Peer-to-peer engine for object sharing in communication devices

• US 8,316,088 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2004
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Jalava, Teemu, Teinilä, Jaakko
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THU HA T
• Application Number:
  US10/886,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20060010204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,059 Days
• Field of Search: 709/238, 709/201, 709/204, 709/205, 709/218, 715/201, 715/753, 370/255
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/64 file transfer between terminals download of applications H04M1/72406; transfer of messages, e.g. SMS, e-mail or MMS H04M1/7243

Abstract

This invention describes a method for sharing of application specific objects between communication devices (e.g., a mobile communication device or a mobile phone) using middleware containing a peer-to-peer engine. This engine is completely peer-to-peer based and no servers are needed in the network. Especially games are seen as a promising potential application for the invention. An application registers to the peer-to-peer (P2P) engine when it wants to share or download files. The P2P engine takes care of the file sharing and informs when a new file has been downloaded so the application can start using it and the P2P engine delivers them to the appropriate application directories. The P2P engine can use either a 2G or 3G general packet radio system (GPRS), a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) or a Bluetooth as a transport for the file sharing and the choice of the transport is left to the user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

causing, at least in part, transmission of a peer-to-peer sharing signal from a communication device to another communication device over a peer-to-peer connection, wherein the peer-to-peer signal contains information specifying an application of at least one application-specific file stored in the communication device or a portion of the application-specific file available for sharing;

determining if the other communication device supports the application; and

transferring over the peer-to-peer connection the at least one application-specific file or the portion to the other communication device, if the other communication device supports the application.

2. A method of claim 1, wherein the at least one application-specific file or the portion is stored in a peer-to-peer database for sharing, and the at least one application-specific file or the portion is copied from the peer-to-peer database for the application to the other communication device.

3. A method of claim 1, wherein the transferring is facilitated by a peer-to-peer engine of the communication device and by a peer-to-peer engine of the other communication device.

4. A method of claim 1, wherein after the peer-to-peer signal is sent from the communication device to the other communication device, the method further comprising:

determining if at least one other application-specific file stored in the other communication device or a portion of the application-specific file belongs to the application supported in the other communication device is available for sharing; and

receiving, if the other communication device supports the application, a response signal from the other communication device at the communication device, wherein the response signal comprises additional information specifying the application of the at least one other application-specific file or the portion.

5. A method of claim 4, wherein after the receiving the response signal, the method further comprising:

causing, at least in part, transmission of an acknowledgement signal by the communication device to the other communication device, and

receiving the at least one other application-specific file or the portion at the communication device.

6. A method of claim 4, wherein the additional information includes a file name, a checksum, a file type specific to an application, a bit field describing what file portions available to share, file meta-data, an application identification of the application, a file size, pointers to file portions, pointers to checksums of the corresponding file portions, an indication of a file availability for sharing, an indication of a file completeness, or a combination thereof, of the stored at least one other application-specific file or the portion.

7. A method of claim 5, further comprising:

storing the received at least one other application-specific file or the portion in a peer-to-peer database of the communication device for sharing.

8. A method of claim 5, wherein all signals originated from and received by the communication device and the other communication device are transmitted by second generation general packet radio system means, by third generation general packet radio system means, by code division multiple access means, by wideband code division multiple access means, by Bluetooth means, by wireless local area networks means, or by upper memory block means, or a combination thereof.

9. A method of claim 5, wherein file sharing initiated by the communication device or the other communication device is performed without user intervention, respectively.

10. A method of claim 7, wherein the stored at least one other application-specific file or the portion is moved or copied to a corresponding application directory out of N application directories available in the communication device and, if the stored at least one other application-specific file or the portion is moved out of the peer-to-peer database and becomes unavailable for sharing, wherein N is a positive integer.

11. A method of claim 7, wherein the peer-to-peer database further stores data regarding the at least one other application-specific file or the portion including a file name, a file type specific to an application, file meta-data, an application identification of the application, a checksum, a file size, pointers to file portions, pointers to checksums of the corresponding file portions, an indication of a file availability for sharing, an indication of a file completeness, or a combination thereof.

12. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the received at least one application-specific file or the portion in a peer-to-peer database of the communication device for sharing.

13. A method of claim 12, wherein the stored at least one application-specific file or the portion is moved or copied to a corresponding application directory in the other communication device and, if the stored at least one application-specific file or the portion is moved out of the other peer-to-peer database and becomes unavailable for sharing.

14. A method of claim 12, wherein the peer-to-peer database further stores data regarding the at least one other application-specific file or the portion including a file name, a file type specific to an application, file meta-data, an application identification of the application, a checksum, a file size, pointers to file portions, pointers to checksums of the corresponding file portions, an indication of a file availability for sharing, an indication of a file completeness, or a combination thereof.

