Formation and rearrangement of lender devices that perform multiplexing functions

• US 9,331,904 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• 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:
  US14/747,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20150288563A1
• Time in Patent Office: 315 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 system for forming an ad-hoc network, comprising:

at least one computer device that is configured to;

establish, by the at least one computer device, an ad-hoc network between a borrower and at least two lenders of bandwidth; and

establish, by the at least one computer device, 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 is in communication with the multiplexer via a first communication protocol, and the borrower is in communication with another one of the at least two lenders via a second communication protocol that is different than the first communication protocol.

2. The system 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 system 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 system of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is configured to connect directly with lenders of the at least two lenders and the borrower.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is an intelligent device configured to perform multiplexing functions.

6. The system 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 system 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 system of claim 1, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is performed in response to a borrower request.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the establishing of the multiplexer is performed proactively.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the borrower makes a determination as to whether the one lender meets requirements to be the multiplexer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer device is configured to determine that the established multiplexer is no longer available, or unable or unwilling to perform multiplexing functions.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the determining is found by not receiving data of the data flow.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer device is configured to halt the dataflow after a predetermined period of time has expired.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one computer device is configured to establish another lender of the at least two lenders as a new multiplexer.

15. The system 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.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the ad-hoc network is configured for the at least two lenders to lend bandwidth to the borrower for file transfer.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is configured to allocate file portions in the ad hoc network.

18. A system for transferring data over a bandwidth sharing ad hoc network, comprising:

at least one computer device that is configured to;

receive, by the at least one computer device, a table from a bandwidth borrower, wherein the table indicates a file requested for transfer over a bandwidth sharing ad hoc network;

add, by the at least one computer device, data to the table, wherein the data includes a request to act as a multiplexer for the bandwidth sharing ad hoc network;

transmit, by the at least one computer device, the table with the added data to the bandwidth borrower; and

manage, by the at least one computer device, transfer of the file over the bandwidth sharing ad-hoc network based on required criteria.

19. The system of claim 18, 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 is in communication 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.