Joining a distributed database

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9621644-B2
Application number	US-201314028059-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2013
Priority date	Sep 16, 2013
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A method may include a device joining a distributed database in a distributed physical access control system. The method may include storing first data in a first memory area of a memory. The first memory area may be designated to store data for a consensus-based distributed database (DB). The first data is to be added to the consensus-based distributed DB that is distributed among other devices in a network. The method may include copying the first data to a second memory area of the memory of the device and adding the device to the network, receiving data from the other devices in the network and adding the received data to the consensus-based distributed DB by storing the received data in the first memory area, and adding the first data to the consensus-based distributed DB by copying the first data from the second memory area to the first memory area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing device-specific data in a first memory area of a particular device,
wherein the first memory area is designated to store data for a consensus-based distributed database (DB),
wherein the device-specific data is to be added to the consensus-based distributed DB that is distributed among devices in a peer-to-peer network, wherein the devices in the peer-to-peer network include the particular device and peer devices,
wherein the consensus-based distributed DB is configured to effect a change in the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB when consensus to the change is reached by a quorum, wherein the quorum is a number less than a total number of devices in the peer-to-peer network among which the consensus-based distributed DB is distributed, and
wherein the device-specific data includes data to configure the particular device;

adding the device to the peer-to-peer network;
receiving data from one or more of the peer devices and adding the received data to the consensus-based distributed DB by storing the received data in the first memory area;
retaining the device-specific data in the particular device when adding the particular device to the peer-to-peer network, wherein retaining the device-specific data includes:
copying the device-specific data to a second memory area of the particular device, and after copying the device-specific to the second memory area of the particular device and after adding the particular device to the peer-to-peer network:
copying the device-specific data from the second memory area to the first memory area and changing the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB by adding the device-specific data to the consensus-based distributed DB, and

distributing, after adding the device-specific data to the consensus-based distributed DB, the device-specific data to the peer devices in the peer-to-peer network as part of the consensus-based distributed DB.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second memory area is designated to store data for a non-consensus-based DB.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the device-specific data includes configuration data to configure a controller in a distributed control system.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the configuration data includes data that defines peripherals connected to the controller.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device includes a controller in a distributed physical access control system (DPACS) and the peer devices include other controllers in the DPACS, and the device-specific data includes data to configure the controller.

6. A method comprising:
storing a consensus-based distributed database (DB) in a first memory area of a memory in a particular device,
wherein the particular device is connected to a peer-to-peer network of peer devices that distributes the consensus-based distributed DB among devices in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the devices in the peer-to-peer network include the particular device and peer devices,
wherein the consensus-based distributed DB is configured to effect a change in the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB when consensus to the change is reached by a quorum, wherein the quorum is a number less than a total number of devices in the peer-to-peer network among which the consensus-based distributed DB is distributed, and
wherein the consensus-based distributed DB stores device-specific data to configure the particular device;

retaining the device-specific data in the particular device when removing the particular device from the peer-to-peer network, wherein retaining the device-specific data includes:
copying the device-specific data to a second memory area of the particular device;
removing the particular device from the peer-to-peer network after copying the device-specific data to the second memory area;
deleting data in the consensus-based distributed DB after copying the device-specific data to the second memory area and after removing the particular device from the peer-to-peer network; and
copying the device-specific data from the second memory area to the first memory area and changing the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB by adding the device-specific data to the consensus-based distributed DB after deleting the data in the consensus-based distributed DB.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second memory area is designated to store data for a non-consensus-based DB.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the device-specific data includes configuration data to configure a controller in a distributed control system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the configuration data defines peripherals connected to the particular device.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the particular device is a controller in a distributed physical access control system (DPACS), and wherein the peer devices include other controllers in the DPACS.

11. A device comprising:
a first memory area of the device to store device-specific data for a consensus-based distributed database (DB),
wherein the device-specific data is to be added to the consensus-based distributed DB that is distributed among devices in a peer-to-peer network, wherein the devices in the peer-to-peer network include the particular device and peer devices,
wherein the consensus-based distributed DB is configured to effect a change in the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB when consensus to the change is reached by a quorum, wherein the quorum is a number less than a total number of devices in the peer-to-peer network among which the consensus-based distributed DB is distributed, and
wherein the device-specific data is for configuring the device;

a processor to add the device to the peer-to-peer network;
a receiver to receive data from the peer devices in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the processor is configured to store the received data in the first memory area and add the received data to the consensus-based distributed DB, and
wherein the processor is also configured to retain the device-specific data in the device when adding the device to the peer-to-peer network, wherein the processor is configured to:
copy the device-specific data to a second memory area of the device, and after copying the device-specific to the second memory area of the device and after adding the device to the peer-to-peer network, the processor is configured to:
copy the device-specific data from the second memory area to the first memory area, and change the data stored in the consensus-based distributed DB by adding the device-specific data to the consensus-based distributed DB after adding the device to the peer-to-peer network; and

a transmitter to transmit the device-specific data to the peer devices in the peer-to-peer network as part of the consensus-based distributed DB.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the second memory area is designated to store data for a non-consensus-based DB.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the device-specific data includes configuration data to configure a controller in a distributed control system.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the configuration data defines peripherals connected to the controller.

15. The device of claim 14 , further comprising a controller in a distributed physical access control system (DPACS) and the peer devices comprise other controllers in the DPACS.

16. A device including:
a first memory area in the device to store a consensus-based distributed database (DB),
wherein the device is connected to a peer-to-peer network that d

Assignees

• Axis Ab

Inventors

• Bruce Mathias

Classifications

• G06F16/1837

  Management specially adapted to peer-to-peer storage networks (topology management mechanisms of peer-to-peer networks H04L67/1042) · CPC title

• G06F11/1415

  at system level · CPC title

• H04L67/104 Primary

  Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks · CPC title

• G06F11/182

  based on mutual exchange of the output between redundant processing components · CPC title

• G06F9/4806 Primary

  Task transfer initiation or dispatching · CPC title