Offline Peer-Assisted Notification Delivery via Relay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile devices often fail to receive notifications due to weak or no wireless signal strength in areas with limited cellular or Internet coverage, leading to delayed or missed notifications.
Innovation Solution
A method where a server device identifies a group of sharing devices with active connections and sends a notification package to one of them, which includes the notification data, account identifier, and device identifier, allowing the sharing device to forward the notification to the intended mobile device once it comes within communication range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobile devices receive notifications directly from central servers via cellular networks or wireless local area networks, then notification delivery is straightforward and centralized, but notification delivery fails in areas with weak or no signal coverage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces peer devices as intermediary nodes that can forward notifications to target devices in areas where direct server-to-device communication fails. When a server attempts to send a notification to a device but fails due to poor connectivity, the notification is relayed through one or more intermediate peer devices that have better network coverage, ultimately delivering the notification to the intended recipient.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification delivery system is segmented into multiple independent paths: direct server-to-device delivery, and alternative peer-to-peer relay paths. This segmentation allows the system to switch between different delivery mechanisms based on network conditions, improving overall reliability by not depending on a single delivery path.
2Loss of time
If mobile devices continuously monitor for notifications from central servers, then notification delivery can be timely, but battery consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Devices perform preliminary actions by maintaining a notification relay cache in memory that stores information about nearby peer devices and their network status. This preliminary preparation allows devices to quickly forward notifications without needing to continuously scan for network conditions or available peers, reducing energy consumption while maintaining timely delivery capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous monitoring, devices periodically update their notification relay cache and check for nearby peers at scheduled intervals. This periodic action reduces battery consumption compared to continuous monitoring, while still ensuring that notification forwarding capability is maintained when needed.
3Speed
If notification data is sent over cellular networks or wireless local area networks, then delivery speed depends on network signal strength, but network traffic consumption increases in areas requiring repeated transmission attempts
Solution Approach 1:
Peer devices act as intermediaries that can receive and forward notifications using their own network connections. When a target device is in an area with poor signal, the notification can be delivered through a peer device that has better connectivity, reducing the need for repeated transmission attempts and lowering overall network traffic consumption while maintaining delivery speed.
Data Source
AI summary
In general, this disclosure is directed to techniques for sending notification data to computing devices that are unable to receive the notification data from a central server. A server device may receive notification data for a notification account that is associated with a computing device and determine that the computing device is currently offline. The server device may then identify a group of one or more sharing devices and send a notification package to a sharing device of the group, wherein the notification package includes the notification data, an account identifier associated with the notification account, and a device identifier associated with the computing device. The sharing device may receive the notification package and, responsive to determining that a device identifier for the computing device matches the device identifier in the notification package, forward the notification data to the computing device.