Patent Document ID: 7613772
Application ID: 10206009
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer implemented method comprising: a first peer computing device in a peer-to-peer network sending a multicast message to an Internet Protocol (IP)-subnet, the multicast message comprising an identifier; receiving a unicast message from a second peer computing device on the IP-connected subnet having the same identifier, the unicast message comprising: an address resolvable to an IP address, of the second peer computing device; and other identification of the second peer computing device; updating a list identifying peer computing devices that have responded to indicate the address resolvable to the IP address and the other identification of the second peer computing device; determining which collaborative networks are active on the peer-to-peer network by querying the second peer computing device; selecting one of the active collaborative networks determined from the second peer computing device; and collaborating with the second peer computing device connected to the selected active collaborative network; further comprising: the first peer computing device maintaining a record of an interval since a last message from a peer computing device other than the first peer computing device; and when a pre-determined threshold is exceeded for the interval, removing the peer computing device other than the first peer computing device from the list.