Apple's
U.S. Patent No. 8,396,932 for "Apparatus and method for efficiently
managing data in a social networking service" should not be confused with
a full-fledged social network, instead being a method of managing data within a
so-called "friend service."
As
noted in the invention's summary, some embodiments store keys or value data to
"provide an efficient and highly-scalable friend service database,"
with systems that can ensure consistency between friend records.
In
an example of the system's architecture, there are three main databases that
help keep user data consistent: a friend database for users within the network,
a handle database for out-of-network users, and a write-ahead log database for
detecting and rectifying conflicts.
In
one embodiment, "in-network" users are identified by a unique
destination signaling identifier (DSID) or handle. It should be noted that
handles can identify out-of-network users, or those who are not yet part of the
friend service, as well as existing users who have not yet associated their
handle with their account.
The
main goal of any social network is connecting to other users. Apple's invention
notes that the initial relationship state between two users as
"none," meaning the two account holders have not yet interacted or
sent friend requests to one another. In some embodiments, the "none"
state is set as the default. A second "handshake" state is described
when one of the users initiates contact, or sends a friend request, while a
final "friend state" is achieved when the recipient accepts the
request.
The
invention also describes a stalker count and a spammer count, which are
attached to a user's DSID. Each time a user sends a request, their spammer
count value is upped by 1 until a predefined threshold is reached. The system
can cut off further requests if the frequency of requests passes this
threshold. As for the stalker count, a DSID is assigned a "+1" value
each time a friend request is denied by a second user. If the sender of the
request reaches a predefined stalker count threshold, additional attempts will
be ignored. In addition, an ignore flag can be set from the recipient wherein
further requests are blocked by the system.
To
maintain consistency over the databases, a write-ahead log generator is
employed to track "transactions" like accepting a friend request,
removing a friend or merging two handles on an account, among others user
actions. For example, a key is generated for a given transaction that requires
multiple updates to a certain user's friend state records. Once the updates are
finished, the entry associated with the log key is deleted. When the system
detects log keys that have not been erased over a given amount of time, it can
determine that there is an inconsistency in the database. In this scenario, a
log reaper is used to step through the write-ahead log database and rectify any
inconsistencies.
Other
embodiments describe friend request fetching and rejecting, obtaining a list of
friends, de-friending and sending friend requests, along with other basic
networking tools.
The
system can be implemented in an API which can then be integrated into a variety
of mobile apps, while further embodiments allow for internet connectivity.
Apple's
most recent attempt at social networking, the music-centric Ping first introduced in 2010, fell flat after the service failed to gain traction. It is
unknown if the functions described in Tuesday's patent were applied to the
failed network.
The
'932 patent was first filed with the USPTO in 2010 and credits Amol Pattekar,
Jeremy Matthew Werner, Patrick Gates, Andrew H. Vyrros and Richard Wagner as
its inventors. [AppleInsider]
You can follow me on Twitter,
add me to your circles on Google+
or Subscribe to me on facebook
or YouTube.
You can also check my website
and blog
to keep yourself updated with what is happening in the ever changing world of
technology
No comments:
Post a Comment