Always ready client/server data synchronization

• US 8,965,954 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2009
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Palay, Andrew J., Whyte, Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Serrao, Ranodhi
• Assistant Examiner(s): RICHARDSON, THOMAS W
• Application Number:
  US12/603,447
• Publication Number:
  US 20100100590A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,952 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

Systems and methods for data synchronization are described. In some embodiments, a method is devised for a client to synchronize information with a server. This client receives a communication from a server to selectively synchronize information between the server and the client, the information includes data that have never been synchronized with the client and change operations that have not been synchronized in last data synchronization, wherein the data is arranged and received in an order from higher priority to lower priority. The client stores at least a portion of the data and at least a portion of the change operations in memory of the client in accordance to order received and enables a user of the client device to have immediate access to the portion of data and the portion of change operations in the communication that are stored on the client at any termination point of information synchronization.

Claims

1. A method to synchronize information with a server, comprising:

at a client having one or more processors and memory storing programs for execution by the one or more processors;

sending a request from the client to the server to initiate data synchronization with the client, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

receiving a communication from a server to selectively synchronize information between the server and the client;

receiving information from the server, the information including a first data set and a second data set, wherein;

the first and second data sets are defined by the server based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the server;

the first data set, distinct from the second data set, consists of data items that have never been synchronized with the client and have been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, and

the second data set is distinct from the first data set and consists of change operations that have been selected in accordance with a chronological order of the change operations, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations;

storing at least a portion of the data items from the first data set in memory of the client in accordance with the priority of the data items; and

performing at least a portion of the change operations from the second data set in the chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently;

thereby enabling a user of the client to have access, at the client, to the portion of the stored data items in the first set and the previously synchronized data on which the portion of the change operations from the second set have been performed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the priority of the data is based on a priority determination at the server, and higher priority data is received before lower priority data; and

the chronological order of the change operations is based on when change operations occurred on the server, and old changes are received before new changes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data and the change operations are synchronized simultaneously and synchronization of overlapping change operations corresponding to data, and vice versa, are not repeated.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data set and the second data set are from a single data source.

5. A method to synchronize information with a client, comprising:

at a server having one or more processors and memory storing programs for execution by the one or more processors;

receiving a request from the client to initiate data synchronization with the server, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

identifying, based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the server, data items that have never been synchronized with the client and change operations that have not been synchronized with the client;

sending a communication to the client to selectively synchronize information between the server and the client;

sending information to the client, wherein the information includes a first data set consisting of data items that have never been synchronized with the client, the first data set being selected from the identified data items in accordance with a priority of the identified data items, and a second data set distinct from the first data set, selected from the identified change operations, in a chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations, and the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently; and

updating the record to include portions of the data items and change operations in the communication that have been successfully synchronized with the client upon termination of synchronization.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the priority of the data is based on a priority determination at the server, and higher priority data is transmitted before lower priority data; and

the chronological order of the change operations is based on when the change operations occurred on the server, and old changes are transmitted before new changes.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the data and the change operations are synchronized simultaneously and synchronization of overlapping change operations corresponding to data, and vice versa, are not repeated.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium and one or more computer programs embedded therein, the computer programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system cause the computer system to:

at a client;

send a request from the client to the server to initiate data synchronization with the client, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

receive a communication from a server to selectively synchronize information between the server and the client;

receive information from the server, the information including a first data set and a second data set, wherein;

the first and second data sets are defined by the server based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the server;

the first data set, distinct from the second data set, consists of data items that have never been synchronized with the client and have been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, and

the second data set, distinct from the first data set, consists of change operations that have been selected in a chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations; and

store at least a portion of the data items from the first data set in memory of the client in accordance with the priority of the data items;

thereby enabling a user of the client to have access, at the client, to the portion of the stored data items in the first set and the previously synchronized data on which the portion of the change operations from the second set have been performed, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently.

