Apparatus, system and method for secure, recoverable, adaptably compressed file transfer

• US 6,021,198 A
• Filed: 12/23/1996
• Issued: 02/01/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger NV)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger NV)
• Inventors: Reniska, Kim, Anigbogu, Julian C.
• Primary Examiner(s): CANGIALOSI, SALVATORE A
• Application Number:
  US08/772,712
• Time in Patent Office: 1,135 Days
• Field of Search: 380/9, 380/49, 395/600, 704/501, 341/51, 367/21, 367/60
• US Class Current: 380/269
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/3086 employing a sliding window, e.g. LZ77
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for handling and transmitting a file over a communication channel wherein the file may be adaptably compressed to improve throughput. The invention also provides for a method of recovery in the event of a communication failure. The file may be encrypted while it is being transmitted. The compression and transmission may occur while the file is being written, so that the receiving location receives the data in near real time.

Claims

1. A system for managing and transmitting a file having a degree of compressibility and a plurality of buffers over a communication channel having a physical bandwidth comprising:

a) a file transfer server at a first location operable to transmit a file;

b) a file transfer client at a second location operable to receive a file; and

c) a feedback loop for compressing the file for transmission, including;

1.) means for compressing a first buffer to a first level of compressibility;

2.) means for evaluating the throughput of the first buffer when the first buffer is transmitted from the first location to the second location;

3.) means for setting the compression level of a second buffer based on the throughput of the first buffer and the first level of compressibility.

2. The system for managing and transmitting a file over a communication channel of claim 1, the feedback loop further comprises

4.) means for evaluating the throughput of a zeroth buffer;

and

wherein the means for setting the compression level of a second buffer further based upon the throughput of the zeroth buffer and the compression level of the zeroth buffer.

3. The system for managing and transmitting a file over a communication channel of claim 1, further comprising:

in the event of an interruption in the transmission of the file, transmitting from the transfer client to the transfer server the number of data items received, and

resuming transmission by the transfer server with the data item following the number of data items received.

4. A system for managing and transmitting a file having a degree of compressibility and a plurality of buffers over a communication channel having a physical bandwidth comprising:

a) a file transfer server at a first location;

b) a file transfer client at a second location;

c) a throughput measuring mechanism at the first location which measures throughput for each transmitted block of data; and

d) an adaptive compressor at the first location, wherein the adaptive compressor accepts as an input the throughput from previously transmitted data blocks.

5. The system for managing and transmitting a file of claim 4, wherein the adaptive compressor adjusts a compression level in response to the input throughput from previously transmitted data blocks.

6. The system for managing and transmitting a file of claim 5, wherein the previously transmitted data blocks is a sequence of data blocks and the adaptive compressor adjusts the compression level in response to the two most recently transmitted data blocks.

7. The system for managing and transmitting a file of claim 6, wherein the adaptive compressor adjusts the compression level by applying a rule selected from the set including:

increases the compression level if the throughput of the most recently transmitted block is better than the throughput of the block before the most recently transmitted block and the compression level of the most recently transmitted block is greater than the compression level of the block before the most recently transmitted block,

increases the compression level if the throughput of the most recently transmitted block is worse than the throughput of the block before the most recently transmitted block and the compression level of the most recently transmitted block is worse than the compression level of the block before the most recently transmitted block,

decreases the compression level if the throughput of the most recently transmitted block is better than the throughput of the block before the most recently transmitted block and the compression level of the most recently transmitted block is less than the compression level of the block before the most recently transmitted block, and

decreases the compression level if the throughput of the most recently transmitted block is worse than the throughput of the block before the most recently transmitted block and the compression level of the most recently transmitted block is greater than the compression level of the block before the most recently transmitted block.

8. A system for managing and transmitting a file having a degree of compressibility and a plurality of buffers over a communication channel comprising:

a.) a communications channel having a physical bandwidth;

b.) a transmitting processor;

c.) a receiving processor;

d.) a means to determine transmission throughput;

e.) a means for compressing the file by compressing a first buffer to a first degree of compressibility, compressing a second buffer to a second degree of compressibility, transmitting the first and second buffers and determining a relative throughput, based on the relative throughput, compressing a third buffer to a third degree of compressibilty;

f.) a means for compressing the buffers of the file in a stream in real time while the file is being written;

g.) a means for transmission of the file;

h.) a means for maintaining a received location of the transmission within the file;

i.) a means, responsive to an transmission interruption and subsequent resumption of transmission, for communicating the location of the data last received prior to the transmission interruption;

j.) a means for encrypting the file in a stream before and during transmission; and

k.) a means for decrypting the file after receipt of transmission.

