USOO8484260B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Caso et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8.484.260 B2
`Jul. 9, 2013
`
`(54) METHOD FOR A CLOUD-BASED META-FILE
`SYSTEM TO VIRTUALLY UNIFY REMOTE
`AND 9SA, FILES ACROSSA RANGE OF
`DEVICES LOCAL FILE SYSTEMS
`(75) Inventors: Erik Caso, Santa Monica, CA (US);
`Michael Abraham, Boulder, CO (US)
`(73) Assignee: Entangled Media Corp., Santa Monica,
`(US)
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/424,366
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`1/2003 Maris............................ 356,432
`6,512.586 B2
`5/2004 Hesselink et al. .....
`TO9,208
`6,732,158 B1
`8/2005 Aboulhosn et al. ................... 1.1
`6,938,042 B2
`7,120,692 B2 10/2006 Hesselink et al. .....
`709,225
`7.337,171 B2
`2/2008 Gimplet al. .......................... 1.1
`(Continued)
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`39;s.
`33.
`(Continued)
`
`wo
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`“U.S. Appl. No. 127774.231. Notice of Allowance mailed Sep. 12,
`2012, 14pgs.
`
`(Continued)
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Mar 19, 2012
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2012/O179732 A1
`Jul. 12, 2012
`
`Primary Examiner — Binh V Ho
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Schwegman Lundberg &
`Woessner, P.A.
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(62) Division of application No. 127774.231, filed on May
`5, 2010, now Pat. No. 8,296,338.
`(60) Provisional application No. 61/175,489, filed on May A system and process that establish a singular shared file
`5, 2009.
`system among devices in order to create a virtual representa
`tion of data on all of the devices via metadata indexing. This
`virtual representation of data means that the files are not
`actually stored on all devices and thus, with the exception of
`a single physical location, they do not need to take up any
`space (i.e. storage) on any additional device's hard drive. This
`allows for significant amounts of data to be virtually stored on
`each device, even if there is no physical storage room avail
`able for the data on each device. The system and process do
`not require data to be stored on a provider server, but instead
`stores only lightweight metadata, i.e., a small fraction of
`information about the files, online.
`
`(2006.01)
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`G06F 7/30
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`USPC ............................ 707/827; 717/168; 717/176
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`USPC .......................................................... 707/827
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
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`User double clicks
`(or selects and
`clicks open) on file
`ico on device A
`
`File application
`sends request to
`open to file system
`
`Dewice A's software
`client intercepts file
`application request
`from operating
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`
`Check
`metadata;
`ls the file
`local to
`swice. A
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`File application
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`
`Device A's software
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`
`Web service locates
`physical copy of
`requested file on
`Device Band
`instructs transfer to
`Device A
`
`Peer-to
`peer
`connection
`between
`Devices?
`
`Dewice B transfers
`physical file to
`device. A
`
`S140
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`HTTP server;
`Dawles transfers
`physical file to
`Dewice A
`
`Opening initiated
`once required bytes
`buffered at Dewice A
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`S145
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`Dropbox Exhibit 1001 - Page 1
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`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
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`

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`WO
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`.
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`.
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`. 1/1
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`707/200
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`.
`
`.
`
`.
`
`1f1
`
`* cited by examiner
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`Dropbox Exhibit 1001 - Page 2
`Dropbox, Inc. v. Entangled Media, LLC
`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
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`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
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`US 8,484,260 B2
`
`1.
`METHOD FOR A CLOUD-BASED META-FILE
`SYSTEM TO VIRTUALLY UNIFY REMOTE
`AND LOCAL FILES ACROSSA RANGE OF
`DEVICES LOCAL FILE SYSTEMS
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`The present application is a divisional of U.S. application
`Ser. No. 12/774.231, filed May 5, 2010, entitled “Method For
`a Cloud-Based Meta-File System to Virtually Unify Remote
`and Local Files Across a Range of Devices Local File Sys
`tems, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
`Application Ser. No. 61/175,489, filed May 5, 2009, entitled
`“Method For Virtual Synchronization Of Data Across Het
`erogeneous Devices And Performing On-Demand Transfer
`Of Remote Data Between Devices, both of which are incor
`porated herein by reference in their entirety.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`directory/folder or secondary location (e.g., removable hard
`drive) mounted on the device. Finally, present solutions gen
`erally require a high-degree of user involvement for their
`operation—users must designate certain files and/or directo
`ries for synchronization or backup, and must consciously
`store content to be synced or backed-up in those locations.
`Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and process
`that facilitates access to content that physically resides on any
`one of multiple user devices, e.g., laptop, desktop, personal
`digital assistant (PDA), cellphone or the like, from any one of
`the multiple user devices without the need to physically store
`all content on every device, and without complex configura
`tion or continual interaction from the user and without the
`data from multiple devices being treated as separate and, thus,
`segregated within the file system as such.
`As described in detail herein, the present solution creates a
`unified representation of all data on all registered devices—it
`ensures that all a user's devices appear to share one single
`native file system containing all the user's files across all
`devices, and that this file system is that of the device operating
`system, instead of any third party solution or secondary rep
`resentation. Unlike the existing solutions, the implementa
`tions described herein do not require physical data replication
`across multiple devices. Instead, the present Solution creates
`a virtual representation of data on all of the devices using
`metadata indexing. This virtual representation of data means
`that the files are not actually stored on all devices and thus,
`with the exception of a single physical location, they take up
`limited space (i.e. storage) on any additional device's hard
`drive. This allows for otherwise impossible amounts of data
`to be virtually stored on each device, even if there is no
`physical storage room available for the data on each device.
`Furthermore, the present solution does not require data to be
`stored on a provider server, but instead stores only light
`weight metadata (Small fraction of information about the
`files) online. The solution establishes the ability for user
`devices to be aware of one another and communicate directly
`when data is requested. In addition to user devices, the solu
`tion described herein can also incorporate files stored in an
`online service account, such as a photo account or video
`account (exemplary—YouTube.com or Picasa.com). Finally,
`beyond initial installation, the present solution requires no
`configuration or interaction with the user to virtualize any and
`all data across all devices. Rather than act as software that is
`interacted with by the user, the present Solution is designed to
`integrate with the operating system on a device and thus
`modify said operating system to not only account for files that
`are stored locally on the device (e.g. on the hard drive), but
`also account files on all other devices the user may own. This
`is done without adding additional storage locations, such as a
`networked storage location or a sync folder; it is done without
`the user having to continually designate files for inclusion or
`exclusion. Moreover, it does not present the user with a new or
`additional user interface, but rather relies entirely on the
`device operating system for Such user interaction.
`The solution described herein unifies the representation of
`and access to files and data across all of a user's devices, as
`well as online service accounts.
`In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention a
`process for establishing a singular file system across multiple
`devices is described. The process includes: receiving user
`information to open an account for establishing a singular file
`system across multiple devices via a web-based system that
`includes at least one server; installing an individual Software
`client on each of the multiple devices via the web-based
`system; accepting registration of multiple devices via the
`web-based system; scanning each of the multiple devices by
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates generally to the field of data
`virtualization and more specifically to a system and method
`for using data virtualization coupled with a cloud-based file
`system that is shared among devices and integrated into the
`device operating system so as to unify the representation of
`files across devices for availability of and access to data
`across multiple devices a user might own.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`Competitive data synchronization products generally fall
`into one of two types: locally installed software for file rep
`lication across devices and online backup/storage based file
`replication across devices. The local install file replication
`Software is installed on computers and makes Sure that all
`devices with the same software have the same data physically
`replicated on each device. Once configured by the user, it is
`able to identify updates to files on one device and update the
`corresponding files on other devices. These products or ser
`vices essentially duplicate all designated data between the
`devices being synchronized. Each file stored on N devices
`results in N duplicates of the same file. The online backup/
`storage based file replication software is a blend of software
`that installed on local devices along with online storage. The
`process requires that ALL designated data is stored online and
`is then in turn replicated across all devices that are connected
`to the online storage server. These services duplicate all des
`ignated data between devices being synchronized, AND store
`an additional copy on their servers. Each file stored on N
`devices results in N+1 duplicates of the same file.
`50
`
`40
`
`45
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The most obvious shortcoming of the data synchronization
`implementations described above is the amount of Storage
`space that is required. For individual users with multiple
`devices, each with varying storage capacity, synchronization
`across all devices for all content on all devices is limited or
`even prohibited by space restrictions. Additionally, present
`Solutions to the storage problem can be expensive, requiring
`payment for third party on-line storage or device storage
`upgrades. It is also important to note that with other solutions
`the data on separate devices is kept separated when synchro
`nized—local data is stored in a set of locations within the
`operating system's native file system (e.g. “My Documents'.
`“My Pictures’, etc.), while remote data on other devices or
`other online services is kept in a new location Such as a new
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`3
`each of the individual software clients to inventory data on
`each of the multiple devices and create a meta-index of the
`files for the inventoried data; providing by the individual
`software clients via the multiple devices individual meta
`indices of the inventoried data for each of the multiple devices
`to the at least one server, integrating by the at least one server
`the individual meta-indices to create a single master meta
`index; providing by the at least one server the single master
`meta-index to each of the multiple devices via the individual
`Software clients; and continually updating the single master
`meta-index on the at least one server and each of the multiple
`devices in response to changes to the data indexed thereon.
`In a second exemplary embodiment of the present inven
`tion a process for operating on files located on multiple
`devices using a singular file system is described. The process
`includes: accepting a request to operate on a file at a first
`device, wherein the file is selected from the singular file
`system on the first device; intercepting the request by a soft
`ware client on the first device; determining by the software
`client if the file is physically located on the first device or a
`second device, wherein a visual representation of the singular
`file system on the first device is identical to a visual represen
`tation of the singular file system on the second device; if the
`file is physically located on a second device, requesting by the
`Software client on the first device that a peer-to-peer connec
`tion be brokered by a server-based web service between the
`first device and the second device; if the peer-to-peer connec
`tion is brokered, transferring the physical file from the second
`device to the first device; and performing the operation on the
`file at the first device.
`In a third exemplary embodiment, a system for establishing
`a singular file system across multiple devices is described.
`The system includes: a web-accessible server; at least one
`Software client plug-in; multiple devices for storing and oper
`ating on files; wherein the web-accessible server receives user
`information to open an account for establishing a singular file
`system across multiple devices, installs the at least one soft
`ware plug-in on each of the multiple devices, accepts regis
`tration of the multiple devices, wherein the at least one soft
`ware plug-in varies in accordance with an operating system of
`each of the multiple devices; further wherein the at least one
`Software client plug-in scans its respective one of the multiple
`devices to inventory files thereon, creates a meta-index to files
`for the inventoried data, provides the meta-index of the inven
`toried data for its respective one of the multiple devices to the
`web-accessible server; further wherein the web-accessible
`server receives meta-indices from each of the multiple
`devices and integrates by the meta-indices to create a single
`master meta-index, provides the single master meta-index to
`each of the multiple devices via the individual software cli
`ents, and continually updates the single master meta-index on
`each of the multiple devices in response to operations on the
`files indexed thereon.
`
`4
`FIG. 3 is a device registration and data virtualization pro
`cess flow in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of
`the present invention;
`FIG. 4 is a file retrieval process flow in accordance with an
`exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 is a schematic showing the exemplary configuration
`of FIG. 1 with communication paths therebetween; and
`FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary unified file structure sce
`a1O.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
`
`The following words and phrases are used throughout this
`document and are attributed the definitions provided below
`for the purposes of describing the invention. One skilled in the
`art recognizes that there are obvious extensions to certain of
`these definitions and these are intended to fall within the
`scope of the listed definition, even if not explicitly reference
`therein.
`Devices—Internet-enabled devices that may be used for a
`variety of communications and data purposes, including
`document creation, media players, Internet browsing, etc.
`These devices include desktop computers, laptop computers,
`netbooks, mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), Smartphone
`mobile handsets, "nettop' computers, gaming consoles, cable
`set-top boxes, televisions and other computing devices and
`telecommunications devices that are able to communicate
`using any form of data communications protocols such as
`TCP/IP, 30, CDMA, GSM, OSM, WiFi, WiMax, etc.
`File System is the component within an operating system
`responsible for managing all manner of files, as well as pre
`senting them within a graphical user interface. The native file
`system of any given operating system has a set of standard file
`storage options, such as "My Documents' for documents,
`“My Music' for music, “My Pictures” for pictures, and so on.
`Local file systems allow for secondary file systems to be
`"mounted” and even accommodate the tracking of Such file,
`but in all cases are managed separately. An example of this
`would be a USB thumb drive, which, when plugged into a
`computer, is mounted as a secondary storage location.
`Local Device—is a device that a user (person) is currently
`using (i.e. they are in front of the device and actively using it).
`Remote Device is a device that the user (person) is not
`using; this device is in another location and is only accessible
`via an Internet connection.
`Software Client (or the Client) is a piece of software that
`is installed and runs continuously on the device.
