Steganographic State Encoding in Electronic Transaction Messages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current client-server transaction processing systems face challenges in efficiently storing and managing large volumes of state information, leading to high storage costs, scalability issues, and unnecessary data retention, especially in e-commerce transactions where most state information is needed for a short period.
Innovation Solution
The method involves encoding state information using steganographic techniques to create an encoded message element that is impractical for clients to decode, allowing clients to store and transmit this information without requiring server-side storage, thereby reducing the need for large data storage equipment and maintaining state information locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If state information is stored on the server side in data storage equipment, then the transaction processor can maintain transaction state, but the costs for data storage equipment and personnel management increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts state information from server-side storage and places it in electronic messages transmitted between client and server. The state data is embedded directly in the message payload, eliminating the need for separate server-side storage infrastructure for this data.
Solution Approach 2:
The state information is copied into the electronic message payload, creating a self-contained data structure that carries its own state information. This allows the message itself to serve as the storage medium rather than requiring external storage systems.
2Productivity
If large volumes of state information are stored on the server, then transaction processing can be supported, but the system scalability is limited as storage requirements increase linearly with transaction volume
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic messages are self-sufficient, carrying all necessary state information within their payload. This eliminates the need for the server to maintain external storage infrastructure, allowing the system to scale without proportional increases in storage capacity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If state information is maintained for extended periods to handle fluctuating transaction volumes, then service continuity is ensured, but unnecessary data retention increases storage costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial retention by keeping only the minimal state information needed for current transaction processing in the message payload, rather than retaining historical state data. This reduces storage requirements while maintaining service continuity for active transactions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus are disclosed for communicating state information in an electronic message. First data representing a state of an electronic transaction is encoded, to result in creating an encoded message element that is impractical for a recipient to decode. For example, steganographic invisibility encoding may be used. The encoded message element is sent as part of a first message associated with the transaction. A second message associated with the transaction is received, and the third message includes the encoded message element. The encoded message element is decoded, to result in recovering the state of the transaction, which is used in processing the second message. As a result, large volumes of state information are sent to clients for local, transitory storage, precluding the need for a large state data store on the server side.