Network match maker

Abstract

A method for establishing a peer to peer match of clients for at least one application, the method including: receiving at least one offer being indicative of at least one application for which an offer for matching is proposed from an offering peer client, and recording at least one attribute associated with the offer using at least one offer record; receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between the offering peer client and an inquiring client; and comparing the offer record with the measured at least one link property to determine if a peer to peer match between the offering and the inquiring peer clients is to be permitted.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for establishing a peer to peer match of clients for at least one application, said method comprising: 
 receiving at least one offer being indicative of at least one application for which an offer for matching is proposed from an offering peer client, and recording at least one attribute associated with said offer using at least one offer record;    receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between said offering peer client and an inquiring client; and    comparing said offer record with said measured at least one link property to determine if a peer to peer match between said offering and said inquiring peer clients is to be permitted.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of launching an application so as to allow direct peer to peer communication between said first and inquiring clients.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of launching an application allowing direct peer to peer communication for allowable matches after a predetermined number of inquiring peer clients are deemed allowable matches.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between said first peer client and a second inquiring client; and    comparing said offer record with said measured at least one link property so as to determine if a peer to peer match between said offering and second inquiring peer clients is to be permitted.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one communication link property comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of bandwidth, latency, and packet loss.  
     
     
         6 . A system suitable for establishing a peer to peer match between at least two peer client computers each including at least one instance of an application, said system comprising: 
 at least one server;    code for recording an offer for match and desired match attributes associated with at least one of said at least two peer client computers;    code for recording link performance information indicative of communications between any two of said at least two peer client computers so as to be associable with said recorded offer and attributes; and,    code for comparing said recorded offer and attributes and said recorded link properties to determine whether a peer to peer match is to be permitted;    wherein, said code for recording said offer, code for recording said link performance information and code for comparing are at least partially stored using said at least one server.    
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising code for accepting said offer of match from at least one of said at least two client computers, providing access to said at least two client computers of said offer record allowing an acceptance of said offer of match by one or more of said peer client computers, requiring an offer-accepting peer client computer to provide attributes and measure the link parameters to each one of said at least two client computers whereby said attributes and said link parameters are forwarded to said match maker program, and comparing said record of offer with said attributes and said link parameters in determining the suitability of a match before initiating said peer to peer match.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said attributes include instance and class attributes.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said code for measuring includes at least one link measurement application residing in at least one of said peer client computers, wherein the results of said link measurement program are forwarded to said at least one server prior to comparing said offer record.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said code for recording said offer, code for recording said link performance information and code for comparing are part of an application.  
     
     
         11 . A method for establishing a match for at least voice and data, said method comprising: 
 receiving at least one offer associated with an application supporting voice and data communications for which an offer for matching is proposed from an offering peer client, and recording at least one attribute along with said offer using at least one offer record;    receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between said first peer client and an inquiring client; and    comparing said at least one offer record with said measured at least one link property so as to determine if a peer to peer match between said offering and inquiring peer clients is allowable.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising launching said application thereby allowing communication for voice and data for allowable matches.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising launching said application so as to allow communication for voice and data for allowable matches after a predetermined number of inquiring clients are deemed allowable matches.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the steps of; 
 receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between said first peer client and a second inquiring client;    comparing said offer record with said measured at least one link property so as to determine if a peer to peer match between said offering and second inquiring peer clients is allowable; and,    launching said application allowing communication for voice and data for allowable matches.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said communication link properties comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of bandwidth, latency, and packet loss.  
     
     
         16 . A method for establishing at least one match of clients for at least one application, said method comprising: 
 receiving at least one offer being indicative of an application from an offering client, and recording at least one attribute along with said offer using at least one offer record;    selecting at least one game server using said at least one offer record;    receiving a measurement of at least one communication link property between said offering client and said at least one game server; and    comparing said received measurement to at least one condition associated with said at least one application so as to determine if a match between said offering client and said selected at least one game server is allowable.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising instantiating said at least one application if said match is allowable.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said selecting comprises selecting a plurality of servers, and said instantiating is based upon said comparing.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising: 
 receiving a second measurement of at least one communication link property between a second client and said at least one game server; and    comparing said received second measurement to at least one condition associated with said at least one application so as to determine if a match between said second client and said selected at least one game server is allowable.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising deselecting at least one of said selected servers if said match between said second client and said selected at least one game server is not allowable.