Time-Stamped Event Buffer Management for Sequence Integrity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for managing time-stamped events in distributed systems lack intrinsic and autonomous means to manage events during non-nominal operating modes, such as reinitialization or full buffers, and fail to ensure chronological sorting and consistency of values.
Innovation Solution
A system with intrinsic means for detecting, time-stamping, and saving events, including a specific event for signaling uncertain sequences, a buffer for storing events, and mechanisms for managing fill rates and client software connectivity to ensure chronological sorting and consistency, even in non-nominal conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a buffer is used to store time-stamped events before reading by client software, then event data can be preserved during initialization or high-load periods, but the buffer may become full and cause loss of event sequence information
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by initializing the buffer with a specific structure including a fill counter and event counters before operation. When the buffer becomes full, the system preemptively detects this condition and signals uncertain event sequences before data loss occurs, allowing for proactive management rather than reactive recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms through counters that track buffer fill status and event quantities. When the buffer reaches capacity, the fill counter provides feedback that triggers an uncertain event sequence signal, creating a closed-loop system that monitors and responds to buffer status to prevent information loss.
2Reliability
If events are time-stamped and sorted chronologically by centralized software, then event ordering is maintained, but the system complexity increases and autonomous management is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the chronological sorting function by distributing time-stamping capabilities to individual event sources rather than centralizing it. Each source independently time-stamps its events with a timestamp counter, and the buffer structure maintains chronological order through its inherent design, eliminating the need for complex centralized sorting software.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer structure provides self-service chronological sorting through its intrinsic design. Events are automatically time-stamped with incrementing counters and stored in chronological order within the buffer structure, allowing the system to maintain event sequencing autonomously without external software intervention for sorting or management.
3Reliability
If the buffer is continuously monitored for fill status, then event loss can be prevented, but system resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic action through counter-based monitoring instead of continuous monitoring. The fill counter and event counters are updated periodically with each event insertion, and the buffer status is checked at discrete intervals rather than continuously, reducing processing overhead while maintaining reliable detection of full buffer conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for managing time-stamped events with uncertain events-sequence signalling, including a list of variables of which a change of value must lead to the detection of an event to be time-stamped and to be saved; means, for each variable, for positioning a marker indicating the quality of the time-stamping of said event; a buffer for the storage, before they are read by client software, of said events to be time-stamped and to be saved, associated respectively with a time-stamping time, said time-stamped events read by the client software being erased from the buffer; means for enabling and for disabling means for saving in a history the values of the variables corresponding to said time-stamped events that have been read.