Methods, systems, and apparatus for fragmented file sharing
First Claim
1. A method for policy-based sharing of digital content, performed by one or more processors, comprising:
- discovering at least an uploader by a downloader, the discovery based on a determination of whether one or both of a first electronic content fragment and a second electronic content fragment need to be generated or dynamically obtained, and on information on one or more uploaders authorized to generate or dynamically provide one or both of the content fragments to the downloader;
obtaining the first electronic content fragment, the first content fragment forming at least a first portion of a piece of digital content, the first content fragment having policy information securely associated therewith;
obtaining a the second electronic content fragment, the second content fragment forming at least a second portion of the piece of digital content; and
constructing at least part of the piece of digital content by combining the first content fragment and the second content fragment under at least partial control of the policy information,wherein the policy information is located in a manifest securely associated with the piece of digital content or the first content fragment, the manifest comprising at least one element of information selected from the group consisting of;
a unique digital content identifier;
digital content metadata;
digital content distribution policy information;
digital content integrity policy information; and
digital content confidentiality policy information.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, software, and apparatus are described for facilitating the distribution and management of fragmented content. In one embodiment, a packager packages content into fragments and generates a manifest including policies and metadata associated with the content. A downloader obtains the manifest, and uses it to obtain the content from one or more uploaders. For example, a downloader might forward a search request to one or more trackers, which, in turn, are operable to locate one or more uploaders that can meet the request, subject to any relevant policy limitations. The uploaders forward fragments to the downloader, subject to any relevant policy. The downloader assembles the content from the fragments. The operations and interactions of the entities can be subject to policy limitations associated with the fragments, the content as a whole, or the like.
50 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for policy-based sharing of digital content, performed by one or more processors, comprising:
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discovering at least an uploader by a downloader, the discovery based on a determination of whether one or both of a first electronic content fragment and a second electronic content fragment need to be generated or dynamically obtained, and on information on one or more uploaders authorized to generate or dynamically provide one or both of the content fragments to the downloader; obtaining the first electronic content fragment, the first content fragment forming at least a first portion of a piece of digital content, the first content fragment having policy information securely associated therewith; obtaining a the second electronic content fragment, the second content fragment forming at least a second portion of the piece of digital content; and constructing at least part of the piece of digital content by combining the first content fragment and the second content fragment under at least partial control of the policy information, wherein the policy information is located in a manifest securely associated with the piece of digital content or the first content fragment, the manifest comprising at least one element of information selected from the group consisting of;
a unique digital content identifier;
digital content metadata;
digital content distribution policy information;
digital content integrity policy information; and
digital content confidentiality policy information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for policy-based sharing of digital content, comprising:
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a plurality of electronic content fragments, the plurality of content fragments forming at least a portion of a piece of digital content; a manifest configured to identify the plurality of content fragments, the manifest comprising policy information associated with at least one of the content fragments and/or the piece of digital content; and one or more hardware or firmware processors executing; an uploader configured to provide at least one of the content fragments; a downloader configured to obtain the plurality of content fragments and, in accordance with the policy information, make at least one use of the content fragments; and a tracker configured to facilitate discovery of at least the uploader by the downloader, the facilitation comprising determining, based on the policy information, whether one or more of the plurality of content fragments need to be generated or dynamically obtained, and providing information on one or more uploaders authorized to generate or dynamically provide the one or more content fragments to the downloader, wherein the manifest comprises at least one element of information selected from the group consisting of;
a unique digital content identifier;
digital content metadata;
digital content distribution policy information;
digital content integrity policy information; and
digital content confidentiality policy information. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for distributing digital content, performed by one or more processors, comprising:
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receiving complete digital content; transforming the complete digital content into a plurality of electronic content fragments; associating a policy with the digital content via a manifest; seeding at least one uploader with at least one of the plurality of electronic content fragments and the manifest; and determining, based on the policy information, whether one or more of the plurality of content fragments need to be generated or dynamically obtained, and providing information on one or more uploaders authorized to generate or dynamically provide the one or more content fragments to a potential downloader, wherein the manifest comprises at least one element of information selected from the group consisting of;
a unique digital content identifier;
digital content metadata;
digital content distribution policy information;
digital content integrity policy information; and
digital content confidentiality policy information. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification