Patent ID: 7676541

Claim:
A computing system comprising a processor and memory that stores a first node module in which agent programs can execute, the first node module comprising: (a) a peer discovery module that receives a window from a discovery system in order to detect a second node module within a distributed computing architecture, wherein 1. the window comprises a list of other node modules within the distributed computing architecture, 2. the list comprises the second node module, 3. the window contains a subset of all node addresses in an unbounded computing space, 4. the window overlaps with at least another window so that the first node module is able to interact with any node module of the unbounded computing space, and 5. the window is configured based on a first parameter “N” corresponding to a number of neighboring node modules that have a higher IP address than an IP address of the first node module and a second parameter “M” corresponding to a number of preceding neighboring node modules that have a lower IP address than the IP address of the first node module; and (b) a peer interaction module though which the first node module communicates with the second node module in accordance with the window, wherein the window comprises an identifying attribute of the second node module, and wherein the first node module is configured to introduce an agent program that can be sent to the second node module, though the peer interaction module, and wherein the agent program executes in the second node module, wherein the discovery system provides the window and determines the first and second parameters “N” and “M” such that the first node module is able to interact only with node modules contained in the window provided by the discovery system.