U.S. patent application number 13/153188 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-06 for dual-phase content synchronization.
This patent application is currently assigned to APPLE INC.. Invention is credited to Thomas G. Adcox, Thomas M. Alsina, Gordon J. Freedman, Nitin K. Ganatra, Henry Mason, Edward T. Schmidt, Christopher R. Wysocki.
Application Number | 20120311161 13/153188 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46689908 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120311161 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schmidt; Edward T. ; et
al. |
December 6, 2012 |
DUAL-PHASE CONTENT SYNCHRONIZATION
Abstract
Metadata is synchronized between a mobile device and a remote
node over a first network, where the metadata specifies media
content to be synchronized between the mobile device and the remote
node. Subsequently a network connection is established with the
remote node over a second network. The media content is
bi-directionally synchronized between the mobile device and the
remote node over the second network based on the metadata that was
synchronized over the first network.
Inventors: |
Schmidt; Edward T.; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Freedman; Gordon J.; (San Jose,
CA) ; Ganatra; Nitin K.; (San Jose, CA) ;
Alsina; Thomas M.; (Mountain View, CA) ; Wysocki;
Christopher R.; (Los Gatos, CA) ; Adcox; Thomas
G.; (Walnut Creek, CA) ; Mason; Henry; (Santa
Clara, CA) |
Assignee: |
APPLE INC.
Cupertino
CA
|
Family ID: |
46689908 |
Appl. No.: |
13/153188 |
Filed: |
June 3, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/227 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/1095
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/227 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: synchronizing
metadata between a mobile device and a remote node over a first
network, the metadata specifying media content to be synchronized
between the mobile device and the remote node; subsequently
establishing a network connection with the remote node over a
second network; and bi-directionally synchronizing the media
content between the mobile device and the remote node over the
second network based on the metadata that was synchronized over the
first network, wherein the media content is synchronized in a
plurality of segments at different times.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote node is one of a host
computer coupled to the mobile device via a local connection and a
content provider server communicatively coupled to the mobile
device over the Internet.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising downloading at least
one of an application, music, a movie, and a book from a remote
node over the second network, wherein the at least one of an
application, music, a movie, and a book was purchased from the
remote node and described by the metadata synchronized over the
first network.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a wired
connection coupled to a host computer which is communicatively
coupled to the remote node over the Internet, and wherein the
second network is a wireless network communicatively coupling the
mobile device with the remote node.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a copy of
the synchronized metadata in a destination storage area that is
invisible to a user of the mobile device, such that the media
content synchronization can continue even if an original metadata
has been accidentally deleted by the user from a content database
of the mobile device.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein bi-directionally synchronizing
the media content comprises: synchronizing a first portion of the
media content with the remote node over the second network based on
the metadata prior to an interruption; subsequently establishing a
network connection with the remote node over a third network; and
synchronizing a second portion of the media content with the remote
node over the third network based on the metadata, without having
to re-synchronizing the first portion of the media content.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the network connection of the
third network with the remote node is automatically established in
response to detecting availability of the third network, and
wherein the second portion of the media content is automatically
synchronized without user intervention.
8. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored
therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to
perform a method, the method comprising: synchronizing metadata
between a mobile device and a remote node over a first network, the
metadata specifying media content to be synchronized between the
mobile device and the remote node; subsequently establishing a
network connection with the remote node over a second network; and
bi-directionally synchronizing the media content between the mobile
device and the remote node over the second network based on the
metadata that was synchronized over the first network, wherein the
media content is synchronized in a plurality of segments at
different times.
9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the
remote node is one of a host computer coupled to the mobile device
via a local connection and a content provider server
communicatively coupled to the mobile device over the Internet.
10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the
method further comprises downloading at least one of an
application, music, a movie, and a book from a remote node over the
second network, wherein at least one of an application, music, a
movie, and a book was purchased from the remote node and described
by the metadata synchronized over the first network.
11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the
first network is a wired connection coupled to a host computer
which is communicatively coupled to the remote node over the
Internet, and wherein the second network is a wireless network
communicatively coupling the mobile device with the remote
node.
12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the
method further comprises maintaining a copy of the synchronized
metadata in a destination storage area that is invisible to a user
of the mobile device, such that the media content synchronization
can continue even if an original metadata has been accidentally
deleted by the user from a content database of the mobile
device.
13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein
bi-directionally synchronizing the media content comprises:
synchronizing a first portion of the media content with the remote
node over the second network based on the metadata prior to an
interruption; subsequently establishing a network connection with
the remote node over a third network; and synchronizing a second
portion of the media content with the remote node over the third
network based on the metadata, without having to re-synchronizing
the first portion of the media content.
14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the
network connection of the third network with the remote node is
automatically established in response to detecting availability of
the third network, and wherein the second portion of the media
content is automatically synchronized without user
intervention.
15. A data processing system, comprising: a processor; and a memory
coupled to the processor for storing instructions which when
executed from the memory, cause the processor to synchronize
metadata between a mobile device and a remote node over a first
network, the metadata specifying media content to be synchronized
between the mobile device and the remote node, subsequently
establish a network connection with the remote node over a second
network, and bi-directionally synchronize the media content between
the mobile device and the remote node over the second network based
on the metadata that was synchronized over the first network,
wherein the media content is synchronized in a plurality of
segments at different times.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the remote node is one of a
host computer coupled to the mobile device via a local connection
and a content provider server communicatively coupled to the mobile
device over the Internet.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first network is a wired
connection coupled to a host computer which is communicatively
coupled to the remote node over the Internet, and wherein the
second network is a wireless network communicatively coupling the
mobile device with the remote node.
18. A computer-implemented method, comprising: in response to
establishing a network connection between a mobile device and a
remote node over a first network, examining synchronization
metadata stored in the mobile device to determine whether a content
synchronization session with a remote node was started but was not
completed previously over a second network; and restarting the
synchronization session with the remote node based on the
synchronization metadata to bi-directionally synchronize remaining
content that has not been synchronized over the first network,
without having to re-synchronize content that has been previously
synchronized over the second network, wherein the media content is
synchronized in a plurality of segments at different times.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the synchronization metadata
was synchronized between the mobile device and the remote node over
a third network.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein synchronization session is
restarted automatically based on the synchronization metadata
without user intervention, in response to a detection of the
network connection with the remote node over the first network.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the first network is public
network via a WiFi hotspot and the second network is a local
network.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to
content synchronization of a device. More particularly, embodiments
of the invention relate to dual-phase content synchronization of a
device.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Portable devices such as portable media players have come
more popular in recent years. The capabilities of such devices,
such as processing and storage capabilities, continue to increase,
and many rank-and-file users desire to synchronize their PDAs and
similar devices to, for example, their desktop computers. Such
synchronization is readily available using synchronization
software, where every time a device is connected to the computer,
or inserted into a cradle, which is connected to a computer, a
synchronization dialog starts between the device and the computer,
and data can be transferred in both directions.
[0003] As content or files such as movies become larger and larger,
time required for the synchronization becomes longer and longer.
Such a long synchronization may easily be interrupted, for example,
by poor connection or user interruption, etc. Typically, if the
synchronization is interrupted, the entire synchronization has to
restart over.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of
example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying
drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.
[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for multiple
phase content synchronization according to one embodiment of the
invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 is a transactional diagram illustrating transactions
of content synchronization according to one embodiment of the
invention.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for
synchronizing content according to one embodiment of the
invention.
[0008] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for
synchronizing content according to one embodiment of the
invention.
[0009] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a data processing system, which
may be used with one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be
described with reference to details discussed below, and the
accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The
following description and drawings are illustrative of the
invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough
understanding of various embodiments of the present invention.
However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details
are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of
embodiments of the present inventions.
[0011] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an
embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can be
included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The
appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in
the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same
embodiment.
[0012] According to some embodiments, content or data
synchronization between a device and a remote node (e.g., desktop
or server) is configured into at least two phases. During a first
phase, metadata describing the content or data to be synchronized
is synchronized between two endpoints. Subsequently, during a
second phase, the actual content or data (e.g., payloads) is then
synchronized based on the metadata. In one embodiment, the content
synchronization during the second phase is further configured to be
carried out in multiple segments. Each segment can be independently
or sequentially synchronized over a different period of time, where
each segment may be specified by the metadata synchronized during
the first phase.
