Object duplication

Data is shared over a network which has a plurality of network connected terminals, each including memory and a processor. The memory includes instruction for managing object duplication, wherein in response to a data requirement of a first of the network terminals, a second of the network terminals duplicates the object at the first terminal. Data is accessed is the using locally executed object instructions at the first terminal. Data consistency is maintained between duplicated objects. said the duplicate objects include a duplicate master and duplicates and, performing a load balancing task or in the case of a network connectivity failure, the respective state thereof may be switched.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of sharing data over a network, having a plurality of network connected terminals, each comprising memory means and processing means, said memory means including instructions for managing object duplication.

2. Description of the Related Art

Data sharing applications for the distribution of and access to said data over LAN-type networks (Local Area Network) and, more recently, the Internet have been widely developed. Indeed, the very idea of networks is for networked users to be able to exchange data other than via external medium, for instance floppy disks. In a typical situation, a user accesses data located on a server, itself located either on a LAN or on the Internet, and locally peruses said data, which is shared over said LAN or the Internet by other users, be it for recreational or for professional use. However, this approach is invariably based on a method of sharing data over a network according to instructions for managing data or object distribution. In essence, a user accesses data which is not local, peruses said data locally, but said data or object remains located remotely. As a result, should the networked server or network computer become unavailable over said network, for instance if it experiences a malfunction and crashes, said data becomes immediately unavailable and the user looses any information or subsequent modifications to said data.

Sharing data over a network thus suffers from an inherent instability that may result in lost or corrupted data and information. The present state-of-the-art in data sharing over networks does not remedy this inherent instability other than by resorting to backing-up said data and, should a malfunction corrupt or erase said data, subsequently restoring said data from said last known validated back-up. This last action usually requires manual or automated instructions, knowing that said automated instructions also have to be initially manually set-up.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of sharing data over a network, having a plurality of network connected terminals, each comprising memory means and processing means, said memory means including instructions for managing object duplication, wherein in response to a said data requirement of a first of said network terminals, a second of said network terminals duplicates said an object at said first terminal; data is accessed in said object using locally executed object instructions at said first terminal; and data consistency is maintained between duplicated objects.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of sharing data over a network, having a plurality of network connected terminals, each comprising memory means and processing means, said memory means including instructions for managing object duplication, wherein in response to an availability of a list of said network terminals, an object is duplicated from a second of said network terminals at said first terminal; data access is facilitated using locally executable object instructions at said first terminal; and data consistency is maintained between duplicated objects.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the previously identified drawings.

Data sharing applications distribute said data amongst multiple users using a network of connected computers. An environment for connecting multiple users to whom data will be distributed is illustrated inFIG. 1. Computer terminals101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109and110, server111, internet-enabled mobile phones112and113are connected via internet service providers (ISP)114,115,116,117and118, to the Internet119. The ISP's114to118in combination with user terminals101to111, provide each individual user with a unique IP address, e-mail account and other optional internet facilities such as are commonly provided to a user with an ISP account. Provided that appropriate data transfer applications, protocols and permissions have been set up, there is provided the scope for any which one of user terminals101to110to access data stored on server111.

In the example, user terminals106and110are connected to the Internet via ISP116. Upon performing requests to access data stored on server111, said requests from user terminals106and110transits via ISP116to ISP115, which in turns transmits said requests to server111. Provided operators of user terminals106and110are allowed to access data stored on server111, server111will grant user terminals106and110access to its stored data. Sharing stored data is illustrated inFIG. 2. Upon meeting all criteria for the successful establishment of a situation of sharing data, both user terminals106,110and the server111display identical data in a diary application.

According to the Prior Art, whereas display means201of server111displays diary information which is stored locally, display means202of user terminal106and both display means203of user terminal110display diary information which is stored remotely from them. Therefore, the diary information displayed by display means202and203is reliant upon server111being regularly updated with fresh new diary information and user terminals106and110performing regular requests for updates of said diary information. Thus, were server111to be disabled, whether due to foreseen circumstances such as regular maintenance or unforeseen circumstances such as a hardware fault, then regular requests for data updates, i.e. new diary information, from user terminals106and110would be unsuccessful and the diary information displayed on display means202and203would cease to be refreshed.