15. A method of claim 1, wherein the communication device is a mobile communication device or a mobile phone.

16. A method of claim 1, wherein the information includes a file name, a checksum, a file type specific to an application, a bit field describing what file portions available to share, file meta-data, an application identification of the application, a file size, pointers to file portions, pointers to checksums of the corresponding file portions, an indication of a file availability for sharing, an indication of a file completeness, or a combination thereof, of the stored at least one application-specific file or the portion.

17. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining to register a plurality of applications with the communication device to share files specific to each of the applications available at one or more other communication devices.

18. A method of claim 17, further comprising:

causing, at least in part, transmission of a new file that has been downloaded and is specific to a registered application to a directory corresponding to the registered application; and

informing the registered application the new file and the corresponding directory.

19. A method of claim 1, wherein the application is a gaming application.

20. A communication device, comprising:

a peer-to-peer engine of the communication device, configured to send a peer-to-peer sharing signal to another peer-to-peer engine of another communication device over a peer-to-peer connection, wherein said peer-to-peer sharing signal contains information specifying an application of at least one application-specific file stored in the communication device or a portion of the application-specific file available for sharing, wherein the peer-to-peer engine is further configured to determine if the other communication device supports the application, and transfer over the peer-to-peer connection the at least one application-specific file or the portion to the other communication device, if the other communication device supports the application; and

a peer-to-peer database, configured to store the information.

21. A communication device of claim 20, further comprising:

a peer-to-peer management block configured to manage the peer-to-peer engine and the peer-to-peer database.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

causing, at least in part, transmission of a peer-to-peer sharing signal from a communication device to another communication device over a peer-to-peer connection, wherein the peer-to-peer signal contains information specifying an application of at least one application-specific file stored in the communication device or a portion of the application-specific file available for sharing;

determining if the other communication device supports the application; and

transferring over the peer-to-peer connection the at least one application-specific file or the portion to the other communication device, if the other communication device supports the application.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the one or more sequences of one or more instructions constitute middleware.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

cause, at least in part, transmission of a peer-to-peer sharing signal from a communication device to another communication device over a peer-to-peer connection, wherein the peer-to-peer signal contains information specifying an application of at least one application-specific file stored in the communication device or a portion of the application-specific file available for sharing;

determine if the other communication device supports the application; and

transfer over the peer-to-peer connection the at least one application-specific file or the portion to the other communication device, if the other communication device supports the application.

25. An apparatus of claim 24, wherein the at least one application-specific file or the portion is stored in a peer-to-peer database for sharing, and the at least one application-specific file or the portion is copied from the peer-to-peer database for the application to the other communication device.

26. An apparatus of claim 24, wherein the transferring is facilitated by a peer-to-peer engine of the communication device and by a peer-to-peer engine of the other communication device.

27. An apparatus of claim 24, wherein after the peer-to-peer signal is sent from the communication device to the other communication device, and the apparatus is further caused to:

determining if at least one other application-specific file stored in the other communication device or a portion of the application-specific file belongs to the application supported in the other communication device is available for sharing; and

receive, if the other communication device supports the application, a response signal from the other communication device at the communication device, wherein the response signal comprises additional information specifying the application of the at least one other application-specific file or the portion.

28. An apparatus of claim 27, wherein after receiving the response signal, the apparatus is further caused to:

cause, at least in part, transmission of an acknowledgement signal by the communication device to the other communication device, and

receive the at least one other application-specific file or the portion at the communication device.

29. An apparatus of claim 28, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

store the received at least one other application-specific file or the portion in a peer-to-peer database of the communication device for sharing.

30. An apparatus of claim 28, wherein all signals originated from and received by the communication device and the other communication device are transmitted by second generation general packet radio system means, by third generation general packet radio system means, by code division multiple access means, by wideband code division multiple access means, by Bluetooth means, by wireless local area networks means, or by upper memory block means, or a combination thereof.

31. An apparatus of claim 28, wherein file sharing initiated by the communication device or the other communication device is performed without user intervention, respectively.

32. An apparatus of claim 29, wherein the stored at least one other application-specific file or the portion is moved or copied to a corresponding application directory out of N application directories available in the communication device and, if the stored at least one other application-specific file or the portion is moved out of the peer-to-peer database and becomes unavailable for sharing, wherein N is a positive integer.

33. An apparatus of claim 29, wherein the peer-to-peer database further stores data regarding the at least one other application-specific file or the portion including a file name, a file type specific to an application, file meta-data, an application identification of the application, a checksum, a file size, pointers to file portions, pointers to checksums of the corresponding file portions, an indication of a file availability for sharing, an indication of a file completeness, or a combination thereof.