Adapting compression techniques over data based on context

• US 8,904,044 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2007
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ebling, Maria Rene, Jerome, William Francis, Misra, Archan, Mohomed, Iqbal
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chacko, Joe
• Application Number:
  US11/863,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20090089446A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,622 Days
• Field of Search: 709/230, 709/247, 600/300
• US Class Current: 709/247
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC

Abstract

Techniques for selecting a new compression technique or altering the currently instantiated compression technique employed over a data stream in data collection system are provided. At least one change to at least one external contextual condition is detected. One or more modifications to a defined compression technique is generated, either independently or in conjunction with one or more modifications to the event processing operators that operate on the data stream and whose output provides the values that are compressed by the defined compression technique, in response to the at least one change to the at least one external contextual condition. The defined compression technique of the at least one client device is altered in accordance with the one or more modifications to form a modified compression technique through which the unmodified or processed data stream will be compressed before being sent to the server.

Claims

1. A method for changing or modifying the compression technique employed by a client device transmitting a data stream to a server of a data collection system, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting at least one change to at least one contextual condition of a user of the client device, wherein the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device comprises one of a location of the user and an activity of the user;

selecting a different compression technique or modifying the parameters of the currently instantiated compression technique in response to the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device, wherein the compression technique selected is a lossless compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of accurate data, and a lossy compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of less than accurate data; and

altering the currently instantiated compression technique of at least one client device in accordance with the one or more modifications to form a modified compression technique through which the data stream will be compressed before being sent to a server of the data collection system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of detecting at least one change and generating one or more modifications are performed at the server of the data collection system.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of transmitting the one or more modifications from the server to the at least one client device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

compressing the data stream in accordance with the defined compression technique at the at least one client device; and

transmitting the compressed data stream from the at least one client device to the server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

selecting the different compression technique in conjunction with modifying a set of sensor event processing operations currently instantiated on the client device; and

jointly altering the currently instantiated event processing operators and the compression technique applied on one or more sensor streams of at least one client device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

compressing the data stream in accordance with the modified compression technique at the at least one client device; and

transmitting the compressed data stream from the at least one client device to the server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, in the step of transmitting the compressed data stream, the compressed data stream transmitted to the server comprises compressed versions of one or more data samples or compressed versions of one or more processed events generated by the application of event processing operators applied to one or more data samples.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, in the step of transmitting the compressed data stream, the compressed data stream transmitted to the server comprises compressed versions of statistical parameters or higher-level features generated from one or more data samples.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting at least one change to at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device comprises the step of determining the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device from at least a portion of data received from the client device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting at least one change to at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device comprises the step of determining the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device from at least one of an attribute of the at least one client device and at least one user of the at least one client device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the step of generating one or more modifications, the one or more modifications comprise a command to at least one of modify, activate and deactivate one or more compression techniques stored a-priori at the at least one client device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the step of generating one or more modifications, the modifications comprise context data that invokes a stored compression technique stored a-priori at the at least one client device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the step of generating one or more modifications, the modifications comprise at least one of code and logic of a compression technique to be invoked at the at least one client device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of altering the compression technique further comprises the step of modifying one or more parameters of at least one currently instantiated compression technique on the at least one client device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of altering the compression technique further comprises the step of operating at least one currently instantiated compression technique on a different set of data streams.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the modified compression technique causes the data stream to be transmitted with a different level of data quality than the currently instantiated compression technique.

17. An article of manufacture for modifying a compression technique employed over a data stream in a data collection system, the article comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having tangibly embodied thereon computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

detect at least one change to at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device, wherein the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device comprises one of a location of the user and an activity of the user;

generate one or more modifications to a defined compression technique in response to the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device, wherein the compression technique is a lossless compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of accurate data, and a lossy compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of less than accurate data; and

alter the defined compression technique of at least one client device in accordance with the one or more modifications to form a modified compression technique through which the data stream will be compressed before being sent to a server of the data collection system.

18. An apparatus for modifying a compression technique employed over a data stream in data collection system, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one hardware processor coupled to the memory and operative to;

(i) detect at least one change to at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device, wherein the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device comprises one of a location of the user and an activity of the user, (ii) generate one or more modifications to a defined compression technique in response to the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device, wherein the compression technique is a lossless compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of accurate data, and a lossy compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of less than accurate data, and (iii) transmit the one or more modifications to at least one client device of the data collection system.

19. An apparatus for modifying a compression technique employed over a data stream in data collection system, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one hardware processor coupled to the memory and operative to;

(i) receive one or more modifications from a server of the data collection system; and

(ii) alter a defined compression technique in accordance with the one or more modifications to form a modified compression technique through which the data stream will be compressed before being sent to the server, wherein the one or more modifications are determined based on a change to at least one contextual condition of a user of a client device sending the data stream, wherein the at least one contextual condition comprises one of a location of the user and an activity of the user, and wherein the modified compression technique is a lossless compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of accurate data, and a lossy compression algorithm when the at least one change to the at least one contextual condition of the user of the client device implies at least a desirability for transmission of less than accurate data.