9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein:

the priority of the data is based on a priority determination at the server, and higher priority data is received before lower priority data; and

the chronological order of the change operations is based on when change operations occurred on the server, and old changes are received before new changes.

10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the data and the change operations are synchronized simultaneously and synchronization of overlapping change operations corresponding to data, and vice versa, are not repeated.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium and one or more computer programs embedded therein, the computer programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:

at a server;

receive a request from the client to initiate data synchronization with the server, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

identify, based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the server, data items that have never been synchronized with the client and change operations that had not been synchronized in last synchronization;

send a communication to the client to selectively synchronize information between the server and the client;

send information to the client, wherein the information includes a first data set consisting of data items that have never been synchronized with the client, the first data set being selected from the identified data items in accordance with a priority of the identified data items, and a second data set distinct from the first data set, selected from the identified change operations, in a chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations, and the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently; and

update the record to include portions of the data items and change operations in the communication that have been successfully synchronized with the client upon termination of synchronization.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the data and the change operations are synchronized simultaneously and synchronization of overlapping change operations corresponding to data, and vice versa, are not repeated.

13. A client system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors; and

one or more programs, stored in the memory, configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions to;

send a request from the client to the server to initiate data synchronization with the client, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

receive a communication from a server to selectively synchronize information to the client;

receive information from the server, wherein the information includes a first data set and a second data set, wherein;

the first and second data sets are defined by the server based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the server;

the first data set, distinct from the second data set, consists of at least a portion of data items on the server that have never been synchronized with the client, and has been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, wherein the first data set is arranged in an order of priority from high priority to low priority, and

the second data set is distinct from the first data set and consists of at least a portion of change operations on the server that has been selected in a chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations, wherein the second data set is arranged in a chronological order from old to new;

store at least a portion of the information that has been successfully synchronized; and

thereby enable a user of the client to have access, at the client, to the portions of stored information on the client, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently.

14. The client system of claim 13, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions to maintain a record of portions of the first data set and the second data set most recently synchronized on the client, wherein the record is used to inform the server of starting points for a subsequent synchronization.

15. The client system of claim 13, wherein the first data set and the second data set are simultaneously synchronized by different and independent mechanisms.

16. The client system of claim 13, wherein the order of priority corresponds to recency and chronological order corresponds to when each change operation occurred.

17. The client system of claim 13, wherein a limit of data is set for each of the first data set and the second data set for reducing time for each synchronization.

18. A server system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors; and

one or more programs, stored in the memory, configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions to;

receive a request from the client to initiate data synchronization with the server, wherein the request includes information to inform the server about a next data range to be synchronized with the client;

identify information on the server to be selectively synchronized with a client;

send a communication to the client to selectively synchronize the information with the client;

send information to the client, wherein the information includes;

a first data set consisting of at least a portion of data items on the server that have never been synchronized with the client, and have been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, wherein the first data set is arranged in an order of priority from high priority to low priority, and

a second data set, distinct from the first data set, consisting of at least a portion of change operations on the server have been selected in a chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of a record of past synchronizations, wherein the second data set is arranged in a chronological order from old to new, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently; and

update a synchronization record on the server with the portions of information successfully synchronized with the client upon termination of synchronization.

19. The server system of claim 18, wherein the synchronization record includes historic information about data and change operations that have been successfully synchronized with the client in previous synchronizations.

20. The server system of claim 18, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions to identify overlapping data selected for the first data set and change operations selected for the second data set that are overlapping such that overlapped data and data operations are not repeatedly synchronized.

21. The server system of claim 18, wherein the first data set and the second data set are simultaneously synchronized by different and independent mechanisms.

22. The server system of claim 18, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions to receive data changes on the client that have not been synchronized with the server in an independent synchronization mechanism to simultaneously synchronize the data changes with the first data set and the second data set.

23. The server system of claim 18, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions to simultaneously send with the first data set and the second data set next starting points to the client for unsynchronized data and change operations remaining on the server.

