Seamless host migration based on NAT type

• US 9,516,068 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2013
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Jacob, Mark Lester, Roy, Ronald Joseph, Harris, Adam Pierce
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): RUBIN, BLAKE J
• Application Number:
  US13/941,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304931A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,243 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2575 using address mapping retrieval, e.g. simple traversal of user datagram protocol through session traversal utilities for NAT [STUN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1034 Reaction to server failures by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1051 Group master selection mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1093 Some peer nodes performing special functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present invention for maintaining network data distribution are provided. Network data may be distributed in such as manner as to allow a network session to weather interrupted communications between host and clients without significant loss of data. Embodiments of the present invention provide for one or more clients to serve as backup host(s) for the network session, such determinations including the use of NAT profile information. When the other clients transmit data to the host, they may also transmit the data to one or more backup hosts if there are any indications of interrupted communication.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining network data distribution, the method comprising:

establishing a network session by connecting a host to each of a plurality of clients over a network;

negotiating backup viability of a first client from among the plurality of clients, wherein negotiating backup viability includes;

identifying a level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session,

receiving data identifying a level of bandwidth available to the first client,

confirming that the level of bandwidth available to the first client is at least equal to the level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session, and

receiving data confirming that the first client is capable of establishing a connection with all other clients among the plurality of clients;

receiving host information by the first client from the host after the negotiation confirms that the first client exhibits backup viability, wherein based on at least the host information the first client establishes a connection as a backup host with a second client from among the plurality of clients,

polling the plurality of clients to determine connectivity between the host and each of the client of hosts, wherein interrupted communications are indicated by result of the polling, and

receiving data at the first client from the second client of the plurality of clients when communication between the host and the second client is interrupted, wherein the interrupted communication is identified by a lack of acknowledgement from the host to the second client within an amount of time after the second client transmits data to the host.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an indication from the host to each of the plurality of clients concerning the interrupted communication.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising terminating a connection between the host and the second client based on the interrupted communication.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting host information to the first client includes transmitting an application that, when executed by a processor of the first client, provides the host information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

negotiating backup viability of a third client from the plurality of clients; and

transmitting host information to the third client such that the third client connects to all other clients from the plurality of clients based on at least the host information, wherein the third client receives data from the second client when communication between the first client and the second client is interrupted.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second client further transmits the data to the first client before transmitting the data to the third client based on at least an order in which a connection was established with the host.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second client further transmits the data to the first client before transmitting the data to the third client based on at least the level of bandwidth of the first client and a level of bandwidth of the third client.

8. A system for maintaining network data distribution, the system comprising:

a host that establishes a network session with a plurality of clients, wherein the host receives and acknowledges the receipt of data from each of the plurality of clients, polls the plurality of clients concerning connectivity and notifies each of the plurality of clients concerning an interrupted communication between the host and the second client;

a first client that receives host information after backup viability of a first client from the plurality of clients has been determined based on a parameter of the first client, wherein the parameter includes a level of bandwidth, wherein determining backup viability includes identifying a level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session, receiving data identifying a level of bandwidth available to the first client, confirming that the level of bandwidth available to the first client is at least equal to the level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session, and receiving data confirming that the first client is capable of establishing a connection with all other clients among the plurality of clients, and wherein the first client connects as a back-up host to a second client from the plurality of clients based on at least the host information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the second client also notifies each of the plurality of clients concerning the interrupted communication between the host and the second client.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the second client also terminates a connection between the host and the second client.

11. A computing device for maintaining data distribution in networks, the computing device comprising:

an acknowledgement module stored in memory and executable by a processor to transmit a reply acknowledging data received from a first client from among a plurality of clients in a network session;

a negotiation module stored in memory and executable by a processor to negotiate backup viability of a first client based on a parameter of the first client, wherein negotiating backup viability includes;

identifying a level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session,

receiving data identifying a level of bandwidth available to the first client,

confirming that the level of bandwidth available to the first client is at least equal to the level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session, and

receiving data confirming that the first client is capable of establishing a connection with all other clients among the plurality of clients;

a backup application module stored in memory and executable to transmit an application providing host information to the first client after the negotiation confirms that the first client exhibits backup viability, such that the first client connects as a back-up host to a second client from the plurality of clients based on at least the host information, and

a polling module stored in memory and executable to;

poll the plurality of clients to determine connectivity between the host and each of the plurality of clients, wherein an interrupted communication is indicated by results of the polling, and

receive data at the first client from the second client of the plurality of clients when communication between the host and the second client is interrupted, wherein the interrupted communication is identified by a lack of acknowledgement from the host to the second client within an amount of time after the second client transmits data to the host.

12. The computing device of claim 11, further comprising a host information database that stores information concerning each client from among a plurality of clients.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the host information database further stores updated information based on addition or removal of a client from among the plurality of clients.

14. The computing device of claim 11, further comprising a timer application executable to measure how much time has elapsed after an event.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for group messaging, the method comprising:

establishing a network session by connecting a host to a plurality of clients, wherein data exchanged between the host and each of the plurality of clients is acknowledged upon receipt;

negotiating backup viability of a first client from the plurality of clients, wherein negotiating backup viability includes;

identifying a level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session,

receiving data identifying a level of bandwidth available to the first client,

confirming that the level of bandwidth available to the first client is at least equal to the level of bandwidth necessary to manage all data exchanged between all of the clients in the network session, and

receiving data confirming that the first client is capable of establishing a connection with all other clients among the plurality of clients;

transmitting host information to the first client after the negotiation confirms that the first client exhibits backup viability, wherein the first client connects as a back-up host to a second client from the plurality of clients based on at least the host information and the first client receives data from the second client from the plurality of clients,

polling the plurality of clients to determine connectivity between the host and each of the client of hosts, wherein interrupted communications are indicated by result of the polling, and

receiving data at the first client from the second client of the plurality of clients when communication between the host and the second client is interrupted, wherein the interrupted communication is identified by a lack of acknowledgement from the host to the second client within an amount of time after the second client transmits data to the host.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the program further comprises executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, terminate a connection between the host and the second client.