Timestamp Subsequence Segmentation for Reliable Object Age Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large-scale distributed storage systems, determining the age of objects becomes unreliable due to clock inaccuracies, leading to premature deletion of objects.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that identify a subsequence of timestamps from a sequence generated by periodically storing current timestamps, where the subsequence conforms to a time interval between consecutive timestamps, allowing for accurate determination of an object's age even with unreliable clocks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the current timestamp is directly used to determine object age, then the calculation is simple and fast, but the age determination becomes inaccurate when the clock is unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sequence of timestamps into multiple subsequences based on monotonicity properties. Each subsequence is identified by checking whether timestamps in the sequence follow the expected time progression pattern. This segmentation allows the system to distinguish between reliable timestamp intervals and unreliable ones, enabling accurate age determination even when the clock is unreliable. The segmentation process divides the complex problem of timestamp validation into manageable portions that can be processed independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes unreliable timestamps from the sequence. By identifying timestamps that do not conform to the expected monotonic progression (i.e., timestamps that indicate time travel or clock anomalies), the system extracts only the reliable timestamps for age calculation. This extraction process ensures that the age determination is based solely on valid time intervals, eliminating the influence of unreliable clock data while maintaining computational efficiency.
2Reliability
If timestamps are filtered to remove unreliable entries, then age determination accuracy improves, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains continuous monitoring and storage of timestamps in a sequence data structure, ensuring that timestamp collection is ongoing and uninterrupted. The useful action of timestamp collection continues without pause, and the system leverages this continuous data accumulation to perform reliable age determination when needed. This continuity approach ensures that sufficient reliable timestamps are always available for accurate age calculation without requiring extensive processing time during the actual age determination operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and storing timestamps in a structured sequence before age determination is needed. The system continuously collects and validates timestamps in advance, organizing them in a way that facilitates rapid age calculation when required. This preliminary preparation ensures that when age determination is needed, the system can quickly identify and use reliable timestamps without performing extensive real-time analysis, thus reducing processing time while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for determining an age of an object is provided. A first index for a timestamp entry in a sequence of timestamps corresponding to a time at which an object was created is identified. At least one subsequence of timestamps from the sequence of timestamps having indexes for entries in the sequence of timestamps that are between the first index in the sequence of timestamps and a last index for a last timestamp entry in the sequence of timestamps is identified, wherein the at least one subsequence of timestamps conforms to a function of a time interval between storage of consecutive current timestamps reported by clock of the computer system. Timestamps from the sequence of timestamps that are not included in the at least one subsequence of timestamps are removed. An age of the object is determined based on the at least one subsequence of timestamps.