Patent ID: 7089301

Claim:
A method for searching a peer-to-peer computer network, comprising: monitoring and periodically collecting data about a plurality of computers within the peer-to-peer network, the collecting including a network location of each of the plurality of computers and being independent of a user search query, the collecting further including, sending a signal to at least one of the plurality computers; receiving the signal upon its return from the at least one computer; and forming a profile characterizing the at least one computer based on information provided by the signal, the profile comprising information on a number of files contained within the at least one computer and one or more of: a round trip time measure taken by the signal during its travel to and from the at least one computer; information on an amount of content available to the network on the at least one computer; information on the at least one computer's capability to process a search query; information on a number of connected computers encountered by the signal during its travel to and from the at least one computer; information on a number of additional computers connected to the at least one computer information on a frequency with which the plurality of computers are connected to the network; and information on which of the plurality of computers are currently connected to the network; selecting at least one computer to be a selected computer, based on the collected data; and routing a search query from a user to the selected computer via the network location of the selected computer.