Decentralized Network Resource Identifier Generation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing resource naming mechanisms in networked environments, particularly in peer-to-peer systems, face challenges in ensuring unique identifiers across resources over time and space, often relying on centralized servers or random number generators that can lead to identifier clashes and scalability issues.
Innovation Solution
A decentralized system generates unique network resource identifiers using a combination of host address, current time, and process identifier, eliminating the need for centralized naming services and random number generators, ensuring uniqueness across time and space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a centralized naming server is used to provide identifiers and ensure uniqueness, then identifier uniqueness is improved, but system reliability deteriorates because the server becomes a single point of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized naming function into distributed components. Each peer device independently generates and manages its own identifiers using local random number generators, eliminating the single point of failure while maintaining identifier uniqueness through decentralized autonomous operation
Solution Approach 2:
Each peer device serves its own naming needs by generating identifiers locally without requiring external centralized services. The system becomes self-sufficient at the individual device level, allowing continuous operation even when other peers are unavailable
2Reliability
If random number generators are used for distributed naming, then system reliability is improved by eliminating single points of failure, but identifier uniqueness deteriorates due to potential identifier clashes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sources of entropy including device hardware identifiers, timestamps, and random number generation to create composite identifiers. This merging of multiple independent factors dramatically reduces the probability of collisions while maintaining distributed autonomous operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends the identifier space by incorporating multiple dimensions including hardware-level device identifiers, temporal information, and random components. This multi-dimensional approach vastly increases the unique identifier space, making collisions statistically improbable even in large distributed networks
3Adaptability or versatility
If random number generators are used for naming, then decentralized operation is achieved, but scalability deteriorates due to processing delays when multiple processes wait for random number generation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-generates pools of random numbers and stores them in memory before they are needed. When identifier generation is required, pre-generated numbers are immediately available without waiting for random number generation processes, eliminating bottlenecks and enabling high-speed decentralized naming operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic identifier generation where the complexity and sources of randomness are adjusted based on the specific naming context and requirements. This allows the system to optimize between speed and uniqueness guarantees depending on the operational situation, improving overall scalability
Data Source
AI summary
System and method for the unique naming of resources in networked environments including peer-to-peer network environments. Embodiments may be used to generate network resource identifiers that uniquely identify resources such as processes over time and across the networked environment. One embodiment may be implemented as a resource name generator that generates unique identifiers for resources in networked environments. One embodiment may generate unique network resource identifiers for processes from information including, but not limited to, a host address that uniquely identifies on the network the host machine of the resource for which the unique network resource identifier is being generated, a current time (e.g. obtained from the host machine or alternatively from an external source such as an atomic time server), and a process identifier of the process that uniquely identifies the process among current processes on the host machine.