Abstract:
Another embodiment of the invention provides a data saving system including a portable device having a first data, a third party and a storage management server. The storage management server connects at least one backup device, wherein when the portable device wants to save the first data, the portable device transmits the first data and a save command to the third party, the storage management server monitors the third party to determine whether there is data designated to the storage management server, and if yes, the storage management server acquires and transmits the first data to the backup device.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/451,024, filed Mar. 9, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a data saving method, and more particularly to a data saving method for a portable device via a third party. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    With the growth of the usage of the portable device, a problem has been raised: backing up data of the portable device. One solution is to connect the portable device to a computer or data storage device and store data therein. However, this solution is not convenient for a user. Another solution is directly connecting the portable device to a backup device via a specific communication interface, such as an internet interface. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    An embodiment of the invention provides an operation method of a dock to back up a first data of a portable device to a backup server. The method comprises establishing a first data transmission path that the first data would be backed up to the backup server via a third party; establishing a second data transmission path that the first data would be backed up to the backup server via a router; establishing a third data transmission path that the first data would directly backed up to the backup server; selecting one data transmission path among the first, second and third data transmission paths according to a parameter; backing up the first data via the selected data transmission path. 
         [0007]    Another embodiment of the invention provides a dock comprising a program and a controller. The controller executes the program and when the program is executed, the controller establishes a first data transmission path between the dock and a backup server via a third party, a second data transmission path between the dock and a backup server via a router and a third data transmission path that the dock is directly connects to the backup server. When the controller determines that a portable device is connected to the dock and a first data of the portable device needs to be backed up to the backup server, the controller selects one of the first data transmission path, the second data transmission path and the third data transmission to back up the first data to the backup server. 
         [0008]    A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a backup system for a portable device. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a backup mechanism for a portable device according to an embodiment of the present innovation. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a dock according to the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a backup system for a portable device. The portable device  11  may be a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a PDA phone or other similar device. The dock  12  is designed to provide external I/O interfaces for the portable device  11 . The portable device  11  comprises a backup program to store the data of the portable device  11  to the backup server  13 . The backup program is automatically activated when the portable device  11  connects to the dock  12 . 
         [0018]    When the backup program transmits and stores data of the portable device  11  to the backup server  13 , three transmission paths are provided for data transmission. First, the data-under-stored can be transmitted to the backup server  13  via a third party  15 . Second, the data-under-stored can be transmitted to the backup server  13  via a router  14 . Third, the data-under-stored can be transmitted directly to the backup server  13 . The backup program selects at least one transmission path to transmit the data-under-stored to the backup server  13 . The backup program may transmit data to the backup server  13  via the described three transmission path simultaneously and the backup server  13  will select one transmission path that has the best network link quality to receive the data. 
         [0019]    In another embodiment, the backup program uses a peer-to-peer file sharing mechanism to transmit the data via the described three transmission paths. For example, the backup program divides a first file into a plurality of data segments and then transmits the segments to the backup server  13  via the described three transmission paths. Due to the network link quality, the original transmission path chosen by the backup server  13  may not always have the best network link quality. Thus, the backup server  13  may monitor the status of data transmission (or the network link quality or the transmission speed) of the other two transmission path, and once the backup server  13  found that other transmission path (second transmission path) has better network link quality than the current transmission path, the backup changes the current transmission to the second transmission path and receives the remaining data segments via the second transmission path. Then, the backup server  13  combines all the data segments into the first file. 
         [0020]    In a second embodiment, the backup program first transmits a test data to the backup server via the described three transmission paths to test the network link quality or transmission speed. When the backup server  13  receives the test data, the backup server  13  transmits an acknowledge information back to the portable device  11 . The portable device determines the network link quality of the three transmission paths according to the receiving time of the acknowledge information. The backup program may also record a label of priority of each transmission path. For example, the transmission path passing through the third party  15  is the first path and the priority is 2; the transmission path passing through the router  14  is the second path and the priority is 3, the transmission path directly to the backup server  13  is the third path and the priority is 1. If the portable device  11  found that the first path and the second path are available for transmitting data, the portable device  11  will chose the first path to transmit data. If the portable device found that the first and the third path are available for transmitting data, the portable device  11  will chose the third path to transmit data. 
         [0021]    In a third embodiment, the backup program transmits a first data to the backup server  13  simultaneously via the described three transmission paths and the backup program or the backup server  13  determines which transmission path is adopted according to some parameters during the data transmission, such as the network link quality or the transmission speed. Once the transmission path is determined, the backup program transmits the data via the adapted transmission path only. 
         [0022]    In another situation, the router  14 , the portable device  11  and the backup server  13  are at the same local area network (LAN) or a private network, and the third party  15  is at another network. The backup program will prefer to transmit the data via the router  14  or directly to the backup. Therefore, the transmission paths used by the proposed backup method comprise two part, intranet transmission paths and internet transmission path, and the intranet transmission path is preferred. For example, user using the portable device  11  is at his home or company and the backup server  13  is also at his home or company. A local area network, wired or wireless network, covered the portable device  11 , the router  14  and the backup server  13  is provided. When user wants to backup the data of the portable, the backup program will select to transmit and store data to the backup server  13  directly or via the router  14 . In another situation, an access point (AP) providing the wireless network covered the portable device  11 , the router  14  and the backup server  13  is provided. The backup program may transmit and store data to the backup server  13  via the AP. 
