MESSAGE DISTRIBUTION IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

摘要

A communication network (100), such as an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network, comprises a number of network elements (101-113). A network element (103) comprises a first receive processor (203) for receiving messages from a first network element (101). A probability processor (205) determines whether to forward messages to a second network element (109) in response to a stochastic process having a probability parameter. The probability of each message being forwarded to the second network element (109) is dependent on the probability parameter. A transmit processor (207) transmits the messages determined to be forwarded to the second network element (109). A second receive processor (209) receives missed message indications from the second network element (109) and the modification processor (211) modifies the probability parameter in response to the missed message indications. The invention may allow a Gossip protocol distribution of messages for automatic and local adaptation to the current conditions and network configuration.