Predictive local pre-cache for reduced latency digital content access rights determination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11025739-B2
Application number	US-201916600743-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 14, 2019
Priority date	Apr 10, 2017
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

To reduce the latency introduced by network communications, the access rights to digital content of various users is locally cached, and such a local cache is referenced without incurring network communication latency. The local cache is predictive in that it can comprise users which a user editing the digital content is more likely to reference in the future, thereby triggering a determination as to whether such users have access rights to the digital content. The predictive aspects of the local cache are informed by a social graph delineating relationships between a user editing the digital content and other users. The social graph can be further refined based on metadata about the digital content, or based on the digital content itself. In addition to comprising users who have access rights to the digital content, the local cache can also comprise users that have been determined to not have access rights.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method of reducing latency between an action, on a computing device, directed to a first content and a generation, by the computing device, of a notification associated with the action, the method comprising:
obtaining, by the computing device, from a remote access control list corresponding to the first content, a first communication endpoint that has access rights to the first content;
generating a local cache, on the computing device, comprising the first communication endpoint and an associated first access rights indicator indicating that the first communication endpoint has access rights to the first content;
obtaining, by the computing device, from a social graph, a second communication endpoint, the second communication endpoint being selected based on degrees of separation in the social graph, the social graph delineating relationships between communication endpoints based at least in part on prior actions associated with the communication endpoints;
obtaining, by the computing device, from the remote access control list, a second access rights indicator associated with the second communication endpoint, the second access rights indicator indicating that the second communication endpoint has the access rights to the first content;
updating, on the computing device, the local cache with the second communication endpoint and the second access rights indicator;
generating, by the computing device, the notification after checking the local cache and prior to checking the remote access control list, thereby reducing the latency between the action and the generating the notification, the checking the local cache determining that the local cache comprises both: (1) a recipient communication endpoint that will receive a recipient notification due to the action and (2) a recipient communication endpoint access rights indicator, associated with the recipient communication endpoint, indicating that the recipient communication endpoint does not have access rights to the first content; and
generating, by the computing device, the notification after checking the local cache and after subsequently checking the remote access control list, the checking the local cache determining that the local cache does not comprise the recipient communication endpoint, the checking the remote access control list determining that the recipient communication endpoint does not have access rights to the first content.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining, from the remote access control list, the first communication endpoint is performed after a predetermined delay after the first content was opened for editing, the action directed to the first content being part of the editing.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each communication endpoint specifies either a single computing device or a single individual user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the degrees of separation in the social graph are informed by metadata of the first content.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the degrees of separation in the social graph are informed by portions of the first content itself.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
re-checking, by referencing the remote access control list, whether communication endpoints in the local cache have the access rights; and
updating corresponding access rights indicators in the local cache;
wherein the re-checking and updating are performed in response to a pre-defined triggering event.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the pre-defined triggering event is an elapsing of a pre-defined amount of time since the first content was opened for editing, the action directed to the first content being part of the editing.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the second communication endpoint is limited by a pre-determined threshold maximum quantity of communication endpoints in the local cache.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, prior to the generating the local cache, that the access rights to the first content have already been granted to one other communication endpoint prior to first content being opened for editing, the action directed to the first content being part of the editing.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, prior to the generating the local cache, that an access rights sharing feature of an application with which the first content was opened for editing has been previously utilized, the action directed to the first content being part of the editing.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
parsing the first content to identify a third communication endpoint textually enumerated by the first content itself;
obtaining, from the remote access control list, an associated third access rights indicator indicating that the third communication endpoint has the access rights to the first content; and
updating the local cache with the third communication endpoint and the third access rights indicator.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining, from the social graph, a third communication endpoint, the third communication endpoint also being selected based on the degrees of separation in the social graph;
obtaining, from the remote access control list, a third access rights indicator associated with the third communication endpoint, the third access rights indicator indicating that the third communication endpoint does not have the access rights to the first content;
updating, on the computing device, the local cache with the third communication endpoint and the third access rights indicator.

13. A computing device comprising:
a processing unit; and
computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the computing device to:
obtain, from a remote access control list corresponding to a first content, a first communication endpoint that has access rights to the first content;
generate a local cache, on the computing device, comprising the first communication endpoint and an associated first access rights indicator indicating that the first communication endpoint has access rights to the first content;
obtain, from a social graph, a second communication endpoint, the second communication endpoint being selected based on degrees of separation in the social graph, the social graph delineating relationships between communication endpoints based at least in part on prior actions associated with the communication endpoints;
obtain, from the remote access control list, a second access rights indicator associated with the second communication endpoint, the second access rights indicator indicating that the second communication endpoint has the access rights to the first content;
update the local cache with the second communication endpoint and the second access rights indicator;
generate, in response to an action directed to the first content, a notification after checking the local cache and prior to checking the remote access control list, thereby reducing a latency between the action and the generating the notification, the checking the local cache determining that the local cache comprises both: (1) a recipient communication endpoint that will receive a recipient notification due to the action and (2) a recipient communication endpoint access rights indicator, associated with the recipient communication endpoint, indicating that the recipient communication endpoint does not have access rights to the first content; and
generate the notification after checking the local cache and after subsequently checking the remote access control list, the checking the local cache

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Wilde Benjamin

Classifications

• G06F21/604 Primary

  Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems · CPC title

• H04L67/568 Primary

  Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching · CPC title

• H04L67/535

  Tracking the activity of the user (network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34) · CPC title

• H04L63/101

  Access control lists [ACL] · CPC title

• H04L67/2842 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic