METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTENDING A RESOURCE SEARCH ACROSS A GATEWAY NODE CONNECTING A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK AND A SUBAREA NETWORK

A method and arrangement is disclosed for extending a resource search across a gateway node connecting a peer-to-peer network with a subarea network. An interface node is divided into a first section associated with the peer network and a second section associated with the subarea network. In response to a resource search request arriving at one of the sections from the network with which the section is associated, a directory of resources known by the respective section is first searched. If the resource is not found in the directory of the section, the search request is translated into a format compatible with the other network, and the translated search request is transmitted to the other section of the interface node. If the resource is not found among the resources known to the interface node, the resources known by the end nodes served by the interface node in the peer network are next searched. If the resource is not found within these end nodes, the resources known by each of the remaining network and end nodes in the peer network are next searched. If the resource is still not found, a search of the subarea nodes of the second network is initiated.