System and method for reliable symmetric data synchronization

• US 20070226271A1
• Filed: 03/27/2006
• Published: 09/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: emoze Ltd. (BSD Crown Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: emoze Ltd. (BSD Crown Ltd.)
• Inventors: Levi, Moshe, Dgani, Moshe
• Granted Patent: US 7,797,273 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication

Abstract

A system for synchronizing data between at least two electronic devices. The system includes at least one sending (source) side electronic device having a database and at least one receiving (target) side electronic device having a database, such that each data item has unique local and remote identifiers, wherein the local identifier of one side is the remote identifier of the other side and vice versa, thereby providing reliable, efficient and symmetrical synchronicity between the at least two electronic devices.

Claims

1. A system for synchronizing data between at least two electronic devices, said system comprising:

at least one sending (source) side electronic device having a database; and

at least one receiving (target) side electronic device having a database, such that each data item has unique local and remote identifiers, wherein the local identifier of one side is the remote identifier of the other side and vice versa, thereby providing reliable, efficient and symmetrical synchronicity between the at least two electronic devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a personal computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a personal digital assistant.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a smart phone.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a 3G mobile phone.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a computer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said each data item is uniquely identified in the scope of one of said at least two electronic devices and is encapsulated into a finite length memory buffer of each of said databases.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said system supports a priority hierarchy of said items, and wherein said hierarchy is provided by a parent attribute of each of said data items and ensures that parent-child relationships are also synchronized.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said system provides a sharing mechanism, which when applied to said parents may switch on and off synchronization of all branches under the parent.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said system provides a restrictions mechanism that excludes certain items from synchronization, depending on item properties.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein said system provides target synchronization operations, comprising at leasting “

add,”

“

delete” and

“

update.”

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said system provides non-synchronization operations.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said non-synchronization operations comprise at least queries.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said system resolves “

update”

conflicts using priority levels, wherein said priority levels are assigned to each of said at least two electronic devices that participate in said synchronization.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said system allows partial updates of items that were synchronized beforehand.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said synchronization is network-layer independent and can be performed using other reliable and even unreliable protocols.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said system is designed for open architecture and cross platform operation.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said system provides transforms comprising at least data encryption and compression.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said system provides data representation and encapsulation that is proprietary.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein synchronization sessions are unnecessary, yet due to the symmetric nature of the synchronization provided said system is reliable, and thus can withstand at least network errors, data loss and sudden aborts.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein when any “

add”

item is marked as synchronized, it is guaranteed to be synchronized.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein when any “

update”

item is marked as synchronized, it is guaranteed to be synchronized.

23. A method for synchronizing data between at least two electronic devices, said method comprising:

providing at least one sending (source) side electronic device having a database; and

providing at least one receiving (target) side electronic device having a database,

such that each data item has unique local and remote identifiers, wherein the local identifier of one side is the remote identifier of the other side and vice versa, thereby providing reliable, efficient and symmetrical synchronicity between the at least two electronic devices.