Network Metadata Repository With Segmented Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
In interconnected networks of personal entertainment media devices, existing database systems face challenges in sharing metadata repositories due to varying data types and formats, requiring a solution that supports diverse metadata without pre-determining the set of possible metadata, while maintaining performance and customization demands.
Innovation Solution
A network repository that stores data and metadata as opaque items, using handles and attribute names, allowing clients to access and cache metadata without interpretation, and employing a generation count mechanism to efficiently update and synchronize metadata across devices, even in low-resource environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single database format is used to meet all needs in a network, then database structure is simplified, but it cannot support diverse metadata types and formats from different clients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the database into two independent parts: a fixed-format header portion containing metadata descriptors and attributes, and a flexible variable-format data portion containing the actual metadata values. This segmentation allows different clients to store diverse metadata types (music tags, video information, photo EXIF data, etc.) in the variable portion while maintaining a consistent structure in the header portion, thus supporting metadata diversity without increasing overall database format complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the format-defining elements (data types, attributes, descriptors) into a separate header portion that is interpreted by the database system, while leaving the actual metadata values in a raw, uninterpreted format in the variable data portion. This extraction allows the database to handle diverse metadata types without requiring complex format definitions for each type, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a completely open-ended database is used, then a wide variety of data types are allowed, but performance and customization demands are not met
Solution Approach 1:
The database is segmented into a structured header portion with fixed-format descriptors and attributes that enable efficient indexing and querying, and a variable data portion that stores diverse metadata values. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high query performance through the structured header while supporting wide data type variety in the variable portion, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the database are assigned different qualities: the header portion has high structure and organization for efficient querying and performance, while the variable data portion has high flexibility and openness for diverse data types. This local quality differentiation allows the database to simultaneously achieve both query performance and data type variety, resolving the contradiction between productivity and adaptability.
3Ease of operation
If metadata is stored with interpretation, then data access is simplified, but bandwidth usage increases and access requests multiply
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the interpretation logic from the data storage process. Metadata is stored in a raw, uninterpreted format in the variable data portion, while only the essential descriptors and attributes are stored in the header portion in a structured format. This extraction allows clients to access metadata efficiently by reading only the compact header information, reducing bandwidth consumption and access requests while maintaining ease of operation through the structured header format.
4Reliability
If centralized database operations are implemented, then data consistency is maintained, but system complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal database format with a standardized header structure that can be used across multiple clients and devices in the network. The fixed-format header with standardized descriptors and attributes provides a common interface for data consistency, while the variable data portion allows each client to maintain its own metadata formats. This universality enables distributed database operations without requiring complex centralized management, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for a network repository for metadata. Embodiments of a data repository include a memory to store data including one or more data content items, where each data content item is associated with zero or more metadata items, and where each data content item is associated with a handle and each metadata item is associated with an attribute name. The data repository further includes a network interface configured to communicate with a client device, and a control unit configured to control the storage of data in the memory, where the control unit provides functions for writing data to and reading data from the memory and where the control unit is to transfer the data without interpretation.