Apparatus, and associated method, for facilitating synchronization of databases connected by way of a radio air interface

• US 7,457,631 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2004
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Omar, Salim Hayder, Zhu, Jie, Phillips, Catherine, Yach, David Paul, Linkert, Barry Warren, Pereira, Kathy Ann, Hecht-Enns, Albert, Tysowski, Piotr K
• Primary Examiner(s): SHARMA, SUJATHA R
• Application Number:
  US10/775,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20050176453A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,750 Days
• Field of Search: 455/558, 455/13.2, 455/502, 455/550.1, 455/566, 455/551, 455/517, 455/403, 455/436, 455/443, 455/455, 455/437, 455/434, 455/435.1, 455/440, 455/441, 455/446, 455/439, 455/442, 455/67.11, 709/230, 709/232, 709/203, 709/209, 709/216, 709/217, 709/224, 709/246, 709/248, 709/228, 707/1, 707/10, 707/100, 707/101, 707/201, 707/203
• US Class Current: 455/502
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

Apparatus, and an associated method, for facilitating synchronization of databases connected by way of a radio air interface. Changes to a data record embodied at the network part are detected by a detector. A mapping is performed by a mapper, and a synchronization request is generated by a synchronization request generator. The synchronization request is filtered by a filter, and converted into form to permit its efficient communication upon the radio air interface to a mobile node pursuant to a synchronization session.

Claims

1. Apparatus for a radio communication system comprised of a network part at which a network-copy database is maintained, a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs) coupled to the network part, each BTS of the plurality of BTSs defining a corresponding communication coverage area cell, within which at least one BTS provides data communications service to mobile nodes located therein and, a mobile node capable of being positioned in different cells at successive times and at which a mobile-copy database is maintained, said apparatus being located at the network part and facilitating synchronization of data stored at the network-copy database that changes relative to data stored in the mobile-copy database, the synchronization of data occurring through a relay device that couples the network part to a base transceiver station, the coverage area of which the mobile node is operating, said apparatus being located at the network part of the communication system and communicating with a plurality of base transceiver stations and a plurality of mobile nodes through said relay and comprising:

a mapper, selectably operable to form a map between fields of a data record of a network-copy database, the network-copy database having a network-copy schema and, fields of a corresponding data record of the mobile-copy database, the mobile-copy database having a mobile schema, the mobile-copy database schema being different than the network-copy database schema, the map indexing together the fields of the data record of the network-database with the fields of the corresponding data record of the mobile-copy database, said mapper forming the map upon detection of change to the data record of the network-copy database;

a synchronization request generator that receives the map, generates a synchronization request from the map, and which provides the synchronization request to a synchronization server, the synchronization server including a filter that filters out of a synchronization request to a mobile node, a request to update data for a field of a data record in the mobile-copy database for which a corresponding field of a corresponding data record does not also exist in the network-copy database;

wherein the synchronization server generates a synchronization request to be sent to a mobile node through a BTS in whose coverage area in which the mobile node is operating, the synchronization request including data for a record in the network-copy database that is to be copied into a record to be updated in the mobile node, the mobile node record to be updated being identified within the synchronization request by an integer generated from the map and identifying to both the mobile node and to the network part, the mobile node record to be updated, and wherein the mobile-copy database and the network-copy database are capable of being synchronized uninterruptedly as the mobile node travels through successive ones of communication coverage area cells.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a detector embodied at the network part, coupled to the network-part database, and to said mapper, said detector for detecting the change to the data record of the network-copy database and for providing an indication of the change to said mapper.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the synchronization request generator is embodied at the network part and coupled to said mapper and to said synchronization server, said synchronization request generator generating a network-initiated synchronization request responsive to formation of the map by said mapper.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the synchronization request formed by said synchronization request generator comprises indicia associated with the map generated by said mapper.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the synchronization request formed by said synchronization request generator further comprises indicia associated with the data record of which change thereto is detected

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the indicia associated with the data record and of which the synchronization request is further comprised comprises values of the data record.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the data record is formed of a first field and at least a second field and wherein the values of the data record comprised in the synchronization request formed by said synchronization request generator comprises values populating at least one of the first and at least second fields, respectively.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the values of the data record comprised in the synchronization request comprise values populating each of the first and at least second fields.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the fields of the data record of the network-copy database and mapped by said mapper are of a first number, wherein the fields of the corresponding data record of the mobile-copy database, the first number dissimilar with the second number.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a converter embodied at the network part and coupled to said filter to receive the normalized mapped values formed thereat, said converter for converting the normalized mapped values into a radio air format, for communication to the mobile node pursuant to the synchronization of the data.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the radio air format into which said converter converts the normalized mapped values comprises a tag-length format.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said filter further filters map portions in which a field of the data record of the network copy database is absent a change.

13. A method of communicating in a radio communication system comprised of:

a network part at which a network-copy database having a network schema is maintained, a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs) coupled to the network part, each BTS of the plurality of BTSs defining a corresponding communication coverage area cell, within which at least one BTS provides data communications service to mobile nodes located therein and, a mobile node capable of being positioned in different cells at successive times and at which a mobile copy database having a mobile copy schema, is maintained, said network-copy database being located at the network part, said network-copy database and said mobile copy schema being different from each other, said method for facilitating synchronization of data stored at the network copy database with data stored at the mobile copy database, the synchronization of data occurring through a relay device that couples the network part of the communication system to a base transceiver station, the coverage area of which the mobile node is operating, said method comprising at the network part;

detecting a change to a data record of the network copy database;

forming a map between fields of the data record of the network copy database having the network schema and fields of a corresponding data record of the mobile copy database, the mobile copy database having the mobile copy schema, the map indexing together the fields of the data record of the network copy database with the fields of the corresponding data record of the mobile copy database;

generating a synchronization request that is responsive to the map, the synchronization request identifying a data record in a mobile node to be updated and including the content of the record in the network-copy database to be copied into the mobile copy database;

filtering the synchronization request so that it does not attempt to update a data record in the mobile-node copy of the database that does not also exist in the network-copy database;

formatting the synchronization request to identify a record to be updated in the mobile node by including an integer generated from the map, the integer identifying to both a mobile node and to a network part, a record to be updated in a mobile node; and

sending the synchronization request to a mobile node through a BTS in whose coverage area if which the mobile node is operating and wherein the mobile-copy database and the network-copy database is capable of being synchronized uninterruptedly as the mobile node travels through successive ones of communication coverage area cells.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the operation of generating a synchronization request at the network part, responsive to formation of the map formed during said operation of forming.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the synchronization request generated during said operation of generating comprises indicia associated with the map formed during said operation of forming.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising the operation of filtering, from the synchronization request, selected map portions thereof to form normalized mapped values.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the operation of converting the normalized mapped values into a radio air format.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the operation of sending selected normalized mapped values, once converted into the radio air format, to the mobile node pursuant to the synchronization therewith.