Availability Status Presentation for Synchronized Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
The synchronization of objects across multiple devices is complex, leading to delays and inconsistencies, as users face challenges in determining the status of objects that are not yet fully synchronized due to various reasons such as transmission issues, versioning conflicts, and lock problems, which can result in incomplete or failed synchronization processes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of techniques that analyze the synchronization status of objects by evaluating their availability through metadata tracking, presenting informative statuses such as available, receiving, relocating, or lost, and providing detailed reasons for synchronization states, allowing users to understand the synchronization process and resolve conflicts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If synchronization processes are implemented across multiple devices, then uniformity and consistency of object sets are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of detecting status increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mesh host as an intermediary that stores a canonical descriptor of the object set and mediates synchronization between clients. The mesh host receives notifications of changes, determines authoritative versions, and coordinates object transfers, thereby simplifying the complexity that would otherwise exist in peer-to-peer synchronization between multiple clients.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where clients notify the mesh host of changes to the object set, and the mesh host provides status information back to clients. This feedback loop enables the system to track and communicate synchronization states, resolving the contradiction by providing visibility into the complex synchronization process.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive synchronization status tracking is implemented, then user understanding of object states is improved, but information processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential synchronization status information needed for user understanding and presents it through simplified availability statuses. Rather than exposing all raw metadata about object states, the system extracts and presents key status indicators (available, receiving, relocating, lost) that convey synchronization information without requiring users to process voluminous metadata.
3Ease of operation
If detailed availability statuses are presented to users, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms complex synchronization state parameters into simplified availability status categories (available, receiving, relocating, lost). By changing the parameter representation from detailed technical states to user-friendly status labels, the system improves ease of operation while managing device complexity through standardized status evaluation logic.
Data Source
AI summary
The objects of an on object set may be synchronized across many clients (e.g., various devices may synchronize files of a mirrored filesystem). However, the synchronization of an object may be complicated, and an object may not yet be synchronized in the object set of a client for many reasons, such as an incomplete reception of the object, an unavailability of the object from currently reachable hosts, and a versioning conflict with a different version of the same object in the object set. In order to inform a user of the availability of an object in the object set, an analysis of the availability status of the object may be performed (e.g., by tracking metadata stored in object descriptors of respective objects of the object set, and later examining the metadata of respective objects), and a selected availability status may be presented to the user.