         [0023]    The described embodiments illustrate with the situation that the backup program is built in the portable device  11 . In another situation, the backup program is built in the dock  12 , and is activated when the portable device connects to the dock  12 . The operation of the backup program built in the dock  12  is similar as the described backup program built in the portable device  12 , and not described here for brevity. 
         [0024]    Furthermore, the dock  12  may physically connect to a storage medium, such as a USB flash memory device, SD card, memory card or an external hard disk. The backup program built in the dock  12  will automatically backup the data of the portable device  11  to the storage medium when the portable device connects to the dock  12 . Please refer to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a backup mechanism for a portable device according to an embodiment of the present innovation. The portable device  21  comprises a first application program  23  and a storage device  24 , such as a SD card, CF card or flash memory. The backup device  22 , which is connected to the dock  12  of  FIG. 1 , comprises a host  25  and a controller  26 . When user wants to backup files stored in the storage device  24 , the user uses the first application program  23  to select and mark files to be backed up and the first application program  23  output a log file indicating which files have to be backed up. 
         [0026]    When the backup device  22  is electrically connected to the portable device  21 , the backup device  22  reads the log file of the portable device  21  to know which files have to be backed up. Then, the backup device  22  acquires and stores the files to be backed up in the host  25 . When the backup device  22  is connected to the portable device  21 , the control of the portable device  21  is transferred to the controller  26  of the backup device  22 . After the backup device  22  finishes the file storing, the backup device  22  creates and store a host log file in the portable device  21 . The host log file records the status of file storing. Finally, the backup device  22  is disconnected from the portable device  22 , and the first application program  23  reads the host log file. 
         [0027]    The present data backup procedure mainly comprises three parts. First, before the portable device  21  is connected to the backup device  22 , the first application program  23  is executed to select and mark files to be backed up by user. The first application program  23  then creates and stores a log file. The log file contains the information of the files to be backed up. The information may comprise file names of the file to be backed up. 
         [0028]    Second, when the portable device  21  is connected to the backup device  12 , the control of the portable device  21  is transfer to the backup device  22 . In other word, the portable device  21  can be seemed as a peripheral device of the backup device  22 . The backup device  22  reads the log file and stores the files to be backed up to the host  25 . After storing, the backup device  22  creates and stores a host log file in the portable device  11 , and breaks down the connection to the portable device  22 . 
         [0029]    Third, the first application program  23  is executed and reads the host log file to know the status of the backup. 
         [0030]    In the present innovation, the log file may not only record the information of the files to be backed up, but also a destination folder or path that the files have to be stored. 
         [0031]    In another embodiment, the log file contains a timestamp and the backup device  22  also stores the log file from the portable device  21 . When the backup device  22  accesses the log file from the portable device  21 , the backup device  12  also reads a previous log file stored in the backup device  22 , and the backup device  12  only stores the unstored files according to the log file and the previous log file. The backup device  22  comprises a first log file database stores the log files from the portable device  22 , and the portable device  21  comprises a second log file data storing the host log files created by the backup device  22 . Each time the portable device  21  backups the data or files to the backup device  22 , the first application program  23  or the backup device  22  can find a previous host log file or a previous log file to determine which files are new to backup. That also can be applied to the restore mechanism. 
         [0032]    The host log file also contains a timestamp, and when the first application program  13  creates the log file, the first application program  23  will check a previous host log file to see whether the current selected files have been stored in the backup device  22 . If yes, the current log file will exclude those stored files from the current log file. It is noted that, if the destination folder of destination path of those previously stored files is different from the current destination folder of destination path, those stored files still be stored in the current destination folder of destination path. 
         [0033]    The described paragraphs are focused on the backup mechanism for the portable device  21 . Another restored mechanism for the portable device  21  is discussed in the following. When user wants to restore some files from the backup device  22  to the portable device  21 , the first application program  23  creates a first log file indicating which files have to be restored to the portable device  21 . When the backup device  22  is connected to the portable device  21 , the controller  26  reads the first log file and restores the requested files to the portable device  21 . After restoring, the backup device  22  also creates and stores a first host log file to the portable device  21 . 
         [0034]    Via the first application program  23 , user can appoint data between two dates to be restored from the backup device  22  to the portable device  21 . For example, if user wants to restore the pictures taken from Jan. 1, 2011 to Jan. 10, 2011, user can inputs some parameters, such as the date and the type information, via the first application program  23  and then the first application program creates the log file according to the user&#39;s inputs. Furthermore, user can appoint which type of files to be backed up via the first application program. Similarly, this can also be applied to the restore mechanism. 
         [0035]    In the present innovation, the backup device  22  may also comprises a second application program for backing up the data of the portable device  11  or restoring the data from the backup device  22  to the portable device. Wireless connection mechanism, security mechanism or synchronization mechanism may also be applied to the portable device  21  and backup device  22 . 
