Quorum Sensing Agent for Peer-to-Peer Network Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
In peer-to-peer networks, individual peers are often unaware of the total number of nodes, limiting their ability to coordinate and collaborate effectively due to their limited knowledge of other peers within the network.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a quorum sensing agent on each node that maintains a tracking table of peer nodes and communicates through messages to detect the existence of a quorum based on predefined criteria, enabling coordinated actions among nodes when a sufficient number of peers with matching properties are identified.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If peers in a peer-to-peer network only maintain awareness of a limited number of other peers, then the network structure remains simple and manageable, but the peers cannot coordinate and collaborate effectively due to limited knowledge of other peers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces quorum sensing agents as intermediary components that mediate between individual peers and the overall network. These agents collect information from multiple peers and aggregate it, allowing individual peers to gain knowledge about the broader network without directly maintaining connections with all peers. This resolves the contradiction by enabling comprehensive information gathering through intermediaries while preserving simple peer-to-peer relationships.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network information gathering function into separate quorum sensing agents that operate independently on each peer. Each agent maintains a tracking table and communicates with a limited set of peers, dividing the overall information collection task across multiple agents rather than requiring each peer to manage all network knowledge directly. This allows comprehensive monitoring while keeping individual peer complexity low.
2Reliability
If peers propagate quorum sensing messages to all known peers, then the network can detect quorum conditions, but the message propagation consumes network bandwidth and processing resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by having quorum sensing agents propagate messages only to a subset of peers rather than all peers in the network. The tracking tables maintain information about known peers, and messages are selectively propagated based on this information. This partial propagation is sufficient to detect quorum conditions while reducing the overall message traffic and resource consumption compared to universal propagation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where quorum sensing agents monitor the propagation of messages and the state of tracking tables. When quorum conditions are detected or when message propagation becomes excessive, the system can adjust its behavior. The feedback loop allows the network to optimize message propagation based on current network conditions, balancing reliability of quorum detection with resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are embodiments configured to detect a quorum of peers in a peer to peer network. In one embodiment, a first peer receives a message originating in a second peer, where the message includes a peer identifier. The peer identifier is stored in quorum detection data in response to determining that the peer identifier is not already present in the quorum detection data. A quorum of the peers is detected based at least in part on the quorum detection data.