Method and apparatus for efficiently expanding a P2P network
First Claim
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1. A method for transferring data from a first node to a second node in a network, said method comprising steps of:
- receiving, at a third node in the network, a search request message originating from said second node, said search request message requesting the data;
determining, by the third node, that the first node has the data and that the search request message will not reach the first node; and
sending, by the third node, a response message to said second node said response message indicating that said first node has the data, wherein said sending comprises;
locating information related to said data in a database associated with said third node, where said database includes at least one entry comprising information taken from a prior response message received by said third node in connection with a prior transfer of said data, the prior response message including a dedicated field that explicitly indicates a length of time for which said data will be available at said first node; and
constructing said response message using said information taken from said prior response message, wherein said information taken from said prior response message comprises at least one of;
a name of said data, a description of content of said data, a size of said data, a type of said data, a time of said prior transfer of said data, a number of hops separating said third node from said first node, meta data related to said prior response message, a source of said data, or said prior response message,wherein the search request message specifies that the response message must come from a source of the data unless a hop count of the search request message has reached a specified value, and wherein the search request message further specifies that the response message is permitted to come from a node other than the source of the data when the hop count reaches the specified value, andwherein at least one of;
the receiving, the determining, or the sending is performed using a processor.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present method and apparatus for efficiently expanding a P2P network includes receiving a search request message from a requesting node and sending a response message to the requesting node on behalf of a node that has the requested data, where the response message originates at an intermediate node. The intermediate node may respond on behalf of the “responding” node, for example, in cases where the responding node is too far away from the requesting node to receive the search request message.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for transferring data from a first node to a second node in a network, said method comprising steps of:
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receiving, at a third node in the network, a search request message originating from said second node, said search request message requesting the data; determining, by the third node, that the first node has the data and that the search request message will not reach the first node; and sending, by the third node, a response message to said second node said response message indicating that said first node has the data, wherein said sending comprises; locating information related to said data in a database associated with said third node, where said database includes at least one entry comprising information taken from a prior response message received by said third node in connection with a prior transfer of said data, the prior response message including a dedicated field that explicitly indicates a length of time for which said data will be available at said first node; and constructing said response message using said information taken from said prior response message, wherein said information taken from said prior response message comprises at least one of;
a name of said data, a description of content of said data, a size of said data, a type of said data, a time of said prior transfer of said data, a number of hops separating said third node from said first node, meta data related to said prior response message, a source of said data, or said prior response message,wherein the search request message specifies that the response message must come from a source of the data unless a hop count of the search request message has reached a specified value, and wherein the search request message further specifies that the response message is permitted to come from a node other than the source of the data when the hop count reaches the specified value, and wherein at least one of;
the receiving, the determining, or the sending is performed using a processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer readable storage device containing an executable program for transferring data from a first node to a second node in a network, where the program performs steps of:
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receiving, at a third node in the network, a search request message originating from said second node, said search request message requesting the data; determining, by the third node, that the first node has the data and that the search request message will not reach the first node; and sending, by the third node, a response message to said second node, said response message indicating that said first node has the data, wherein said sending comprises; locating information related to said data in a database associated with said third node, where said database includes at least one entry comprising information taken from a prior response message received by said third node in connection with a prior transfer of said data, the prior response message including a dedicated field that explicitly indicates a length of time for which said data will be available at said first node; and constructing said response message using said information taken from said prior response message, wherein said information taken from said prior response message comprises at least one of;
a name of said data, a description of content of said data, a size of said data, a type of said data, a time of said prior transfer of said data, a number of hops separating said third node from said first node, meta data related to said prior response message, a source of said data, or said prior response message,wherein the search request message specifies that the response message must come from a source of the data unless a hop count of the search request message has reached a specified value, and wherein the search request message further specifies that the response message is permitted to come from a node other than the source of the data when the hop count reaches the specified value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus comprising:
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for an input device for receiving, at a third node in the network, a search request message originating from said second node, said search request message requesting the data; a processor for determining, by the third node, that the first node has the data and that the search request message will not reach the first node; an output device for sending, by the third node, a response message to said second node, said response message indicating that said first node has the data; and a database associated with said third node, where said database includes at least one entry comprising information taken from a prior response message received by said third node in connection with a prior transfer of said data, the prior response message including a dedicated field that explicitly indicates a length of time for which said data will be available at said first node, wherein the processor additionally locates information related to said data in said database, wherein the output device additionally constructs said response message using said information taken from said prior response message, wherein said information taken from said prior response message comprises at least one of;
a name of said data, a description of content of said data, a size of said data, a type of said data, a time of said prior transfer of said data, a number of hops separating said third node from said first node, meta data related to said prior response message, a source of said data, or said prior response message, andwherein the search request message specifies that the response message must come from a source of the data unless a hop count of the search request message has reached a specified value, and wherein the search request message further specifies that the response message is permitted to come from a node other than the source of the data when the hop count reaches the specified value.
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Specification