Jeffrey M Saathoff

US Patent:

20040172423, Sep 2, 2004

Filed:

Feb 28, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/376430

Inventors:

Shaun Kaasten - Kirkland WA, US
Jason Moore - Kirkland WA, US
Balan Raman - Redmond WA, US
Chris Guzak - Kirkland WA, US
David Orbits - Redmond WA, US
Sudarshan Chitre - Redmond WA, US
Eric Flo - Sammamish WA, US
Jeffrey Saathoff - Sammamish WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F017/30
G06F012/00

US Classification:

707/201000

Abstract:

Disclosed is a data synchronization service for use in a peer-to-peer computing environment. Selected data objects are copied onto selected computing devices. A service running on each device monitors data objects for changes. When a change is detected, the service sends a change notification to the other devices so that they can update their copies of the data object. A user can access a data object from any device, knowing that he will retrieve the latest version of the data object. Instead of incurring the costs of storing a large file on every device, a user “ghosts” the file on some devices. A ghosting device stores only metadata about the file rather than the entire file. The user accesses the file through the ghost: access requests are sent to a device that holds the actual contents, and those contents are presented to the user as if they were stored locally.

US Patent:

20060238652, Oct 26, 2006

Filed:

Apr 22, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/111939

Inventors:

Kenneth Parker - Bellevue WA, US
Mark McCabe - Duvall WA, US
Mohammed Samji - Bellevue WA, US
Rebecca Deutsch - Seattle WA, US
Jeffrey Saathoff - Sammamish WA, US
Scot McIntosh - Redmond WA, US
David Potter - Bothell WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

H04N 5/445

US Classification:

348564000

Abstract:

A system and method are provided for presenting a centralized display that allows a user to quickly and easily manage sync operations for multiple devices. The invention may also provide a layered sync display, in which each layer presents a user with successively more information. The layered sync display may ensure that a user is not presented with extraneous information, which simplifies management of sync operations and allows user to perform other tasks during sync operations. In implementations of the present invention, sync operations may occur without user input, so that the user may continue working on other tasks while a sync operation is taking place. The user may elect to enter input, such as input used to resolve conflicts or other input requested by the sync operation, at a later time that is convenient for the user.