METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING PEER-TO-PEER OVERLAY NETWORKS Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC H04L12/46 

FIELD: radio engineering, communication.

SUBSTANCE: methods and apparatus for detecting peer-to-peer overlay networks are disclosed. According to one aspect, the method includes steps of receiving a request to detect information on overlay networks of interest, generating a search query containing at least one parameter associated with the overlay networks of interest, and transmitting the search query to nodes on a local area network. According to another aspect, the apparatus has memory containing an overlay network database of meta-data associated with one or more known overlay networks and a processor connected to the memory and configured to obtain a search query which contains at least one parameter associated with overlay networks of interest, determine one or more selected overlay networks from the overlay network database based on the at least one parameter, and transmit meta-data associated with the one or more selected overlay networks in response to the search query.

EFFECT: enabling a node to detect peer-to-peer overlay networks.

56 cl, 7 dwg