Moreover, whereas said server111may be kept operational at all times, connecting means204to208, or ISP115or116to become disabled due to foreseen or unforeseen circumstances, then said diary information would equally cease to be updated. In the case of server111having been temporarily disabled, upon re-establishing network connection with terminals106and110, the information displayed on display means202and203would revert back to the last known validated data back-up located on server111, irrespective of any modifications to the diary information that may have been implemented on user terminal106or110whilst server111was disabled.

The present invention overcomes the above shortcomings in that it prescribes a method of sharing data over a network, having a plurality of network connected terminals, each comprising memory means and processing means, said memory means including instructions for managing object duplication, wherein in response to a data requirement of a first of said network terminals, an object is duplicated from a second of said network terminals at said first terminal and data is then accessed in said object using locally executed object instructions at said first terminal; a data consistency is maintained between duplicated object.

Therefore, according to the invention, diary information stored on server111is duplicated onto user terminals106and110as opposed to merely distributed, such that should server111become unavailable, diary information is now stored locally on each of user terminals106and110.

Hardware forming the main part of a user's computer terminal106is illustrated inFIG. 3. A central processing unit301fetches and executes instructions and manipulates data. Frequently accessed instructions and data are stored in a high speed cache memory302. The central processing unit301is connected to a system bus303. This provides connectivity with a larger main memory304, which requires significantly more time to access than the cache302. The main memory304contains between sixty-four and one hundred and twenty-eight megabytes of dynamic random access memory. A hard disc drive (HDD)305provides non-volatile bulk storage of instructions and data. A graphics card306receives graphics data from the CPU301, along with graphics instructions. Preferably, the graphics card306includes substantial dedicated graphical processing capabilities, so that the CPU301is not burdened with computationally intensive tasks for which it is not optimised. Similarly, a sound card307receives sound data from the CPU301, along with sound processing instructions.

Preferably, the sound card307includes substantial dedicated digital sound processing capabilities, so that the CPU301is not burdened with computationally intensive tasks for which it is not optimised. A CD-ROM reader308receives processing instructions and data from an external CD-ROM medium311. A serial bus interface309provides connectivity to peripherals such as a mouse and keyboard. A modem310provides connectivity to the Internet via a telephone connection to the user's ISP116. The equipment shown inFIG. 3constitutes a personal computer of fairly standard type, such as a PC or Mac, whether used as a network terminal or as a network server.

The contents of the memory304of the user's personal computer106shown inFIG. 3are summarised inFIG. 4. An operating system, including a basic BIOS is shown at401. This provides common functionality shared between all applications operating on the computer106, such as disk drive access, file handling and window-based graphical user interfacing. Applications402include instructions for an Internet browser, a file browser and other items, that are usually present but inactive on the user's graphical desktop.

Duplication manager instructions403comprise the program steps required by the CPU301to act upon duplicated objects, the type of which comprise either a duplicate404or duplicate master405.

The Duplication Manager is responsible for allocating the portion of main memory necessary to the successful establishment of duplicated objects and for servicing said duplicated objects throughout their life-cycle. The Duplication Manager403also monitors the machines from which it receives data from remote duplicate masters using keep-alive procedures. For instance, in the case of a communication failure, the duplication manager ensures that only one duplicate will take over the responsibility of duplicate master. Similarly, in the case of a new user terminal connecting to the network, the Duplication Manager detects said connection and inform the Duplicate Master405to take appropriate subsequent action.

Finally, outside the context of a fault-induced triggering event as described above, the load-balancing task of the Duplication Manager can also be performed automatically, the result of which is also to switch the state of a duplicate to the state of duplicate master and toggle the state of the previous duplicate master to the state of duplicate.