`Web Service is a part of the system that operates on the
`Internet and is made up of several types of web technologies
`including web servers, databases, peer-to-peer services (e.g.,
`jingle, BitTorrent, Skype, JXTA), an HTTP Relay and other
`systems that interact with the clients. The web service acts as
`an information manager that coordinates information, com
`munication and activities with the clients. It also coordinates
`the transfer of files between devices by establishing a transfer
`protocol, such as peer-to-peer or HTTP relay, or other such
`method, depending on the type of connection that is available
`for a given network or Internet connection.
`Referring to FIG. 1 an exemplary system includes of a
`server 10 which hosts a web service and various user devices
`such as PDA 12, laptop computer 14 and desktop computer 16
`with a particular software client installed thereon, to facilitate
`the virtual unification of data, including documents and
`media files, across all devices 12, 14 and 16. The system
`facilitates transfer of data (e.g. files) on-demand between
`devices when requested. The devices 12, 14 and 16 are merely
`exemplary and can vary in their number, type, use and oper
`
`40
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`45
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`50
`
`55
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
`
`The following Figures are intended to be considered in
`conjunction with the descriptions provided herein and repre
`sent exemplary systems and processes of the present inven
`tion.
`FIG. 1 is a schematic showing an exemplary configuration
`of the components of the invention;
`FIG. 2 is a device registration and data virtualization pro
`cess flow in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of
`the present invention;
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`ating system/platform, ranging from mobile phones to desk
`top computers to gaming consoles or cable set-top boxes,
`each running a different operating system that uses a propri
`etary and different file system. In addition to user devices, the
`Solution described herein can also incorporate files stored in
`an online service account. Such as a photo account or video
`account (exemplary YouTube.com or Picasa.com). Addi
`tionally, though a single server is shown for illustration pur
`poses, multiple servers, databases, processors may be used to
`implement the invention.
`The systems method of data unification does not rely on
`file replication or cloning, but instead creates “virtual file
`unification using a proprietary technique of differentiating
`local, physically stored data files Versus remote data files and
`creating a unified, virtual representation of remote data on a
`local device. The system uses an operating-system extension,
`in conjunction with an intelligent web service, to determine
`the varying types of data that exist on each device that is a part
`of the system. The system will differentiate data on a Local
`Device from data on a Remote Device. The system then
`communicates to each client what data is remote so that each
`client can create the virtual representation of the remote data
`within its local device file system. The client creates the
`virtual representation of all remote files using the same “path’
`or storage location on the remote device, resulting in a com
`25
`mon, single view of all data across all devices that is consis
`tent with the formatting and structure of the local file system.
`Critical to the unique nature of this system is that it is
`totally transparent, not requiring the user to interact with
`Software, nor distinguish files in local vs. remote locations.
`All file metadata is integrated into the local device so that the
`view of data is common across all devices as if the files were
`actually stored locally across all devices, eventhough they are
`not. In essence, each device file system then acts as if it is a
`shared file system; enabling the local operating system to
`manage remote and local file as if they are all stored in the
`same location. For example, moving a file on one device
`results in the file moving on all other devices, even if it was
`moved on a device where that file is virtual.
`Referring to FIG. 2, a detailed overview of a first exem
`40
`plary process from user sign-up to virtual file access across
`devices is shown. In S10, access to the system is accom
`plished via creation of a user account with the provider of the
`service. Registration information includes user name, e-mail
`address and other required personal information as well as
`creation of user name and password to facilitate establishing
`and securing a user account. Once an account has been cre
`ated, the user can install the required Software client on each
`of their individual devices and initiate the process of register
`ing each device with the service provider S12. As part of the
`registration process, for each individual user device, the user
`names the device, e.g., laptop, desktop. Smartphone (e.g.,
`Blackberry, Droid), and selects the type or category of data,
`e.g., documents (exemplary: text), pictures (exemplary: .jpg,
`.img), audio (exemplary: MP3), video (exemplary: .dvi, files
`mov files) available on the device that the user wishes to
`virtually unify across multiple devices. In a preferred
`embodiment, all categories are automatically selected. Alter
`natively, this selection may be accomplished by a drop down
`menu listing file types, categories, extensions, etc. For online
`service accounts, the user registers these accounts and pro
`vides appropriate log-in information, e.g., username and
`password. As described below, once this selection is made,
`the installed software client then scans and inventories the
`selected data into a meta-index of the file system and reports
`back to the web service on that selected data S14 in order to
`create a singular file system based on said metadata that is
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`shared among all devices in the user's account. Alternatively,
`once the software clientis installed on the user device, it could
`automatically scan and inventory all the data available on the
`user device and report back to the service provider. The web
`service can then create a listing of the inventory and prompt
`the user to select which data the user wishes to virtually
`synchronize.