         [0036]    The backup device  22  may communicate with the portable device  21  via wireless interface, such as Wifi, WiMax, Bluetooth, IrDa or other wireless interface. When a distance between the portable device  21  and the backup device  22  is shorter than a predetermined distance, the backup device  22  automatically mounts the portable device  22  and backups the files in the portable device  21 . Furthermore, the backup device  22  can synchronize more than one portable device or other computing device and backup the data therein within a predetermined range. 
         [0037]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a dock according to the invention. The dock  31  comprises a connection port  32 , a controller, a charging module  34 , a program  35 , a network module  36 , an I/O port  37 . The connection port  32  connects to a portable device. The controller  33  executes program  35  to establish three data transmission paths to a backup server via the network module  36  when the dock  31  is turned on. The controller  33  establishes a first data transmission path between the dock  31  and the backup server that data is transmitted to the backup server via a third party. The controller  33  establishes a second data transmission path between the dock  31  and the backup server that data is transmitted to the backup server via a router. The controller  33  establishes a third data transmission path that data is directly transmitted to the backup server. 
         [0038]    The controller  33  monitors the network quality of the three data transmission paths and determines priority of each data transmission path according to one network parameter, such as download speed or upload speed. In other embodiment, if the router and the backup server are in the same local area network, the controller  33  may select the second data transmission path first. In other embodiment, if the third party and the backup server are in the same local area network, the controller  33  may select the first data transmission path first. In other embodiment, if the dock  31  and the backup server are in the same local area network, the controller  33  may select the third data transmission path first. 
         [0039]    The dock  31  is operated at two modes. In a first mode, the dock  31  plays a role that backs up data from the portable device to the backup server only. In a second mode, the dock  31  backs up data of the portable device and charges the portable device simultaneously. When the portable device connects to the dock  31 , the controller  33  first determines which mode to be operated according to information or parameters of a log file. In other embodiment, the dock  31  can charge the portable device only and the control dock would be transferred to the portable device. It means that the portable device can directly access a peripheral device that is connected to the I/O port  37 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to an embodiment of the invention. In step S 41 , the dock establishes three data transmission paths to a backup device. In the step S 42 , a controller of the dock determines priority of each data transmission path according to a network parameter, such as downloading speed or uploading speed. In the step S 43 , the controller of the dock detects whether a portable device is connected to the dock. If no, the step S 42  is executed and the controller of the dock dynamic adjusts the priority of each data transmission path. If yes, the step S 44  is executed. The controller of the dock determines whether the portable device has data to be backed up. If no, the step S 46  is executed. The control of the dock is transferred to the portable device and dock starts charging the portable device. If the portable device has data to be backed up, the step S 45  is executed. The controller selects one data transmission path to back up the data of the portable according to the priority of each data transmission path. 
         [0041]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to another embodiment of the present invention. In step S 51 , a processor of a dock first determines whether a backup server can be accessed? If yes, the processor then executes step S 56 . If no, the processor then executes step S 52 . In step S 52 , the portable device transmits and stores the first data to a third party. After step S 52 , the third party then checks whether the backup server is available? If the backup server is still not available, the third party then waits for a predetermined time period (step S 54 ), and then the third party executes the step S 53  to check whether the backup server is available again? In other words, after the first data is stored in the third party, the third party continuously polls the backup server for a predetermined rate. If the third party finds that the backup server is available, the third party then transmits and stores the first data to the backup server in step S 55 . 
         [0042]    In step S 56 , the processor of the dock establishes three transmission paths for backing up the data of the portable device. The portable device establishes a first data transmission path for backing up the first data to the backup server via a third party. The processor establishes a first data transmission path between the dock and the backup server that data is transmitted to the backup server via a third party. The processor establishes a second data transmission path between the dock and the backup server that data is transmitted to the backup server via a router. The processor establishes a third data transmission path that data is directly transmitted to the backup server. 
         [0043]    After the three transmission paths are established, the processor selects one transmission path for backing up the data of the portable device according to a network parameter or an identification data of the portable device in step S 57 . The network parameter may be the network link quality, the transmission speed or a user&#39;s preference. In step S 58 , the portable device transmits and stores the data via the selected transmission determined in step S 57 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an operation method of a dock according to another embodiment of the present invention. In step S 61 , the portable device receives inputs to select and mark the files to be backed up. A user can input parameters via a touch panel or keypad of the portable device. Furthermore, voice control may also be applied. In step S 62 , a first application program of the portable device creates a log file according to user&#39;s inputs. In step S 63 , the log file is transmitted to the dock via a NFC communication protocol. In step S 64 , a controller of the dock reads the log file and selects one data transmission path according to the log file. Before the portable device connects to or approaches to the dock, the dock had established three data transmission paths, such as described in previous paragraphs. In the step S 65 , the controller of the dock backs up data of the portable device to a backup server. When the controller finishes backing up data, the controller creates a host log file and stores the host log file in the portable device in the step S 66 , wherein the host log file contains information that which data transmission path is selected and the backup result. 
         [0045]    While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.