Discovery of services over infrastructure networks
View Patent ↗The subject system allows electronic devices in an infrastructure network to discover direct peer-to-peer services, such as screencasting, access to peripheral devices, etc., that can be provided over the infrastructure network. Since the electronic devices already have a layer two (link layer) connection with each other over the infrastructure network, pre-association device and/or service discovery protocols, such as those provided by Wi-Fi Direct and the like, are not available to the electronic devices. Thus, the subject system provides a post-association mechanism that allows the electronic devices to query, advertise, discover, and access direct peer-to-peer services over the infrastructure network. Furthermore, the subject system extends access of the direct peer-to-peer services to wired networks, such as Ethernet networks, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) networks, powerline networks, and the like.
1. A method comprising:
connecting to an infrastructure network;
receiving, over the infrastructure network, a discovery message from a device configured to provide a direct peer-to-peer service over a peer-to-peer network connection, wherein the discovery message comprises a resource identifier for retrieving a description of the direct peer-to-peer service from the device and the peer-to-peer network connection is establishable with the device without connecting to the infrastructure network;
retrieving, over the infrastructure network and from the device via the resource identifier, the description of the direct peer-to-peer service; and
accessing, over the infrastructure network, the direct peer-to-peer service based at least in part on the description of the direct peer-to-peer service.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a search request over the infrastructure network, wherein the discovery message is received in response to the search request.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the search request comprises a multicast search request.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the discovery message comprises an unsolicited advertisement message transmitted by the device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the description comprises a plurality of attributes of the direct peer-to-peer service, the plurality of attributes comprising a port number for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service and an availability of the direct peer-to-peer service.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the description comprises an extensible markup language (XML) file, the plurality of attributes available for the direct peer-to-peer service, and the plurality of attributes describe an operating mode for the device.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein accessing, over the infrastructure network, the direct peer-to-peer service further comprises:
providing, over the infrastructure network, at least one of an audio stream or a video stream to be presented at the device.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
disconnecting from the infrastructure network;
establishing the peer-to-peer network connection with the device; and
accessing, over the peer-to-peer network connection, the direct peer-to-peer service based at least in part on the description of the direct peer-to-peer service.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a user input device and accessing, over the infrastructure network, the direct peer-to-peer service further comprises:
receiving, over the infrastructure network, user input from the user input device.
10. A device comprising:
at least one processor circuit configured to:
establish a peer-to-peer network connection without establishing an infrastructure network connection and provide a direct peer-to-peer service over the peer-to-peer network connection;
establish the infrastructure network connection and transmit, over the infrastructure network connection, a description of the direct peer-to-peer service;
receive, in response to the transmitting the description, a request to access the direct peer-to-peer service over the infrastructure network connection; and
provide access to the direct peer-to-peer service over the infrastructure network connection.
11. The device of claim 10 , wherein at the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
transmit, over the infrastructure network connection, one or more discovery messages that comprise a resource identifier for retrieving a description of the direct peer-to-peer service; and
receive, over the infrastructure network connection and in response to the one or more discovery messages, a request for the description of the direct peer-to-peer service, wherein the description of the direct peer-to-peer service is transmitted in response to the request for the description.
12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
receive, over the infrastructure network connection, a search request, wherein the one or more discovery messages are transmitted in response to the search request.
13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the description comprises a plurality of attributes of the direct peer-to-peer service, the plurality of attributes comprising a port number for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service and an availability of the direct peer-to-peer service.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the description comprises an extensible markup language (XML) file, and the plurality of attributes available for the direct peer-to-peer service.
15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is configured to:
receive, over the infrastructure network connection, at least one of an audio stream or a video stream; and
output the at least one of the audio stream or the video stream.
16. The device of claim 10 , wherein the device comprises a user input device and the at least one processor circuit is configured to:
receive user input; and
transmit the user input over the infrastructure network connection.
17. A computer program product comprising instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions comprising:
instructions to establish a peer-to-peer network connection with a device without connecting to an infrastructure network;
instructions to access a direct peer-to-peer service provided by the device over the peer-to-peer network connection with the device and subsequently disconnect the peer-to-peer network connection;
instructions to connect to the infrastructure network;
instructions to receive from the device, over the infrastructure network, information for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service over the infrastructure network, the direct peer-to-peer service having previously been accessed over the peer-to-peer network connection with the device; and
instructions to access the direct peer-to-peer service over the infrastructure network based at least in part on the received information.
18. The computer program product of claim 17 , the instructions further comprising:
instructions to transmit a search request over the infrastructure network;
instructions to receive, over the infrastructure network and in response to the search request, a response message from the device, wherein the response message comprises a resource identifier for retrieving the information for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service; and
instructions to transmit, over the infrastructure network, a request for the information via the resource identifier, wherein the information is received in response to the request.
19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the search request comprises a multicast search request.
20. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the information comprises a plurality of attributes for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service, the plurality of attributes comprising a port number for accessing the direct peer-to-peer service and an availability of the direct peer-to-peer service.