Globally Distributed Virtual Cache for Real-Time Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The Internet suffers from limited connectivity due to lack of infrastructure in remote regions, poor quality connections between distant locations, and high costs of building infrastructure in harsh climates, leading to issues with communication reliability and quality.
Innovation Solution
A globally distributed virtual cache system that provisions storage resources across multiple geographic regions, including surface, atmosphere, and space-based storage centers, to cache and buffer data, enabling real-time or near real-time access and communication by dynamically allocating storage space and improving connectivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Internet infrastructure is built in remote regions, then connectivity is improved, but cost and feasibility deteriorate due to harsh climates and lack of infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces satellite-based storage centers as intermediaries between Internet-connected regions and remote offline regions. These space-based storage centers act as mediators that enable data access without requiring physical infrastructure in the remote regions themselves, thus resolving the contradiction between improving connectivity and avoiding infrastructure building in harsh climates
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the storage infrastructure from the terrestrial dimension to the space dimension by deploying storage centers on satellites. This dimensional shift allows remote regions to access data through satellite signals without needing ground-based infrastructure, effectively bypassing the feasibility constraints of building infrastructure in harsh climates
2Adaptability or versatility
If data is transmitted across vast distances, then global communication is enabled, but quality and reliability deteriorate due to distortion and delay
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a caching mechanism where data is pre-stored in multiple geographically distributed storage centers before transmission is needed. When a user requests data, the system retrieves it from the nearest cached copy rather than transmitting it across vast distances, thereby maintaining high communication quality while enabling global access
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the global data storage system into multiple segmented storage centers located in different geographic regions. This segmentation allows data to be stored in proximity to multiple user groups, reducing transmission distances and improving communication reliability for different regions independently
3Speed
If storage resources are distributed globally, then real-time access is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic provisioning where storage resources are allocated and configured in real-time based on user location and data access patterns. The system automatically determines which storage center to use and provisions access dynamically, achieving fast local access without requiring manual configuration of the complex distributed system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables storage centers and users to self-configure and self-manage within the distributed system. The system automatically handles data routing, caching decisions, and resource allocation without requiring complex external management, thereby reducing the effective complexity experienced by users while maintaining global distribution
Data Source
AI summary
A globally distributed virtual cache is configured to provide storage resources for users around the globe. A user of the virtual cache uses a computing device to access data that is stored in storage centers included within the virtual cache. Those storage centers may be surface-based, atmosphere-based, or space-based. When the user accesses the same data repeatedly, the virtual cache migrates that data to a storage center that is closer to the user, thereby reducing latencies associated with accessing that data. When the user attempts to communicate with another user also coupled to the virtual cache, the virtual cache buffers data that is exchanged between those users to facilitate real-time or near real-time communication between those users.