Patent ID: 8635341

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for a client computing system discovering a service offered in a network environment, the method being implemented by the client computing system and comprising: an act of determining that a service discovery request for a service satisfying service criteria is to be dispatched to a plurality of service providers in the network environment, the plurality of service providers including: at least one discovery proxy that processes service discovery requests on behalf of a plurality of services; and at least one service that processes service discovery requests only on its own behalf; an act of identifying search termination criteria for the service discovery request, the search termination criteria including at least a specification of a limit to a maximum count of responses that will be considered by the client computing system, wherein the maximum count of responses that will be considered is used by any of the plurality of service providers that are able to determine how many responses to the service discovery request the client computing system has already received during processing of the service discovery request, but wherein the maximum count of responses is ignored by any of the plurality of service providers that are unable to determine how many responses the client computing system has received during processing of the service discovery request; and an act of constructing a service discovery request including the service criteria as well as the search termination criteria and dispatching the service discovery request to at least the plurality of service providers.