Method and apparatus for sociable computing in ad-hoc and configured peer-to-peer networks

• US 9,262,743 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2011
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zerotouchdigital Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Zerotouchdigital Incorporated
• Inventors: Heins, Douglas B., Morey, Gregory M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Philip B
• Application Number:
  US13/281,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20120042000A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,575 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709204-205, 709223-224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Executing a program structure for spanning a thread of control and a thread of execution across multiple peers in a peer-to-peer network comprises generating a program structure comprising a plurality of program instructions. A first of a plurality of network peers then executes a portion of the program instructions which initiates the execution of code hosted by said first network peer, where said portion comprising fewer than all program instructions. The first network peer then migrates one or more of the program instructions, including one or more controlling program instructions, together with any requisite data, some of which may include control data, to at least one other of the plurality of network peer. The at least one other network peer then continues execution of the program instructions in accordance with the controlling program instructions and control data until one or more of the objections of the program structure are achieved.

Claims

1. A method of executing a program structure by leveraging a peer-to-peer network, the method comprising:

generating a program structure comprising a plurality of program instructions at a first of a plurality of network peers, wherein at least one of said program instructions of the program structure controls the manner in which at least a portion of said program structure is executed;

executing a first portion comprising fewer than all of said program instructions of the program structure in the first network peer, said first portion initiating the execution of code hosted by said first network peer, wherein at least one of the executed program instructions determines, by its execution, that said first network peer should migrate a second portion comprising fewer than all of said program instructions of the program structure to at least one other of said plurality of network peers;

migrating the second portion of the program instructions of the program structure, together with any requisite data, to said at least one other of the plurality of network peers in response to said determination by said at least one executed program instruction; and

continuing execution of the one or more program instructions at said at least one other network peer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the program instructions comprises one or more other program structures.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of said program instructions controls at least one of the initiation of program instruction execution and the manner of program instruction execution.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one program instruction causes the first network peer to apply different levels of control to different program instructions and any requisite data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said first network peer migrates the entire program structure, together with any requisite data, to the at least one other network peer for continued execution of said program structure.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising writing and inserting one or more program instructions into the program structure after the program structure has begun execution.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one program instruction controls at least one of the initiation of code execution and the manner in which said code is executed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one program instruction causes the first network peer to apply different levels of control to the initiation and manner of code execution and any requisite data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one program instruction comprises constraints, said constraints comprising one or more of a time to perform, a cost to perform, a quality to perform, a performance metric to perform, a software metric to perform, a reuse metric to perform, a router metric to perform, a connection metric to perform, a connectivity metric to perform, a networking metric to perform, a social metric to perform, a data analytic metric to perform, a data collection metric to perform, a user experience to perform, a quantitative metric to perform, a qualitative metric to perform, a priority to perform, and a location to perform one or more program instructions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one program instruction causes the insertion or deletion of one or more program instructions into the program structure.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the program structure comprises at least one program instruction indicating a starting position within the program structure, the method further comprising executing at least one deletion instruction for deleting all program instructions between the starting position and said deletion instruction.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one program instruction causes the insertion or deletion of one or more program instructions into or out of the program structure in real-time.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the first network peer modifying the program structure in response to a triggering event, said triggering event comprising at least one of an interrupted execution, a failed execution, and a completed execution of one or more program instructions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein modifying the program structure comprises at least one of writing and inserting one or more new program instructions into the program structure, and deleting one or more of the program instructions.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the migrating step comprises:

said first peer querying one or more network peers to identify the at least one other network peer; and

transferring one or more program instructions, together with any requisite data, to said at least one other network peer, wherein said first network peer comprises a network peer in possession of the program structure and wherein said at least one other peer comprises a network peer identified as capable of continuing execution of the transferred program instructions.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first network peer, in response to said querying step, receives information relating to one or more capabilities of one or more of the plurality of network peers, the method further comprising:

