Patent ID: 7177929
Filing Date: 2007-02-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of persisting a node's reputation in a transient network having transient network communities where a collection of nodes making up the network may change over time, comprising steps of: creating, for each of the nodes in the transient network, a persistent node identifier to uniquely identify the node across all of the node's entries into the network, even if a different network address is assigned to the node upon a subsequent entry into the network, wherein the persistent node identifier for each of the nodes comprises: (i) an original network address assigned to the node upon its initial entry into the network; (ii) a date of the initial entry; (iii) a time of the initial entry; and (iv) an identifier of a network domain in which the initial entry occurred; creating, for each of the nodes in the transient network, a mapping usable for resolving current network addresses to persistent node identifiers, wherein the mapping created for each of the nodes comprises an entry for each other one of the nodes in the network that is known to the each node and each of the entries specifies (i) the persistent node identifier of the other one and (ii) the current network address of the other one, and wherein the entries in the mapping for each of the nodes are revised when the each node learns that any of the known nodes has a changed current network address and when any additional node in the network becomes known to the each node; recording, for each of the nodes in the transient network, reputation information usable for evolving trust among the nodes, wherein the recorded reputation information for each of the nodes comprises recorded results of the node's behavior as it interacts with other ones of the nodes in the network; and programmatically consulting the mapping, by each of the nodes when presented with a particular current network address of a particular one of the other nodes in the network, to obtain the persistent node identifier from the entry for the particular one of the other nodes, such that the mapping thereby enables associating the recorded reputation information for each of the nodes with the node even if the node's current network address changes.