Propagating a query in a network

• US 9,716,649 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2013
• Issued: 07/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Berman, Thomas J. C., Dantressangle, Patrick, Vyvyan, David R., Bent, Graham A.
• Primary Examiner(s): AVERY, JEREMIAH L
• Application Number:
  US14/082,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20160359724A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A query is propagated from a querying node to a destination node in a network of connected nodes, where at least one node is designated as a delay node. A query is transmitted from the querying node to one or more connected nodes in the network of connected nodes. One or more nodes, from the one or more connected nodes, are designated as delay nodes, wherein delay nodes apply delays to the query before retransmitting the query to other nodes from the one or more connected nodes. Upon receiving the query, each node, from the one or more connected nodes, retransmits the query to another one or more nodes from the one or more connected nodes. The query is repeatedly received and retransmitted by the connected nodes until the query is received at the destination node.

Claims

1. A method of propagating a query from a querying node to a destination node in a network of connected nodes, wherein the query includes an encryption token, wherein the network of connected nodes comprises at least one node designated as a delay node, wherein certain nodes in the network of connected nodes have been predetermined to be untrusted nodes, wherein the network of connected nodes is a network of hardware nodes, and wherein the method comprises:

transmitting, by one or more processors, the query from the querying node to one or more connected nodes in the network of connected nodes;

designating one or more nodes, from said one or more connected nodes, as delay nodes, wherein only untrusted nodes are designated as the delay nodes, and wherein said delay nodes apply delays to the query before retransmitting the query to other nodes from said one or more connected nodes;

receiving, by one or more processors, the query from one or more of the delay nodes at each node from said one or more connected nodes;

in response to said each node, from said one or more connected nodes, receiving the query for a first time, said each node retransmitting the query from said each node to another one or more nodes from said one or more connected nodes;

attempting, by each node that receives the query, to decrypt the encryption token;

designating, by one or more processors, each node that fails to decrypt the encryption token as one of the untrusted nodes that are required to apply a delay to the query prior to retransmitting the query to another node in the network of connected nodes; and

repeatedly receiving and retransmitting the query at other nodes from said one or more connected nodes until the query is received at the destination node.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

preventing, by one or more processors, any delay in retransmitting the query through trusted nodes in the network of connected nodes that contain an encryption key for decrypting an encryption token that accompanies the query.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising;

transmitting a reply to the query from the destination node, the reply including routing information defining a route of the query from the querying node to the destination node.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a delay applied to retransmitting the query to one or more connected nodes from a node designated as a delay node comprises an integer multiple of a normal transmission time between connected nodes.

5. A system for propagating a query, the system comprising:

a hardware querying node, wherein the hardware querying node transmits a query;

one or more hardware connected nodes communicatively coupled to the hardware querying node;

one or more hardware delay nodes, wherein said one or more hardware delay nodes are nodes from said one or more hardware connected nodes that have been designated to apply delays to the query before retransmitting the query to other nodes from said one or more hardware connected nodes, and wherein certain hardware nodes in the network of connected nodes have been predetermined to be untrusted hardware nodes, and wherein only the untrusted hardware nodes are designated as the hardware delay nodes; and

a hardware destination node communicatively coupled to said one or more hardware connected nodes, wherein said one or more hardware connected nodes receive the query from the hardware querying node, and wherein;

the query is received from one or more of the hardware delay nodes at each node from said one or more hardware connected nodes;

in response to said each node, from said one or more hardware connected nodes, receiving the query for a first time, said each node retransmits the query from said each node to another one or more nodes from said one or more hardware connected nodes; and

the query is repeatedly received and retransmitted at other nodes from said one or more hardware connected nodes until the query is received at the hardware destination node;

wherein the query includes an encryption token, and wherein each node that receives the query performs an attempt to decrypt the encryption token, and wherein each node that is unable to perform the attempt is designated as one of the untrusted hardware nodes and is required to apply a delay prior to retransmitting the query in response to the decryption attempt failing.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein no delay occurs when retransmitting the query through trusted nodes that contain an encryption key for decrypting an encryption token that accompanies the query.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the system is further configured to transmit a reply to the query from the hardware destination node, the reply including routing information defining a route of the query from the hardware querying node to the hardware destination node.

8. The system according to claim 5, wherein a delay applied to retransmitting the query to one or more hardware connected nodes from a node designated as a delay node comprises an integer multiple of a normal transmission time between hardware connected nodes.

9. A computer program product for propagating a query from a querying node to a destination node in a network of connected nodes, wherein the query includes an encryption token, wherein at least one node is designated as a delay node, wherein the network of connected nodes is a network of hardware nodes, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

transmitting the query from the querying node to one or more connected nodes in the network of connected nodes, wherein certain nodes from the one or more connected nodes have been predetermined to be untrusted nodes;

designating one or more nodes, from said one or more connected nodes, as delay nodes, wherein only untrusted nodes are designated as the delay nodes, and wherein said delay nodes apply delays to the query before retransmitting the query to other nodes from said one or more connected nodes;

receiving the query from one or more of the delay nodes at each node from said one or more connected nodes;

in response to said each node, from said one or more connected nodes, receiving the query for a first time, said each node retransmitting the query from said each node to another one or more nodes from said one or more connected nodes;

attempting, by each node that receives the query, to decrypt the encryption token;

designating each node that fails to decrypt the encryption token as one of the untrusted nodes that are required to apply a delay to the query prior to retransmitting the query to another node in the network of connected nodes; and

repeatedly receiving and retransmitting the query at other nodes from said one or more connected nodes until the query is received at the destination node.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

preventing any delay in retransmitting the query through trusted nodes in the network of connected nodes that contain an encryption key for decrypting an encryption token that accompanies the query.

11. The computer program product according to claim 9, further comprising;

transmitting a reply to the query from the destination node, the reply including routing information defining a route of the query from the querying node to the destination node.

12. The computer program product according to claim 9, wherein a delay applied to retransmitting the query to one or more connected nodes from a node designated as a delay node comprises an integer multiple of a normal transmission time between connected nodes.