Mapping file fragments to file information and tagging in a segmented file sharing system

• US 8,775,562 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2007
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chavez, Timothy R., Lauridsen, Christina K., Patel, Sushma B., Peterson, Robert R., Salem, Loulwa F., Seacat, Lisa A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gorney, Boris
• Application Number:
  US11/761,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20080133706A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,583 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• 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

Abstract

A peer-to-peer file sharing client with background file sharing is provided in a segmented peer-to-peer file sharing network. A user may elect to “tag” a torrent when a new file is submitted to the peer-to-peer system. A user may view the various tags with one or more file fragments that the user is hosting in the background. The user may view the tags for all fragments being shared in the background and search the tags. The peer-to-peer system may store metadata tags for the torrents in a central repository, such as a relational database, or in a distributed hash table.

Claims

1. A method in a peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system for background file sharing in a peer-to-peer file sharing network, the method comprising:

allocating background resources in the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system for background file sharing comprising a specified amount of bandwidth and a specified amount of storage space to be used for background file sharing;

growing a background swarm by requesting, by the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system, at least one file fragment for a file from the background swarm for background file sharing such that the at least one file fragment becomes available to be distributed from the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system to peer data processing systems in the background swarm;

receiving, by the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system, the at least one file fragment from the background swarm for background file sharing of a file using at least a portion of the specified amount of bandwidth;

temporarily storing, by the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system, the at least one file fragment in at least a portion of the specified amount of storage space;

for a given file fragment within the at least one file fragment, identifying a key value;

looking up file information for the given file fragment using the key value, wherein the file information includes tags assigned to the file; and

presenting the file information to a user,

wherein the at least one file fragment is part of a file that is not being downloaded in the foreground.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the given file fragment has an associated hash value and a position value that represents the given file fragment'"'"'s position within the file.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying a key value comprises concatenating the hash value and the position value to form the key value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein looking up file information comprises looking up a torrent name in a torrent table using the key value as a key.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the torrent table is a distributed hash table that is distributed among a plurality of peer-to-peer clients.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein looking up file information further comprises looking up tag information in a tag table using the torrent name as a key.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the tag table is a distributed hash table that is distributed among a plurality of peer-to-peer clients.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the tag information comprises one or more tags and one or more count values, wherein each tag has a respective count value.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the user selecting a given tag within the tags assigned to the file, looking up torrent information in a tag-to-torrent table using the tag as a key; and

presenting the torrent information to the user.

10. A peer-to-peer file sharing client for background file sharing in a peer-to-peer file sharing network, the peer-to-peer file sharing client comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory contains instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

allocate background resources in the peer-to-peer file sharing client for background file sharing comprising a specified amount of bandwidth and a specified amount of storage space to be used for background file sharing;

grow a background swarm by requesting at least one file fragment for a file from the background swarm for background file sharing such that the at least one file fragment becomes available to be distributed from the peer-to-peer file sharing client to peer data processing systems in the background swarm;

receive the at least one file fragment from the background swarm for background file sharing of a file using at least a portion of the specified amount of bandwidth;

temporarily store the at least one file fragment in at least a portion of the specified amount of storage space;

for a given file fragment within the at least one file fragment, identify a key;

look up file information for the given file fragment using the key, wherein the file information includes tags assigned to the file; and

present the file information to a user,

wherein the at least one file fragment is part of a file that is not being downloaded in the foreground.

11. The peer-to-peer file sharing client of claim 10, wherein the given file fragment has an associated hash value and a position value that represents the given file fragment'"'"'s position within the file and wherein identifying a key value comprises concatenating the hash value and the position value to form the key value.

12. The peer-to-peer file sharing client of claim 10, wherein looking up file information comprises looking up a torrent name in a torrent table using the key value as a key.

13. The peer-to-peer file sharing client of claim 12, wherein looking up file information further comprises looking up tag information in a tag table using the torrent name as a key.

14. The peer-to-peer file sharing client of claim 13, wherein the tag information comprises one or more tags and one or more count values, wherein each tag has a respective count value.

15. The peer-to-peer file sharing client of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

responsive to the user selecting a given tag within the tags assigned to the file, look up torrent information in a tag-to-torrent table using the tag as a key; and

present the torrent information to the user.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system, causes the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system to:

allocate background resources in the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system for background file sharing comprising a specified amount of bandwidth and a specified amount of storage space to be used for background file sharing;

grow a background swarm by requesting at least one file fragment for a file from the background swarm for background file sharing such that the at least one file fragment becomes available to be distributed from the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system to peer data processing systems in the background swarm;

receive the at least one file fragment from the background swarm for background file sharing of a file using at least a portion of the specified amount of bandwidth;

temporarily store the at least one file fragment in at least a portion of the specified amount of storage space;

for a given file fragment within the at least one file fragment, identify a key;

look up file information for the given file fragment using the key, wherein the file information includes tags assigned to the file; and

present the file information to a user,

wherein the at least one file fragment is part of a file that is not being downloaded in the foreground.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the given file fragment has an associated hash value and a position value that represents the given file fragment'"'"'s position within the file and wherein identifying a key value comprises concatenating the hash value and the position value to form the key value.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein looking up file information comprises looking up a torrent name in a torrent table using the key value as a key and looking up tag information in a tag table using the torrent name as a key.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the tag information comprises one or more tags and one or more count values, wherein each tag has a respective count value.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system, further causes the peer-to-peer file sharing client data processing system to:

responsive to the user selecting a given tag within the tags assigned to the file, look up torrent information in a tag-to-torrent table using the tag as a key; and

present the torrent information to the user.