creating and storing a record of said capabilities; and

evaluating said record to identify said at least one other network peer.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating the migrating step until one or more objectives of the program structure are achieved.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein each program instruction of the program structure comprises meta-data that provides information relating to the functional capabilities required to carry-out one or more program instructions, and wherein said meta-data is readable by each of the plurality of network peers, the method further comprising:

said first network peer reading said meta-data and determining whether said first network peer hosts the appropriate code for execution in accordance with one or more program instructions.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first network peer encounters at least one program instruction that calls for the execution of code that is not hosted by said first network peer, and wherein the at least one other network peer is identified as hosting and as being capable of executing said code, the method further comprising:

migrating said at least one program instruction together with any requisite data, to said at least one other network peer,

said at least one other network peer executing the code called for by said at least one program instruction.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one program instruction causes the first network peer to generate at least one program instruction, and wherein a portion of the requisite data comprises control data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein initiation of the migrating step triggers execution of the at least one program instruction, said program instruction utilizing the control data during execution.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein at least one program instruction causes the at least one other network peer to generate at least one program instruction that is different than the least one program instruction generated by the first network peer.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising writing and inserting the at least one program instruction into the program structure after the program structure has begun execution, said at least one program instruction causing the program structure to write or delete control data.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network peers comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of personal computers, servers, mobile telephones, pagers, personal digital assistant (PDA), radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, data sensors, kiosks, automatic teller machines (ATMs), wireless fidelity (WiFi) access points, routers, embedded multi-dimensional barcodes, global positioning (GPS) devices, gaming devices, multi-media devices, cable set-top boxes, digital still and motion cameras, surveillance equipment, healthcare monitoring equipment, medical imaging devices, point-of-sale terminals, mobile entertainment devices, embedded devices, audio devices, video devices, banking and payment-processing devices, cloud storage and computing devices and data centers and assembly line components, inventory and supply chain management devices, database devices, broadcasting, telecommunications, terrestrial and cable communications.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more of said program instructions migrated to said at least one other of said plurality of network peers comprises said second portion of said program instructions when it is determined that said first network peer cannot execute said second portion of the program instructions.

26. A system for executing a program structure by leveraging a peer-to-peer network, the system comprising:

a plurality of network peers in communication with each other, each of said network peers comprising a memory for storing code, and a processor for executing said code, at least a first of said network peers comprising code that when executed causes said first network peer to;

generate a program structure comprising a plurality of program instructions, wherein at least one of said program instructions of the program structure controls the manner in which at least a portion of said program structure is executed;

execute a first portion comprising fewer than all of said program instructions of the program structure which initiate the execution of additional code hosted by said first network peer, wherein at least one of the executed program instructions determines, by its execution, that said first network peer should migrate a second portion comprising fewer than all of said program instructions of the program structure to at least one other of said plurality of network peers;

migrate the second portion of the program instructions of the program structure, together with any requisite data, to at least one other of the plurality of network peers in response to said determination by said at least one executed program instruction; and

continue execution of one or more program instructions received from any other of the network peers.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein at least one of said network peers comprises code that when executed, causes said network peer to write and insert one or more program instructions into the program structure to control the manner in which said program structure is executed, said program instructions comprising constraints, said constraints comprising one or more of a time to perform, a cost to perform, a priority to perform, a quality to perform, a performance metric to perform, a software metric to perform, a reuse metric to perform, a router metric to perform, a connection metric to perform, a connectivity metric to perform, a networking metric to perform, a social metric to perform, a data analytic metric to perform, a data collection metric to perform, a user experience to perform, a quantitative metric to perform, a qualitative metric to perform, and a location to perform one or more program instructions.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein at least said first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer, in response to one or more program instructions, to insert or delete one or more program instructions into or out of the program structure after the program structure has begun execution.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein at least said first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to query one or more network peers to identify at least one other peer;

and to transfer one or more program instructions, together with any requisite data, to said at least one other network peer,

wherein said at least one other network peer comprises a network peer identified as capable of continuing execution of transferred program instructions.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said first network peer, in response to said querying step, receives information relating to one or more capabilities of one or more of the plurality of network peers, at least said first network peer further comprising:

code that when executed, causes said first network peer to create and store a record of said capabilities; and

evaluate said record to identify said at least one other network peer.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein at least one of the program instructions comprises one or more other program structures.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein at least one of said program instructions controls at least one of the initiation of program instruction execution and the manner of program instruction execution.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein at least the first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to apply different levels of control to different program instructions and any requisite data in response to at least one program instruction.

