Remote data collection systems and methods
First Claim
1. A remote data collection system, comprising:
- one or more servers coupled to one or more data sources;
a plurality of remote clients communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, each of the plurality of remote clients comprise a remote client agent communicatively coupled to one or more client data sources; and
a metadata message transport mechanism configured to coordinate, control, and replicate data between the plurality of remote clients and the one or more data sources providing real-time linkage there between for communication and control, and wherein the metadata message transport mechanism is further configured to provide communication and control between the one or more servers and the plurality of remote clients, the control comprises the one or more servers being configured to remotely control the replication of data from one of the one or more client data sources through the one of the plurality of remote clients;
wherein the one or more servers are configured to replicate and collect data from the one or more client data sources using the remote client agents on the plurality of remote clients using the metadata message transport mechanism; and
wherein the remote client agents on the plurality of remote clients and the one or more servers are configured to operate in a database independent manner relative to the plurality of data sources using abstraction layers to hide implementation details for various database types.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides remote data collection systems and methods for retrieving data including financial, sales, marketing, operational and the like data from a plurality of databases and database types remotely over a network in an automated, platform-agnostic manner. The present invention is designed to work across a plurality of LOB applications, database vendors and business models or businesses, as well as business infrastructure (various PCs, embedded devices and POS devices) and business processes while still providing the centralized ability to automatically collect data from multiple remote business sites. The present invention includes one or more central servers communicating with a plurality of remote data collection agents. The remote data collection agent is designed to overcome existing requirements or limitations as it is able to automatically collect remote data from a wide range of businesses, as well as multiple LOB applications while connecting to multiple databases vendors and formats.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A remote data collection system, comprising:
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one or more servers coupled to one or more data sources; a plurality of remote clients communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, each of the plurality of remote clients comprise a remote client agent communicatively coupled to one or more client data sources; and a metadata message transport mechanism configured to coordinate, control, and replicate data between the plurality of remote clients and the one or more data sources providing real-time linkage there between for communication and control, and wherein the metadata message transport mechanism is further configured to provide communication and control between the one or more servers and the plurality of remote clients, the control comprises the one or more servers being configured to remotely control the replication of data from one of the one or more client data sources through the one of the plurality of remote clients; wherein the one or more servers are configured to replicate and collect data from the one or more client data sources using the remote client agents on the plurality of remote clients using the metadata message transport mechanism; and wherein the remote client agents on the plurality of remote clients and the one or more servers are configured to operate in a database independent manner relative to the plurality of data sources using abstraction layers to hide implementation details for various database types. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer, comprising:
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a network interface; a connection to a data source; and a processor communicatively coupled to the network interface and the connection, wherein the processor is configured to execute a remote data collection agent; wherein the remote data collection agent is configured to coordinate, control, and replicate data between the data source and a server, and wherein the remote data collection agent utilizes a metadata message transport mechanism to communicate to the server through the network interface, the metadata message transport mechanism is further configured to provide communication and control between the server and the computer providing real-time linkage there between for communication and control, wherein the control comprises the server being configured to remotely control the replication of data from the data source through the remote data collection agent, and wherein the server is configured to automatically and remotely replicate and receive the data from the data source through the remote data collection agent; wherein the computer is configured to replicate and collect data from the data source using the remote data collection agent and using the metadata message transport mechanism; and wherein the remote data collection agent and the server are configured to operate in a database independent manner relative to the data source using abstraction layers to hide implementation details for various database types. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of remote data collection, comprising:
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receiving an agent installation package at a remote client; initiating the agent installation package; installing a service process that facilitates automatically starting a launcher process; loading the launcher process thereby installing a plurality of components of a remote client agent; communicating through a plurality of metadata messages with a server to provide defined data from a data source at the remote client to the server, wherein the plurality of metadata messages enable the server to automatically and remotely replicate the defined data using a data collection process with a reconciliation and a collection step each using a local shadow database to collect, operate on, and verify the defined data; and using the plurality of metadata messages to control operation at the remote client providing real-time linkage to the server for communication and control and to determine subsets of the defined data to control, extract, and transport to the server; wherein the remote client agent and the server are configured to operate in a database independent manner relative to the data source using abstraction layers to hide implementation details for various database types. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A remote data collection system comprising;
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one or more network communication endpoints dynamically created to connect a plurality of remote agents to one or more central servers comprising a network namespace of endpoints which are dynamically monitored, managed and which provide a real-time linkage between remote agent and central database; wherein the plurality of remote agents and the one or more central servers are connected in a bi-directional fashion whereby the real-time linkage is provide by a plurality of metadata messages and the real-time linkage comprises communication and control; wherein the plurality of remote agents are communicatively coupled to a plurality of data sources; wherein the one or more central servers are configured to replicate and collect data from the plurality of data sources using the plurality of remote agents using the one or more network communication endpoints; and wherein the plurality of remote agents and the one or more central servers are configured to operate in a database independent manner relative to the plurality of data sources using abstraction layers to hide implementation details for various database types.
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Specification