Offline Media Annotation via Cached Contact Lists and Queued Publishing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional communication systems limit users' ability to modify and share binary content, such as photographs, when disconnected from a network, preventing operations like metadata tagging and editing, due to reliance on client-server models that require network connectivity.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a system with a media annotation component that receives information from a media sharing service when connected, allowing users to annotate and edit binary content offline, and a media publishing component that queues instructions for processing when reconnected, enabling offline metadata generation and queued instructions for online distribution.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a client-server model is used for sharing binary content, then centralized control and coordination are improved, but user ability to modify and share content when disconnected from the network deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecentralized controlVSAvoidoffline operation capability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by caching user profile information, contact lists, and media library metadata from the media sharing service before disconnection occurs. This allows the device to operate autonomously offline with locally stored data, enabling users to annotate and share content without network connectivity while maintaining centralized control when reconnected.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The architecture segments functionality into online-dependent operations (centralized control, cloud storage) and offline-capable operations (local annotation, queued sharing). The media sharing application divides tasks between server-side processing and client-side processing, allowing independent operation during disconnection while preserving centralized coordination when connected.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If network connectivity is required for all operations, then data consistency and centralized management are improved, but user convenience and system efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata consistencyVSAvoiduser convenience

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

User profile data, contact information, and media metadata are cached in advance before disconnection, enabling immediate offline operations without network dependency. This preliminary data preparation maintains user convenience during offline periods while ensuring data consistency is restored upon reconnection through synchronization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

A local cache and instruction queue act as intermediaries between the user and the remote media sharing service. The cache stores necessary data locally for offline access, while the instruction queue buffers operations to be executed later, mediating between immediate user actions and delayed server processing to maintain both convenience and consistency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If offline processing is enabled, then user productivity and system efficiency are improved, but complexity of managing queued instructions and synchronization deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoffline processing capabilityVSAvoidinstruction queue management

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Necessary data including user profiles, contact lists, and media metadata are cached in advance before offline mode begins. This preliminary data preparation enables immediate productivity during disconnection without requiring complex real-time synchronization, as the data is already available locally for processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates local copies of essential data structures (user profiles, contact information, media metadata) that can be processed independently offline. These copies enable productivity without network connectivity, while synchronization mechanisms handle the complexity of updating original data when reconnected, separating processing complexity from data management complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS8433765B2Techniques to modify and share binary content when disconnected from a network

Publication Date: 2013.04.30 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Techniques to modify and share binary objects when disconnected from a network are described. An apparatus may comprise a processor and a memory. The memory may be operative to store a media annotation component and a media publishing component. The media annotation component, when executed by the processor, may be operative to receive a list of related members having a defined relationship with a publishing member from a user account of the publishing member of a media sharing service when in an online mode, and generate metadata for a media object using the list of related members when in an offline mode to form an annotated media object. The media publishing component, when executed by the processor, may be operative to define at least one instruction to distribute the annotated media object to a related member when in the online mode. Other embodiments are described and claimed.