The Duplicated objects can be either Duplicate404or Duplicate Master405. They provide object duplication functionality and include dynamic elements, such as attributes and methods, with methods performing attributes processing. Duplicated objects have the ability to execute local methods and access local attributes.

Upon being informed by the Duplication Manager of a new user terminal that said new user terminal has connected to the network, the Duplication Manager in charge of the Duplicate Master determines whether applications running on said new user terminal require a duplicate and, subsequently, the Duplication Manager of said new user terminal creates a local duplicate and the duplicate master provides the most recent data or object to said duplicate in the main memory of said new user terminal, so that said the duplicate can operate in synchronicity with the Duplicate Master.

A Duplicate Master405contains generic or application-specific data, which requires sharing over a network in synchronicity with its duplicates. It acts as a coordinator between a shared application and its duplicates, such that changes on the Duplicate Master are propagated to its duplicates, in order to preserve system integrity. As apex coordinator, the Duplicate Master is equipped with a mechanism allowing it to trigger a locally-executed method on all remote duplicates, called an action.

A Duplicate404is structured with potentially the same functionality as a Duplicate Master, but initially only maintains information for local data access and performs methods for local processing. As dependent from the Duplicate master, the Duplicate is equipped with a mechanism allowing it to trigger a locally-executed method on the duplicate master, called reversed action. For instance, should a duplicate require a change in the data it contains in answer to an application command, it will trigger a reversed action and obtain updated information from the duplicate master.

The duplication manager403shown in the computer's memory inFIG. 4is detailed inFIG. 5.

Upon activation of a user's terminal at step501, the instructions necessary for the duplication manager403to carry out its local functions may need to be loaded from an external medium, such as a CD ROM, at step502.

As the user's terminal connects to the network and the duplication manager application is launched locally, it is simultaneously detected by all remote duplication managers currently connected to the same network group as said user terminal at step503.

A remote duplicate master405comprising data and methods then creates a local duplicate in the main memory of the local user terminal from its current set of information available at step504.

Any local application can now access data in the duplicate locally and process said data locally via the instructions associated with the duplicate at step505.

The duplicate master405ensures that the duplicate404is regularly updated in order to achieve and maintain data consistency at step506.

If the main memory of the user terminal stores the duplicate master405, as opposed to duplicate404, the total processing activity load placed upon the CPU may exceed a delimited amount necessary for the fluid operation of the applications, including the duplication manager, stored in its memory. As said fluid operation is graphically represented by the application within the Graphical User Interface by a performance indicator, the user can ascertain whether they need to perform a load balancing instruction at step507, in order to alleviate said load placed upon said CPU.

In this instance, the duplicate master405therefore switches the state of a remote duplicate to the state of a duplicate master, in effect delegating its Master status to said remote duplicate, in order to balance the resource load generated by the duplication manager and duplicate master between the local and remote sets of user terminal CPU resources.

Alternatively, if the main memory of the user terminal stores the duplicate404, said duplicate404becomes the duplicate master405transparently, i.e. the user can choose to remain unaware of the state change of the duplicate stored in the main memory of the user terminal they operate.

If the main memory of the user terminal which stores the duplicate master405becomes unavailable on the network, i.e. if the keep-alive procedures are breached by loss of connectivity, then the duplication manager performs fault recovery at step508.

The duplication manager therefore elects only one duplicate to become the Duplicate Master and then switches the state of this remote duplicate to the state of a duplicate master, ensuring that a single duplicate amongst all duplicates present on a network takes over the responsibility of sharing and updating the data.

As at step507, the user remains unaware of the state change of the duplicate stored in the main memory of the user terminal they operate.

An update to maintain data consistency, such as occurring at step506, is summarised inFIG. 6.

At step601the duplicate master405ascertains any change to the data based on a user-inputted application command, such as would occur if, in the example, additional diary information needed implementing, such as a new meeting or appointment.

