Mobile Middleware Set Membership Tracking for Data Eviction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional data synchronization methods fail to ensure coherency and consistency between cached data on client devices and enterprise information systems, leading to issues like dangling references and incomplete data eviction, which cause storage bloat and stale data.
Innovation Solution
Employing mobile middleware to track set membership and evict data by using surrogate keys, filtering cached data, and sending notifications for updates and deletions to maintain data currency and consistency between mobile client devices and enterprise information systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional complete synchronization is performed whenever connectivity is available, then data consistency between client and enterprise system is improved, but network bandwidth consumption and synchronization time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the changed data elements from the complete synchronization process. By identifying and transmitting only the differential data (inserted, updated, or deleted records) between the enterprise information system and mobile device, the synchronization time and network bandwidth consumption are significantly reduced while maintaining data consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by maintaining a change log or version tracker on both the enterprise system and mobile device before synchronization occurs. This allows the system to pre-identify which data elements have changed, so that only those specific elements need to be transmitted during the actual synchronization event, rather than performing a complete data transfer.
2Ease of operation
If cached data is maintained on mobile devices for offline access, then data availability is improved, but storage space is consumed and data coherency may deteriorate over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the mobile device monitors its local cached data against change notifications received from the enterprise system. When the system detects that cached data has diverged from the current state in the enterprise system, it generates targeted synchronization requests to update only the affected data elements, thereby maintaining coherency while preserving offline availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the cached data dynamic by implementing version control and timestamp tracking on both the enterprise system and mobile device. This allows the system to dynamically determine which cached records are current and which need updating, enabling the mobile device to maintain an up-to-date local copy that reflects the current state of the enterprise system without requiring continuous full synchronization.
3Loss of information
If set membership changes are propagated immediately to all clients, then data currency is improved, but network traffic and server processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the notification process by identifying and notifying only those mobile devices whose cached data is actually affected by a set membership change. Rather than broadcasting to all clients, the system analyzes which specific data elements have changed and sends notifications only to devices holding those elements in their cache, thereby reducing network traffic while maintaining data currency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by customizing the synchronization content for each mobile device based on its specific cached data and subscription profile. Each device receives only the data changes relevant to its local cache and user interests, rather than a uniform notification to all clients. This reduces overall network traffic while ensuring each device maintains current data for its specific needs.
4Stability of the object's composition
If dangling reference data is retained on client devices, then reference integrity is maintained, but storage space is wasted and device performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a mechanism to discard dangling reference data when it is detected that the referenced data no longer exists or has been deleted from the enterprise system. The system maintains reference integrity by validating foreign key relationships during synchronization and removing orphaned records from the mobile device cache, thereby recovering storage space while preserving the integrity of remaining data relationships.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for ensuring coherency between user data in a client and their corresponding state in enterprise information systems (EIS) wherein data migrates and subscriptions change over time. A mobile business object (MBO) identifies an update to a subscription or a change in set membership in order to provide updates to a client device and EIS systems. Cached data is filtered for client device users who synchronize data they are interested in (i.e., subscribed to). In an embodiment, the method keeps track of set membership by remembering on a per remote identifier/business object basis the set membership for a parent business object. When set membership changes, the method sends delete notifications to the device to remove ex-members. The method recognizes common relationship types in a business scenario and handles reference-type relationships as well as containment-type relationships. The methods include key tracking and membership tracking.