METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROXIMITY-BASED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND EXCHANGE IN AD HOC NETWORKS

摘要

A network has clients and a server. The clients can discover and be discovered by each other. Discovery includes emitting requests to and acquiring identifying information from clients within a certain geographical range. A discovering client sends all identifying information to the server. The server includes client information database and topological map, comprised of nodes representing clients and edges indicating the discovery of one client by another. When the server receives identifying information from the discovering client, the server updates the topological map and determines which neighboring clients of the discovering client matches the match criteria of the discovering client. The server may determine a discovery schedule detailing which client should discover next. The server may send the match information and discovery schedule to the discovering client, discovered clients, or a third party. The server may also store this information.