At step602, the duplicate master405ascertains whether the user-inputted application command, which generated the data change at step601, includes the subsequent requirement of an action to be performed by said duplicate master. If said action is not required, then the procedure moves forward to step605. Alternatively, should said action be required, the duplicate master405performs said action, which translates as the requirement for all duplicates derived from said duplicate master to perform a method.

At step604, said method is subsequently performed by all the duplicates derived from duplicate master, which are present on a common network group.

At step605, the duplicate master405ascertains whether a duplicate has performed a reversed action. Should said reversed action be issued from a duplicate, then the duplicate master405performs the related method at step606. In the example, said reversed action from said duplicate may take the form of an exclamation mark set against a particular diary entry, in order to outline its importance within a particular set of diary entries. The duplicate master will then implement said exclamation mark in all the diary duplicates it is currently in charge of.

Upon completing the data change validation procedure outlined in steps601to606, the duplicate master405then initiates the data update procedure at step607, i.e. it establishes a simultaneous link to all duplicates it is currently in charge of on a common network group. Upon successfully establishing said procedure the duplicate master405can then update all the duplicates at step608.

Thus, the duplicate master ensures that all duplicates are consistently updated with a common set of data, i.e. an identical set of diary entries.

The duplicate master subsequently establishes data transfer procedures at step607, in order to successfully update the duplicates at step608.

Upon completing the data update procedure illustrated inFIG. 6, a load-balancing task can be performed by the duplication manager403and initiated either by the user in case of CPU resource overload or automatically in case of a network fault, where it can be considered as a fault recovery task. Such a load-balancing task is summarised inFIG. 7. When performing a load balancing task, the duplication manager in effect switches the state of a duplicate to the state of a duplicate master if necessary, and subsequently switches the state of the previous duplicate master to the state of a duplicate.

At step701, the duplication manager403first determines if the user has inputted a command to perform load balancing, as he would be prompted to do by the visual representation, by way of a performance indicator, of an overload of the terminal CPU in the Graphical User Interface, in order to alleviate said overload placed upon said CPU. If such a command is received, then the procedure immediately moves forward to step704.

Alternatively, the duplication manager carries out its next duplicate servicing task. In order for the remote duplicate master405to successfully share and update its duplicates, the duplication manager403must ensure that there exists connectivity to the duplicate master at each cycle, at step702.

Should said connectivity be lost and the duplicate master is pronounced unavailable at step703, then at step704the duplication manager403will next ascertain which duplicate is the most suitable duplicate to become duplicate master, i.e. the most up-to-date. Should a local duplicate be identified as said most suitable duplicate then the duplication manager will switch the state of said local duplicate to that of duplicate master at step705. Alternatively, should a remote duplication manager first identify its respective duplicate as said most suitable duplicate at step704, then said remote duplication manager will inform the local duplication manager that a new duplicate master405exists on the network and the remote duplication master will establish synchronicity with the local duplicate.

In the example, part of the contents of the main memory of three distinct networked-user terminals connected to a common network group are respectively illustrated inFIG. 8. Main memory801stores a duplication manager804, diary instructions805and the diary duplicate master806. The diary duplicate master comprise diary information. Main memory802stores a duplication manager807, diary instructions808and a diary duplicate809, which shares diary information with diary duplicate master806. Main memory803stores a duplication manager810, diary instructions811and a diary duplicate812, which also share diary information with diary duplicate master806. Diary duplicate master806forwards diary information updates to both diary duplicates809,812.

InFIG. 9however, main memory801is now disabled, i.e. not available for sharing data over the network, due to any possible circumstance, such as the user terminal being voluntary or involuntarily switched off, the ISP becoming unavailable or connecting means being faulty. At step703, duplication managers807and810have ascertained that the duplicate master is not available anymore and, following step704, duplication manager807determines that duplicate812is better suited to become duplicate master than its own duplicate809. For instance, duplicate812was last updated before duplicate809by the now defunct duplicate master806.

