BUFFER TRANSFER SERVICE

• US 20130315235A1
• Filed: 05/24/2012
• Published: 11/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Foo, Edwin W.
• Granted Patent: US 9,014,183 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding

Abstract

A buffer transfer session can be used to send a data object from one device to another using a low-overhead, reliable point-to-point data transfer protocol. In response to a request to transfer a data object to the receiving device, the sending device can locate the requested data object and establish a first buffer transfer session to transfer the data object to the receiving device. The buffer transfer session can be assigned a unique session identifier. The sending device can send the data object as a sequence of packets, each including the session identifier and a portion of the data object. Multiple buffer transfer sessions can be established concurrently between the two devices. In some instances, transfers can be paused and resumed, canceled, switched to a different transport, or persisted across disconnection/reconnection events.

Claims

1. A method for transferring data between a first device and a second device, the method comprising:

establishing, by the first device, a point-to-point communication link with the second device;

receiving, at the first device, an instruction to send a first data object to the second device;

locating, by the first device, the first data object;

assigning;

by the first device, a first unique identifier for a first transfer session;

sending, by the first device to the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a first send-ready message including the first unique identifier;

receiving, by the first device from the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a first receive-ready message responsive to the first send-ready message; and

in response to the first receive-ready message, sending, by the first device to the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a first plurality of packets, each packet in the first plurality of packets including the first unique identifier and a different portion of the first data object, wherein the first plurality of packets includes a number of packets sufficient to transfer the entirety of the first data object.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the packets do not include sender device identification or recipient device identification.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the instruction to send the first data object is received as a data request message from the second device via the point-to-point communication link.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

while sending the first plurality of packets, receiving, at the first device, an instruction to send a second data object to the second device;

locating, by the first device, the second data object;

assigning;

by the first device, a second unique identifier for a second transfer session;

sending, by the first device to the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a second send-ready message including the second unique identifier;

receiving, by the first device from the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a second receive-ready message responsive to the second send-ready message; and

in response to the second receive-ready message, sending, by the first device the second device via the point-to-point communication link, a second plurality of packets, each packet in the second plurality of packets including the second unique identifier and a different portion of the second data object, wherein the second plurality of packets includes a number of packets sufficient to transfer the entirety of the second data object,

wherein at least some of the first plurality of packets and at least some of the second plurality of packets are interleaved on the point-to-point communication link.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

while sending the first plurality of packets, receiving, from the second device, a pause message; and

in response to the pause message, stopping the sending of the first plurality of packets.

6. A method for transferring data from a first device to a second device, the method comprising:

establishing, by the second device, a point-to-point communication link with the first device;

receiving, at the second device, a send-ready message from the first device, the send-ready message indicating that the first device is ready to transfer a data object to the second device, the send-ready message including a session identifier for the transfer of the data object;

sending, by the second device, a receive-ready message to the first device, the receive-ready message indicating that the second device is ready to receive the data object;

subsequently to sending the receive-ready message, receiving, by the second device, a plurality of packets from the first device, each of the plurality of packets including a header and a payload, the header including the session identifier and a sequence number, wherein each of the plurality of packets has a different sequence number;

determining, by the second device, based on the session identifier, that the payload of each of the plurality of packets contains a portion of the data object; and

storing, by the second device, the payload of each of the plurality of packets in a storage medium, wherein a location for storing the payload of each of the plurality of packets is determined based at least in part on the sequence number of the packet.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the send-ready message includes information indicating a size of the data object to be transferred, the method further comprising:

prior to sending the receive-ready message, allocating, by the second device a space in the storage medium large enough to contain the data object, the allocation being based on the information indicating the size of the data object.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

determining, by the second device, whether all portions of the data object have been received; and

in response to determining that all portions of the data object have been received, sending, by the second device to the first device, a done message indicating that the transfer is complete.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein each of the plurality of packets includes an error detection code, the method further comprising:

checking, by the second device, each packet of a first subset of the plurality of packets to detect an error, the checking using the error detection code;

sending, by the second device to the first device, an acknowledgement packet in the event that no error is detected in the first subset of the plurality of packets; and

sending, by the second device to the first device, a negative-acknowledgement packet in the event that at least one error is detected in the first subset of the plurality of packets.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

subsequently to establishing the connection, sending, by the second device to the first device, a request for the data object,

wherein the send-ready message is received in response to the request for the data object.

11. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

while receiving the plurality of packets, sending, by the second device, a pause message to the first device, wherein in response to the pause message, the first devices pauses sending of the plurality of packets; and

after sending the pause message, sending, by the second device, a resume message to the first device, wherein in response to the resume message the first device resumes sending of the plurality of packets.

