Distributed peer location in peer-to-peer file transfers
A method and system for facilitating peer-to-peer networking among local peers are described. Hashes are generated from a digital content file and virtual coordinates of virtual nodes in a virtual coordinate system. The generated hashes are then used to retrieve peer connection information.
1. A method to facilitate peer-to-peer networking, the method comprising:
automatically generating, by one or more processors, a plurality of hashes, each hash being generated from both a digital content file and virtual coordinates of one of a plurality of virtual nodes in a virtual coordinate system, wherein the plurality of virtual nodes are selected by calculating distances between a plurality of peers to determine a location in the virtual coordinate system, calculating respective distances between the location and the plurality of virtual nodes, and selecting the plurality of nodes based on the respective distances; and
retrieving peer connection information using the plurality of hashes.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peer-to-peer networking uses the BitTorrent protocol.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual coordinate system is a four-dimensional virtual coordinate system.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
dividing the four-dimensional virtual coordinate system into two independent two-dimensional coordinate planes;
arranging the plurality of virtual nodes in a triangular mesh pattern; and
combining three virtual nodes of the plurality of virtual nodes in each plane which are closest to a peer to create nine combinations.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating the coordinates of the plurality of virtual nodes when retrieving peer connection information using a hash retrieves a number of peers outside a predefined range.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peer connection information is retrieved from a distributed hash table network.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing first peer connection information for a first client machine using the plurality of hashes.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first peer connection information is stored in a distributed hash table network.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prioritizing the hashing of a number of virtual nodes of the plurality of virtual nodes used for hashing based on a number of digital content files currently being distributed.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
filtering the peer connection information based on at least one of Internet Protocol addresses or domain name system lookups.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
connecting to peers using the peer connection information; and
distributing the digital content file using the peer-to-peer network.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peer connection information consists of an Internet Protocol address and a port number.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distances between a plurality of peers is equal to the latency between the peers.
14. A system to facilitate peer-to-peer networking, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a hashing module, implemented by the one or more processors, to automatically generate a plurality of hashes, each hash being generated from both a digital content file and coordinates of one of a plurality of virtual nodes in a virtual coordinate system, wherein the plurality of virtual nodes are selected by calculating distances between a plurality of peers to determine a location in the virtual coordinate system, calculating respective distances between the location and the plurality of virtual nodes, and selecting the plurality of nodes based on the respective distances; and
a peer location module, implemented by the one or more processors, to retrieve peer connection information using the plurality of hashes.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the peer-to-peer networking uses the BitTorrent protocol.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the virtual coordinate system is a four-dimensional virtual coordinate system.
17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a coordinate module to:
divide the four-dimensional virtual coordinate system into two independent two-dimensional coordinate planes;
arrange the plurality of virtual nodes in a triangular mesh pattern; and
combine three virtual nodes in each plane which are closest to a peer to create nine combinations used in a hashing operation.
18. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a coordinate module to:
update the coordinates of the plurality of virtual nodes when retrieving peer connection information using a hash retrieves a number of peers outside a predefined range.
19. The system of claim 14 , wherein the connection information is retrieved from a distributed hash table network.
20. The system of claim 14 , wherein the peer location module also stores first peer connection information for a first client machine using the plurality of hashes.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the first peer connection information is stored in a distributed hash table network.
22. The system of claim 14 , further comprising:
prioritizing the hashing of a number of virtual nodes of the plurality of virtual nodes used for hashing based on a number of digital content files currently being distributed.
23. The system of claim 14 , further comprising:
filtering the peer connection information based on at least one of Internet Protocol addresses or domain name system lookups.
24. The system of claim 14 , further comprising:
connecting to peers using the peer connection information; and
distributing the digital content file using the peer-to-peer network.
25. The system of claim 14 , wherein the peer connection information consists of an Internet Protocol address and a port number.
26. The system of claim 14 , wherein the distances between a plurality of peers is equal to the latency between the peers.
27. A method to facilitate peer-to-peer networking, the method comprising:
using one or more processors to execute instructions retained in machine-readable media to perform at least some portion of:
generating automatically a plurality of hashes, each hash being generated from both a digital content file and virtual coordinates of one of a plurality of virtual nodes in a virtual coordinate system, wherein the plurality of virtual nodes are selected by calculating distances between a plurality of peers to determine a location in the virtual coordinate system, calculating respective distances between the location and the plurality of virtual nodes, and selecting the plurality of nodes based on the respective distances; and
retrieving peer connection information using the plurality of hashes.