Consequently, the state of duplicate master812is switched to the state of diary duplicate master901. Duplication manager810and diary instructions811remain unchanged. Diary duplicate master901now updates the diary information of diary duplicate809.

InFIG. 10, upon rejoining the network group onto which the respective user terminals corresponding to main memory802and main memory803are logged to, main memory801again stores a duplication manager804diary instructions806and a diary duplicate1001. Said diary duplicate1001is a duplicate of diary duplicate master901and, consequently, diary duplicate1001contains all the updates that have taken place between diary duplicate master901and diary duplicate809that have taken place whilst the user terminal main memory801is part of was disconnected from the network. Duplication manager804, diary instructions805and diary duplicate1001resume operation in an identical fashion to duplication manager807, diary instructions808and diary duplicate809of main memory802. Diary duplicate master901stored in main memory803updates both the diary duplicate809and1001with diary information.

FIG. 11graphically illustrates the above interactions, by way of observing the display means201,202and203of user terminals111,106and110respectively, over a period of time. Prior to event1101, display means201,202and203display the graphical user interface of a diary application. For each of display means201,202and203, part of the main memory of their respective user terminal111,106and110each include a duplication manager, diary instructions and a diary duplicate. In the example, the diary duplicate master is part of the main memory associated with display means203.

At event1101, the user terminal110is conventionally switched off for the purpose of hardware maintenance. The operating system of user terminal110is preferably Windows 98. Part of the standard procedure for user terminal shutting according to this known application involves sequentially shutting down all the applications running in the main memory of the user terminal.

Upon closing all applications, a standard message is displayed, which informs the user that they may now switch the user terminal off at the mains. Upon shutting down user terminal110, the duplication managers respectively stored in the main memory of user terminal106and111determine that duplicate master is not available anymore, as at step703. The duplication manager stored in the main memory associated with display means201determines that the diary duplicate stored in said main memory is best suited to have its state switched. The diary duplicate stored in the main memory associated with display means201therefore becomes the diary duplicate master. Display means201and202display the same data in their respective graphical user interface.

At event1102, a new diary entry is inputted in the user terminal111associated with display means201. Accordingly, the duplication manager resident in the main memory associated with display means202updates the diary information of diary duplicate stored in said memory. Thus, the user at the user terminal106associated with display means202is now aware that a visit is scheduled at 10.00 am. However, the user terminal110is currently shut down.

At event1103, a malfunction has occurred at user terminal111. User terminal111preferably uses Windows NT4 as an operating system. A standard procedure of said operating system is to inform the user, in the case of an application corruption, where said corruption occurred in the terminal's main memory before closing the operating system down. In such occurrences, a common procedure is to switch the user's terminal off at the mains. In the example, the duplication manager, diary instructions and diary duplicate master stored in the main memory of the user terminal111associated with display means201are now unavailable over the network. The duplication manager stored in the main memory of the user terminal106associated with display202has determined that said diary duplicate master is now unavailable and has subsequently switched the state of its diary duplicate to the state of diary duplicate master, as user terminal110has been switched on again and is shown as loading duplication manager application and diary instructions from CD ROM.

At event1104, said user terminal110has completed loading said duplication manager applications and diary instructions and, according to steps503and504, has created a diary duplicate from the diary duplicate master stored in the main memory of user terminal106associated with display means202.

The diary duplicate stored in the main memory of user terminal110has been updated with the diary entry which occurred between event1102and1103, whilst said user terminal110was switched off. Said diary duplicate has also been updated with the diary entry implemented between event1103and1104, when said user terminal110was still only loading instructions from an external medium. The user of user terminal110is fully appraised of two new diary entries, which were implemented whilst the user's terminal was not connected to the network.

Should the user of user terminal111successfully rejoin the network group that user terminals106and110are logged onto, the duplication manager stored in the user's main memory will create a diary duplicate from diary duplicate master stored in the main memory of user terminal106, just as the duplication manager stored in the main memory of user terminal110created a diary duplicate of said diary duplicate master. The user of user terminal111, associated with display means201, will then be fully appraised of any subsequent diary entries implemented at user terminal106or110.

