Event Log Synchronization via Canonical Timestamps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing event log management technologies face challenges in collecting, analyzing, and consolidating events from disparate sources into a coherent, uniformly-formatted log due to differences in timestamp conventions, time zones, and unsynchronized version numbers, making it difficult to implement rules based on event patterns.
Innovation Solution
The system synchronizes event logs by analyzing temporal indicators to establish consistent relative ordering, generating a synchronized timestamp, translating events into a canonical form, and storing them in a unified format, allowing for rule evaluation and action execution based on matched conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If events from multiple systems are collected and assembled into a log file, then the quantity of events recorded increases, but the difficulty of interpreting and ordering events increases due to different formats, timestamp conventions, and time zones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by standardizing heterogeneous event data from multiple systems into a unified format. All events are converted to use a common timestamp format (epoch milliseconds), a standardized event structure with fixed fields, and a universal ordering mechanism based on synchronized timestamps. This allows events from diverse sources to be processed uniformly without manual interpretation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary log management system that acts as a mediator between disparate event sources and the final consolidated log. This intermediary component performs timestamp synchronization, format standardization, and event ordering, transforming heterogeneous input events into a homogeneous output format that can be easily interpreted and analyzed.
2Measurement precision
If events are ordered using local timestamps from different systems, then the ordering reflects local time accuracy, but clock skew between systems causes incorrect relative time ordering
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a centralized timestamp synchronization mechanism as an intermediary that receives events from multiple systems and assigns unified timestamps. This mediator component calculates synchronized timestamps based on reference timestamps from a coordinated time source, ensuring that all events are ordered correctly relative to each other regardless of the local clock accuracy of individual systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by synchronizing timestamps before events are consolidated into the log. The system pre-processes incoming events by adjusting their timestamps to a common time reference frame, ensuring that the relative ordering is established correctly before the events are stored and processed further. This prevents ordering errors from propagating through the system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If version numbers from different systems are used to track event versions, then each system maintains its own versioning, but unsynchronized version numbers make it difficult to maintain strict monotonic ordering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges independent versioning systems by combining the version information from multiple systems into a unified version identifier. The system creates a composite version number that incorporates elements from all contributing systems, ensuring that the combined version strictly increases monotonically as events are added to the log, while still preserving information about the individual source versions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a version synchronization intermediary that receives version information from multiple independent systems and generates unified version identifiers. This mediator ensures that version numbers are assigned in a strictly monotonic sequence based on the synchronized timestamp ordering, while maintaining a record of the original source versions for reference.
4Loss of information
If events are stored in their original formats from different sources, then source-specific information is preserved, but the log cannot be uniformly processed or searched
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing each event into distinct fields and components with specific meanings. Events are structured with standardized fields for timestamp, source identification, event type, and payload, allowing the system to preserve source-specific information in dedicated fields while enabling uniform processing of the structured data. This segmented approach allows selective access to both standardized and source-specific information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves homogeneity by standardizing the structure and format of all stored events. All events are converted to a common data structure with consistent field names, data types, and formatting requirements. This homogeneous structure enables uniform processing, searching, and analysis across all events while preserving source identification information that allows traceability to the original sources.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods can support log synchronization associated with a complex event handler. An event log can support storing prior event indicators. A new event indicator may be received. Temporal indicators associated with the new event indicator may be analyzed to establish consistent relative ordering with respect to prior event indicators. A synchronized timestamp may be generated in response to analyzing the temporal indicators. The new event indicator may be translated into a canonical form. The translated event indicator may be stored into the event log according to the synchronized timestamp. A rule associated with the complex event handler may be evaluated to identify a stored event dependency within a rule condition of the rule. The event log may be searched to match the translated event indicator against the stored event dependency. The rule may be triggered, and its action executed, in response to satisfying the rule condition.