Content distribution overlay network and methods for operating same in a P2P network

• US 20050198290A1
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: White, Payton R., Berkey, Howard
• Granted Patent: US 7,792,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/108 characterised by resources being split in blocks or fragments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1089 Hierarchical topologies
• 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 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method, system and architecture for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network is provided. The method includes receiving a request for content at a content node from a requesting node of the peer-to-peer network. Then, referring to an overlay network to identify the content node as a head node of the overlay network. The head node has capabilities to transcode the content. The method then identifies a lowest level child node of the head node that has capabilities to transcode the content for the requesting node. The lowest level child node is then assigned to transcode the content for presentation to the requesting node, and each parent in the overlay network is assigned to transcode the content for its child. The lowest level child node receives the content transcoded from its parent in a format of the lowest level child node, and the overlay network is independent of the peer-to-peer network. In accordance with the method, nodes of the overlay network are arranged according to capability, and the head node has a highest capability of the overlay network.

Claims

1. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network, comprising:

receiving a request for content at a content node from a requesting node of the peer-to-peer network, the content node having capabilities to process the content for presentation to the requesting node;

referring to an overlay network to determine if a child node of the content node has capabilities to process the content, the content node being a head node in the overlay network; and

assigning the child node to process the content for presentation to the requesting node if the child node has capabilities to process the content for the requesting node, wherein the child node has lower capabilities to process the content than the head node.

2. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 1, wherein processing the content includes transcoding the content.

3. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 2, wherein the overlay network includes the head node, and the head node includes one or more child nodes, and each of the child nodes in turn is capable of having child nodes to define a multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure that is independent of the peer-to-peer network.

4. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 3, wherein each parent in the multi-level parent-child overlay tree structure provides transcoding for its one or more children.

5. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 1, wherein the head node is a high capability node for processing the content.

6. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 5, wherein the head node has one or more lower levels of child nodes, and each lower level has less capability for processing the content than a level above.

7. A method for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 2, wherein the assigned child node is load balanced with respect to other nodes so that the assigned child node is able to efficiently handle the transcoding for the requesting node.

8. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network, comprising:

receiving a request for content at a content node from a requesting node of the peer-to-peer network;

referring to an overlay network to identify the content node as a head node of the overlay network, the head node having capabilities to transcode the content;

identifying a lowest level child node of the head node that has capabilities to transcode the content for the requesting node; and

assigning the lowest level child node to transcode the content for presentation to the requesting node, wherein each parent in the overlay network is assigned to transcode the content for its child and the lowest level child node receiving the content transcoded from its parent in a format of the lowest level child node, wherein the overlay network is independent of the peer-to-peer network and nodes of the overlay network are arranged according to capability, where the head node has a highest capability of the overlay network.

9. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the overlay network defines a multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure.

10. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the head node is a high capability node for transcoding the content.

11. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the assigned lowest level child node is load balanced with respect to other nodes so that the assigned lowest level child node is able to efficiently handle the transcoding for the requesting node.

12. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein each parent node in the overlay network is assigned a set number of child nodes for which the parent node is capable of providing load-balanced transcoding for the set number of child nodes.

13. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the overlay network is dynamically adjusted depending on available child nodes that can provide transcoding of the content.

14. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure is organized based on capability, and the highest node in the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure has a higher capability than the lowest level child node.

15. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 14, wherein a child node in the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure is selected for transcoding based on load characteristics of the child node and other child nodes that are capable of providing transcoding for the content.

16. A method for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 8, wherein the content is either video content, audio content, or both audio and video conent, and transcoding transforms the content from one resolution format to another resolution format.

18. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network, comprising:

means for receiving a request for content at a content node from a requesting node of the peer-to-peer network;

means for referring to an overlay network to identify the content node as a head node of the overlay network, the head node having capabilities to transcode the content;

means for identifying a lowest level child node of the head node that has capabilities to transcode the content for the requesting node; and

means for assigning the lowest level child node to transcode the content for presentation to the requesting node, wherein each parent in the overlay network is assigned to transcode the content for its child and the lowest level child node receiving the content transcoded from its parent in a format of the lowest level child node, wherein the overlay network is independent of the peer-to-peer network and nodes of the overlay network are arranged according to capability, where the head node has a highest capability of the overlay network.

19. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 18, wherein the overlay network defines a multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure, and multiple ones of the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure can exist to provide capability-based transcoding services to requesting nodes of the peer-to-peer network, the multiple ones defining a forest of multilevel parent-child overlay tree structures.

20. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 18, wherein the head node is a high capability node for transcoding the content.

21. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 18, wherein the assigned lowest level child node is load balanced with respect to other nodes so that the assigned lowest level child node is able to efficiently handle the transcoding for the requesting node.

22. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 18, wherein each parent node in the overlay network is assigned a set number of child nodes for which the parent node is capable of providing load-balanced transcoding for the set number of child nodes.

23. A system for operating a content distribution overlay network in conjunction with a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 18, wherein the overlay network is dynamically adjusted depending on available child nodes that can provide transcoding of the content.

24. A computer readable media including program instructions for a peer-to-peer network, the computer readable media comprising:

program instructions for receiving a request for content at a content node from a requesting node of the peer-to-peer network, the content node having capabilities to process the content for presentation to the requesting node;

program instructions for referring to an overlay network to determine if a child node of the content node has capabilities to process the content, the content node being a head node in the overlay network; and

program instructions for assigning the child node to process the content for presentation to the requesting node if the child node has capabilities to process the content for the requesting node, wherein the child node has lower capabilities to process the content than the head node.

25. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 24, wherein processing the content includes transcoding the content.

26. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 25, wherein the overlay network includes the head node, and the head node includes one or more child nodes, and each of the child nodes in turn is capable of having child nodes to define a multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure that is independent of the peer-to-peer network.

27. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 26, wherein each parent in the multi-level parent-child overlay tree structure provides transcoding for its one or more children.

28. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 24, wherein the head node is a high capability node for processing the content.

29. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 28, wherein the head node has one or more lower levels of child nodes, and each lower level has less capability for processing the content than a level above.

30. A computer readable media including program instructions for structuring a content distribution overlay network for a peer-to-peer network as recited in claim 25, wherein the assigned child node is load balanced with respect to other nodes so that the assigned child node is able to efficiently handle the transcoding for the requesting node.

31. An overlay content distribution tree structure, comprising:

a head node capable of transcoding content from a first format to a second format;

a child node of the head node, the child node capable of receiving content in the second format from the head node, and the child node capable of transcoding the received content from the second format to a third format, wherein the head node and the child node are arranged according to capability and the head node has a higher capability than the child node, and the head node and the child node defining a multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure.

32. An overlay content distribution tree structure as recited in claim 31, wherein the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure assists in assigning transcoding duties to capable nodes of a peer-to-peer network.

33. An overlay content distribution tree structure as recited in claim 32, wherein the multilevel parent-child overlay tree structure is independent of the peer-to-peer network.