UPnP Discovery Scaling via P2P Peer Groups
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Solution Overview
Problem
UPnP device discovery and eventing are inefficient in the presence of a large number of control points, and they do not scale effectively, especially when discovery needs to extend beyond the local subnet.
Innovation Solution
A peer-to-peer networking infrastructure is leveraged to improve the efficiency and scalability of UPnP device discovery and eventing by organizing control points into groups, allowing for efficient distribution of metadata and notifications, where a handful of peers receive announcements and notifications and flood them to others within the group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional UPnP device discovery and eventing is used with a large number of control points, then device discovery and eventing can be achieved, but efficiency and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into multiple subnets with designated router peers in each subnet. Control points are distributed across different subnets, and device announcements are segmented and forwarded through router peers to reach control points in other subnets. This segmentation enables scalable device discovery across large networks without overwhelming any single subnet.
Solution Approach 2:
Router peers act as intermediaries between subnets. When a device sends an announcement, router peers receive and forward these announcements to other subnets. Similarly, control points send search requests through router peers to discover devices in remote subnets. This intermediary mechanism enables efficient eventing and discovery across the entire network without requiring direct peer-to-peer connections between all devices.
2Reliability
If device announcements are sent to all control points directly, then all control points receive notifications, but network traffic and processing overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The network is segmented into subnets, and device announcements are segmented and forwarded only to relevant router peers in each subnet. This reduces the total number of transmissions compared to sending to every control point directly, while ensuring reliable delivery through the segmented path.
Solution Approach 2:
Router peers serve as intermediaries that receive device announcements and selectively forward them to control points in their respective subnets. This intermediary approach reduces network traffic overhead by eliminating redundant transmissions and consolidating the notification delivery process through efficient routing.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a method for scaling and extending the reach of UPnP device discovery and eventing by leveraging the use of a peer-to-peer network infrastructure. Peer-to-peer networking allows for the organization of a set of nodes into a group for efficient exchange of information and the group has an efficient and scalable mechanism for flooding data to all members in it. In one embodiment one PC in a peer group can receive device discovery announcements and subscribe for device event notifications. A discovery proxy and an eventing proxy running on the PC package the announcement and/or notification in a record and proceed to flood it to the group. The group flooding semantics route the notification to the subscribed controllers, which can subsequently take suitable action. Ultimately, this method produces a result whereby device discovery and eventing tasks can be fulfilled by locating the closest peer and obtaining the device announcements and notifications from that peer.