Patent ID: 6636872
Filing Date: 2003-10-21
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for synchronizing data between a receiving computer and a sending computer, wherein the sending computer has a source file and the receiving computer has a reference file and the receiving and sending computers are coupled for communication therebetween by way of a communications link or network, the method comprising:i) arranging the source file at the sending computer into a sequence of data blocks, each block comprising a predetermined number of contiguous data units, and computing a source key value for each block in the source file; ii) transmitting the source key values from the sending computer to the receiving computer; iii) at the receiving computer, comparing the source key values with reference key values computed for respective blocks comprising a predetermined number of contiguous data units in the reference file to determine matches between source key values and reference key values; iv) communicating from the receiving computer to the sending computer an indication of which source keys do not have matching reference keys, and transmitting data blocks from the source file corresponding to the unmatched source keys from the sending computer to the receiving computer; and v) constructing at the receiving computer a target file from the contiguous data units in the reference file determined to have reference key values matching respective source key values and the data blocks from the source file received from the sending computer wherein the constructed target file at the receiving computer is synchronized with the source file at the sending computer.