Application state synchronization across multiple devices

• US 9,106,721 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2013
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd. (Razer Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Nextbit Systems, Inc. (Razer Incorporated)
• Inventors: Quan, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): SCOTT, RANDY A
• Application Number:
  US13/772,163
• Publication Number:
  US 20140095624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/125 characterised by the use of retention policies retention policies for HSM systems G06F16/185
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/174 Redundancy elimination performed by the file system management of the data involved in backup or backup restore using de-duplication of the data G06F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/278 Data partitioning, e.g. horizontal or vertical partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Techniques for a method for automatically synchronizing application state across multiple devices are disclosed herein. The method includes running an instance of a computer application on an electronic device, automatically determining a sync event that occurs in the electronic device, wherein the sync event suggests a synchronization of application state data and the application state data represent an application state of the computer application at the sync event, and transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server in response to the sync event. The application state data of the computer application enables another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at another electronic device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

running an instance of a computer application at an electronic device;

automatically determining a sync event that occurs in the electronic device, wherein the sync event suggests a synchronization of application state data and the application state data represent an application state of the computer application at the sync event; and

transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server, in response to the sync event;

wherein the application state data of the computer application enable another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at another electronic device,

wherein the storage server receiving the application state data transmits the received application state data to a target electronic device from at least one second electronic device, wherein the at least one second electronic device being associated with a user who runs the computer application at the electronic device,

wherein the storage server further identifies a priority list including a reference to the application state data for the computer application, wherein the priority list regulates the order of transmitting the application state data for the computer application and other data based on frequencies of running the computer application at the at least one second electronic device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sync event is not instructed by a user who is operating the instance of the computer application running at the electronic device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sync event is an event of the screen of the electronic device being turned off.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sync event is an event from events including the instance of the computer application being closed, the instance of the computer application being paused, the instance of the computer application has been continuously running for a preconfigured period of time, the instance of the computer application being switched by another application, a battery level of the electronic device being below a preconfigured value, the electronic device turning off, the electronic device switching to standby mode, a clock of the electronic device reaching a preconfigured time of day, or the electronic device being a preconfigured location.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is capable of transmitting the application state data to the storage server via a network.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the network includes the Internet, a WiFi network, or a cellular phone network.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the storage server belongs to a cloud storage service cluster.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting includes:

immediately transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server, in response to the sync event.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting includes:

transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server at a preconfigured time of day or when the electronic device is at a preconfigured location, in response to the sync event.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting includes:

transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server at a schedule depending on a type and a speed of a connection between the electronic device and the storage server, in response to the sync event.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the schedule is determined so that the transmitting is delayed to use a WiFi connection, to avoid the transmitting using a cellular data connection.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting includes:

transmitting a difference between the application state data of the computer application and previously transmitted application state data to a storage server, in response to the sync event.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving application state data from a first electronic device, wherein the application state data represent an application state at a sync event of a computer application running at the first electronic device;

analyzing a user profile for a user who runs the computer application at the first electronic device and at least a second electronic device;

determining a target electronic device from the at least one second electronic device based on the analyzing of the user profile and the at least one second electronic device;

deciding a priority list including a reference to the application state data for the computer application, wherein the priority list regulates the order of transmitting the application state data for the computer application and other data based on frequencies of running the computer application at the at least one second electronic device; and

transmitting the application state data to the target electronic device, wherein the application state data enable another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at the target electronic device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device other than the first electronic device, the electronic device having established a user account of the user who runs the computer application at the first electronic device.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device other than the first electronic device, wherein the user has run an instance of the computer application on the electronic device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device other than the first electronic device, wherein the user has used the electronic device for a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time period.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device being in proximity of the first electronic device.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device other than the first electronic device, wherein the electronic device has installed an instance of the computer application or another computer application similar to the computer application on the electronic device.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

instructing the target electronic device to run an instance of the computer application by resuming the application state at the sync event at the target electronic device.

20. An electronic device comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to perform a process including;

running an instance of a computer application at the electronic device; and

automatically determining a sync event that occurs in the electronic device, wherein the sync event suggests a synchronization of application state and the application state data represent an application state of the computer application at the sync event; and

a network component configured to transmit the application state data of the computer application to a storage server, in response to the sync event;

wherein the application state data of the computer application enable another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at another electronic device,

wherein the storage server receiving the application state data transmits the received application state data to a target electronic device from at least one second electronic device, wherein the at least one second electronic device being associated with a user who runs the computer application at the electronic device,

wherein the storage server identifies a priority list including a reference to the application state data for the computer application, wherein the priority list regulates the order of transmitting the application state data for the computer application and other data based on frequencies of running the computer application at the at least one second electronic device.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the application state data includes application memory data, application local storage data, hardware configuration data, or user account configuration data.

22. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the computer application is a game application and the application state data includes game save data for the game application.

23. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the sync event is an event from events including the screen of the electronic device being turned off, the instance of the computer application being closed, the instance of the computer application being paused, the instance of the computer application has been continuously running for a preconfigured period of time, the instance of the computer application being switched by another application, a battery level of the electronic device being below a preconfigured value, the electronic device turning off, the electronic device switching to standby mode, a clock of the electronic device reaching a preconfigured time of day, or the electronic device being a preconfigured location.

24. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the step of determining includes:

automatically determining a sync event that occurs in the electronic device without user intervention, wherein the sync event suggests a synchronization of application state data and the application state data represent an application state of the computer application at the sync event.

25. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the network component configured to transmit the application state data of the computer application to a storage server, in response to the sync event, without user intervention.

26. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the storage server belongs to a cloud storage service that is capable of synchronizing the application state data with another electronic device.

27. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the network component is further configured to synchronize the application state data with another electronic device.

28. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving application state data from a first electronic device, wherein the application state data represent an application state at a sync event of a computer application running at the first electronic device;

analyzing a user profile for a user who runs the computer application at the first electronic device and at least a second electronic device;

determining a target electronic device from the at least one second electronic device, based on the analyzing of the user profile and the at least one second electronic device;

deciding a priority list including a reference to the application state data for the computer application, wherein the priority list regulates the order of transmitting the application state data for the computer application and other data based on the analyzing of the user profile and the at least one second electronic device; and

transmitting the application state data to the target electronic device, wherein the application state data enable another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at the target electronic device.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 28, wherein the step of analyzing includes:

identifying an electronic device other than the first electronic device, wherein the user has run an instance of the computer application on the electronic device.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 28, further comprising:

instructing the target electronic device to run an instance of the computer application by resuming the application state at the sync event at the target electronic device.