METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHARING DATA

• US 20160036822A1
• Filed: 07/29/2015
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KIM, Yong-jin, CHANG, Kyung-ah, CHOI, Jong-deok
• Granted Patent: US 10,164,984 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6236 between heterogeneous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6272 by registering files or documents with a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A relay server includes a storage configured to store first access right information of a first cloud storage service to which a first user is subscribed and second access right information of a second cloud storage service to which a second user is subscribed. The relay server further includes a communication interface configured to request, from the first cloud storage service, first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service, based on the first access right information, and receive the requested first data from the first cloud storage. The relay server further includes a controller configured to control the communication interface to store the received first data in the second cloud storage service, based on the second access right information.

Claims

1. A relay server comprising:

a storage configured to store first access right information of a first cloud storage service to which a first user is subscribed and second access right information of a second cloud storage service to which a second user is subscribed;

a communication interface configured to;

request, from the first cloud storage service, first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service, based on the first access right information; and

receive the requested first data from the first cloud storage service; and

a controller configured to control the communication interface to store the received first data in the second cloud storage service, based on the second access right information.

2. The relay server of claim 1, wherein the first access right information includes an account of the relay server that is registered in the first cloud storage, and

an access right representing a right of the relay server to receive the first data from the first cloud storage service is set in the first cloud storage service to correspond to the account.

3. The relay server of claim 2, wherein the access right is set by the first cloud storage service in response to the first cloud storage service receiving, from a device of the first user, a request for sharing the first data with the relay server.

4. The relay server of claim 1, wherein the second access right information of the second cloud storage service includes an account of the relay server that is registered in the second cloud storage service, and

an access right representing a right of the relay server to store data in a storage space of the second cloud storage service is set in the second cloud storage service to correspond to the account.

5. The relay server of claim 4, wherein the access right is set by the second cloud storage service in response to the second cloud storage service receiving, from a device of the second user, a request for sharing the storage space of the second cloud storage service with the relay server.

6. The relay server of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the first cloud storage service, a synchronization request indicating that the first data is modified, and

the controller is further configured to update a copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service into the modified first data in response to the communication interface receiving the synchronization request.

7. The relay server of claim 6, wherein the first data includes a file,

the synchronization request includes position information representing a position of modified data in the file,

the controller is further configured to:

determine whether the modified data is of a write-protected region, based on the position information, in response to the communication interface receiving the synchronization request; and

update the copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service into the modified first data in response to the controller determining that the modified data is not of the write-protected region, and

the write-protected region is in the copy of the first data that is set not to be modified by the relay server.

8. The relay server of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the second cloud storage service, a synchronization request indicating that a copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service is modified, and

the controller is further configured to update the first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service into the modified copy of the first data in response to the communication interface receiving the synchronization request.

9. The relay server of claim 8, wherein the first data includes a file,

the synchronization request includes position information representing a position of modified data in a copy of the file,

the controller is further configured to:

determine whether the modified data is of a write-protected region, based on the position information, in response to the communication interface receiving the synchronization request; and

update the first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service into the modified copy of the first data in response to the controller determining that the modified data is not of the write-protected region, and

the write-protected region is in the first data that is set not to be modified by the relay server.

10. The relay server of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from a device of the first user, a read protection request for a portion of a file among the first data, and

the controller is further configured to:

acquire the file from the first cloud storage service in response to the communication interface receiving the read protection request;

apply read-protection to the portion of the file; and

store the read-protected file in the second cloud storage service.

11. A data relay method in a method of sharing, by a relay server, data between devices, the data relay method comprising:

storing first access right information of a first cloud storage service to which a first user is subscribed and second access right information of a second cloud storage service to which a second user is subscribed;

requesting, from the first cloud storage service, first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service, based on the first access right information; and

receiving the requested first data from the first cloud storage service; and

storing the received first data in the second cloud storage service, based on the second access right information.

12. The data relay method of claim 11, wherein the first access right information includes an account of the relay server that is registered in the first cloud storage service, and

an access right representing a right of the relay server to receive the first data from the first cloud storage service is set in the first cloud storage service to correspond to the account.

13. The data relay method of claim 12, wherein the access right is set by the first cloud storage service in response to the first cloud storage service receiving, from a device of the first user, a request for sharing the first data with the relay server.

14. The data relay method of claim 11, wherein the second access right information of the second cloud storage service includes an account of the relay server that is registered in the second cloud storage service, and

an access right representing a right of the relay server to store data in a storage space of the second cloud storage service is set in the second cloud storage service to correspond to the account.

15. The data relay method of claim 14, wherein the access right is set by the second cloud storage service in response to the second cloud storage service receiving, from a device of the second user, a request for sharing the storage space of the second cloud storage service with the relay server.

16. The data relay method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the first cloud storage service, a synchronization request indicating that the first data is modified; and

updating a copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service into the modified first data in response to the receiving the synchronization request.

