Replicating data

摘要

The present invention concerns the replication of data, in particular the replication of data in a peer-to-peer network of mobile devices. Each device stores a plurality of data items. When two devices come into range, a decision as to whether to replicate a data item is made in dependence the extent to which that data item has been requested by other devices, and (b) the extent to which that data item is replicated on other devices. In this way, both the demand and supply of a data item are taken into account.

主权项

1. A method of replicating data in a peer-to-peer network including a plurality of devices each device comprising a memory, each device storing a plurality of data items, the method comprising, at a first device:
checking whether a second device is able to provide a data item desired by the first device: when the second device does not have the desired data item, computing a transfer value for each data item; identifying whether there are one or more data items that the second device can provide, which have a higher transfer value than one of the data items that the first device currently holds, each transfer value of a data item being determined by:
(a) the extent to which that data item is requested on other devices, and(b) the extent to which that data item is replicated on other devices; transmitting, to the memory of the first device, a copy of a data item stored on the second device and having the largest transfer value; wherein the method exchanges multimedia data for use by other peer-to-peer network devices.