Partitioning of digital objects for transmission

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of transmitting digital objects to a destination. In particular, disclosed are systems and/or apparatuses of facilitating bidding for the business of forwarding digital objects in a data transmission network.

1 - 34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . A method comprising:
 a computing device receiving a digital transmission form that specifies a digital object to be transmitted to a destination node, wherein the digital object includes media content, and wherein at least a portion of the media content is separate from the digital transmission form;   in response to the computing device receiving the digital object subsequent to receiving the digital transmission form, the computing device partitioning the digital object into at least two sub-objects based on a partitioning indicator; and   the computing device transmitting the at least two sub-objects to the destination node via a network, wherein the at least two sub-objects can be reassembled to recreate the media content of the digital object.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising transmitting the at least two sub-objects to the destination node via at least two different paths in the network. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the partitioning indicator is based on a determination that partitioning the digital object will allow for efficient transmission of the digital object to the destination node. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein each of the at least two sub-objects comprises two or more respective data packets when transmitted via the network. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the computing device is an intermediary node in the network. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising the computing device soliciting, for each of the at least two sub-objects from other nodes in the network, one or more respective bids for transmission of that sub-object to the destination node. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the partitioning indicator is included in the digital transmission form. 
     
     
         42 . An article comprising a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a digital transmission form that specifies a digital object to be transmitted to a destination device, wherein the digital object includes media content, wherein at least a portion of the media content is separate from the digital transmission form, and wherein the computer system is a node in a network;   forwarding the digital transmission form to at least one other network node in advance of the digital object;   in response to the computer system receiving the digital object, partitioning the digital object into at least two sub-objects based on a partitioning indicator; and   causing the at least two sub-objects to be forwarded to the destination node via at least a portion of the network, wherein the at least two sub-objects can be reassembled to recreate the media content of the digital object.   
     
     
         43 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein the digital transmission form includes a bid request for transmission of one or more, but less than all, of the at least two sub-objects to the destination node. 
     
     
         44 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein receiving the digital transmission form comprises creating the digital transmission form, and wherein the computer system is a source node for transmission of the digital object. 
     
     
         45 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein the digital transmission form includes:
 a first requested quality of service for a first type of media corresponding to a first one of the at least two sub-objects; and   a second requested quality of service for a second type of media corresponding to a second one of the at least two sub-objects.   
     
     
         46 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving one or more replies from the at least one other network node in response to forwarding the digital transmission form, wherein the one or more replies indicate an ability of the at least one other network node to forward one of the at least two sub-objects according to a requested quality of service. 
     
     
         47 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein the operations further comprise parsing the digital transmission form to determine the partitioning indicator. 
     
     
         48 . The article of  claim 42 , wherein said partitioning the digital object is based on information other than information included in the digital transmission form. 
     
     
         49 . A network node, comprising:
 a memory; and   one or more processors;   wherein the network node is configured to communicatively couple to a first data transmission network; and   wherein the network node is configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a digital transmission form that specifies a digital object to be transmitted to a destination node, wherein the digital object includes media content, and wherein at least a portion of the media content is separate from the digital transmission form; 
 receiving the digital object subsequent to receiving the digital transmission form; 
 partitioning the digital object into at least two sub-objects based on a partitioning indicator; and 
 transmitting the at least two sub-objects to the destination node, wherein the at least two sub-objects can be reassembled to recreate the media content of the digital object. 
   
     
     
         50 . The network node of  claim 49 , wherein the network node is configured to couple to a second data transmission network, wherein transmitting the at least two sub-objects comprises transmitting at least a first sub-object via the first data transmission network and transmitting at least a second sub-object via the second data transmission network. 
     
     
         51 . The network node of  claim 49 , wherein the network node is configured to extract the partitioning indicator from the digital transmission form. 
     
     
         52 . The network node of  claim 49 , wherein the digital transmission form is wholly separate from any portion of the digital object. 
     
     
         53 . The network node of  claim 49 , wherein the operations further comprise determining two or more routes for the at least two sub-objects to the destination node, wherein the two or more routes are different at least in part. 
     
     
         54 . The network node of  claim 49 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a first group of at least two data packets and a second group of at least two data packets via the data transmission network, wherein the first group corresponds to a first one of the sub-objects, and wherein the second group corresponds to a second one of the sub-objects.