17. The data relay method of claim 16, wherein the first data includes a file,

the synchronization request includes position information representing a position of modified data in the file,

the updating comprises:

determining whether the modified data is of a write-protected region, based on the position information, in response to the receiving the synchronization request; and

updating the copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service into the modified first data in response to the determining that the modified data is not of the write-protected region, and

the write-protected region is in the copy of the first data that is set not to be modified by the relay server.

18. The data relay method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the second cloud storage service, a synchronization request indicating that a copy of the first data that is stored in the second cloud storage service is modified; and

updating the first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service into the modified copy of the first data in response to the receiving the synchronization request.

19. The data relay method of claim 18, wherein the first data includes a file,

the synchronization request includes position information representing a position of modified data in a copy of the file,

the updating comprises:

determining whether the modified data is of a write-protected region, based on the position information, in response to the receiving the synchronization request; and

updating the first data that is stored in the first cloud storage service into the modified copy of the first data in response to the determining that the modified data is not of the write-protected region, and

the write-protected region is in the first data that is set not to be modified by the relay server.

20. The data relay method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from a device of the first user, a read protection request for a portion of a file among the first data;

acquiring the file from the first cloud storage service in response to the receiving the read protection request;

applying read-protection to the portion of the file; and

storing the read-protected file in the second cloud storage service.

21. A relay server comprising:

a storage configured to store first right information of a first user for a first messenger server and second right information of a second user for a second messenger server;

a communication interface configured to receive a message of the first user from the first messenger server based on the first right information; and

a controller configured to control the communication interface to transmit the message of the first user to the second messenger server based on the second right information.

22. The relay server of claim 21, wherein the first right information is of a right to register, in the first messenger server, a third user that is subscribed in the first messenger server as a messenger friend of the first user, and

the second right information is of a right to register, in the second messenger server, a fourth user that is subscribed in the second messenger server as a messenger friend of the second user.

23. The relay server of claim 21, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from a device of the first user, a registration request for registering the second user as a messenger friend of the first user,

the controller is further configured to:

generate a messenger virtual identifier (ID) of the second user in response to the communication interface receiving the registration request;

register the messenger virtual ID of the second user in the first messenger server; and

register, in the first messenger server, the messenger virtual ID of the second user as a messenger friend ID of the first user based on the first right information, and

the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the device of the first user, the messenger virtual ID of the second user as an ID of the second user in the first messenger server in response to the communication interface receiving the registration request.

24. The relay server of claim 21, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from a device of the second user, a registration request for registering the first user as a messenger friend of the second user,

the controller is further configured to:

generate a messenger virtual identifier (ID) of the first user in response to the communication interface receiving the registration request;

register the messenger virtual ID of the first user in the second messenger server; and

register, in the second messenger server, the messenger virtual ID of the first user as a messenger friend ID of the second user based on the second right information, and

the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the device of the second user, the messenger virtual ID of the first user as an ID of the first user in the second messenger server in response to the communication interface receiving the registration request.

25. The relay server of claim 21, wherein the communication interface is further configured to:

register a first messenger virtual ID of the second user in the first messenger server based on the first right information; and

receive, from the first messenger server, the message of the first user about the second user based on the registered first messenger virtual ID of the second user, and

the controller is further configured to;

register a second messenger virtual ID of the first user in the second messenger server based on the second right information; and

control the communication interface to transmit the message of the first user to the second messenger server based on the registered second messenger virtual ID of the first user.

26. The relay server of claim 25, wherein the communication interface is further configured to:

receive, from a device of the first user, a message transmission request for transmitting, to a device of the second user, a message representing the first messenger virtual ID of the second user as a receiver ID; and

request the second messenger server to transmit, to the device of the second user, a message representing the second messenger virtual ID of the first user as a transmitter ID in response to the communication interface receiving the message transmission request.

27. A relay server comprising:

a controller configured to register an identifier (ID) of the relay server in a first cloud storage service and a second cloud storage service; and

a communication interface configured to;

receive, from a first device that is registered in the first cloud storage service, a request to share first data with a second device that is registered in the second cloud storage service;

request the first data from the first cloud storage service based on the ID of the relay server in response to the communication interface receiving the request;

receive the requested first data from the first cloud storage service; and

store the received first data in the second cloud storage service, based on the ID of the relay server.

28. The relay server of claim 27, wherein the relay server is granted a right to access the first data in the first cloud storage service by the first device, the right to access the first data being set to correspond to the ID of the relay server, and

the relay server is granted a right to store data in the second cloud storage service by the second device, the right to store data being set to correspond to the ID of the relay server.

29. The relay server of claim 27, wherein the communication interface is further configured to request the first data from the first cloud storage service based on the ID of the relay server and a storage location of the first data in the first cloud storage service in response to the communication interface receiving the request.

30. The relay server of claim 27, wherein the communication interface is further configured to store the received first data in the second cloud storage service, based on the ID of the relay server and an ID of the second device.