US6785768B2 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Computer system and process for transferring streams of data between multiple storage units and multiple applications in a scalable and reliable manner

Assignee: Avid Technology Inc

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Filing: 2002-05-14

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Granted: 2004-08-31

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Expires: 2022-05-14

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Abstract

Abstract Multiple applications request data from multiple storage units over a computer network. The data is divided into segments and each segment is distributed randomly on one of several storage units, independent of the storage units on which other segments of the media data are stored. Redundancy information corresponding to each segment also is distributed randomly over the storage units. The redundancy information for a segment may be a copy of the segment, such that each segment is stored on at least two storage units. The redundancy information also may be based on two or more segments. This random distribution of segments of data and corresponding redundancy information improves both scalability and reliability. When a storage unit fails, its load is distributed evenly over to remaining storage units and its lost data may be recovered because of the redundancy information. When an application requests a selected segment of data, the request may be processed by the storage unit with the shortest queue of requests. Random fluctuations in the load applied by multiple applications on multiple storage units are balanced nearly equally over all of the storage units. Small data files also may be stored on storage units that combine small files into larger segments of data using a log structured file system. This combination of techniques results in a system which can transfer both multiple, independent high-bandwidth streams of data and small data files in a scalable manner in both directions between multiple applications and multiple storage units.

Inventors

👤 Eric C. Peters
👤 Stanley Rabinowitz
👤 Herbert R. Jacobs

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —

Jurisdiction US

Data Source google_patents

Last Synchronized 2026-11-01 00:06

CPC Classifications

H; H04; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/80; H04N21/83; H04N21/845; H04N21/8456; G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/70; G06F16/71; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/08; G06F11/10; G06F11/1076; G06F11/16; G06F11/20; G06F11/2053; G06F11/2094; G06F11/2097; G06F16/10; G06F16/18; G06F16/182; G06F16/184; H04L; H04L65/00; H04L65/60; H04L65/61; H04L65/612; H04L67/00; H04L67/01; H04L67/10; H04L67/1095; H04L67/1097; H04L69/00; H04L69/40; H04N21/20; H04N21/21; H04N21/218; H04N21/21815; H04N21/2182; H04N21/23; H04N21/231; H04N21/23103; H04N21/23116; H04N21/2312; H04N21/2315; H04N21/232; H04N21/239; H04N21/2393; H04N21/2396; H04N21/24; H04N21/2405; H04N21/241; H04N21/25; H04N21/262; H04N21/40; H04N21/43; H04N21/44; H04N21/44004; H04N21/442; H04N21/47; H04N21/472; H04N21/47202; H04N21/60; H04N21/65; H04N21/658; H04N21/6581; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17336; G06F11/1658; G06F11/1662; G06F2211/00; G06F2211/10; G06F2211/1002; G06F2211/1028; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99951; Y10S707/99952; Y10S707/99953; Y10S707/99956

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 22

Claim 1

Independent Claim 243 words

A process for transferring temporal media data over a network from a plurality of storage units for playback on a client, wherein the temporal media data is divided into segments distributed over the plurality of storage units, wherein each storage unit has persistent storage and one or more buffers for storing data read from persistent storage for transmission over the network; wherein the client has a sequence of playback buffers, wherein each playback buffer temporarily stores a segment of the temporal media data before playback, and wherein data in the sequence of playback buffers is played back according to the sequence of the playback buffers, such that each playback buffer has a playback time, the process comprising: issuing requests to the storage units to read segments of the temporal media data from the persistent storage into the one or more buffers on the storage units; ordering empty playback buffers in the sequence of playback buffers by playback time and whether data for placement in each playback buffer is expected to be available in the one or more buffers in the storage units; selecting the playback buffer with the earliest playback time and for which the data for placement in the playback buffer is expected to be available in the one or more buffers in the storage units; and accessing the storage units for the data for placement in the selected playback buffer; repeating the steps of issuing, ordering, selecting and accessing during playback.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 243 words

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 21 words

The process of claim 1 , wherein the segments of the temporal media data are stored nonsequentially on the storage units.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 49 words

The process of claim 2 , wherein each segment of the temporal media data is stored on one of the storage units and a copy of the segment is stored on another of the storage units, the process further comprising, for each segment, selecting one of the storage units.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 31 words

The process of claim 3 , wherein each storage unit includes a queue of requests and the selected storage unit is the storage unit with approximately the shortest queue of requests.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 46 words

The process of claim 4 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 49 words

The process of claim 1 , wherein each segment of the temporal media data is stored on one of the storage units and a copy of the segment is stored on another of the storage units, the process further comprising, for each segment, selecting one of the storage units.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 31 words

The process of claim 6 , wherein each storage unit includes a queue of requests and the selected storage unit is the storage unit with approximately the shortest queue of requests.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 45 words

The process of claim 7 , a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 46 words

The process of claim 2 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 46 words

The process of claim 1 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 253 words

A client system for transferring temporal media data over a network from a plurality of storage units for playback on the client system, wherein the temporal media data is divided into segments distributed over the plurality of storage units, wherein each storage unit has persistent storage and one or more buffers for storing data read from persistent storage for transmission over the network, wherein the client system comprises: a sequence of playback buffers, wherein each playback buffer temporarily stores a segment of the temporal media data before playback, and wherein data in the sequence of playback buffers is played back according to the sequence of the playback buffers, such that each playback buffer has a playback time, means for issuing requests to the storage units to read segments of the temporal media data from the persistent storage into the one or more buffers on the storage units; means for ordering empty playback buffers in the sequence of playback buffers by playback time and whether data for placement in each playback buffer is expected to be available in the one or more buffers in the storage units; means for selecting the playback buffer with the earliest playback time and for which the data for placement in the playback buffer is expected to be available in the one or more buffers in the storage units; means for accessing the storage units for the data for placement in the selected playback buffer; and means for controlling the means for issuing, ordering, selecting and accessing during playback.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 253 words

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 22 words

The client system of claim 11 , wherein the segments of the temporal media data are stored nonsequentially on the storage units.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 53 words

The client system of claim 12 , wherein each segment of the temporal media data is stored on one of the storage units and a copy of the segment is stored on another of the storage units, the client system further comprising, for each segment, means for selecting one of the storage units.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 32 words

The client system of claim 13 , wherein each storage unit includes a queue of requests and the selected storage unit is the storage unit with approximately the shortest queue of requests.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 49 words

The client system of claim 14 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising means for ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 53 words

The client system of claim 11 , wherein each segment of the temporal media data is stored on one of the storage units and a copy of the segment is stored on another of the storage units, the client system further comprising, for each segment, means for selecting one of the storage units.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 32 words

The client system of claim 16 , wherein each storage unit includes a queue of requests and the selected storage unit is the storage unit with approximately the shortest queue of requests.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 49 words

The client system of claim 17 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising means for ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 49 words

The client system of claim 12 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising means for ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 49 words

The client system of claim 11 , in a system in which multiple clients access the storage units, further comprising means for ensuring that each storage unit sends data to only one client at a time and each client requests data from only one storage unit at a time.

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2007-08-31	2008-03-01	2008-08-31	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2011-08-31	2012-03-01	2012-08-31	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2015-08-31	2016-03-01	2016-08-31	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

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