9. A method of compressing a source file, having a plurality of buffers, for transmission over a communication channel, comprising:

a.) selecting a first buffer of the source file;

b.) compressing the first buffer to a first compression level;

c.) marshalling the first buffer onto the communication channel;

d.) transmitting the first buffer;

e.) de-compressing the first buffer;

f.) writing the first buffer to a destination file;

g.) determine a first throughput which was achieved for steps (a) through (f);

h.) selecting a second compression level of a second buffer based on the first throughput wherein there is a difference between the first and second compression levels indicating a direction of change in compression level; and

i.) repeating steps (a) through (h) for each of the buffers in turn until all of the buffers of the source file have been transmitted_-- and have been written to the destination file.

10. A method as in claim 9, wherein the selecting the compression level of a second buffer step includes determining if the first throughput is an improvement over the throughput of a previous buffer and if the first throughput is an improvement selecting a second compression level that is further in the direction of change in compression level, otherwise selecting a second compression level that is opposite the direction of change in compression level.

11. A method as in claim 10, further comprising the step of writing to the source file while performing one or more of steps (a) through (i).

12. A system for handling and transmitting a first file having a sequential plurality of buffers where each buffer is either the first buffer, the second buffer, the last buffer or a buffer that has a previous and a next buffer, over a communication channel comprising:

a.) a means for reading while writing data to the first file;

b.) a means for compressing each buffer of the first file at one of multiple levels of compression;

c.) a means for queueing the first file;

d.) a means for marshalling the first file;

e.) a means for sequentially transmitting the buffers that constitute the first file from a first location to a second location and for each transmitted buffer determining the throughput achieved;

f.) a means for unmarshalling the first file;

g.) a means for decompressing the first file; and

h.) a means for writing the first file to a second file;

wherein the means for compressing b) for each buffer that is not the first buffer nor the second buffer, selects a compression level based on the throughput achieved in the transmission of the two preceding buffers.

13. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 12 wherein the means for accomplishing steps a through d comprises a file transfer server.

14. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 12 wherein the means for accomplishing steps f through g comprises a file transfer client.

15. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 13 wherein the file transfer server includes a read while write module.

16. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 13 wherein the file transfer server includes a compression module.

17. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 16 wherein the compression module uses a deflation algorithm.

18. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 16 wherein the compression module uses a Huffman tree.

19. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 16 wherein the compression module compresses in a first stage to produce literals and pointers.

20. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 19 wherein the compression module compresses in a second stage to produce a Huffman tree and a block.

21. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 12, futher comprising

a means for encrypting the first file before marshalling the first file and a means for decrypting the first file after the first file is transmitted.

22. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 14 wherein the file transfer client includes a read while write module.

23. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claims 12 and 21, wherein the first file is a sharable file.

36. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 14 wherein the file transfer client includes a read while write module.

24. A system for handling and transmitting a first file having a sequential plurality of buffers where each buffer is either the first buffer, the second buffer, the last buffer or a buffer that has a previous and a next buffer, over a communication channel comprising:

a.) a means for reading while writing data to the first file;

b.) a means for compressing each buffer of the first file at one of multiple levels of compression;

c.) a means for queueing the first file;

d.) a means for marshalling the first file;

e.) a means for sequentially transmitting the buffers that constitute the first file from a first location to a second location and for each transmitted buffer determining the throughput achieved;

f.) a first means for unmarshalling the first file;

g.) a means for re-queueing the first file;

h.) a means for re-marshalling the first file;

i.) a remote procedure call for sending the first file within the second location;

j.) a second means for unmarshalling the first file;

k.) a means for decompressing the first file; and

l.) a means for writing the first file to a second file;

wherein the means for compressing b) for each buffer that is not the first buffer nor the second buffer, selects a compression level based on the throughput achieved in the transmission of the two preceding buffers.

25. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 24 wherein the means for accomplishing steps a through d comprises a first file transfer server.

26. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 24 wherein the means for accomplishing steps f through g comprises a file transfer client.

27. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 25 wherein the file transfer server includes a read while write module.

28. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 25 wherein the file transfer server includes a compression module.

29. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 28 wherein the compression module uses a deflation algorithm.

30. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 28 wherein the compression module uses a Huffman tree.

31. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 28 wherein the compression module compresses in a first stage to produce literals and pointers.

32. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 31 wherein the compression module compresses in a second stage to produce a Huffman tree and a block.

33. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 24, futher comprising:

a first means for encrypting the first file before marshalling the first file;

a first means for decrypting the first file after the first file is transmitted.

34. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 33, futher comprising

a second means for encrypting the first file after the first file is transmitted;

a first means for decrypting the first file after the first file has been sent through the remote procedure call within the second location.

35. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 24 wherein the means for accomplishing steps j through l comprises a second file transfer server.

37. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claims 24, 26 and 35, wherein the first file is a sharable file.

38. A method for handling and transmitting a first file consisting of a sequence of buffers over a communication channel comprising the steps of:

a.) reading while writing data to the first file;

b.) compressing each buffer of the first file at one of multiple levels of compression;

c.) queueing the first file;

d.) marshalling the first file;

e.) sequentially transmitting the buffers of the first file from a first location to a second location while determining the throughput achieved for each transmitted buffer;

f.) unmarshalling the first file;

g.) decompressing the first file; and

h.) writing the first file to a second file;

wherein the step of compressing b) comprises selecting a compression level based on the achieved throughput of previously transmitted buffers.

39. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38 wherein steps a through d are accomplished by a file transfer server.

40. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38 wherein steps f through g are accomplished by a file transfer client.

41. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 39 wherein the file transfer server includes a read while write module.

42. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38 wherein the file transfer server includes a compression module.

43. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38 wherein the compression step includes use of a deflation algorithm for a first stage of compression.

44. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38 wherein the compression step uses a Huffman tree for a second stage of compression.

45. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 43 wherein the use of the deflation algorithm in the first stage produces literals and pointers.

46. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 44 wherein the use in a second stage of the Huffman tree produces a Huffman tree and a block.

47. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38, futher comprising the steps of:

encrypting the first file before marshalling the first file; and

decrypting the first file after the first file is transmitted.

48. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 40 wherein the file transfer client includes a read while write module.

49. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38, wherein the first file is a sharable file.

50. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 38, wherein the second file is a sharable file.

51. A method for handling and transmitting a first file consisting of a sequence of buffers over a communication channel comprising the steps of:

a.) reading while writing data to the first file;

b.) compressing each buffer of the first file at one of multiple levels of compression;

c.) queueing the first file;

d.) marshalling the first file;

e.) sequentially transmitting the buffers of the first file from a first location to a second location while determining the throughput achieved for each transmitted buffer;

f.) unmarshalling the first file;

g.) re-queueing the first file;

h.) re-marshalling the first file;

i.) sending via a remote procedure call the first file within the second location;

j.) unmarshalling the first file a second time;

k.) decompressing the first file; and

l.) writing the first file to a second file;

wherein the step of compressing b) comprises selecting a compression level based on the achieved throughput of previously transmitted buffers.

52. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 51 wherein the steps a through d are accomplished by a first file transfer server.

53. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 51, wherein steps f through g are accomplished by a file transfer client.

54. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 52 wherein the file transfer server includes a read while write module.

55. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 52 wherein the file transfer server includes a compression module.

56. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 52 wherein the compression step includes use of a deflation algorithm for a first stage of compression.

57. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 56 wherein the compression step uses a Huffman tree for a second stage of compression.

58. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 57 wherein the use of the Huffman tree produces a Huffman tree and a block.

59. A system for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 56 wherein the use of the deflation algorithm in the first stage produces literals and pointers.

60. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 51, futher comprising the steps of:

encrypting the first file before marshalling the first file;

decrypting the first file after the first file is transmitted to the second location.

61. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 60, futher comprising

encrypting the first file a second time, after the first file is transmitted;

decrypting the first file after the first file has been sent through the remote procedure call within the second location.

62. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 51, wherein steps j through l are accomplished using a second file transfer server.

63. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claim 53, wherein the file transfer client includes a read while write module.

64. A method for handling and transmitting a first file as in claims 51 and 61, wherein the first file is a sharable file.

65. A system for acquiring and transmitting well log data, comprising:

a) a log data acquisition and processing software module operable to receive well log data;

b) a primary file transfer utility program connected to the log data acquisition and processing software module and having a compression module, wherein the file transfer server comprises;

i) a means for periodically adjusting the compression level based on a most recently used compression level and a throughput obtained using the most recently used compression level; and

c) a remote file transfer utility program connected to the primary file transfer utility program.

66. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 65 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software comprises:

a means for storing a log graphics file connected to the primary file transfer utility program.

67. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 66 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software comprises:

a semaphore file connected to the log graphics file for indicating when the log graphics file may be read from or written to.

68. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 67 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software comprises:

a read-while-write module connected to the log graphics file for receiving log graphics from a log generating program and operable to write the log graphics onto the log graphics file while the log graphics is being read by another module.

69. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 65 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software comprises:

a means for storing a log data file connected to the primary file transfer utility program.

70. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 69 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software comprises:

a semaphore file connected to the log data file for indicating when the log data file may be read from or written to.

71. The system for acquiring and transmitting well log data of claim 70 wherein the log data acquisition and processing software further comprises:

a read-while-write module connected to the log data file for receiving log data from a log generating program and operable to write the log data onto the log data file while the log data is being read by another module.

72. A method of transmitting a file over a communications channel from a first location to a second location, comprising:

a) compressing a first buffer of the file to a first compression level;

b) transmitting the first buffer from the first location to the second location;

c) compressing a second buffer of the file to a second compression level;

d) transmitting the second buffer from the first location to the second location;

e) evaluating the relative throughput of the first and second buffers from the first location to the second location;

f) setting a third compression level as a function of the throughput of the first and second buffers;

g) compressing a third buffer to the third compression level; and

h) transmitting the third buffer from the first location to the second location.

73. The method of transmitting a file according to the method of claim 72, further comprising:

i) evaluating the relative efficiency of the transmission of the second and third buffers;

j) setting a fourth compression level as a function of the relative throughput of the second and third buffers;

k) compressing a fourth buffer to the fourth compression level; and

l) transmitting the fourth buffer from the first location to the second location.

74. The method of transmitting a file according to the method of claim 72, wherein the step f) comprises:

if the throughput of the first buffer is better than the throughput of the second buffer, setting the third compression level to be in the direction of the compression level of the first buffer.

75. The method of transmitting a file according to the method of claim 74, wherein the step f) comprises:

if the compression level of the first buffer, A, is less than the compression level of the second buffer, Anew, set the compression level for the third buffer to be Anew minus 1; and

if the compression level of the first buffer, A, is not less than the compression level of the second buffer, Anew, set the compression lever for the third buffer to be Anew plus 1.

76. The method of transmitting a file according to the method of claim 72, wherein the step f) comprises:

if the throughput of the second buffer is better than the throughput of the first buffer, setting the third compression level to be in the direction away from the compression level of the first buffer.

77. The method of transmitting a file according to the method of claim 76, wherein the step f) comprises:

if the compression level of the first buffer, A, is less than the compression level of the second buffer, A_new, set the compression level for the third buffer to be A_new plus 1; and

if the compression level of the first buffer, A, is not less than the compression level of the second buffer, set the compression level for the third buffer to be A_new minus 1.

78. A method of transmitting a file composed of multiple buffers, comprising:

a) transmitting a sequence of buffers having a first buffer, wherein, except for the first buffer, for each buffer there is a preceding buffer;

b) prior to transmitting a buffer, adjusting the compression level with respect to the compression level used for the previous buffer;

c) for each buffer determining its throughput;

d) if the throughput improves with the compression level adjustment, adjusting the compression level in step b) in the same direction as used for the preceding buffer and if the throughput degrades with the compression level adjustment, adjusting the compression level in step b) in the opposite direction as used for the preceding buffer.