34. The system of claim 26, wherein at least one of said program instructions controls at least one of the initiation of code execution and the manner in which said code is executed.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein at least the first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to apply different levels of control to the initiation and manner of code execution and any requisite data in response to at least one program instruction.

36. The system of claim 26, wherein each program instruction of the program structure comprises meta-data that provides information relating to the functional capabilities required to carry-out one or more of said program instructions, and wherein said meta-data is readable by each of the plurality of network peers.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein said first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to read said meta-data and determine whether said first network peer hosts the appropriate code for execution in accordance with one or more program instructions.

38. The system of claim 26, wherein at least the first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to generate at least one program instruction in response to at least one other program instruction, and wherein a portion of the requisite data comprises control data.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein initiation of the migrating step triggers execution of the at least one program instruction, said program instruction utilizing the control data during execution.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein at least one program instruction causes the at least one other network peer to generate at least one program instruction that is different than the at least one program instruction generated by the first network peer.

41. The system of claim 26, wherein at least said first network peer further comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to write and insert at least one program instruction into the program structure after the program structure has begun execution, said at least one program instruction causing the program structure to write or delete control data.

42. The system of claim 26, wherein the program structure comprises at least one program instruction indicating a starting position within the program structure, at least the first network peer comprising code that when executed causes said first network peer to execute at least one deletion instruction for deleting all program instructions between the starting position and said deletion instruction.

43. The system of claim 26, wherein at least one program instruction causes the insertion or deletion of one or more program instructions into or out of the program structure in real-time.

44. The system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of network peers comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of personal computers, servers, mobile telephones, pagers, personal digital assistant (PDA), radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, data sensors, kiosks, automatic teller machines (ATMs), wireless fidelity (WiFi) access points, routers, embedded multi-dimensional barcodes, global positioning (GPS) devices, gaming devices, multi-media devices, cable set-top boxes, digital still and motion cameras, surveillance equipment, healthcare monitoring equipment, medical imaging devices, point-of-sale terminals, mobile entertainment devices, embedded devices, audio devices, video devices, banking and payment-processing devices, cloud storage and computing devices and data centers and assembly line components, inventory and supply chain management devices, database devices, broadcasting, telecommunications, terrestrial and cable communications.

45. The system of claim 26, wherein at least the first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to modify the program structure in response to a triggering event, said triggering event comprising at least one of an interrupted execution, a failed execution, and a completed execution of one or more program instructions.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein said first network peer is configured for modifying the program structure via at least one of writing and inserting one or more new program instructions into the program structure, and deleting one or more of the program instructions.

47. The system of claim 26, wherein said one or more of said program instructions migrated to said at least one other of said plurality of network peers comprises said second portion of the program instructions when it is determined that said first network peer cannot execute said second portion of the program instructions.

48. The system of claim 26, wherein said first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to migrate said entire program structure, together with any requisite data, to said at least one other network peer for continued execution of said program structure.

49. The system of claim 26, wherein said first network peer or said at least one other of said plurality of network peers comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer or the at least one other of said plurality of network peers to write and insert one or more program instructions into said program structure after said program structure has begun execution.

50. The system of claim 26, wherein said migrating is repeated until one or more objectives of said program structure are achieved.

51. The system of claim 26, wherein:

at least one program instruction calls for the execution of code that is not hosted by said first network peer;

said at least one other network peer is identified as hosting and as being capable of executing said code; and

said first network peer comprises code that when executed causes said first network peer to migrate said at least one program instruction, together with any requisite data, to said at least one other network peer, said at least one other network peer executing said code called for by said at least one program instruction.