Remote Font Management Glyph Streaming

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing font management techniques consume significant resources in storage and communication due to the large number of fonts available, especially when dealing with hundreds or thousands of characters, and often result in inefficient resource usage and delayed text rendering.

Innovation Solution

Remote font management techniques involve obtaining layout tables over a network to identify dependent glyphs, streaming only the necessary glyphs for rendering, and employing font fallback methods to use locally available fonts when remote data is not accessible, thereby conserving resources and reducing delays in text output.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If fonts supporting hundreds or thousands of characters are stored and communicated to users, then the ability to display diverse text is improved, but storage and communication resources are significantly consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefont character supportVSAvoidstorage and communication resources

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments font data into individual glyph files stored on a remote server. Instead of transmitting complete font files, the system transmits only the specific glyph files needed for the requested text, dividing the large font resource into smaller, demand-based units.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts only the necessary glyph data from the complete font file and transmits it to the computing device. The font manager identifies and extracts specific glyphs required for the text rendering task, separating needed information from unnecessary font data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Reliability

If complete font files are transmitted to ensure immediate text rendering, then text display reliability is improved, but communication time and resource consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetext rendering availabilityVSAvoidcommunication time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-storing complete font files on the remote server and maintaining a glyph dependency graph that maps text characters to required glyph files. This preparation enables rapid retrieval of only the necessary glyphs when text rendering is needed, without waiting for complete font transmission.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by transmitting only the subset of glyph files actually needed for the requested text rather than complete font files. This partial transmission approach reduces communication time while maintaining sufficient glyph data for reliable text rendering.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Quantity of substance

If layout tables and glyph dependency information are obtained remotely, then resource consumption is reduced, but network dependency increases and rendering delays may occur

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource consumptionVSAvoidnetwork dependency and rendering coordination

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a font manager as an intermediary component that coordinates between the remote server and the text rendering system. The font manager obtains layout tables, manages glyph file retrieval, and handles the complexity of network dependencies, shielding the rendering system from direct network coordination challenges.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Reliability

If font substitution is implemented when remote fonts are unavailable, then text rendering continuity is improved, but display quality may be affected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetext rendering continuityVSAvoidtext display quality

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements beforehand cushioning by pre-configuring fallback font mappings that specify alternative glyphs or fonts to use when primary remote fonts are unavailable. This preparation ensures continuous text rendering capability while maintaining acceptable display quality through predetermined substitution strategies.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

Data Source

PatentUS9940744B2Remote font management

Publication Date: 2018.04.10 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Remote font management techniques are described. In one or more implementations, one or more layout tables are obtained, located remotely via a network by a computing device, that correspond to a font associated with a request to output text using the font. A layout and glyph dependencies of the text is generated by the computing device using the obtained one or more layout tables to identify glyphs that are involved in an output of the text. The identified glyphs are obtained by the computing device from a font file located remotely from the computing device via the network and the text is rendered by the computing device using the obtained glyphs.