Abstract: Systems and methods are described that facilitate the management of contact information, at least some of the contact information related to entities in a serverless, peer-to-peer system. A contact store may store information regarding which other entities of a plurality of other entities are authorized to monitor presence of a user entity. Presence of an entity may generally indicate the willingness and/or ability of the entity to communicate and/or collaborate with other entities, for example. The contact store may also store information regarding which other entities of the plurality of other entities the presence of which should be monitored by the system. A user entity may be able to add contacts to and/or delete contacts from the contact store, for example.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described that facilitate the management of contact information, at least some of the contact information related to entities in a serverless, peer-to-peer system. A contact store may store information regarding which other entities of a plurality of other entities are authorized to monitor presence of a user entity. Presence of an entity may generally indicate the willingness and/or ability of the entity to communicate and/or collaborate with other entities, for example. The contact store may also store information regarding which other entities of the plurality of other entities the presence of which should be monitored by the system. A user entity may be able to add contacts to and/or delete contacts from the contact store, for example.

Abstract: Technologies are described herein for relevance-based expiration of data. An initial expiration time for the data is computed based upon an expiration duration associated with the data. The expiration time for the data is periodically re-computed in order to extend the expiration time. A relevance value for the meeting data is computed and the expiration time is set as a function of the computed relevance value. The relevance value may be computed as a product of a user-settable relevance value for the meeting data and a dynamic relevance point for the meeting data. When the computed expiration time for meeting data has been reached, the meeting data is expired, such as through the deletion of the meeting data.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: A multi-tone synchronous collision resolution system permits communication nodes within a MANET to contend simultaneously for a plurality of available channels. The communication nodes contend for access using a synchronous signaling mechanism that utilizes multiple tones in a synchronous manner to resolve contentions. Contentions are arbitrated locally, and a surviving subset of communication nodes is selected. The communication nodes of the surviving subset then transmit data packets simultaneously across the available communication channels.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: Application programming interfaces and methods that provide graph management in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network are provided. More specifically, new and improved P2P application programming interfaces (APIs) and methods for the creation and access of graphs, the retrieval of node and graph information, the addition, modification, deletion and management of records (data), the importation and exportation of graph data, the direct communication between graph nodes, the addition of a security provider to a graph, the setting and retrieval of presence information, the registering for event notifications, and other utility and support functions are presented. Each of these interfaces utilize various parameters that are passed in from an application program that uses these interfaces to manage and utilize graphs. The interfaces return a value that indicates the success or failure of the function. For failures, the interfaces provide an indication as to the problem resulting in the failure.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: A system and method for providing security to a graph of interconnected nodes includes a grouping multiplexing layer configured to monitor calls to the system, a graphing dynamic link layer configured to transmit and receive data to and from the graph, and a group security manager coupled to the grouping multiplexing layer and coupled to the graphing dynamic link layer; the group security manager is configured to perform security-related acts via interacting with a group database to propagate security-related information to members of a group within the graph. The group security manager is configured to provide role-based authorization on publication of one or more records and provide membership control for admission to a graph of interconnected nodes. The group security manager provides membership control by providing credentials to potential members of the graph to enable a connection and by providing a governed system for renewal and revocation of members.

Abstract: An authentication mechanism uses a trusted people store that can be populated on an individual basis by users of computing devices, and can comprise certificates of entities that the user wishes to allow to act as certification authorities. Consequently, peer-to-peer connections can be made even if neither device presents a certificate or certificate chain signed by a third-party certificate authority, so long as each device present a certificate or certificate chain signed by a device present in the trusted people store. Once authenticated, a remote user can access trusted resources on a host device by having local processes mimic the user and create an appropriate token by changing the user's password or password type to a hash of the user's certificate and then logging the user on. The token can be referenced in a standard manner to determine whether the remote user is authorized to access the trusted resource.

Abstract: A system, apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium are provided for authorizing a computing node to participate in a group of computing nodes utilizing a shared group password. According to one method described herein, an invitation to join a group is transmitted to a tentative group member node. The invitation is used to establish a connection with a group member node of the group. The tentative group member node generates a hash of a group password and transmits the hash to the group member node. When the group member node receives the hash, the group member node compares the received value to a previously stored hash of the group password. If the previously stored value is identical to the value received from the tentative group member node, then the tentative group member node is authorized as a new member of the group. Otherwise the tentative group member node is not permitted to become a member of the group.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: A security infrastructure and methods are presented that inhibit the ability of a malicious node from disrupting the normal operations of a peer-to-peer network. The methods of the invention allow both secure and insecure identities to be used by nodes by making them self-verifying. When necessary or opportunistic, ID ownership is validated by piggybacking the validation on existing messages. The probability of connecting initially to a malicious node is reduced by randomly selecting to which node to connect. Further, information from malicious nodes is identified and can be disregarded by maintaining information about prior communications that will require a future response. Denial of service attacks are inhibited by allowing the node to disregard requests when its resource utilization exceeds a predetermined limit. The ability for a malicious node to remove a valid node is reduced by requiring that revocation certificates be signed by the node to be removed.

Abstract: Establishing proof of authorized receipt of information between two recipients involves a sender developing an asymmetric key pair and sending one key to each of the two recipients. A first recipient develops a challenge and sends it to the second recipient. The second recipient uses a first key to encrypt the challenge and return it to the first recipient. The first recipient decrypts the response using the second key. A correct response allows the first recipient to trust that the second recipient has an authorized copy of the information because they each have a key associated with the information that came from the sender. No prior relationship between the recipients is assumed and a public key infrastructure is not required.

Abstract: A method and system for providing condition information associated with an entity being analyzed. The method includes presenting nodes corresponding to components of the entity according to a tree-like configuration, and providing condition information associated with at least one of the components using the nodes.

Abstract: A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) chip includes at least one core logic module located in a central area of the chip and having a core input/output (I/O) and a plurality of I/O pads disposed on a periphery of the chip. Narrow logic blocks including buffers and delay elements separate the core logic module from the I/O pads. The core I/O is coupled to the I/O pads by way of the buffers and delay elements of the narrow logic blocks.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for decoding an audio signal. In one embodiment, a first pulse is identified with a predetermined relative duration with respect to a second pulse. A sampling frequency is then calculated based on such identification. In another embodiment, an audio signal is decoded utilizing a threshold. In still yet another embodiment, a decoder is provided for decoding an audio signal utilizing a clock that is independent of the audio signal.

Abstract: Methods and computer readable mediums are described that facilitate inviting user entities on a network. The method may include initiating a first application for sending an invitation by a first user entity on a first endpoint, selecting a second user entity to receive the invitation, and selecting an activity. The method may also include sending from the first endpoint to the second user entity the invitation to participate in the activity if the first endpoint determines the activity is supported by a computing application on the first endpoint.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described that facilitate the management of contact information, at least some of the contact information related to entities in a serverless, peer-to-peer system. A contact store may store information regarding which other entities of a plurality of other entities are authorized to monitor presence of a user entity. Presence of an entity may generally indicate the willingness and/or ability of the entity to communicate and/or collaborate with other entities, for example. The contact store may also store information regarding which other entities of the plurality of other entities the presence of which should be monitored by the system. A user entity may be able to add contacts to and/or delete contacts from the contact store, for example.