Relation Chain Repair Server for Social Network Data Consistency

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Centralized storage of relation chains in social networking systems is prone to failures and does not ensure close-by access or optimal access performance, leading to inconsistencies and potential crashes.

Innovation Solution

A relation chain processing system that uses multiple Internet data centers to store forward-relationships and reverse-relationships sets, with a relation chain repair server detecting inconsistencies and performing consistency repairs across data centers, ensuring availability and precision in social interactions by maintaining bidirectional relation chains.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If relation chains are stored in a centralized manner in an Internet data center, then data consistency can be maintained, but access performance deteriorates and crash risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata consistencyVSAvoidaccess performance
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the centralized relation chain storage into multiple distributed Internet data centers. Each data center stores a portion of the relation chains, allowing users to access data from the nearest data center (close-by access). This segmentation maintains data consistency through distributed synchronization while improving access performance by reducing network latency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a relation chain repair server as an intermediary component that coordinates between multiple Internet data centers. This mediator detects inconsistencies in the distributed storage system and performs consistency repairs, ensuring data reliability across the distributed architecture without compromising access performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Device complexity

If relation chains are stored in a centralized manner, then storage management is simplified, but crash risk increases due to single point of failure

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestorage management complexityVSAvoidcrash risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the centralized storage system into multiple distributed Internet data centers. This eliminates the single point of failure by distributing data across multiple independent nodes. If one data center crashes, others continue to operate, maintaining system reliability while managing complexity through standardized distributed storage protocols.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the architectural parameter from centralized to distributed storage. This fundamental parameter change transforms the system from having a single failure point to having redundant failure-resistant nodes, thereby reducing crash risk while maintaining manageable complexity through consistent data models and synchronization mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If distributed storage is used across multiple data centers, then access performance and reliability improve, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveavailabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a relation chain repair server as a coordinating intermediary that manages the distributed data centers. This mediator handles consistency detection and repair operations, abstracting the complexity of distributed coordination from the core storage and access operations. Users interact with a simplified interface while the mediator manages the underlying distributed system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements automatic consistency detection and repair mechanisms that operate autonomously within the distributed system. The relation chain repair server automatically identifies inconsistencies between data centers and performs repairs without manual intervention, reducing the operational complexity while maintaining high availability across the distributed architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3349416B1Relationship chain processing method and system, and storage medium
Publication Date: 2021.06.30 TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) CO LTD
  • EP3349416B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3349416B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3349416B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

A relation chain processing method is provided and the method includes: detecting whether a forward-relationships set corresponding to a currently-detected user identifier and stored in each Internet data center is consistent with a corresponding inverted-reverse-relationships set, where the forward-relationships set includes user identifiers of social friends added by the corresponding currently-detected user identifier; the reverse-relationships set includes user identifiers that add the currently-detected user identifier as a social friend; and the reverse-relationships set is formed by the user identifiers corresponding to the reverse-relationships set that includes the currently-detected user identifier; and performing, if the forward-relationships set corresponding to the currently-detected user identifier is not consistent with the corresponding inverted-reverse-relationships set, consistency repair on the inconsistent forward-relationships set and/or the corresponding reverse-relationships set.