`The software client provides user device data in the form of
`a meta-index. For each identified data file, the meta-index
`includes metadata Such as file name, file type, file size, local
`path the file is stored in, date created, date modified, etc. Once
`all of the user's devices and on-line service accounts are
`registered and meta-indexed by the software client S16 (or the
`service provider in the case of the on-line service accounts by
`interacting through the respective application programming
`interfaces (APIs) of the on-line services to obtain data infor
`mation), the web service integrates all of the individual meta
`indices for all of the user's registered devices into a database
`S18. This master index of metadata thus becomes the singular
`file system that all devices use; integrated locally into a
`device's operating system via the software client. The web
`service then sends the meta-indices for each of the registered
`devices to each of the other individual registered user devices
`S20. At each registered local device, the software client inte
`grates metadata from the remote device indices into the local
`device's file system S22. The metadata instructs the software
`client where to store the data files, ensuring that a common
`view and storage location is maintained across all devices. At
`this point, the local operating system's file system has been
`modified to include remote files in the same locations of the
`local device (such as the “My Documents’ folder) as opposed
`to a separate and segregated location for such remote data
`(such as a synchronization folder or an additional hard drive
`“mounted on the device.) Further, the software client facili
`tates the creation of a visual representation of the remote or
`virtual files on the local device, as if the files were indeed
`local, allowing the user to operate on them as if they were
`local to the device. The virtual files appear in essentially all
`ways the same as a local file, making them indistinguishable
`unless Such a distinction is enabled as a separate option.
`Lastly, if a unique folder or directory exists on one device
`(e.g. within the My Documents folder) and has several files
`within it, that folder/directory is created on all other devices
`so that its files may be put within said folder/directory, ulti
`mately representing the same path to all corresponding files.
`Using their local device, the user attempts to operate on a
`file S24. If the file is a local file, physically located on the local
`device, the operation is performed on the local file and the
`software client notifies the web service to update the meta
`index to reflect any changes to the attributes of the file, e.g.,
`substantive, location or existence thereofS26, S28. If the user
`attempts an operation on a virtual file that is physically stored
`on a remote device, the Software client intercepts the opera
`tion request and, if the file is to being opened or executed, the
`software client brokers a connection between the remote
`device containing the physical file and the local device
`requesting the file S30. The file is then transferred from the
`remote device to the local device and the operation is per
`formed on the file at the local device. As in S28, details
`regarding the location, status, and existence of the file are
`provided to the web service by the local software client which
`allows all other devices being unified to be continuously
`made aware of the changes in the location or existence of the
`file S30. Once the file has been transferred from the remote
`device to the local device, it can be viewed, edited, or modi
`fied in any way by the user. Upon completion of any modifi
`cation to the file, all changes are propagated back to the
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`Dropbox Exhibit 1001 - Page 11
`Dropbox, Inc. v. Entangled Media, LLC
`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
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`7
`remote device and the local file is restored to its virtual state.
`At this point the local device removes the aforementioned file
`from memory, so that it is stored only in the single location/
`device on which it was originally kept. Additionally, the
`aforementioned file's metadata is updated (such as “date last
`modified) and propagated to all other devices. The method of
`file transfer may vary, initially attempted via peer-to-peer
`methodology. Under certain circumstances, a peer-to-peer
`connection might be prohibited from occurring, at which
`point the web service will itself manage the connection (via
`HTTP Relay) between devices to ensure communication can
`always occur. Alternatively, for virtual files located with an
`on-line service provider, when the user attempts to operate
`thereon from a local device file system, a browser window is
`opened within the on-line service to facilitate operation.
`FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative exemplary process flow. In
`this flow, which is substantially similar to the process flow
`from FIG. 2, this flow illustrates the process flow wherein
`there is only a single registered user device and devices are
`added sequentially. After creating an account S50, the user
`registers a device S52 and the downloaded software client
`creates a meta-index for the device data and stores in the web
`service database S54. If the user has no other registered
`devices (“NO” to S56), when the user performs operations on
`device files S64, the answer to the question “Is the file a
`virtual file?” S66, will always be"NO" and the software client
`will report local file changes to the web service S68.
`If the user does have other registered devices (“YES to
`S56), the process S58-S70 follows the same flow as steps
`S20-S30 in FIG. 2.
`Accordingly, if a user