the borrower and lenders of the at least two lenders of bandwidth,

wherein the ad hoc network is established such that the borrower communicates directly with another lender of the at least two lenders via a local wireless communication protocol;

the ad hoc network is configured for the borrower and the other lender to communicate with the multiplexer via a cellular communication protocol that is different than the local wireless communication protocol;

the establishing the one lender of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower designating the one lender of the at least two lenders to act as the multiplexer; and

the establishing the one lender of the at least two lenders as the multiplexer comprises the borrower transmitting locations of some of the at least two lenders to the multiplexer.