Contact Information Synchronization via Timestamped Log Updates

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Solution Overview

Problem

Local contact information in e-mail applications becomes outdated due to changes in organization structures, leading to frequent and resource-intensive synchronization with remote contact information servers, which can saturate network bandwidth and computing resources.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a system that logs updates to contact information with timestamps, allowing clients to request and receive updates based on previous synchronization times, and throttling data transmission to manage bandwidth and resources, while using an index of prefixes for efficient search queries.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If frequent synchronization is performed to keep contact information up-to-date, then data accuracy is improved, but network bandwidth consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact information accuracyVSAvoidnetwork bandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The contact information database is segmented into multiple partitions or shards, allowing selective synchronization of only changed segments rather than complete resynchronization. This reduces network bandwidth consumption while maintaining data accuracy by transmitting only necessary updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Change detection mechanisms are implemented that preliminarily identify modified contact records before synchronization occurs. By detecting changes in advance and preparing update payloads beforehand, the system minimizes unnecessary data transmission while ensuring accurate synchronization when changes actually occur.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Loss of information

If complete contact information sets are transmitted during synchronization, then data completeness is improved, but transmission time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact information completenessVSAvoidsynchronization time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts and transmits only the specific contact information records that have changed since the last synchronization, rather than transmitting complete contact sets. This extraction approach maintains data completeness for updated records while dramatically reducing transmission time through selective data transfer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements partial synchronization by transmitting only a subset of contact information records that are actually needed (those that changed). This partial action approach ensures completeness of updated data while avoiding the time overhead of transmitting unnecessary complete datasets.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Reliability

If all contact information is synchronized to ensure accuracy, then data reliability is improved, but computing resources are consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact information accuracyVSAvoidcomputing resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by treating different contact information records differently based on their change status. Records that have changed receive full synchronization processing, while unchanged records are skipped. This localized processing approach maintains accuracy for updated records while reducing overall computing resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The synchronization process is segmented into change detection, update identification, and selective transmission phases. By segmenting the workflow and processing only relevant portions, the system achieves reliable contact information synchronization with reduced computing resource consumption compared to complete resynchronization approaches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Speed

If rapid synchronization is performed to maintain real-time updates, then response speed is improved, but network bandwidth is saturated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesynchronization speedVSAvoidnetwork bandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements periodic synchronization intervals with change detection, rather than continuous rapid synchronization. Updates are transmitted periodically when changes are detected, maintaining responsive update speed while avoiding network bandwidth saturation that would result from continuous high-frequency synchronization attempts.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentUS11200287B2Global address list

Publication Date: 2021.12.14 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

Configurations for providing a data feed of contact information updates, deletes, and additions to one or more clients are disclosed. A contact information server can maintain a log including respective log entries of different updates (e.g., in a log structure data store) performed on the contact information. The contact information server orders the log entries using associated timestamps in order to be consistent with the actual order of updates performed on the contact information. For synchronizing contact information, a client will submit a query and supply a timestamp to the contact information server to request the log of updates based on the timestamp (e.g., log entries corresponding to a set of updates since the included timestamp). The server will respond with one or more modifications to the contact information represented as the set of updates in respective log entries.