SERVER LOAD BALANCING USING GEODATA

• US 20110276692A1
• Filed: 05/10/2010
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Leslie, John Alexander, Waldman, Jaron, Ben-David, Moran
• Granted Patent: US 8,850,013 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/502 Proximity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system

Abstract

The present technology relates to serving geodata based on location of a requesting device. More specifically, the technology efficiently services requests for geodata, e.g., map data, by directing requests to a server that stores a shard of an entire database of geodata. A request for geodata includes an unencrypted header having a location of a device making the request for geodata. The present technology relates the location to a shard storing data relevant to the location.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a request for geodata, the request including location information; and

routing the request for data to a server based one or more factors, one of the factors being the location information, whereby the request for data is routed to a server having a segment of geodata pertaining to map objects that are located in a defined geographic area, the location information designating a location encompassed within the defined geographic area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes an unencrypted header and an encrypted message, the header including the location information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the location information describes a general location of the device making the request for data.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the segment of geodata pertaining to objects and associated attributes in a defined area is redundantly stored on multiple servers.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein one of the factors used in routing the request for data includes the response time of each of the several servers redundantly storing the segment of geodata pertaining to objects and associated attributes in a defined area, thereby balancing the load on each of the several servers.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein more than one segment of geodata pertaining to objects and associated attributes in a defined area is stored on the same server.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the location information comprises the approximate longitude of the device making the request for data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the location information further comprises the approximate latitude of the device making the request for data.

9. A system, comprising:

a plurality of servers collectively storing geodata in random access memory (RAM), the geodata having been divided into multiple shards and each server having one or more shards of geodata stored thereon; and

a content switch configured to receive and route requests for data that include location information, the content switch being configured to route a given request for data to one server selected from among the plurality of servers based on the location information contained therein.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the requests each include an unencrypted header portion including the location information and a message portion.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the message portion is encrypted.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein each shard includes geodata for a defined geographic area.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein one or more shards are redundantly stored on two or more of the plurality of the servers.

14. A product, comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable medium; and

machine-executable instructions on the medium, which when executed cause a computer to perform the method comprising

receiving a request for map data from a computing device including an unencrypted header describing the general location of the computing device;

reading the general location from the request;

identifying servers storing a shard of data relevant to the general location of the computing device;

selecting one of the servers based on load balancing considerations; and

routing the request to the selected server.

15. The product of claim 14, wherein the shard is redundantly stored on several servers.

16. The product of claim 14, wherein one of the load balancing considerations includes a response time of the servers.

17. The product of claim 14, wherein more than one shard is stored on the same server.

18. The product of claim 14, wherein the general location of the computing device comprises the approximate longitude of the device making the request for data.

19. The product of claim 18, wherein the general location of the computing device further comprises the approximate latitude of the device making the request for data.