Patent ID: 7969872

Claim:
A device for connection to a network comprising: an interface for connecting to said network having a shared resource; a memory and processing unit connected to said interface; said memory and processing unit configured to execute a user application that utilizes said shared resource; said memory and processing unit configured to execute a performance manager, in addition to said user application, for managing allocation of said shared resource between said device and at least one other device also connected to said network that also utilizes said shared resource; said device and said at least one other device configured to share information regarding use of said shared resource with each other; wherein said device and at least one other device are each configured (i) to maintain respective instances of said performance manager, (ii) to deliver an announcement to each other a level of internal resources that are available in each of said devices or other device metric relevant to the device's ability to act as said performance manager, and (iii) to automatically elect which of said performance managers of said devices will manage allocation of said shared resource based on an evaluation of one or more of said device metrics, wherein the elected performance manager broadcasts a message indicating its automatic election.