[0013] In one embodiment, based on the metadata that has been
synchronized in the first phase, segments of the content can be
synchronized over different network connections and/or different
networks, using different communications protocols. The segments of
content may be synchronized with multiple different servers (e.g.,
content distribution servers or mirrored servers) dependent upon
the circumstances at the point in time (e.g., time, location,
and/or bandwidth). The segments of content synchronization can also
be performed (e.g., "picked up") automatically without further user
intervention, in response to detection of the availability of
network connections. As a result, the overall content
synchronization can be started, stopped, and restarted at different
time and places, without having to restart the entire content
synchronization or resynchronize a segment that has been previously
synchronized.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for multiple
phase content synchronization according to one embodiment of the
invention. Referring to FIG. 1, system 100 includes mobile device
101 communicatively coupled to servers 103-104 over network 102.
Mobile device 101 may be any kind of portable devices such as, for
example, a laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone (e.g., Smartphone), a
media player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a gaming device,
etc. For example, Mobile device 101 may be an iPhone.TM. or
iPod.TM. device available from Apple.RTM. Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.
Network 102 may be any kind of network such as, local area network
(LAN), wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a
combination thereof. Servers 103-104 may be any kind of servers
such as content distribution servers, which may be implemented as
part of a cloud or server farms. For example, servers 103-104 may
be part of an iTunes.TM. Appstore available from Apple Inc.
[0015] In one embodiment, mobile device can communicate with
servers 103-104 over a wireless network via a wireless access point
(AP) 106. For example, mobile device 101 can communicate with
servers 103-104 via a WiFi network provided by a WiFi hub or
hotspot, for example, for the purpose of content synchronization.
Furthermore, if mobile device 101 includes cellular communication
capability (e.g., a mobile phone or Smartphone), mobile device 101
can also communicate with servers 103-104 over a cellular network,
for example, for the purpose of content synchronization. In
addition, device 101 can also communicate, for example, via a
universal serial bus (USB), with host 105 for the purpose of
content synchronization between device 101 and host 105, which may
be a desktop or laptop operating as a local store. Throughout this
application, the term of "content" may refer to any payload data,
such as media content (e.g., songs or movies), applications to be
installed, or other data files (e.g., documents), etc.
[0016] In one embodiment, mobile device 101 includes
synchronization module 108 to synchronize content with a remote
node. For example, synchronization module 108 can communicate with
synchronization module 111 of host 105 for content synchronization
between mobile device 101 and host 105. Alternatively,
synchronization module 108 can communicate with synchronization
module 114 of server 103 for content synchronization between mobile
device 101 and server 103, which may be via wireless AP 106 and/or
cellular AP 107.
[0017] For the illustration purpose only, it is assumed mobile
device 101 attempts to synchronize content with server 103 over
network 102. In one embodiment, the content synchronization is
performed in multiple phases. During a first phase, synchronization
module 108 communicates with synchronization module 114 to
synchronize metadata 109 and 115. The metadata describes content
such as content 110 and content 116 to be synchronized in a
subsequent phase or phases. Subsequently, the actual content is
synchronized between mobile device 101 and server 103, for example,
over different periods of time and/or different network
connections.
[0018] Since the metadata in general has a relatively smaller size,
it can be synchronized in a shorter period of time. That is, the
metadata is more likely synchronized without interruption. However,
the actual content could have a larger size of payload. For
example, a movie file may have a larger size and it may take longer
time to download from server 103 to mobile device 101, or vice
versa. In one embodiment, the actual content can be synchronized in
multiple segments during the subsequent phase or phases based on
the metadata. That is, once the metadata has been synchronized, the
actual content can be broken up in multiple segments and
individually synchronized over multiple periods of time without
having to continuously synchronize the entire content. This is very
useful when the content file is large and the connection,
particularly a wireless connection, to the remote node may be lost
during the synchronization. During the content synchronization, if
the connection is lost, the synchronization can be subsequently
picked up during a subsequent connection session based on the
metadata, without having to restart the entire synchronization.
