System for synchronizing nodes on a network

Abstract

A system of computers on a wide area network establishes connections between nodes on the basis of their multidimensional similarity at a particular point in time in a certain setting, such as a social learning network, and sends information of value to those nodes. Dimensions in the definition of similarity include a plurality of attributes in time and community space. Examples of such dimensions and attributes may include a position in a learning community's project cycle, titles of readings and projects, the genre or subject matter under consideration, age, grade, or level of the participants, and language. The network's nodes are represented as a tensor field and are searched efficiently and adaptively through a variety of multidimensional data structures and mechanisms. The system includes a master clock that can transform a participant's time coordinates on the network, such as a social learning network, into Universal Time, and the synchronizer coordinates the position of each participant.

1 . A method for determining node similarity by calculating, within a connected computer network, a comparative distance for each pair of a plurality of nodes on the connected computer network, wherein each node comprises a plurality of attributes and each attribute includes a value comprising the steps of:
 a. having a computer identify a plurality of attributes corresponding to each node of the plurality of nodes on the connected computer network;   b. having a computer compare a first attribute corresponding to a first node to a first attribute corresponding to a second node, wherein the comparison comprises determining a relative difference between the first attribute of the first node and the first attribute of the second node without reference to a point of origin for either the first node or the second node;   c. repeating step (b) for each attribute corresponding to the second node;   d. repeating steps (b) and (c) for each attribute corresponding to the first node; and   e. assessing the similarity between the first and second node by calculating the comparative distance based on a plurality of relative differences determined at the step (b).   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the determining a relative difference at step (b) comprises representing the value of each attribute as a scalar number, 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the representing a value of each attribute as a scalar number comprises semantically comparing the value to a predefined value contained in a semantic database. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of weighting each relative difference determined at step (b). 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising the step of dynamically altering the weight applied to each relative difference. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising dynamically altering the identification of the plurality of attributes at step (a). 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first node and the second node are part of a subset of the plurality of nodes, wherein the subset is identified based on at least one of the plurality of attributes. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising repeating steps (a) through (e) for each of the plurality of nodes. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising graphically displaying the comparative distances calculated at the steps (e). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of identifying one or more additional nodes based on the assessed similarity between the first node and the second node. 
     
     
         11 . A method for determining node placement among a collection of nodes grouped in clusters comprising the steps of:
 a. determining an attribute of a first node in a first cluster;   b. determining an attribute in common among multiple nodes in a second cluster;   c. assessing the similarity between the first node attribute and the second cluster common attribute;   d. placing the first node into the second cluster based in part on the assessed similarity between the first node attribute and the second cluster common attribute.   
     
     
         12 . A method for serving content to a node in a network of nodes comprising the steps of:
 a. creating a relationship between a first node in the network and a second node in the network based on an assessment of the similarity between one or more attributes of the first node with one or more attributes of the second node;   b. identifying an attribute of the first node that is not in common with an attribute of the second node; and   c. serving content based on the relationship and on the attribute of the first node that is not in common with an attribute of the second node.