Whereas a diary application is suitable to illustrate the tasks of maintaining and updating duplicated objects according to the invention, such an application is not traditionally resource-intensive in terms of processing requirements. In order to better illustrate the task of load balancing such as detailed at step507inFIG. 5and steps701to708inFIG. 7, a game application for recreational use is more appropriate.

Game applications are traditionally very resource-intensive in terms of processing requirements and take full advantage of devices such as graphics card306, sound card307and, in the case of LAN or Internet play, modem310. Moreover, in the case of game applications where game rules include CPU-controlled opposition, artificial intelligence applications are implemented and stored in the main memory of a user's terminal in order to provide said CPU-controlled opposition with intelligent behaviour. According to the known art, such artificial intelligence applications are traditionally the most resource-intensive applications stored in a user's terminal main memory.

Such a game application, including CPU-controlled opponents governed by an artificial intelligence application, is illustrated inFIG. 12. Avatars1201,1202and1203represent an identical, single CPU-controlled opponent, which is separately viewed on display means1204,1205and1206. In the game, which takes place over a network, an avatar1207represents the player who operates the user terminal corresponding to display means1204. Similarly, an avatar1208and an avatar1209respectively represents the player operating the user terminal corresponding to display means1205and the player operating user terminal corresponding to display means1206. As the avatars1201,1202and1203are a representation of a single CPU-generated artificial intelligence object shared over a network by three distinct user terminals, the attributes and data of said artificial intelligence object are duplicated onto the main memory of the respective user terminals of said players, where avatar1202, i.e. artificial intelligence object1202, is the duplicate master in the example.

FIG. 13provides a graphical representation of the main memory1301,1302and1303of the user terminals respectively associated with display means1204,1205and1206. Each of said main memories1301,1302and1303includes an operating system, applications, a duplication manager, game data and duplicated objects1201,1202and1203respectively. Artificial intelligence object1202is the duplicate master and artificial intelligence objects1201and1203are duplicates; said duplicate master and duplicates interact according to the sequence of tasks represented inFIGS. 5,6and7.

In addition to the representation of the main memories1301,1302and1303of said distinct user terminals, resource load tolerance gauges1304,1305and1306graphically represent the resource load placed upon the respective central processing units of said user terminals. As artificial intelligence object1202is the duplicate master, it therefore updates and maintains artificial intelligence objects1201and1203. As the attributes and data processing of said artificial intelligence object are resource-intensive, the resource load tolerance gauge1305accordingly illustrates a CPU-usage level of approximately seventy-five percent. Resource load tolerance gauges1304and1306, respectively illustrate a CPU-usage level of approximately ten percent and approximately fifty percent, as artificial intelligence objects1201and1203are simple duplicates.

Upon being appraised of the resource load placed upon the CPU of the terminal by way of the GUI-displayed graphical representation of gauge1305, the terminal user instructs the duplication manager stored in main memory1302to perform load-balancing between the respective CPUs of user terminals illustrated by main memories1301,1302and1303.

Upon comparing resource load tolerances, said duplication manager in main memory1302has ascertained that the CPU of the terminal corresponding to main memory1301is best suited for the switching of the locally-stored artificial intelligence object to the state of duplicate master, with regard to its respective resource load tolerance gauge1304indicating only ten percent of CPU-usage level.

FIG. 14graphically illustrates the result of the load balancing task performed by said duplication manager resident in main memory1302. The state of duplicate1201, i.e. artificial intelligence object1201, has been switched to the state of duplicate master1201. The interactions between duplicate master1201and duplicates1202and1203take place in an identical fashion as the interactions which were taking place between duplicate master1202and duplicates1201and1203prior to the state switching. The resource load tolerance gauges1304,1305and1306now illustrates a CPU-usage level of approximately fifty percent respectively. Thus, a load balancing operation has been performed, which preserves the performance and integrity of the applications both locally and remotely.