Distributed Tracing for Microservice User-Journey Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed systems with microservices architectures, identifying and diagnosing issues across multiple interconnected services is complex due to the system's complexity, high volume of data, and the need to capture user-specific transaction information without adding unnecessary complexity.
Innovation Solution
Distributed tracing techniques generate trace data for user journeys, collecting both diagnostic and user-specific transaction information using a single tool, incorporating code wrappers to propagate trace context across services and store data efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple interconnected services are used to provide functionality, then adaptability and scalability are improved, but device complexity increases making it difficult to identify problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex distributed system into traceable units by generating unique trace identifiers for each user journey and propagating them across multiple services. Each service processes and logs the trace identifier, enabling granular tracking of requests through the segmented system architecture without requiring centralized control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces trace identifiers as intermediary elements that mediate between multiple services. These identifiers act as carriers of contextual information across service boundaries, enabling correlation of events without direct service-to-service awareness or complex inter-service dependencies.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive transaction information is collected across services, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to data volume
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential trace identifier information needed for correlation purposes, rather than collecting and processing all possible transaction data. This selective extraction approach maintains measurement precision for tracking user journeys while avoiding the complexity burden of comprehensive data collection across all services.
Solution Approach 2:
The trace identifier serves multiple functions simultaneously: it correlates requests across services, tracks user journeys, enables diagnostic analysis, and supports business intelligence. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate tracking mechanisms for each purpose, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive measurement capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices are described. A user journey may be initiated by a user device, and a trace may be generated for the user journey. The trace may include one or more spans that each correspond to at least one service of a set of services that provide functionality to the user journey (e.g., as components of an application). Based on the generated trace including the one or more spans, both diagnostic information and user-specific transaction information may be collected for the user journey. For example, the diagnostic information may include information associated with a service (e.g., how long the service took to complete) and the user-specific transaction information may include information related to the user, such as a location of the user, a type of device used for a transaction, among other examples. The diagnostic information and user-specific transaction information may be stored and processed by a system.