Activity Context Tracking Resource Usage Across Protocol Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional web services servers struggle to track total resource usage across multiple protocols, threads, processes, and devices, as existing methods are limited to static data within individual processes and fail to provide comprehensive usage patterns.
Innovation Solution
The technique involves assigning an activity context to a request with initial properties, which is transferred across multiple stages, including threads, processes, and devices, with values stored locally and analyzed to determine resource usage statistics, enabling the tracking of resource usage across multiple layers of protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional methods are used to track resource usage, then tracking within individual processes is possible, but comprehensive usage patterns across multiple protocols, threads, processes, and devices cannot be determined
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an activity context as an intermediary data structure that mediates between multiple protocols, threads, processes, and devices. This activity context contains a correlation identifier that links all stages of request processing across the distributed system, enabling comprehensive resource usage tracking without requiring complex direct integration between all system components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tracking system into independent stages (first stage, second stage, etc.), where each stage processes requests independently but contributes to the overall resource usage picture. Each stage stores its local resource usage data in a data store, and the activity context correlates these segmented measurements across stages to provide comprehensive tracking.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple services and protocols are used to handle requests, then service versatility is improved, but determining overall usage patterns becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The activity context is designed as a universal data structure that can carry correlation identifiers across different protocols, threads, processes, and devices. This universal structure maintains its form and function regardless of which specific protocol or component is being used, preventing information loss while allowing diverse services to be used.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by collecting resource usage data from each stage back to the activity context, which then uses this feedback to determine overall usage patterns. The correlation identifier enables this feedback loop by allowing each stage to report its resource usage back to the central tracking mechanism.
3Measurement precision
If resource usage tracking is implemented across all stages, then comprehensive metrics are obtained, but data storage and management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential correlation identifier from the activity context and stores it in data stores at each stage, rather than storing complete activity context data. This extraction approach enables comprehensive tracking while minimizing data storage requirements by keeping only the minimum necessary information at each location.
Solution Approach 2:
The activity context is created and assigned to the request at the beginning of processing (preliminary action), establishing the correlation identifier early. This preliminary setup enables all subsequent stages to efficiently track and report resource usage without requiring complex data structures or repeated data creation.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques to track resource usage statistics per transaction across multiple layers of protocols and across multiple threads, processes and/or devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, for example, a technique may comprise assigning an activity context to a request at the beginning of a first stage, where the activity context has an initial set of properties. The values of the properties may be assigned to the properties in the initial set during the first stage. The value of a property may be stored on a data store local to the first stage. The activity context may be transferred to a second stage when the request begins the second stage. The transferred activity context may include a property from the initial set of properties. The stored values may be analyzed to determine a resource usage statistic. Other embodiments are described and claimed.