Peer-to-peer content sharing method and system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A content sharing system for sharing content among clients comprising:
- a server component at a server that controls logging on of users and distribution of messages sent from one client to another client; and
a client component at each client that elects a qualified client as a master, that shares content by notifying the master of the shared content and providing the shared content to the master, and that, when the client is a master and is notified of shared content, sends a message informing other clients of the shared content so that the other clients can be provided with a copy of the shared content without the shared content being provided to the server.
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Abstract
A method and system for sharing content among client computer systems. A content sharing system includes a server component executing on a server computer system that controls the logging on and off of users and establishes a connection or session with each client computer system whose user is logged-on. Because of these connections, administrative messages from one client to any other client can be sent via the server. The shared content, however, may be sent from client to client on a peer-to-peer basis without sending the shared content to the server.
353 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A content sharing system for sharing content among clients comprising:
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a server component at a server that controls logging on of users and distribution of messages sent from one client to another client; and
a client component at each client that elects a qualified client as a master, that shares content by notifying the master of the shared content and providing the shared content to the master, and that, when the client is a master and is notified of shared content, sends a message informing other clients of the shared content so that the other clients can be provided with a copy of the shared content without the shared content being provided to the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for electing a master for a plurality of systems, the method comprising:
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at each of the plurality of systems, selecting a qualified system based on an ordering as the master; and
when a new system that is qualified and has an ordering that is earlier than the ordering of the current master, selecting the new system as the master. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method in a computer system for designating that an entity is a member of a group of entities, the method comprising:
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receiving an indication that the entity is to be a member of the group;
sending an invitation to the entity;
sending to the members of the group a notification that the entity has been invited to be a member of the group; and
when the entity decides whether to accept the invitation, sending by the entity a response to the invitation to all members of the group so that each member knows whether the entity is now a member. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of discovering whether a system is closed, the method comprising:
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sending from the system to another system a request;
upon receiving the request at the other system, sending from the other system to the system a request; and
when the other system detects that the system cannot respond to the sent request, sending from the other system to the system a response indicating that the system is closed. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of discovering whether an originating system is closed, the method comprising:
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receiving from a system via a session with a session identifier a message, the message including the session identifier of the originating system; and
when the session identifier of the session and the session identifier of the message do not match, indicating that the originating system is closed. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method in a computer system for sending data as packets via a communications mechanism that does not guarantee delivery of the packets, the method comprising:
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dividing the data into packets with a sequence number;
sending via the communications mechanism each packet twice to a receiver;
receiving from the receiver an indication of which packets the receiver did not receive; and
resending via the communications mechanism each packet that was not received. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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Specification