Decentralized Collaborative Operations via Synchronized Logs

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Distributed systems face challenges in managing collaborative operations efficiently due to the need for centralized orchestration, which leads to scalability issues and single points of failure.

Innovation Solution

Implementing decentralized management through synchronized request and command logs across nodes in a distributed system, allowing nodes to autonomously determine participation and responsibilities in collaborative operations without relying on a central unit.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a centralized orchestration unit is used to manage collaborative operations, then coordination between nodes is simplified, but the system becomes vulnerable to single points of failure and scalability issues

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem reliabilityVSAvoidcentralized orchestration structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the orchestration function from a centralized unit and distributes it across all nodes in the network. Each node maintains local request and command logs, eliminating the single point of failure while preserving coordination capabilities through decentralized consensus mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The centralized orchestration functionality is segmented and distributed across multiple nodes. Instead of one central unit managing all collaborative operations, each node independently manages its own logs and participates in consensus, dividing the orchestration responsibility across the system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If a centralized orchestration unit manages all collaborative operations, then operation coordination is centralized, but the system loses scalability and introduces single points of failure

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollaborative operation efficiencyVSAvoidsystem availability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Nodes serve themselves by maintaining local copies of request and command logs and independently determining their participation in collaborative operations. This self-service approach eliminates dependency on a central unit, improving both scalability and reliability while maintaining operational efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If decentralized management is implemented without centralized orchestration, then scalability and reliability improve, but coordination complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem fault toleranceVSAvoiddecentralized coordination mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the request log and command log into a unified decentralized logging system where all nodes maintain consistent copies. This merging simplifies the decentralized coordination mechanism by providing a single source of truth that all nodes can reference, reducing the complexity of maintaining consistency across distributed logs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Adaptability or versatility

If nodes autonomously determine participation in collaborative operations, then central dependency is eliminated, but request coordination complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenode autonomyVSAvoidautonomous decision-making logic

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Nodes use feedback from the command log to autonomously determine their participation in collaborative operations. The command log contains authoritative decisions about which nodes should participate, and nodes feedback their status by publishing requests and receiving commands, simplifying autonomous decision-making while maintaining coordination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11496548B2Decentralized management of collaborative operations for distributed systems

Publication Date: 2022.11.08 SAP SE

AI summary

Some embodiments provide a program executable by a first device in a distributed system. The program publishes a first request for a collaborative operation to a first log of the first device. The program further receives, at the first log, a second request for the same collaborative operation. The second request is requested by a second device in the distributed system. The program also publishes a command to a second log of the first device. The command specifies the collaborative operation, the first device and the second device as participants of the collaborative operation, a first set of operations to be performed by the first device as part of the collaborative operations, and a second set of operations to be performed by the second device as part of the collaborative operation. The program further performs the first set of operations as part of the collaborative operation.