24. A method to synchronize information with a server, comprising:

at a client device having one or more processors and memory storing programs for execution by the one or more processors;

sending a request to the server, wherein the request includes information related to a next range of data and change operations and instructions to begin a next synchronization;

in response to the request, receiving a communication from the server to selectively synchronize information from the server to the client;

receiving information from the server, wherein the information includes a first data set and a second data set, wherein;

the first and second data sets are defined by the server based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the client;

the first data set, distinct from the second data set, consists of data items on the server that have never been synchronized with the client, and have been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, wherein the first data set is received in an order of priority from high priority to low priority; and

the second data set, distinct from the first data set, consists of change operations have been selected in chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations, wherein the second data set is arranged in a chronological order based on occurrence of each change operation on the server, with old change operations to be received before new change operations;

storing at least a portion of the information in memory of the client; and

thereby enabling a user of the client device to, at the client device, access and use at least the portion of the information that has been successfully stored in memory, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the order of priority corresponds to a range of user relevance of the data such that more relevant data corresponds to high priority and less relevant data corresponds to low priority.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising maintaining a record on the client of a last data range successfully synchronized with the server and wherein the request includes the last data range.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the first data is synchronized by a first data synchronization mechanism and the second data is synchronized by a second data synchronization mechanism, wherein the first data synchronization mechanism and the second data synchronization mechanism are independent of each other but operate concurrently such that the first data set and the second data set are synchronized simultaneously.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein a maximum limit of data is pre-defined for each of the first data set and the second data set to reduce an operation time for each of the first and second data synchronization mechanisms.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising sending a third data set to the server, wherein the sending of the third data set occurs simultaneously with the receiving of the information, wherein the third data set includes data changes on the client not previously synchronized with the server.

30. A method to synchronize information with a client device, comprising:

at a server having one or more processors and memory storing programs for execution by the one or more processors;

receiving a request from the client, wherein the request includes information related to determining a next range of data and change operations to be synchronized and instructions to begin next synchronization;

in response to the request, identifying unsynchronized data items and unsynchronized change operations for synchronization with the client;

sending a first communication to the client to selectively synchronize information on the server to the client;

sending information to the client, wherein the information includes a first data set and a second data set, wherein;

the first and second data sets are defined by the server based on a record of past synchronizations maintained on the client;

the first data set, distinct from the second data set, consists of data items on the server that have never been previously synchronized with the client, and have been selected in accordance with a priority of the data items, wherein the first data set is sent in an order of priority from high priority to low priority, and

the second data set, distinct from the first data set, consists of change operations that have been selected in chronological order that the change operations occurred, wherein change operations are deltas for ongoing data changes to previously synchronized data items, the changes occurring since a prior synchronization operation of the record of past synchronizations, wherein the second data set is sent in a chronological order based on occurrence of each change operation on the server, with old change operations to be received before new change operations, wherein the data items in the first data set and the change operations in the second data set are processed independently;

updating a record in memory on the server, wherein the record includes at least a portion of the information that have been successfully synchronized with the client upon termination of synchronization.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the order of priority corresponds to a range of user relevance of the data such that more relevant data corresponds to high priority and less relevant data corresponds to low priority.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the first data is synchronized by a first data synchronization mechanism and the second data is synchronized by a second data synchronization mechanism, wherein the first data synchronization mechanism and second data synchronization mechanism are independent of each other but operate concurrently such that the first data set and the second data set are synchronized simultaneously.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein a maximum limit of data is pre-defined for each of the first data set and the second data set to reduce an operation time for each of the first and second data synchronization mechanisms.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising receiving a third set of data from the client, wherein the receiving of the third set of data occurs simultaneously with the sending of the information, and wherein the third set of data includes data changes on the client not previously synchronized with the server.

35. The method of claim 30, further comprising sending a second communication to the client, wherein the second communication is sent simultaneously with the first communication, and wherein the second communication includes one or more next starting points for unsynchronized data and change operations remaining on the server.