[0019] According to one embodiment, once the metadata has been
synchronized, a user of the device can start interact with at least
a portion of the content. For example, the user can view at least
some of the music tracks being or to be synchronized. A graphical
representation (e.g., icon or different colors) may be utilized to
indicate that the content has not been completely synchronized. For
example, a music track that has not been completely transferred may
be displayed in gray with a progress indicator indicating that the
content synchronization for the associated music is being
performed. According to a further embodiment, content to be
synchronized may be prioritized, for example, based on size, type,
or user specific configuration. For example, content with a smaller
size may be synchronized prior to those with larger sizes.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a transactional diagram illustrating transactions
of content synchronization according to one embodiment of the
invention. Referring to FIG. 2, node 201 can represent host 105
and/or any of servers 103-104 of FIG. 1. Initially, when mobile
device 101 is communicatively coupled to node 201, via transaction
202, node 201 transmits a request for content synchronization to
mobile device 101. For example, mobile device 101 can be connected
to a host via a local connection such as a universal serial bus
(USB), which may be detected by the host. In response to such
detection, the host transmits the synchronization request to mobile
device 101. The request may include one or more identifiers (IDs)
identifying certain type or types of content (e.g., movies, songs,
books, etc.) to be synchronized. For example, a user may wish to
synchronize an application with a first device, to synchronize
music with a second device, and to synchronize photos with a third
device, etc. In response to the synchronization request, via
transaction 203, mobile device 101 is configured to invoke one or
more appropriate plug-in applications to retrieve or compile
metadata representing the content identified by the request that is
currently stored in mobile device. The content may be audio, video,
an application, a game, etc. Examples of plug-ins include an
application plug-in that services applications or a media plug-in
that services music, videos, and podcasts, etc.
[0021] During transaction 204, mobile device 101 responds with a
message indicating that it is ready to synchronize metadata and
during transaction 205, mobile device 101 and node 201 synchronize
the metadata. The metadata may includes purchasing data for
purchasing or downloading an item (e.g., application) from node
201, a list of media assets stored in mobile device 101, user edits
on mobile device 101 (e.g., playlist, skip, play count), deletion
of media content (e.g., song, movie), graphics user interface (GUI)
settings (e.g., icon order or arrangement), installed
application(s), and previous synchronization status, etc. Examples
of metadata can also include library data such as artists, album
names, song titles, or collection information such as playlists and
their associated tracks, edits applied to photos, asset version and
encoding information. Transactions 202-205 are referred to as first
phase 210 of synchronization. Once the metadata has been
synchronized, first phase 210 ends.
[0022] Second phase 220 can start any time after first phase 210
ends. During second phase 220, the content is synchronized via
transactions 206-207. The content may be synchronized in segments
and some of the segments may be synchronized individually over
different periods of time, different network connections, different
networks, and/or with different content provider sources. For
example, during transaction 206, some segments of the content may
be synchronized over a WiFi connection during a first time period
based on the metadata. During transaction 207, some segments (e.g.,
non-overlapped or non-duplicated segments) may be synchronized over
a cellular network during a second or other time periods based on
the metadata. For example, metadata may include a list of asset
identifiers (e.g., one for each synchronized asset that should
exist on the device), and for each identifier, an indication of
whether or not that asset is currently present on the device. When
a synchronization session needs to resume in the second phase, the
metadata can be scanned, and any identifiers that are not present
on the device are assets that still need to be requested.
[0023] Referring back to FIG. 1, for example, when user plugs its
mobile device 101 into host 105 (e.g., via a USB connection), host
105 automatically detects the presence of mobile device 101 (e.g.,
using certain plug-and-play handshaking protocols). Host 105 starts
the first phase of synchronization by synchronizing metadata 112
with metadata 109 of mobile device 101 for the purpose of
synchronizing content 113 with content 110 of mobile device 101.
Content 110 may have been synchronized with content 116 of server
103 previously, but has not been synchronized with host 105. In
this example, server 103 may be an application store and content
116 may be the content asset associated with a user of mobile
device 101 (e.g., user account). Thus, content 116 may have been
purchased or acquired by the user of mobile device 101.
[0024] After metadata 109 has been synchronized with metadata 112
of host 105, the first phase ends and the second phase of the
content synchronization may start. The second phase may start
automatically without user intervention or user knowledge dependent
upon the operating condition at the point in time. For example, if
connection between mobile device 101 and host 105 is still
available after the first phase, the second phase can start
immediately without interruption.
[0025] As described above, the second phase of content
synchronization may be broken up into multiple segments and such
segments can be subsequently synchronized at different time and/or
places dependent upon the circumstances. For example, during the
synchronization of the content of the second phase, mobile device
is disconnected from host 105 and as a result, the content
synchronization is interrupted. In this example, the uses may walk
away from host 105 with mobile device 101, etc. Thus, only a
portion (e.g., first portion or segment) of the content has been
synchronized.
