Opportunistic, priority-based object synchronization

US9489440B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC · US

Inventors

• Adam D. Stritzel · Redmond, US
• John Brezak · Woodinville, US
• Chin Hung Lam · Bellevue, US
• Patrick Jakubowski · Seattle, US
• Ciprian Gociman · Redmond, US
• Joerg Christof Zender · Renton, US
• David W. Bennett · Silverthorne, US
• Sarita Gupta · Bellevue, US
• Nicholas Malaguti · Seattle, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 13, 2012
• Grant date: Nov 8, 2016
• Expiry date: Jan 24, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06F16/1756
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Mechanisms for synchronizing an object set with a remote data store are often performed at a particular frequency, e.g., once per hour or day. However, the objects of the object set may have different priorities, and it may be advantageous to synchronize higher-priority objects more often than regular-priority objects. The synchronization mechanisms may also differ (e.g., high-priority object synchronization may be direct and/or holistic, while regular-priority object synchronization may be differential, cached, and/or involving version and/or conflict resolution). Additionally, a resource-based threshold may be applied to the high-priority objects (e.g., a bandwidth cap) in order to reduce resource exhaustion, and high-priority objects that are not synchronized within the threshold may be synchronized with the regular-priority objects. These techniques may be particularly advantageous for synchronizing objects comprising an application state of applications of current or recent usage by a user, where application state “staleness” is acutely visible to the user.