Patent ID: 8291115

Claim:
A method for distributing data in a data network comprising a central device and a plurality of users configured to communicate with the central device, the users having ad hoc-networking capabilities, the users comprising a first user and a second user, the method comprising: dividing, by the central device, the data to be distributed into a plurality of data blocks, the data blocks comprised of a first data block and a second data block; creating, by the central device, a list reflecting a complete set of the data blocks produced during the division of the data; sending, by the central device, the first data block and the list from a central location to the first user; sending, by the central device, the second data block and the list from the central location to the second user; randomly establishing, by the first user or the second user, a spontaneous communication between the first user and the second user; and sending, by the second user, the second data block and the list to the first user; and wherein the data is software or configuration data and wherein a communication path is randomly established by occurring without any temporal schedule and without any of: (a) the central device and (b) a predefined terminal overseeing formation of the communication path to ensure transmission of the second data block to the first user and wherein the communication path is spontaneously formed by being formed when the first user is within a predetermined distance of the second user without any schedule defining when the first user would be within the predetermined distance of the second user.