Formation and rearrangement of lender devices that perform multiplexing functions

• US 9,100,987 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2012
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Christopher J., Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Li, Jenny S.
• Primary Examiner(s): CATTUNGAL, AJAY P
• Application Number:
  US13/595,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20120314622A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 includes 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 include 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 first communication protocol, and the borrower communicates with another one of the at least two lenders via a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol,

the ad-hoc network is configured for the at least two lenders to lend bandwidth to the borrower for file transfer, and

the multiplexer is configured to allocate file portions in the ad hoc network.

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 first communication protocol comprises a cellular communication protocol; and

the second communication protocol comprises a local wireless communication protocol that is different from the cellular communication protocol.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein 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.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein 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.

19. A method of transferring data over a bandwidth sharing ad hoc network, comprising:

receiving a table from a bandwidth borrower, wherein the table indicates a file requested for transfer over a bandwidth sharing ad hoc network;

adding data to the table, wherein the data includes a request to act as a multiplexer for the bandwidth sharing ad hoc network;

transmitting the table with the added data to the bandwidth borrower; and

managing transfer of the file over the bandwidth sharing ad-hoc network based on required criteria.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the bandwidth sharing ad-hoc network comprises the bandwidth borrower and at least one bandwidth lender;

the bandwidth sharing ad-hoc network is configured such that the bandwidth borrower communicates with the at least one bandwidth lender via a first communication protocol; and

the managing the transfer of the file over the bandwidth sharing ad-hoc network comprises a multiplexer communicating with the borrower and the at least one lender via a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol.