Methods and systems for image sharing over a network
Contents
1. or pictures includes pictures or images such as pictures or images in a JPEG compliant format as well as other types of images such as bmp or gif images or graphic files Optionally the image management application can be integrated with the file sharing application The image management application can display on a user termi nal screen one or more pictures or thumbnails or reduced sized versions of the pictures 0038 In an example embodiment as pictures are selected thumbnails thereof are displayed and grouped in another area of the screen such as at the bottom top right side or left side of the screen Once the user has finished selecting all of the pictures the user wants to share in a given sharing session the user can click on a file sharing button The screen presented on the user s terminal will then switch to the file sharing application and a file sharing dialog box or menu is presented 0039 One or more names or identifiers are presented via dialog box menu address book or the like that corre spond to other users The user can select picture recipients by clicking on one or more of the presented user names or identifiers and then clicking on a send button Optionally after the selected pictures have been sent images thereof are placed or remain in a recent pictures tray or file for quick access by the sender so that they can be quickly accessed and sent by the sender to other users 0040 Opt2. and the machine identifier Other forms of permission data can be used as well For example the permission data need not include a container identifier a file modification time or other of the above data items In addition the unique image identifier can instead be provided with an appropriate length identification code Further other data can be included such as an access code or password Optionally the can have an expiration date and or a limit on the number of times it can be used to retrieve the corresponding image file or files By way of example in an embodiment the sending terminal or server maintains a count of how many times a given image file had been retrieved and or when the file was initially shared and stores that data in association with the per user permission data for the file The sender application can then check the number of times the file has been retrieved by a requesting user compare that number to the permitted number of retrievals and determine if that number has been reached and so whether or not to allow the user to access the file again Similarly the expiration date and determine if that date and has passed and so whether or not to allow the user to access the file 0048 The receiving peer terminal Computer B 112 remembering and storing Key1109 and associated permis sion data in local memory can use 1 or a portion thereof and file sharing application 113 to automatically make one
3. be stored at a very high resolution but may be limited by the sender to a size of 640x480 pixels with respect to transmis sion to recipients via the file sharing application Optionally the sender can specify that certain recipients such as paying recipients or specified friends or coworkers can access higher resolution or full resolution versions of the images 0036 To accomplish this in an example embodiment the sender file sharing application examines the file s actual size the sender s maximum size or resolution to send and the recipient s request size or resolution Thus the version of the image will be substantially equal to the smaller of the requested resolution and the maximum resolution or size specified by the sender The sender file sharing application resizes the picture in question to this size using high quality methods such as bicubic resampling of the original image file and then sends a compressed file which is optionally encrypted to the recipient In one embodiment the encryp tion is provided on a stream level The encryption can be performed by way of example on a stream level wherein the peer stream is itself encrypted and or on a component level wherein for example individual items and files are encrypted 0037 In one embodiment the sender selects the pictures or images to be shared using an image management appli cation For convenience in the following description the phrases picture
4. the at least first request including the first image identifier and user identification US 2005 0052685 A1 receiving the first image at the requested first resolution and automatically causing the first image to be displayed to a receiving user 59 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the permission data includes at least a user identifier a machine identifier an image width and an image height 60 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the permission data includes at least a container identifier and an image file size 61 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the permission data includes at least a file content signature and a file modification time 62 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein in response to the at least first request the first terminal automatically scales the first image to the first resolution 63 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein in response to the at least first request the first terminal encrypts the first image at the first resolution and transmits the encrypted first image at the first resolution 64 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the at least first request specifies a second resolution for the first image wherein the second resolution is greater than the first resolution 65 The method as defined in claim 64 wherein the first terminal assigns a higher priority to transmitting the first image at the first resolution than to tr
5. thumbnail version almost instantly However optionally transfer of the higher resolution version can be given the higher priority and the lower resolution version the lower priority Further the transmission of the lower and higher resolution versions can be interleaved 0064 Optionally the sending file sharing application 111 automatically encrypts images and associated chat text before transmitting them to the recipient to enhance security The encryption can be performed at a connection or stream level and or at a component or file level By way of example the application 111 optionally utilizes 128 bit AES encryption This prevents third party entities including operators of servers through which the sharing may occur from viewing the shared images Further the file sharing applications 111 113 optionally include or act as a built in firewall to prevent unauthorized access to the users mass memory such as the hard disk drives of Computer A 110 and Computer B 112 For example a file level ACL access control list is optionally used to prevent unauthorized access so that file system access is not exposed to a remote client in contrast to a web server environment wherein file system access is exposed 0065 Optionally during logon and chat sessions the sending user is connected to a log on server Once the sending user has sent images to another user or users the sender is directly connected without intervention by the log
6. 709 COMPUTER A FILE SHARING APPLICATION COMPUTER B FILE SHARING APPLICATION resolution to the image recipient s terminal 770 COMPUTER RESPONDS BY SENDING A RESIZED VERSION OF IMAGE1 774 Patent Application Publication 10 2005 Sheet 1 of 7 US 2005 0052685 A1 108 COMPUTER A FILE SHARING APPLICATION 770 COMPUTER INFORMS COMPUTER B ABOUT IMAGE1 BY TRANSMITTING KEY1 TO IDENTIFY THE IMAGE COMPUTER B REQUESTS IMAGE BY SPECIFYING A DESIRED RESOLUTION AND IDENTIFYING THE KEY COMPUTER A RESPONDS BY SENDING A RESIZED VERSION OF IMAGE1 COMPUTER B FILE SHARING APPLICATION 709 109 77 7 LLG Z US 2005 0052685 A1 Sheet 2 of 7 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 1 pd woy 5 7977 WM 7 Oe lt asi UO L 2 sunt impe onemcmcxu wmp 003M S34VA 13VuSI 4 i strade 09855 di E AT sonnets 207 US 2005 0052685 A1 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 Sheet 3 of 7 de Wd fy tU 78 woxqouxassiamp ssjampia 9207 9114u 9349 ssasppe 0009105 NOA ji PUetii PPY 3 mouy
7. Further many conventional Web sites that provide views of image data require users to upload original pictures or other image files which can total hundreds of megabits of transfer and hours of upload time even if the pictures are never actually viewed by others 0008 Users also conventionally send digital pictures through email in order to push files to other users Users can search for files on a number of peer to peer or 2 networks to find image files to download and share with others The foregoing methods are file based wherein the request mechanism asks for the contents of a file and those contents are transferred over a network In particular with respect to image files these methods can sometimes require that the sender send images using a fixed image resolution which is the file received by the recipient 0009 Further emailing large high resolution pictures can cause large download times for the recipients can tie up their network access and their computer and so sending many pictures this way is often considered rude When small pictures are sent via email the process is generally accom plished manually by repeated emails and resizing operations to obtain the desired resolution which is tedious difficult and time consuming for the average user 0010 Still other conventional methods necessitate that the sending server know the resolution and or terminal type of the requesting terminal so that the se
8. H _ Cmpusu4 1f0 351 UN1U03 E I 3002 pus e 240045 up 1612 pus eseus 01 SH SRR Spuany ppe vse nid ung wey US 2005 0052685 A1 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 Sheet 4 of 7 IG Wad SUN Z al MOOS US 2005 0052685 A1 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 Sheet 5 of 7 Qc UU E EDT me m oy ore FR esaa FA POT 0207 65004 4245 SIND Z st sued US 2005 0052685 A1 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 Sheet 6 of 7 9 ren rmn our wig 7 p pumy 9002 vend jo 9 Y 0 11 XP 0005 sure menm WM e AIO Muud g ed 25274 wos FH pax 490 Patent Application Publication Mar 10 2005 Sheet 7 of 7 US 2005 0052685 A1 702 TOB PEER A DCP SERVER SENDS VISIBLE ADDRESS DCP SERVER OF PEER B PEERS A AND SEND UDP PACKETS AND ESTABLISH CONNECTIONS 266 DCP SERVER 2 76 DCP SERVER SENDS EXTERNALLY VISIBLE ADDRESS OF PEER A PEER B SENDS UDP PACKET T
9. and so on What is claimed is 1 A method of peer to peer sharing of images over a network the method comprising receiving a selection of a first image by a user of a sending peer terminal wherein the first image has a first reso lution transmitting over a network permission data for the selected first image from the sending peer terminal to a receiving peer terminal the permission data including at least image identification information resolution information the resolution information specifying a second resolution less than the first resolution automatically transmitting an image request for the first image from the receiving peer terminal to the sending peer terminal wherein the image request is based at least in part on the permission data image identification information and resolution information and in response to receiving the image request the sending peer terminal scaling first image to the second resolution encrypting the scaled first image transmitting the encrypted first image at the second resolution over the network to the receiving peer terminal 2 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the permis sion data includes a user identifier a machine identifier an image width and an image height 3 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the permis sion data includes a container identifier an image file size a file content signature and a file modification time 4 T
10. of the hosts is not behind a NAT 0076 Optionally in an example embodiment a protocol is built on top of the knowledge that with the help of a third party host UDP packets can be passed directly between two hosts behind different NATs In particular UDP does not provide guaranteed delivery packets may be lost and not recovered After adding reliability features to pro vide the features of TCP IP the following two operations between two NAT d machines can be performed 0077 Transfer image files and other media assets 0078 Implement the hybrid push pull model dis cussed above by maintaining a persistent open con nection 0079 significant portion of computer network traffic relies on the availability of a reliable connection oriented protocol for the transmission of data between computers corresponding to level 4 of the OSI model Without such protocol many software applications which utilize com puter networks and the Internet in particular could not properly function There are several protocols available to software designers for creating these reliable connections including the Transmission Control Protocol TCP 0080 As network security has become more important TCP has begun to show some limitations In particular widely used TCP implementations conventionally need one endpoint to listen on a known address and accept incom ing connections from any computer Because this can result in a security
11. on server with the other users for the duration of the Mar 10 2005 sharing session The session can be terminated by way of example in response to a user s manual termination in response to a user closing the sharing application or in response to time out caused by lack of communication activity between the sending user and another corresponding user 0066 example embodiment will know be described with reference to FIGS 2A B which illustrate example user interfaces With reference to FIG 2A and as similarly described above a user accesses a file sharing and image management application executing on a computer terminal that displays via example user interface 202A the images stored on the user s computer local network and so on The images can include for example one or more of digital photographs or videos graphic files drawing files and so on In this example the user interface 202A can be accessed directly or by activating a send pictures button 206C illustrated in FIG 2C The user selects the images to be shared with a recipient by clicking on or otherwise selecting the images For example a shift click combination can be used to select multiple sequential pictures at a time Simi larly a control click combination can be used to select multiple non sequential pictures 0067 In the illustrated example the user has selected images 205A 206A from album 204A titled patent Thumbnail versions o
12. receiving peer terminal to the sending peer terminal for the first image at the first resolution at least partly in response to detecting that the user of the receiving peer terminal is initiating at least one of a save operation and a print operation and transmitting from the sending peer terminal to the receiv ing peer terminal the first image at the first resolution 12 The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising receiving from the sending user a specification on a maximum sharing resolution comparing the maximum sharing resolution to a requested image resolution for a second image and transmitting the second image at a resolution equal to the smaller of the image requested image resolution for the second image and the specified maximum sharing resolution 13 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the sending peer terminal is one of a desktop computer personal digital assistant personal video recorder and cellular telephone 14 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the scaled first image is encrypted on a connection level 15 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the scaled first image is encrypted on a component level 16 The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising receiving a selection of a plurality of pictures by the user of the sending terminal receiving a send picture command from the user of the sending terminal causing a list of potential recipients to be displayed to the u
13. requested resolution so that they appear on a display of the terminal asso ciated with the first recipient substantially instantly 21 The method as defined in claim 20 wherein the request identifies each of the plurality of image with a corresponding image identifier based at least in part on a user identifier associated with the first user a machine identifier associated with the first terminal and local image identifier 22 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the request includes a separate request for each of the plurality of images 23 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the request further identifies a second requested resolution higher than the first resolution for the plurality of images and wherein the instructions are further configured to transmit to the terminal associated with the first recipient the plurality of images at the second requested resolution 24 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 22 wherein the instructions are further configured to transmit to the terminal associated with the first recipient the plurality of images at the second requested resolution at a lower priority than the plurality of images at the first requested resolution 25 peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 22 wherein the instructions are further configured to encrypt the plurality of images for tra
14. risk many computers are firewalled to prevent such incoming connections In addition due to the scarcity of addresses on the Internet many firewalls also employ an address translation mechanism which makes it difficult or impossible for a computer to convey its listening address to US 2005 0052685 A1 potential peers a result many computers on the Internet have become isolated from each other requiring an inter mediary for communication Such intermediaries are often expensive in terms of bandwidth utilization are sometimes unavailable and may introduce additional security prob lems 0081 To overcome these problems a class of protocol has been developed that can be used as a qualitatively equivalent substitute for TCP in cases where two peers wish to establish a reliable connection Software which utilizes such a protocol can then be used in situations where TCP cannot and with minimal or minor changes when TCP support already exists For purposes of convenience this protocol is referred to herein as a Directed Connection Protocol DCP DCP utilizes another network protocol known as UDP User Datagram Protocol UDP is widely supported by the Internet infrastructure but often does not conventionally support a connected model or the desired degree of reliability However it is a property of many firewall and network translation implementations that when UDP traffic is directed out to a particular address replies from tha
15. 0 and or Computer B 112 installed via computer readable removable storage media come prein stalled on the computers mass memory or otherwise loaded The images or pictures can be stored in local computer memory or storage devices accessible by the peer terminal over a local network and so on 0045 The file sharing applications 111 113 can also optionally include integrated image management and editing functions or those functions can be provided by a separate image management application not shown For example the image management and edit functions can include one or more of automatically searching for images stored on the computer s drive and or over a network setting up image albums assigning images to the image albums assigning titles and or key words to images searching for or sorting images based on album titles picture titles and or key Words and dates The image management and edit functions US 2005 0052685 A1 can further include one or more of cropping images reduc ing red eye enhancing image color and or contrast and so on 0046 At state 102 the sending terminal Computer A 110 via the file sharing application 111 makes available one several or many image files by transmitting or pushing permission data Key1109 over the network to the receiving peer terminal Computer B 112 The permission data can provide authorization to access images selected by the sending user The permission data can be in the fo
16. 0052685 A1 application and an image management application the pro cesses and functions can be performed by the same appli cation 0027 The present invention provides methods and sys tems for sending and retrieving digital images over a net work As will be discussed in greater detail herein an example embodiment enables users to selectively gain access to multiple resolution versions of image files over a network In one embodiment these resolution values are determined at least in part by the recipient or recipient terminal which sends a request for images at the desired resolution to the transmitting system Optionally the request can be a single request for the images or the request can be in the form of a separate request for each of the images wherein the separate requests can be transmitted sequen tially and can optionally be transmitted at the same or substantially the same time as permission data for additional images is being received The transmitting system can optionally process and size the images to the requested resolution on the fly in response to the recipient s or the recipient s terminal request Thus prior to the recipient terminal s request the transmitting system does not have to know which versions of the images will be requested or have to pre store versions of the images at the requested resolu tions 0028 For example the recipient can select a picture resolution corresponding to a thumbnail W
17. O DCP SERVER LLG 2 US 2005 0052685 A1 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMAGE SHARING OVER A NETWORK PRIORITY CLAIM 0001 This application claims the benefit under 35 U S C 119 e of U S Provisional Application No 60 471 168 filed May 16 2003 the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety Copyright Rights 0002 A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduc tion by any one of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0003 1 Field of the Invention 0004 The present invention is related to image transmis sion and retrieval and in particular to methods and systems for transmitting and retrieving digital images over a net work 0005 2 Description of the Related Art 0006 Many applications use network protocols to trans fer digital media files from one computer over a network to another computer By way of example when users request images via the World Wide Web HTTP protocol is conven tionally used to transmit the requested images encoded as JPEG files to the users This type of access is commonly referred to as pull protocol because users request each image through the use of a Web browser 0007
18. US 20050052685A1 United States a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2005 0052685 A1 Herf et al 43 Pub Date Mar 10 2005 54 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMAGE Publication Classification SHARING OVER A NETWORK eie 06 15 00 76 Inventors Michael Herf Studio City CA US Brian McBarron Harrison City PA 52 US 2 CL e ente ms 358 1 15 358 402 US Correspondence Address KNOBBE MARTENS OLSON amp BEAR LLP ABSTRACT 2040 MAIN STREET NP FOURTEENTH FLOOR Methods and systems are provided for sharing images over IRVINE CA 92614 US a network A first user selects an image for sharing and designates an image recipient Metadata for the first image 21 Appl No 10 847 536 is transmitted from the first user s terminal to the image recipient s terminal At least partly in response to receiving 22 Filed May 17 2004 the metadata the image recipient s terminal transmits a Related U S Application Data request for the first image at a first resolution to the first user s terminal In response to the request the first user s 60 Provisional application No 60 471 168 filed on May terminal transmits the first image at the requested first 16 2003 108 E COMPUTER A INFORMS COMPUTER B ABOUT IMAGE1 BY TRANSMITTING TO IDENTIFY THE IMAGE COMPUTER B REQUESTS BY SPECIFYING A DESIRED RESOLUTION AND IDENTIFYING THE KEY 709
19. ansmitting the first image at the second resolution 66 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the first resolution corresponds to a thumbnail version of the first image and the at least first request specifies a second resolution for the first image that is at least ten times the first resolution 67 The method as defined in claim 58 wherein the permission data is transmitted from the first terminal in response to the first terminal user providing a send picture command 68 The method as defined in claim 58 further compris ing determining that a user of a receiving terminal is initiating at least one of a save operation and a print operation for the first image and automatically issuing a request to the first terminal for the first image at a second resolution at least partly in response to determining that the second user is initiat ing at least one of a save operation and a print opera tion wherein the second resolution is greater than the first resolution 69 The method as defined in claim 58 further compris ing transmitting a UDP packet to a server receiving an address of the first terminal from the server Mar 10 2005 establishing a connection with the first terminal utilizing the first terminal address 70 The method as defined in claim 69 wherein the first terminal has a firewall 71 A method of sharing of images the method compris ing receiving a selection of a first image by a user of a
20. ck on or otherwise select one or more of the received low resolution images The recipient s file sharing application then automatically requests a higher resolution version of the selected images to the sending user s file sharing application if such has not already been transferred to the receiving terminal The sending user s file sharing application then retrieves or generates the requested higher resolution version of the images and transmits them to the recipient s file sharing application The higher resolution image is then displayed via the recipient s file sharing application in area 210 When a recipient receives pictures they can optionally be automatically displayed in the recipient s image manage ment application 0073 Optionally the recipient can select one or more of the received images such as the higher resolution preview versions of the images by clicking on the desired image printing the desired image and or saving the desired image If the user elects to print an image a print form an example of which is illustrated in FIG 2E is presented to the user The recipient s file sharing application then automatically requests a still higher or full resolution version of the selected images to the sending user s file sharing applica Mar 10 2005 tion The sending user s file sharing application then corre sponding generates or retrieves the requested still higher or full resolution version of the images and tran
21. defined in claim 71 wherein the second resolution corresponds to a thumbnail version of the first image 77 The method as defined in claim 71 wherein the permission data is transmitted from the sending terminal in response to a sending terminal user providing a send picture command 78 The method as defined in claim 71 further compris ing transmitting a UDP packet to a server receiving an address of the receiving terminal from the server establishing a connection with the receiving terminal utilizing the receiving terminal address 79 The method as defined in claim 78 wherein the receiving terminal has a firewall US 2005 0052685 A1 13 80 The method as defined in claim 71 further compris ing receiving a zoom request for the first image from the receiving peer terminal the request including scale and translation specifications Mar 10 2005 selecting a portion of the first image based at least in part on the zoom request and transmitting the selected portion to the receiving peer terminal
22. etworked system and flow diagram of a hybrid push pull method used to share images As illustrated in FIG 1 a peer terminal Computer A 110 is associated with a sending user The peer terminal Computer A 110 can be by way of example a networked desktop computer server personal digital assistant personal video recorder cellular telephone image server or the like is coupled via a network 114 to a peer terminal Computer B 112 associated with a receiving user The receiving peer terminal Computer B 112 can be by way of example a networked desktop computer server personal digital assis tant personal video recorder cellular telephone image server or the like While for the purposes of clarity the peer terminal Computer A 110 is referred to as the sending peer terminal it can also act as the receiving peer terminal Similarly the peer terminal Computer B 112 is referred to as the receiving peer terminal it can also act as the sending peer terminal By way of example the network 114 can include one or more of the Internet an intranet a wide area network and a local area network 0044 The sending and receiving peer terminals Com puter A 110 and Computer B 112 can each include web browsers image management applications file sharing applications 111 113 network interfaces email clients and images such as pictures The file sharing applications 111 113 can be downloaded from a Web site or other computer to Computer A 11
23. f the selected images 205A 206A appear in a selected images area 208A which for conve nience may be referred to as a picture tray Optionally to avoid having a selected picture replace pictures in the group of images in the picture tray the user may need to click a hold button or the like before selecting a new image to be added to the picture tray 0068 If the user activates the send button 208A the user is asked to designate the recipient s by clicking on a recipient identifier in a contacts friends or buddy list presented to the user FIG 2B illustrates an example recipi ent selector form 202B Once the recipient is selected the file sharing applications on the sender s and recipient s terminals perform the example process discussed above with reference to FIG 1 wherein the sending terminal first sends the permission data to the receiving terminal which then requests the desired version of the image at the desired resolution using the permission data 0069 FIG 2C illustrates an example interface that can be used to share and discuss images such as pictures An image area 202C sometimes referred to as a filmstrip includes small versions such as thumbnail versions of the two example selected and shared images 205A 206A pre viously discussed with reference to FIG 2B A larger higher resolution version of one of the selected images is displayed in area 210C allowing the user to better view the image A
24. f the thumbnail resolution The sending user s file sharing application automatically generates or retrieves low resolution and optionally preview versions of the selected images and sends the low resolution and preview versions to the selected recipient via the file sharing appli cation executing on the recipient s computer terminal Because the transmitted images are of low resolution the transmission occurs in almost real time and appear on the recipient s terminal display substantially instantly such as in less than one second or in under five or ten seconds Further the handshaking between the two terminals is transparent to the sending and receiving users 0071 As illustrated in FIG 2D the file recipient s shar ing application will display one or more of the low resolu tion images in a film strip area 202D If the recipient s sharing application is open the low resolution images will be displayed almost instantly The larger higher resolution preview version of one of the received images is displayed in area 210C The preview versions of the other thumbnail images are optionally stored locally in the recipient s user terminal memory and can be instantly displayed in area 210C upon being select by the recipient As with the sending user s file sharing application the recipient s sharing appli cation can have a friend s view window 204D a Send Pictures button 206D and a chat area 208D 0072 The recipient can optionally cli
25. fined in claim 1 further comprising the sending terminal and receiving terminals transmitting UDP packets to a server the server transmitting an address of the sending terminal to the receiving terminal the server transmitting an address of the receiving termi nal to the sending terminal and the sending and receiving terminals establishing a con nection utilizing the receiving and sending terminal addresses 19 The method as defined in claim 18 wherein the sending terminal and receiving terminal have firewalls 20 A peer to peer image sharing application for sharing images between users the peer to peer image sharing appli cation comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to receive a selection of a plurality of images by a first user of a first terminal receive a send image command from the first user cause a list of potential recipients to be displayed to the first user receive a selection of at least a first recipient from the list of potential recipients from the first user transmit permission data for the plurality of images to a terminal associated with the first recipient receive a request from the terminal associated with the first recipient the request identifying the plurality of images and a first requested resolution for the plurality of images and US 2005 0052685 A1 transmit to the terminal associated with the first recipient the plurality of images at the first
26. first terminal at least partly in response to a user of the first terminal selecting the image displayed at the first resolution 37 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the permission data includes at least image identification information and resolution information 38 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the permission data includes at least an image identifier a user identifier and a machine identifier 39 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the permission data includes at least an image file size a file content signature and a file modification time 40 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the first requested image resolution is no greater than 160 pixels in a first dimension 41 A method of peer to peer sharing of images the method comprising receiving a selection of a first image by a first user of a first terminal receiving a recipient selection by the first user US 2005 0052685 A1 transmitting metadata for the first image from the first terminal to a second terminal associated with a second user at least partly in response to receiving the metadata the second terminal automatically transmitting a request for the first image at a first resolution to the first terminal and in response to the request the first terminal automatically trans
27. friend s view window 204C depicts what image a selected other user such as the recipient is viewing A send pictures button 206C can be used to initiate the sending of the permission data to the selected recipient as similarly dis cussed above A chat area 208C is provided to allow the sender and recipient to chat while sharing photos or other images or files The chat process and apparatus are discussed in greater detail in copending application titled Networked Chat and Media Sharing Systems and Methods Docket code PICASA 001A Serial Number unknown the con tents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their US 2005 0052685 A1 entirety An area is optionally provided on the sender s and recipient s file sharing interfaces which displays pictures recently sent or received 0070 As similarly discussed above the sending user s file sharing application then automatically generates the permission data corresponding to the selected images and transmits or pushes the permission data over a network to the selected recipient s terminal The recipient s file sharing application then automatically requests low resolution thumbnail versions and optionally preview resolution ver sions of the images from the sending user s file sharing application wherein the request includes an image identifier By way of example and not limitation the preview resolu tion can be five ten twenty or fifty or more times the resolution o
28. g images between users the peer to peer image sharing application comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to receive at a first terminal permission data for an image stored on a sending user s terminal at least partly in response to receiving the permission data automatically transmit from the first terminal a request for the image to the sending user s terminal the request specifying a first requested image resolution receive at the first terminal the image at the first requested image resolution from the sending user s terminal and cause the image to be displayed at the first requested image resolution on a first terminal display 0017 Yet another example embodiment provides a method of peer to peer sharing of images the method com prising receiving a selection of a first image by a first user of a first terminal receiving a recipient selection by the first user transmitting metadata for the first image from the first terminal to a second terminal associated with a second user at least partly in response to receiving the metadata the second terminal automatically transmitting a request for the first image at a first resolution to the first terminal and in response to the request the first terminal automatically transmitting the first image at the requested first resolution to the second terminal 0018 Another example embodiment provides a method of peer to peer sharing of images the method comp
29. given a higher priority than the relatively higher screen resolution version of the image In an example embodiment where several images are to be transferred the thumbnail versions are transferred first and then the relatively higher resolution versions are automatically transferred from the sending terminal to the receiving terminal 0030 With respect to conventional picture sharing sys tems because Web servers can be highly customizable resolution independent access to pictures including zoomed subsections has been conventionally implemented over Mar 10 2005 HTTP and accessible via Web browsers Many of these Systems are based on tiled representations of an image which the client can reconstruct into image data through browser plug ins but arbitrary size requests have also been implemented previously In practice web sites that provide views of users image data to others typically require users to upload original pictures in the form of image files which can total hundreds of megabits of transfer and hours of upload time even if the pictures are never actually viewed by others 0031 Further using conventional techniques emailing large pictures causes huge download times for the recipients and sending many pictures this way is considered rude When small pictures are sent via email the process is accomplished manually by repeated emails and resizing operations which is tedious difficult and time consuming f
30. he method as defined in claim 1 wherein the image request includes a requested image identifier based at least in part on a user identifier US 2005 0052685 A1 a machine identifier and local image identifier 5 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the image request specifies the second resolution 6 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the image request specifies the second resolution as a bounding box 7 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the second resolution corresponds to a thumbnail sized image 8 The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the permis sion data is transmitted in response to the user of the sending terminal providing a send picture command 9 The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising in response to at least one image request from the receiving peer terminal the sending peer terminal automatically scaling the first image to a third resolution the third resolution greater than the second resolution and less than the first resolution encrypting the first image at the third resolution transmitting the encrypted first image at the third resolu tion to the receiving peer terminal 10 The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising assigning a higher priority to transmitting the first image at the second resolution than to transmitting the first image at the third resolution 11 The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising issuing a request from the
31. hen the thumb nail image is displayed the recipient can then click on the thumbnail and a higher resolution version of the picture is quickly downloaded from the sender s computer wherein the picture resolution can be selected based on that desired for on screen viewing of a 5 inchx3 5 inch version of the picture 4 inchx7 inch version of the picture a 5 inch x7 inch version of the picture an 8 inch by 10 inch version of the picture a full screen version of the picture and so on Once the recipients have received the relatively higher resolution images the recipient can then optionally selectively down load still higher resolution or print quality copies of the pictures the user 15 interested in The recipient can then print the still higher resolution or print quality pictures at home or the office using a color printer 0029 Optionally the sharing applications automatically transfer both the thumbnail version of the images and the next highest resolution such as the screen resolution ver sion of the images to the receiving terminal before the receiving user actually selects an image Thus in response to the receiving user clicking on a thumbnail version of an image the screen version of the image is instantly presented as it is already stored on the receiving user s terminal Optionally the transfer of the two versions of a given image is prioritized so that the transfer of the lower resolution thumbnail version of the image is
32. ionally the file sharing application protects against viruses by automatically confirming that picture files are valid picture type files such as a JPG or TIFF file before allowing them to be shared Thus the file sharing application prevents the sharing and transmission of viruses 0041 Inanexample embodiment the shared pictures can be pictures captured in real time or in substantially real time Mar 10 2005 via a Web cam or other camera or image capture system coupled to the user terminal For example in one embodi ment the user can click on an image capture button which will cause a picture to be captured by the Web cam or other camera The user can then specify with whom from the user s contact list the image or images are to be shared via a dialog box or otherwise as similarly discussed above 0042 Optionally the user can also share images or snap shots of Web pages via the file sharing application For example the user can open a browser or other Web access application and then click an image capture button Clicking the image capture button will cause the file sharing appli cation to capture an image of the Web page and open the file sharing dialog box The user can then select with whom the Web page image will be shared with The recipients of the image can then click on the Web page image as presented in their file sharing application and their browser will open to that Web page 0043 FIG 1 includes an example n
33. llow 0084 ensure available DCP servers may be deployed by a variety of entities which may not be known or trusted by peers wishing to connect However a trusted relationship with the DCP server is not necessary to establish a secure connection between peers For example the peers may exchange a security key before attempting to connection This exchange may be facilitated by a third party who is trusted by both peers This third party will often exist as the impetus for establishing the peer connection arid may also select the DCP server to be used for connection Once both peers share a security key it can be used in some form of challenge response authentication which prevents a broken or hostile DCP server from connecting one peer to an incorrect second peer which may also be hostile Mar 10 2005 0085 While the foregoing has described what are con sidered to be the best mode and or other illustrative embodi ments it is understood that various modifications may be made therein and that the invention or inventions may be implemented in various forms and embodiments and that they may be applied in numerous applications only some of which have been described herein For example the push pull method could be used with any of a variety of large files and is not restricted to image files For example some other files may include text files audio files e g wav files audiovisual files e g mpeg files
34. mitting the first image at the requested first reso lution to the second terminal 42 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the request for the first image identifies the first image based at least in part on a user identifier associated with the first user a machine identifier associated with the first terminal and a local image identifier 43 The method as defined in claim 41 further compris ing receiving a second request for the first image from a second terminal user determining if the second terminal user has meet a request limit and if the user has meet a request limit denying the second terminal user access to the first image 44 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the metadata includes at least a user identifier a machine identifier an image width and an image height 45 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the metadata includes at least a container identifier and an image file size 46 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the metadata includes at least a file content signature and a file modification time 47 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein in response to the request from the second terminal the first terminal automatically scales the first image to the first resolution 48 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein in response to the request from the second terminal the first terminal automatically encrypts the first image at the firs
35. n information and resolution information and in response to receiving the image request the sending peer terminal scaling first image to the second resolution encrypting the scaled first image and transmitting over the network the encrypted first image at the second resolution to the receiving peer terminal 0015 Another example embodiment provides a peer to peer image sharing application for sharing images between users the peer to peer image sharing application comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to receive a selection of a plurality of images by a first user US 2005 0052685 A1 of a first terminal receive a send image command from the first user cause a list of potential recipients to be displayed to the first user receive a selection of at least a first recipient from the list of potential recipients from the first user transmit permission data for the plurality of images to a terminal associated with the first recipient receive a request from the terminal associated with the first recipient the request identifying the plurality of images and a first requested resolution for the plurality of images and transmit to the terminal associated with the first recipient the plurality of images at the first requested resolution so that they appear on a display of the terminal substantially instantly 0016 Still another example embodiment provides a to peer image sharing program for sharin
36. nding server can Mar 10 2005 select and transmit images at the appropriate resolution However this approach is often of little use where the sending server does not know the resolution and or type of requesting terminal Yet other conventional systems store several versions of each image at several different resolu tions in order to accommodate different resolution requests Such storage of multiple versions can significantly increase the needed available storage memory SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0011 The present invention provides methods and sys tems for retrieving and transmitting digital images over a network One embodiment enables users to automatically gain resolution independent access to files remotely via a permissions model Further one embodiment enables a first user to transmit large numbers of image files to second user using a relatively small amount of bandwidth 0012 In one example embodiment a sending user sends permission data regarding one or more images to a recipient user s terminal The recipient user s terminal can use the permission data to request images at desired resolutions such as thumbnail images of very low resolution to thereby reduce the time it takes for the transmitting terminal to send the images over a network to the recipient terminal The user can then select one or more of the thumbnails for which the user would like to receive a relatively higher resolution if still low or medium
37. nsmission to the terminal associated with the first recipient 26 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the permission data includes at least image identification information and resolution information 27 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 27 wherein the resolution information includes the height and width of the plurality of images in terms of pixels 28 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the permission data includes at least an image identifier a user identifier and a machine identifier 29 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the permission data includes at least an image file size a file content signature and a file modification time 30 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the instructions are further configured to size the plurality of images at the first requested resolution in response to the request 31 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 20 wherein the first requested resolution is no greater than 160 pixels in a first dimension 32 A peer to peer image sharing program for sharing images between users the peer to peer image sharing appli cation comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to Mar 10 2005 receive at a first terminal permission data for an image st
38. of volatile memory such as random access memory RAM for temporarily storing data and data structures during program execution non volatile memory such as a hard disc drive optical drive or FLASH drive for storing programs data and databases and one or more network interfaces for accessing an intranet and or Internet 0025 In addition the computers can include a display for displaying user interfaces data photographs images and the like The computers can also include one or more user input devices such as a keyboard mouse pointing device microphone and or the like used to navigate provide com mands enter information and or the like However the present invention can also be implemented using special purpose computers state machines and or hardwired elec tronic circuits In addition the example processes described herein do not necessarily have to be performed in the described sequence and not all states have to be reached or performed 0026 Further while the following description may refer to clicking a link or button or pressing a key in order to provide a command or make a selection the commands or selections can also be made using other input techniques such as using voice input pen input mousing or hovering over an input area selecting menu options and or the like In addition while certain processes and functions may be described as being performed separately by a file sharing US 2005
39. or more requests for the same or different versions of a given image by specifying a size which for example can be expressed as abounding box that the remote sender Com puter A 110 automatically responds to by transmitting the requested image data to the receiving peer terminal Com puter B 112 Alternately or in addition the receiving peer terminal Computer B 112 can request the binary contents of the original file which is an operation supported by existing or yet to be developed transfer protocols such as HTTP 0050 1 A global image identifier for the image which can optionally be based on or include 0051 user identifier such as that received in the permission data for the image corresponding to the sending user who shared the image 0052 b a machine identifier such as that received in the permission data for the image corresponding to the machine that will transmit or otherwise share the image 0053 a local image identifier of the image such as the image identifier received in the permission data for the image which can be specific to the particular user on the particular machine 0054 2 The width and height of the bounding box each expressed as integers though the size and or resolution can also be otherwise expressed 0055 In the example embodiment because connections are authenticated implicit in the request is the ID or iden tifier of the requesting user which is used at the ACL acces
40. or the average user 0032 contrast one embodiment of the image sharing process provided herein can be referred to for convenience as a hybrid push pull model A machine such as a terminal which can be a networked desktop computer server per sonal digital assistant personal video recorder cellular telephone image server or the like which may be referred to for convenience as the server or sender makes available one or many files by transmitting permission data to a receiving peer which can be a networked desktop computer server personal digital assistant personal video recorder cellular telephone image server or the like which may be referred to for convenience as the receiver or the recipient The receiving peer remembering retrieving and transmitting this permission data or selected portions thereof back to the sender can repeatedly request versions of the image by specifying a size expressed by way of example as a bounding box that the remote sender responds to with image data Optionally the receiver can request the binary contents of the original file which is an operation supported by existing transfer protocols 0033 Using the push nature of the protocol described herein a user does not have to know about an image resource before gaining access to it Additionally persis tence of permission information may be provided on the client so that the recipient maintains acces
41. ored on a sending user s terminal at least partly in response to receiving the permission data automatically transmit from the first terminal a request for the image to the sending user s terminal the request specifying a first requested image resolution receive at the first terminal the image at the first requested image resolution from the sending user s terminal and cause the image to be displayed at the first requested image resolution on a first terminal display 33 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 33 wherein the image is received in an encrypted form and the instructions are further configured to decrypt the encrypted image 34 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the request further identifies a second requested image resolution higher than the first requested image resolution 35 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 32 wherein the request for the image identifies the image based at least in part on a user identifier associated with the sending user a machine identifier associated with the sending user s terminal and a local image identifier 36 The peer to peer image sharing application as defined in claim 33 wherein the instructions are further configured to receive and store the image at the second requested image resolution and cause the image at the second requested image resolution to be displayed by the
42. resolution image The relatively higher resolution images can then be transmitted from the trans mitting terminal to the recipient terminal The recipient can select one or more of the low resolution or relatively higher resolution images for which the recipient would like still higher resolution or zoomed versions For example the recipient can selectively request the highest available reso lution file image for one or more images 0013 The resolution values of the delivered images are optionally determined at least in part by the recipient and the requested resolution values do not have to be remem bered or previously known by the transmitting terminal 0014 One example embodiment provides a method of peer to peer sharing of images over a network the method comprising receiving a selection of a first image by a user of a sending peer terminal wherein the first image has a first resolution transmitting over a network permission data for the selected first image from the sending peer terminal to a receiving peer terminal the permission data including at least image identification information and resolution infor mation the resolution information specifying a second reso lution less than the first resolution automatically transmit ting an image request for the first image from the receiving peer terminal to the sending peer terminal wherein the image request is based at least in part on the permission data image identificatio
43. rising receiving permission data for a first image from a first terminal the permission data including an identifier for the first image at least partly in response to receiving the permission data automatically transmitting at least a first request for the first image at a first resolution to the first terminal the at least first request including the first image identifier and user identification receiving the first image at the requested first resolution and automatically causing the first image to be displayed to a receiving user 0019 Still another example embodiment provides a method of sharing of images the method comprising receiving a selection of a first image by a user of a sending terminal wherein the first image has a first resolution transmitting permission data for the selected first image from the sending terminal to a receiving terminal the permission data including at least image identification infor mation receiving at the sending terminal an image request from the receiving peer terminal wherein the request is for the first image and is based at least in part on the identifi cation information and specifies a second resolution lower than the first resolution and scaling first image to the second Mar 10 2005 resolution and transmitting the scaled first image to the receiving terminal in response to receiving the image request BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0020 FIG 1 illustrates an example sys
44. rm of alphanumeric metadata An illustrative example of permis sion metadata is as follows image iid 8 uid 4 227 uid22 24 width 640 height 566 container from trogdor 8063 jpg filesize 31904 Mar 10 2005 HyperText Transfer Protocol which is used in moving hypertext files across the Internet 0049 In this example at state 104 Computer B 112 requests Image1108 from Computer A 110 by identifying the requested image using Key1109 and specifying the desired resolution such as 96 pixels by 96 pixels for a thumbnail size image or 640 pixels by 480 pixels for a screen size version of the image Of course other thumbnail resolutions such as 64x64 pixels 128 pixels by 128 pixels or 160 pixels by 160 pixels The request is transmitted to Computer 110 For example an example request can be in the form of md5 5548bf64 60786540 4c1ba901 3422cb5c filemodtime 37903 984109 gt 0047 The example permission metadata above includes an image identifier image iid a user identifier uid a machine identifier mid a second user identifier uid an image width width an image height height a container or file identifier or hint container an image file name filename an image file size filesize a file content signa ture md5 a file modification time filemodetime A unique image ID is defined by the combination of the image identifier the user identifier
45. s control list level discussed below Therefore the requesting user identifier is optionally not explicitly included in the image request and so user spoofing is further inhibited Optionally however the requesting user s identifier can be included in the request preferably before the request reaches the security layer which can determine whether it is allowed or not allowed 0056 Optionally in one embodiment a user can request Zoom or resizing of a shared image wherein the user can specify or select a portion of a shared image The portion can be selected by drawing or defining a border surrounding the desired portion The image sharing application then issues a request for the zoomed portion using the image identifier information and bounding box information described above and by further including the following parameters in the request 0057 Scale 0058 Translate X 0059 Translate Y US 2005 0052685 A1 0060 The foregoing parameters specify a transform for a picture or image to be displayed in the above bounding box so the receiving terminal view smaller portions of the picture 0061 Optionally Computer B 112 can select a resolution that will fill a predetermined portion or percentage of Computer B s screen For example Computer B 112 can request a resolution to fill 60 percent of Computer B s screen or window displayed thereon The request can be issued automatically by the file sharing application 113 exec
46. s to the file and versions thereof over an extended period and optionally over multiple resolution requests 0034 Thus using an embodiment of the method described herein enables a user to share files such as low resolution versions of image files with another user using little or substantially no bandwidth Further the method described herein enables users to select the desired resolu tion version of the image For example a user may transmit permission for 100 files totaling 100MB of raw data Thus in contrast to conventional methods which might in this example transfer the 1OOMB of raw data between the peers the receiving terminal may request thumbnails totaling 200KB previews which can be for example 1280x960 pixels for a selection of images totaling 500KB and origi nal data for only 2 more files totaling 2MB In the example given the network bandwidth used has been reduced by more than a factor of 30 as compared with the transfer of all the original full resolution images with no prior knowledge by the sender of how the images would be used 0035 For applications where access to the original files should be protected such as online art sales the file sharing US 2005 0052685 A1 application enables a user to specify the maximum size or resolution available to requesters Optionally different requesters can have access to different image sizes or resolution For example a print resolution fine art work may
47. sending terminal wherein the first image has a first resolution transmitting permission data for the selected first image from the sending terminal to a receiving terminal the permission data including at least image identification information receiving at the sending terminal an image request from the receiving peer terminal wherein the request is for the first image and is based at least in part on the identification information and specifies a second reso lution lower than the first resolution and scaling first image to the second resolution and transmit ting the scaled first image to the receiving terminal in response to receiving the image request 72 The method as defined in claim 71 wherein the permission data includes at least a user identifier a machine identifier an image width and an image height 73 The method as defined in claim 71 wherein the permission data includes at least a container identifier and an image file size 74 The method as defined in claim 71 wherein the permission data includes at least a file content signature and a file modification time 75 The method as defined in claim 71 further comprising transmitting the first image at a third resolution higher than the second resolution wherein the sending terminal assigns a higher priority to transmitting the first image at the second resolution than to transmitting the first image at the third resolution 76 The method as
