Patent ID: 7689695

Claim:
A computer-implemented method to optimize resource utilization in a system of computer hardware nodes connecting producers and consumers for delivering data between users at said nodes at allocatable data flow rates, comprising the steps of: dynamically adjusting data flow rates in response to consumer service control information; and dynamically adjusting consumer service control information in response to data flow rates, wherein said system comprises a plurality of nodes connected by links, said plurality of nodes comprising at least one source node connected to receive data from at least one producer and at least one consumer control node to which consumers connect to obtain data and at least one intermediate node between said at least one source node and said at least one consumer control node, said method further comprising the steps of: said at least one source node dynamically adjusts data flow rates by the steps of: acquiring consumer service control information and price information; acquiring producer rate information generated by at least one content producer; adjusting data flow rates based on producer rate information, consumer service control information and price information; and making data flow rates available to nodes in said system; and said at least one consumer control node dynamically adjusts consumer service control information by the steps of: acquiring data flow rates; computing a number of consumers for each of a plurality of service classes; determining a price based on at least node capacity for the number of consumers for each service class for a rate of flow; and making the number of consumers for each of a plurality of service classes and the price available to nodes in said system; wherein said steps are iteratively repeated by said at least one source node and said at least one consumer service control node to determine optimal flow rate and consumer service control for optimal resource usage; and making said data available to consumers based on the determined optimal flow rate and consumer service control.