Document Page Segmentation for Conferencing Bandwidth Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

In Web conferencing, the existing document sharing methods require uploading and downloading entire documents at the start of a conference, leading to significant bandwidth occupation.

Innovation Solution

The method involves partitioning a document into pages, using a digest algorithm to generate identifier values for each page, and sending page notification messages to determine if pages need to be uploaded or downloaded, thereby reducing the number of pages transferred.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the compere client uploads the whole shared document to the server at the start of the conference, then the participant clients can download the complete document for synchronization, but this occupies a large amount of bandwidth

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedocument synchronization completenessVSAvoidbandwidth occupation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the shared document into multiple pages, where each page is treated as an independent unit. The compere client uploads only the pages that have changed or are missing, rather than uploading the entire document. This segmentation allows the system to transmit only the necessary portions, significantly reducing bandwidth occupation while maintaining document synchronization completeness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If the participant clients download the entire shared document from the server, then they can have complete document synchronization, but this consumes excessive network resources

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedocument synchronizationVSAvoiddata transmission volume
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The document is segmented into pages, and the system tracks which pages each participant client has. When synchronization is needed, only the missing or updated pages are downloaded by the participant clients, rather than downloading the entire document. This reduces the quantity of data transmitted while ensuring complete synchronization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The compere client performs preliminary actions by identifying which pages have changed or need to be synchronized before initiating the download process. This preliminary identification allows the system to prepare a minimal set of pages for transmission, reducing unnecessary data transfer.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of energy

If the system checks whether pages are already saved before uploading, then bandwidth is saved by avoiding redundant uploads, but this increases system complexity

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebandwidth savingsVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where the compere client receives information from the server about which pages are already present at the participant clients. This feedback allows the compere client to intelligently determine which pages need to be uploaded, avoiding redundant transmissions. The feedback loop manages the increased complexity by providing clear guidance on necessary uploads.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The server acts as an intermediary that manages the page inventory information and coordinates between the compere client and participant clients. This intermediary role simplifies the overall system complexity by centralizing the tracking and coordination logic, rather than requiring complex peer-to-peer communication between all clients.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP2852093B1Method, system, and device for sharing documents
Publication Date: 2019.07.10 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP2852093B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2852093B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2852093B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a document sharing method, system, and device, which are configured to implement document sharing between a compere client, a server, and a participant client in a conferencing system. In the embodiments of the present invention, a document is partitioned by the compere client into at least one page for caching. The method includes: receiving a page notification message, where the page notification message includes an identifier value of the page, and the identifier value is digest information of the page obtained by the compere client by using a digest algorithm; judging, according to the identifier value, whether the page corresponding to the identifier value is already saved; and downloading the page corresponding to the identifier value when the page corresponding to the identifier value is not saved, or not downloading the page when the page corresponding to the identifier value is already saved, which can effectively save bandwidth.