Method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture for reliable low-bandwidth information delivery across mixed-mode unicast and multicast networks
First Claim
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1. A method for communication in a network, the method comprising:
- receiving information regarding a first node associated with a first player, the first player having associated first player properties;
receiving information regarding a second node associated with a second player having associated second player properties, which are either a set of device specific properties or a set of human specific properties;
receiving information regarding a third node associated with a third player having associated third player properties, which are either a set of device specific properties or a set of human specific properties, wherein at least one of said players is a human;
communicatively coupling said second node to said first node and coupling said third node to said second node, to enable communication between said first, second, and third nodes via an IP multicast network so as to enable a sum of said first, second, and third player properties to form an information base for each of said nodes;
in response to one of said nodes becoming disconnected from other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes, updating said information base of each of said other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes to remove the associated player properties of said disconnected node, and updating said information base of said disconnected node to remove the associated player properties of said other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes; and
in response to said disconnected node becoming communicatively reconnected to a particular one of said communicatively coupled nodes, updating said information base of said communicatively reconnected node and said particular node and any node communicatively coupled thereto to include the associated player properties of said communicatively reconnected node.
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Abstract
A system and method are provided wherein information is disseminated using a reliable IP multicast network implementation coupled with dynamically assigned proxy nodes serving as zonal aggregation points. These nodes share information with each other over the reliable IP multicast network, augmenting this function with a reliable point-to-point communication infrastructure between proxy nodes in those instances where IP multicast is not available or prone to error.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for communication in a network, the method comprising:
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receiving information regarding a first node associated with a first player, the first player having associated first player properties; receiving information regarding a second node associated with a second player having associated second player properties, which are either a set of device specific properties or a set of human specific properties; receiving information regarding a third node associated with a third player having associated third player properties, which are either a set of device specific properties or a set of human specific properties, wherein at least one of said players is a human; communicatively coupling said second node to said first node and coupling said third node to said second node, to enable communication between said first, second, and third nodes via an IP multicast network so as to enable a sum of said first, second, and third player properties to form an information base for each of said nodes; in response to one of said nodes becoming disconnected from other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes, updating said information base of each of said other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes to remove the associated player properties of said disconnected node, and updating said information base of said disconnected node to remove the associated player properties of said other ones of said communicatively coupled nodes; and in response to said disconnected node becoming communicatively reconnected to a particular one of said communicatively coupled nodes, updating said information base of said communicatively reconnected node and said particular node and any node communicatively coupled thereto to include the associated player properties of said communicatively reconnected node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of distributed communication devices adapted to communicate with each other in an IP multicast network without use of a centralized server, each of said communication devices being associated with a respective player having respective player properties, the player properties of at least one of the players including a set of human specific properties, that are communicated to other ones of said communication devices so that each communication device is aware of respective player properties of all communicatively coupled communication devices in said IP multicast network; and an information base for each of said communication devices, said information base being updated to remove the respective player properties of any of said communication devices that are communicatively decoupled from said IP multicast network and to add the respective player properties of any new ones of said communication devices that are communicatively coupled to said IP multicast network. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions that are stored thereon and executable by a processor of one of a plurality of distributed communication devices, to; communicate with other ones of said communication devices in an IP multicast network without use of a centralized server, each of said communication devices being associated with a respective human player having respective player properties that include a set of human specific properties that are communicated to other ones of said communication devices so that each communication device is aware of respective player properties of all communicatively coupled communication devices in said IP multicast network; and update an information base, said information base being updated to remove the respective player properties of any of said communication devices that are communicatively decoupled from said IP multicast network and to add the respective player properties of any new ones of said communication devices that are communicatively coupled to said IP multicast network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A network computing apparatus, comprising:
a communication device communicatively coupleable with a plurality of distributed communication devices adapted to communicate with each other in an IP multicast network without use of a centralized server, at least one of said communication devices configured to be associated with a respective human player having respective player properties associated with the at least one of said communication devices that are able to be communicated to other ones of said communication devices so that each communication device is aware of respective player properties of all communicatively coupled communication devices in said IP multicast network, wherein each of said communication devices is associated with a respective information base configured to be updated to remove the respective player properties of any of said communication devices that are communicatively decoupled from said IP multicast network and to add the respective player properties of any new ones of said communication devices that are communicatively coupled to said IP multicast network, the communication device including; a processor adapted to perform said update of the respective information base of the communication device; a storage unit coupled to said processor and adapted to store the respective information base that includes the respective player properties of the communication device and the respective player properties of coupled other ones of said communication devices; and a communication interface coupled to said processor and to said storage unit and coupleable to said IP multicast network, and adapted to send and receive respective player properties of said devices and other communication with other ones of said devices via said IP multicast network. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
Specification