[0026] Subsequently, when the user comes back, mobile device 101
may be reconnected with host 105. Once mobile device 101 has been
detected by host 105, host 105 and mobile device 101 may again
perform the handshaking process (e.g., first phase 210 of FIG. 2)
to determine whether the metadata has been synchronized. If the
metadata are still synchronized (e.g., both mobile device 101 and
host 105 have similar or identical metadata 109 and 112), the
content synchronization can be continued (e.g., picked up) from
where it has been left off from the previous synchronization
session based on the metadata, without the need of restarting the
entire content synchronization. These detection and/or
synchronization processes may be performed automatically without
user intervention or knowledge.
[0027] If during the first phase process after mobile device 101
reconnects with host 105, it is detected that the metadata 109 and
112 are not synchronized, mobile device 101 and host 105 will
perform additional first phase synchronization process to
synchronize the metadata. This could happen while mobile device 101
is disconnected from host 10, device 101 performs another content
synchronization with server 103. As a result, metadata 109 and/or
content 110 of mobile device may be updated from server 103, which
leads to the discrepancy between metadata 109 and 112, and/or
content 110 and 113. Once the metadata has been resynchronized, the
existing content and/or the new content associated with the new
metadata can be synchronized in the continued second phase and/or
subsequent phase(s) of content synchronization.
[0028] In another scenario, after the metadata has been
synchronized between mobile device 101 and server 103 during the
first phase, mobile device 101 may be disconnected from server 103
and roam to another network such as a WiFi network. Mobile device
101 can log onto the network via the associated access point 106
and connect with server 103. For example, after disconnecting
mobile device 101 from server 103 via a first network connection, a
user can travel to another location such as a WiFi hotspot and
mobile device 101 can reconnect with network 102 via the WiFi
network. According to one embodiment, the second phase of content
synchronization can continue over the new network connection, based
on the metadata that has been synchronized during the first phase.
Similarly, mobile device 101 can also continue the second phase of
content synchronization over another network such as a cellular
network via the associated AP 107, etc.
[0029] According to another embodiment, dependent upon the location
of mobile device 101 at the point in time, the second phase of
content synchronization can be continued or picked up between
mobile device 101 and different content distribution servers
103-104. For example, servers 103-104 may be part of a content
distribution cloud or sever farm. At a first point in time, the
content may be synchronized with server 103. At a second point in
time, the content may be synchronized with server 104. The
synchronization of the content may be performed with servers
103-104 without overlap.
[0030] According to a further embodiment, prior to the second
phase, at least some of the content is copied to a designated
storage location within mobile device 101 (not shown), where the
content is transmitted from the designated storage location to a
remote node. In this manner, even if the user deletes the content
after the first phase, the actual content would still be
successfully synchronized from the designated storage location with
the remote node. For example, a user may issue a purchase order for
media content provided by server 103, where the purchase order is
part of the content to be synchronized with server 103.
[0031] After the first phase but before the second phase, the user
may delete the purchase order from its normal place (e.g., AppStore
software application) based on the assumption that the purchase has
been completed. By maintaining a copy of the purchase order in the
designated storage location, the purchase order data can be
subsequently synchronized with server 103, even though the actual
purchase order data has been deleted by the user. This mechanism
gives the user an impression that once the first phase is
completed, the actual content synchronization will be completed
eventually. In one embodiment, the designated storage location is
not user accessible (e.g., invisible to a user).
[0032] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for
synchronizing content according to one embodiment of the invention.
Method 300 may be performed by system 100 of FIG. 1, such as mobile
device 101. Referring to FIG. 3, at block 301, a request for
content synchronization is received from a remote node (e.g., host
105 and/or servers 103-104 of FIG. 1). The request may include
information identifying the content to be synchronized, where the
content may be media content (e.g., a song or movie) or an
application to be installed. In response to the request, at block
302, metadata associated with the content to be synchronized is
gathered, for example, via the associated plug-ins. At block 303,
the metadata is synchronized with the remote node. Subsequently, at
block 304, the content is bi-directionally synchronized between a
local node and the remote node, where the content is synchronized
in segments at different periods of time, connections, and/or
locations. Operations involved in blocks 301-303 are considered as
part of the first phase of the content synchronization while block
304 is considered as part of the second phase of the content
synchronization.
[0033] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for
synchronizing content according to one embodiment of the invention.
