Cross-Application Framework Aggregating Distributed Entity Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Data related to entities, such as people and locations, is dispersed across various data sources, making it difficult to share and search, as users must navigate multiple websites and applications to access different types of data.

Innovation Solution

A cross-application framework aggregates data from various sources, including multimedia, communications, and social media, providing a unified view of an entity's information across different applications, allowing seamless transition between data types without needing to access multiple services.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If data is stored in various different data sources, then data diversity and completeness are improved, but data sharing difficulty increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata diversityVSAvoiddata sharing difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a unified data access layer that acts as an intermediary between users and multiple distributed data sources. This layer provides standardized interfaces and protocols, allowing users to access data from different sources without needing to know the specific details of each source, thereby reducing sharing difficulty while maintaining data diversity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal data access framework that can handle multiple types of data sources (social media, cloud services, local storage) through a single interface. This multi-functional approach allows the same interface to aggregate data from various sources, making data sharing easier while preserving the diversity of underlying data sources

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Quantity of substance

If data is distributed across various different data sources, then data completeness is improved, but search difficulty increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata completenessVSAvoidsearch difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The unified data access layer serves as a mediator that intercepts search requests and automatically queries multiple distributed data sources. It aggregates results from social media, cloud services, and local storage into a single comprehensive result set, maintaining data completeness while reducing search difficulty

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the search process into separate modular components, each responsible for querying specific data sources. This segmentation allows the system to efficiently search multiple sources independently and then combine results, making the overall search process more manageable while maintaining complete data coverage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of operation

If multiple applications are opened to view different types of data, then data accessibility is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata accessibilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the functionality of multiple separate applications into a single unified interface. Instead of requiring separate applications for social media, cloud storage, and local data access, the unified data access layer combines these functions, reducing system complexity while maintaining broad data accessibility

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The unified interface implements multi-functionality by providing a single access point that can retrieve data from multiple sources and present it in various formats. This eliminates the need for multiple specialized applications, reducing system complexity while preserving comprehensive data accessibility

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10146830B2Cross application framework for aggregating data relating to people, locations, and entities
Publication Date: 2018.12.04 APPLE INC
  • US10146830B2 patent drawing
  • US10146830B2 patent drawing
  • US10146830B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Some embodiments provide a cross application framework that supports a number of different applications and/or services to aggregate data relating to people, locations, and entities. The framework of some embodiments aggregates, from various data sources, different types of data, such as multimedia, communications, social media data, and location data. Once the data is aggregated, the framework provides the data to each requesting application. When an application is used to search for a person, the framework may provide the application with the person's emails, text messages, videos, photos, and social network activities.