Distributed Measurement Collection for Bandwidth Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed network environments, especially in low bandwidth Wide Area Networks, monitoring data streaming consumes excessive bandwidth, posing challenges for highly distributed retail operations, such as those found in retail settings.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for distributed measurement collection and analysis where local servers aggregate metrics from electronic devices and communicate them to central servers at intervals optimized by bandwidth availability, allowing for local analysis of maintenance issues and centralized impact assessment of software updates, with automatic technician dispatch or software updates as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If monitoring data is streamed continuously to a central service, then analytics and monitoring precision are improved, but bandwidth consumption increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monitoring system into local agents, local servers, and central servers. Local agents collect metrics and store them locally, while local servers aggregate data from multiple agents before sending to central servers. This segmentation reduces the bandwidth burden on central services while maintaining monitoring precision through distributed data collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by having local agents collect and store metrics locally before any central analysis is needed. Data is pre-aggregated at local servers before being transmitted to central servers, reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and processed in real-time at the central level.
2Reliability
If data is collected and transmitted at high frequency, then monitoring reliability is improved, but network bandwidth is overwhelmed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges data from multiple local agents at the local server level before transmission to central servers. This consolidation reduces the total volume of data transmitted over the network while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage through the aggregation of metrics from multiple sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic action by having local agents collect metrics at regular intervals and transmit aggregated data at scheduled times rather than continuously. This periodic transmission maintains monitoring reliability while significantly reducing network bandwidth consumption compared to continuous streaming.
3Productivity
If a central service processes all monitoring data, then analytics capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the analytics processing function across multiple levels: local agents perform basic metric collection, local servers perform data aggregation and preliminary analysis, and central servers perform comprehensive analytics. This segmentation distributes system complexity across multiple components rather than concentrating it all at the central service level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces local servers as intermediary components between local agents and central servers. These intermediaries handle data aggregation, filtering, and preliminary processing, reducing the complexity burden on both the agents and central servers while maintaining strong analytics capability through the distributed processing architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for distributed measurement collection and analysis are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for distributed measurement collection and analysis may include (1) receiving, at a local server within a wide area computer network, a file from an electronic device within the wide area computer network, the file comprising a plurality of metrics for the electronic device over a period comprising a plurality of first intervals, wherein the file is received at a second interval; (2) the local server the local server analyzing the file for at least one maintenance issue for the electronic device; and (3) the local server providing the file to the central server at a third interval, the central server outside the wide area network.