Event Stream Management via Volatile Metadata Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for managing electronic event streams, such as messaging conversations, face challenges in reducing perceived lag times as they require efficient storage and processing of increasing volumes of data, leading to undesirable processing or communication delays.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a combination of volatile and non-volatile memory, where metadata for undelivered events is stored in volatile memory and content is stored in non-volatile memory, allowing for quick retrieval and delivery of the current state of event streams without accessing non-volatile memory, and enabling blind overwriting of prior content with new event data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If all event content is stored in volatile memory for quick access, then retrieval speed improves, but memory usage and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments event data into two distinct parts stored in different memory locations: event metadata (small, frequently accessed) is stored in volatile memory while event content (large, less frequently accessed) is stored in non-volatile memory. This segmentation allows the system to optimize for both speed and storage efficiency by accessing only the small metadata portion during state retrieval operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential state information (metadata) from the complete event data and stores it separately in volatile memory. When retrieving event stream state, the system only needs to access this extracted metadata rather than the full event content, dramatically reducing the amount of data that needs to be held in fast memory while maintaining quick access to current state information.
2Reliability
If event stream state is retrieved by accessing non-volatile memory, then data completeness is ensured, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-storing event metadata in volatile memory when events are first received and processed. This advance preparation ensures that when state retrieval is needed, the critical state information is already in fast memory, eliminating the need to access non-volatile memory during time-critical operations while maintaining data completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by storing different types of data with different access patterns in appropriately optimized memory locations. Metadata requiring frequent, fast access is placed in volatile memory with high-speed access characteristics, while full event content is stored in non-volatile memory. This localized optimization ensures that the specific data being accessed has the quality (speed) appropriate for its access pattern.
3Productivity
If system processes increasing volumes of communication data, then communication capacity improves, but perceived lag time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and stores only the essential state metadata in volatile memory, allowing the system to quickly determine current event stream state without processing or accessing the full volume of event content. This extraction approach enables fast state queries even as communication capacity and data volumes increase, preventing perceived lag time from increasing with productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for managing event streams is provided that includes a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and a processor. The volatile memory is configured to store, for each of a plurality of event streams associated with the client device, metadata indicative of events not yet delivered to a client device and the content associated with only a most recent event of the event stream. The non-volatile memory is configured to store the content associated with each of undelivered events. The processor is configured to, upon receiving a request from the client device, retrieve from the volatile memory, without accessing the non-volatile memory, data indicative of a current state of an event stream associated with the client device. The processor is further configured to deliver the retrieved data indicative of the current state of the event stream.