Method 400 may be performed by system 100 of FIG. 1, such as mobile
device 101. Referring to FIG. 4, at block 401, a network connection
is established between a mobile device and a remote node (e.g.,
content server) over a first network (e.g., WiFi network). At block
402, processing logic determines whether a content synchronization
session has been previously started but has not been completed over
a second network (e.g., cellular network) based on metadata that
has been previously synchronized. In addition, if there is any new
metadata that is available from the remote node, but is not in the
mobile device, the new metadata is also synchronized. At block 403,
the content synchronization session is restarted with the remote
node over the first network based on the metadata. At block 404,
the remaining content, as well as, any new content identified by
the new metadata, is bi-directionally synchronized with the remote
node without having to resynchronize the content that has been
previously synchronized.
[0034] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a data processing system, which
may be used with one embodiment of the invention. For example, the
system 500 may be used as part of mobile device 101, host 105,
and/or servers 103-104 as shown in FIG. 1. Note that while FIG. 5
illustrates various components of a computer system, it is not
intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of
interconnecting the components; as such details are not germane to
the present invention. It will also be appreciated that network
computers, handheld computers, cell phones and other data
processing systems which have fewer components or perhaps more
components may also be used with the present invention. The
computer system of FIG. 5 may, for example, be an Apple Macintosh
computer or MacBook, an IBM compatible PC, or a computer
server.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 5, the computer system 500, which is a form
of a data processing system, includes a bus or interconnect 502
which is coupled to one or more microprocessors 503 and a ROM 507,
a volatile RAM 505, and a non-volatile memory 506. The
microprocessor 503 is coupled to cache memory 504. The bus 502
interconnects these various components together and also
interconnects these components 503, 507, 505, and 506 to a display
controller and display device 508, as well as to input/output (I/O)
devices 510, which may be mice, keyboards, modems, network
interfaces, printers, and other devices which are well-known in the
art.
[0036] Typically, the input/output devices 510 are coupled to the
system through input/output controllers 509. The volatile RAM 505
is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) which requires power
continuously in order to refresh or maintain the data in the
memory. The non-volatile memory 506 is typically a magnetic hard
drive, a magnetic optical drive, an optical drive, or a DVD RAM or
other type of memory system which maintains data even after power
is removed from the system. Typically, the non-volatile memory will
also be a random access memory, although this is not required.
[0037] While FIG. 5 shows that the non-volatile memory is a local
device coupled directly to the rest of the components in the data
processing system, the present invention may utilize a non-volatile
memory which is remote from the system; such as, a network storage
device which is coupled to the data processing system through a
network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface. The bus
502 may include one or more buses connected to each other through
various bridges, controllers, and/or adapters, as is well-known in
the art. In one embodiment, the I/O controller 509 includes a USB
(Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals.
Alternatively, I/O controller 509 may include an IEEE-1394 adapter,
also known as FireWire adapter, for controlling FireWire
devices.
[0038] Some portions of the preceding detailed descriptions have
been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations
of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These
algorithmic descriptions and representations are the ways used by
those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively
convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An
algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent
sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations
are those requiring physical manipulations of physical
quantities.
[0039] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and
similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical
quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these
quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from
the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the
description, discussions utilizing terms such as those set forth in
the claims below, refer to the action and processes of a computer
system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates
and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities
within the computer system's registers and memories into other data
similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer
system memories or registers or other such information storage,
transmission or display devices.
[0040] Embodiments of the invention also relate to an apparatus for
performing the operations herein. Such a computer program is stored
in a non-transitory computer readable medium. A machine-readable
medium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form
readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a
machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) medium includes a
machine (e.g., a computer) readable storage medium (e.g., read only
memory ("ROM"), random access memory ("RAM"), magnetic disk storage
media, optical storage media, flash memory devices).
[0041] The processes or methods depicted in the preceding figures
may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g.
circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (e.g., embodied on a
non-transitory computer readable medium), or a combination of both.
Although the processes or methods are described above in terms of
some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of
the operations described may be performed in a different order.
Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than
sequentially.
[0042] Embodiments of the present invention are not described with
reference to any particular programming language. It will be
appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to
implement the teachings of embodiments of the invention as
described herein.
[0043] In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention
have been described with reference to specific exemplary
embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications
may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and
scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The
specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an
illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
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