12. An electronic device comprising:

an interface configured to establish a point-to-point communication link with a recipient device; and

a processing subsystem coupled to the interface, the processing subsystem configured to;

initiate a plurality of sessions, the plurality of sessions including a buffer transfer session configured to transfer a data object to the recipient device over the point-to-point communication link, each of the plurality of sessions having a unique identifier assigned thereto;

load at least a portion of the data object into a buffer;

send, to the recipient device via the point-to-point communication link, a send-ready message, the send-ready message including the unique identifier assigned to the buffer transfer session;

receive, from the recipient device via the point-to-point communication link, a receive-ready message responsive to the send-ready message; and

to send a sequence of packets to the recipient device via the point-to-point communication link, in response to the receive-ready message, wherein each of the packets in the sequence includes the unique identifier assigned to the buffer transfer session, a sequence number, and a portion of the data object read from the buffer, wherein the sequence of packets includes a packet corresponding to each portion of the data object.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to execute an application program and wherein the buffer transfer session is initiated in response to an instruction from the application program to transfer the data object to the recipient device.

14. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to receive, from the recipient device, a request for the data object and wherein the buffer transfer session is initiated in response to receiving the request.

15. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the electronic device is a portable device.

16. The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the interface includes a connector and the recipient device is an accessory for the portable electronic device that connects to the connector.

17. The electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to define a link layer and wherein the sending of the sequence of packets is performed by the link layer.

18. An electronic device comprising:

an interface configured to establish a point-to-point communication link with a sender device;

a storage medium configured to store data; and

a processing subsystem coupled to the interface and the storage medium, the processing subsystem configured to;

send a request for a data object to the sender device via the point-to-point communication link;

receive, from the sender device via the point-to-point communication link, a send-ready message indicating that the sender device is ready to send the data object the send-ready message including a session identifier associated with transfer of the data object;

send, to the sender device via the point-to-point communication link, a receive-ready message indicating that the electronic device is ready to receive the data object;

receive, from the sender device via the point-to-point communication link, the data object as a sequence of packets generated by the sender device, each packet in the sequence of packets being labeled with the session identifier associated with the transfer of the data object and including a portion of the data object as a payload; and

store the payload of each of the received packets in the storage medium as a portion of the data object.

19. The electronic device of claim 18 wherein each packet in the sequence of packets includes a sequence number and wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to determine a location within the storage medium for storing the payload of each packet based at least in part on the sequence number of the packet.

20. The electronic device of claim 18 wherein the processing subsystem is further configured to:

determine whether a subset of the sequence of patents was received without error;

in the event that the subset was received without error, send an acknowledgement packet to the sender device via the point-to-point communication link; and

in the event that the subset was not received without error, send a negative-acknowledgement packet to the sender device via the point-to-point communication link.

21. A computer-readable storage medium having program code stored therein, the program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing subsystem in an electronic device, cause the processing subsystem to perform a method, the method comprising:

establishing a point-to-point communication link with a recipient device;

determining that a first data object is to be transferred to the recipient device;

initiating a first buffer transfer session to manage the transfer of the first data object to the recipient device, wherein initiating the first buffer transfer session includes assigning a first unique identifier to the first buffer transfer session;

communicating from the first buffer transfer session to the recipient device, via the point-to-point communication link, a message indicating that the first unique identifier is associated with the transfer of the first data object; and

sending to the recipient device, via the point-to-point communication link, a first plurality of packets, each packet in the first plurality of packets including the first unique identifier and a different portion of the first data object, wherein the first plurality of packets includes a number of packets sufficient to transfer the entirety of the first data object.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises:

determining that a second data object is to be sent to the second device;

initiating a second buffer transfer session to manage the transfer of the second data object to the recipient device, wherein initiating the second buffer transfer session includes assigning a second unique identifier to the second buffer transfer session;

communicating from the second buffer transfer session to the recipient device, via the point-to-point communication link, a message indicating that the second unique identifier is associated with the transfer of the second data object; and

sending to the recipient device, via the point-to-point communication link, a second plurality of packets, each packet in the second plurality of packets including the second unique identifier and a different portion of the second data object, wherein the second plurality of packets includes a number of packets sufficient to transfer the entirety of the second data object,

wherein the first plurality of packets and the second plurality of packets are interleaved on the point-to-point communication link.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 wherein sending of the first plurality of packets is performed by a link layer without intervention from the buffer transfer session.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the method further comprises:

while sending the first plurality of packets, detecting, at the link layer, that the point-to-point communication link has been lost;

determining, in response to detecting that the point-to-point communication link has been lost, whether the transfer of the first data object should be continued on another point-to-point communication link already established with the same recipient device; and

in the event that the transfer of the first data object should be continued, resuming the sending of the first plurality of packets using the other point-to-point communication link.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the method further comprises:

while sending the first plurality of packets, detecting, at the link layer, that the point-to-point communication link has been lost;

determining, in response to detecting that the point-to-point communication link has been lost, whether the transfer of the first data object should be resumed later; and

in the event that the transfer of the first data object should be resumed later, storing information indicating a current status of the transfer in a storage medium local to the electronic device, wherein the stored information is usable to resume the transfer of the first data object after the point-to-point communication link to the recipient device is reestablished.