Patent · US Expired

Systems and methods for peer-to-peer collaboration to enhance multimedia streaming

US7577750B2 · kind B2 · utility

48Cited by
8References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 23, 2003
Grant dateAug 18, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 13, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L2001/0097
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for using peer-to-peer collaboration to enhance streaming of multimedia content. A peer-paired pyramid streaming (P3S) architecture is introduced that is a hybrid of a client/server structure and a peer-to-peer structure. Clients are hierarchically organized and those that are in the same level are coupled to form peer-pairs. The peers in a peer-pair cooperate by utilizing a connection between them. Streaming is enhanced by allowing each peer to download different portions of a stream and sharing portions not in possession of the other. Error recovery is enhanced by allowing a peer to retrieve a dropped packet from its corresponding peer. A colored overlay is used with a P3S structure to improve streaming throughput.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.