METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILE SHARING BETWEEN A GROUP OF USER DEVICES WITH CRUCIAL PORTIONS SENT VIA SATELLITE AND NON-CRUCIAL PORTIONS SENT USING A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK

摘要

A communication system 100 includes a group of user devices 110, a satellite 106 and a content delivery network 120 in communication with the group of user devices 110. The content delivery network 120 selects a plurality of user devices 110 from the group of user devices 110, divides content into a crucial portion and non-crucial portions, communicates the non-crucial portions to the plurality of user devices using a peer-to-peer network until all non- critical portions are received. After communicating the non-crucial portions, the content delivery network 120 communicates the crucial portion to the plurality of user devices 110 through the satellite. The plurality of user devices assembles the crucial portion and the non- crucial portions to form the content, hi addition, security information may be first transmitted through the satellite to the user devices so that a peer-to-peer network may be established. Thereafter, the non-crucial portion are exchanged through the peer-to-peer network.