48. ser of the sending terminal receiving a selection of a first recipient Mar 10 2005 transmitting second permission data to a terminal associ ated with the first recipient the second permission data authorizing access to the plurality of pictures receiving at the sending terminal a second image request automatically generated by the terminal associated with the first recipient in response to receiving the permis sion data the second image request identifying the plurality of pictures and first and second requested resolutions for the plurality of pictures transmitting from the sending terminal to the terminal associated with the first recipient the plurality of pic tures at both the first and second requested resolutions automatically displaying the plurality of pictures at the first resolution on the terminal associated with the first recipient storing at least a portion of the plurality of pictures at the second resolution on the terminal associated with the first recipient and in response to the first recipient selecting at least one of plurality of pictures displayed at the first resolution displaying the at least one of the on the plurality of pictures at the second resolution on the terminal asso ciated with the first recipient 17 The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the second image request includes a plurality of request trans missions corresponding to the plurality of pictures 18 The method as de
49. smits them to the recipient s file sharing application for viewing editing and or storing by the recipient in accordance with the sending user s permissions 0074 The apparatus and processes described above differ from conventional picture sharing Web sites For example on such conventional picture sharing Web sites after the user picks the images to be uploaded and resizes the images for uploading it can still take hours to upload a gallery of many images which can total many hundreds of megabits or more in size Further the user often does not know when or if someone has viewed the uploaded images By contrast as described above using an embodiment of the present inven tion relatively lower resolution versions of the images being shared optionally are sent to and arrive on the computers and screens of the designated recipients in substantially real time without requiring the inconvenience of the sender uploading the pictures to a public website and users then downloading those images 0075 An optional embodiment overcomes certain hin drances in communicating images over a network For general use many applications use the TCP IP protocol However in the presence of a NAT or Network Address Translator which is in common use among consumers to allow multiple computers to share an Internet IP address such TCP connections are blocked between two peers Conventionally a TCP connection can only be established if at least one
50. t address are able to pass the firewall or translation barrier DCP utilizes these properties to overcome certain limitations of TCP 0082 With reference to FIG 3 when two peer terminals 302 304 wish to connect to each other using DCP they send UDP packets at states 308 310 to a DCP server 306 which is unfirewalled to both peers 302 304 The DCP server 306 matches these connection requests to each other and at states 312 314 replies to each peer 302 304 with the externally visible address of the other peer At state 316 the peers then send UDP packets to each other using these external addresses Once these packets arrive the peer terminals 302 304 perform a handshake which establishes the connection The peers 302 304 can then exchange data without an intermediary DCP optionally incorporates sequencing and retransmission of packets at all stages to provide a reliable data stream 0083 The properties of UDP involving its interaction with firewalls and network translators as well as the ability to create a connected reliable protocol using UDP as a base protocol is known However these techniques are not con ventionally used to request image files of dynamically generated size and resolution Further the techniques and processes described herein for connecting computer systems across the Internet enables a much higher and more efficient utilization of the existing Internet infrastructure than many conventional protocols a
51. t resolution and transmits the encrypted first image at the first resolution to the second terminal 49 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the request specifies a second resolution for the first image wherein the second resolution is greater than the first reso lution Mar 10 2005 50 The method as defined in claim 49 further comprising assiening a hieher priority to transmittine the first Image at the first resolution than to transmitting the first image at the second resolution 51 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the request specifies a second resolution for the first image wherein the second resolution is specified as a bounding box 52 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the request specifies a second resolution for the first image that is at least ten times the first resolution 53 The method as defined in claim 41 wherein the metadata is transmitted in response to the first user providing send picture command 54 The method as defined in claim 41 further compris ing determining that the second user is initiating at least one of a save operation and a print operation automatically issuing a request from the second terminal to the first terminal for the first image at a second resolution at least partly in response to determining that the second user is initiating at least one of a save operation and a print operation wherein the second resolution is greater than the first resolu
52. tem architecture and image file access process 0021 FIGS 2A 2E illustrate example user interfaces 0022 3 illustrates an example system architecture and peer to peer connection process using an enhanced connection protocol DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0023 Throughout the following description the term Web site is used to refer to a user accessible server site that implements the basic World Wide Web standards for the coding and transmission of hypertextual documents These standards currently include HTML the Hypertext Markup Language and HTTP the Hypertext Transfer Protocol It should be understood that the term site is not intended to imply a single geographic location as a Web or other network site can for example include multiple geographi cally distributed computer systems that are appropriately linked together Furthermore while the following descrip tion relates to an embodiment utilizing the Internet and related protocols other networks such as networked inter active televisions and other protocols may be used as well 0024 In addition unless otherwise indicated the func tions described herein are preferably performed by software modules including executable code and instructions running on one or more general purpose computers The computers can include one or more central processing units CPUs that execute program code and process data memory including one or more
53. tion and transmitting from the first terminal to the second terminal the first image at the second resolution 55 The method as defined in claim 41 further compris ing receiving from the first user a specification on a maximum sharing resolution comparing the maximum sharing resolution to a requested image resolution for a second image from a second user and transmitting the second image to the second user at a resolution substantially equal to the smaller of the specified maximum sharing resolution and the requested image resolution for the second image 56 The method as defined in claim 41 further compris ing the first and second terminals transmitting UDP packets to Server the server transmitting an address of the first terminal to the second terminal the server transmitting an address of the second terminal to the first terminal and the first and second terminals establishing a connection utilizing the first and second terminal addresses 57 The method as defined in claim 56 wherein the first and second terminals have firewalls 58 A method of peer to peer sharing of images the method comprising receiving permission data for a first image from a first terminal the permission data including an identifier for the first image at least partly in response to receiving the permission data automatically transmitting at least a first request for the first image at a first resolution to the first terminal
54. uting on Computer B 112 without requiring the user to manually instruct the file sharing application 113 to issue the request 0062 At state 106 Computer A 110 optionally automati cally resizes the Image1108 in real time on the fly to the requested resolution without requiring the manual interven tion of the user of Computer A 110 Computer A 110 then transmits Image1108 at the desired resolution over the network to Computer B 112 where the image is displayed using the file sharing application 113 and or using other applications that can be used to view images 0063 Optionally at state 102 Computer B 112 can auto matically request a given image at two different resolutions The request can be in the form of a single request transmis sion requesting both resolutions or can be in the form of two sequential request transmissions wherein the first request asks for the image at one resolution and the next requests ask for the image at a second resolution The second request transmission is optionally provided substantially immedi ately after the first request transmission For example the two resolutions can be at 96 pixels by 96 pixels thumbnail sized and at 640x480 pixels screen sized Computer A 110 can then respond to the request in a prioritized fashion by first transferring the lower resolution version and then transferring the higher resolution version This ensures that the user of Computer B 112 will be able to view the
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