Windows/Android synchronization Part 3

Abstract

Content synchronization between 2 devices embedded with different platform is normally a process of making sure that a clustered of computer files in certain locations on both devices can be modified (including deleting, inserting, updating) via some rules. Basically those rules are some data processing algorithms and can help improve the efficiency of file comparisons and file transfer, thus satisfying the needs of users. Basically there are two ways to do file synchronization according to the direction of file transfer. The first way is called one-way file synchronization, sometimes we also name it mirroring. By using this way, entire files must be transferred from the source device to the target device at the first connection. All the comparisons are done at the source side and no files are going to be transferred from target device to source device. The second way is called two-way file synchronization. Comparisons are done at both sides and file transfer is bidirectional also. The purpose of both ways is to keep files on both devices identical. Nowadays file synchronization is mainly used to do backup for smartphones or content sharing among people at different physical locations. The application (or software) must be capable to efficiently recognize identical files and automatically do the file transfer for the rest. Compared to manually updating, it can save a lot of time and ensure accuracy if a large number of files needs to be transferred. Take Dropbox as an example, it is a file hosting service provide a cloud storage to help users synchronize their files. It is widely used among university students. It consists of four basic components, cloud, specified folder, personal could and a software on client side. It cannot work if one of the mentioned components is blocked. This is because the mechanism of Dropbox. Every single modification of files in the designated file of the user will be uploaded to the cloud side. Then other users can retrieve the updates from the cloud. It is a typical server to client architecture. So it is not that robust compared to a P2P. If the server is done client cannot do anything. The transfer speed is also not stable especially for mobile devices. Many people nowadays use both Android device and Windows device. In most of the time, they prefer to use their tablet or smartphone to read documents rather than a PC. So it is very necessary to build such an application that can automatically help people to transfer their desired files from PC to their mobile devices. So for this final year project, three of us will build an android-based application to automatically synchronize files between an Android device and a Windows device. Certain directories on both sides will be used do the synchronization. It is a P2P based application and can start synchronization at any time once the connection has been established between two devices. Also the device can recognize each other if both of them are under the same network. Since it is a peer-to-peer network, it can indeed perform more stable and higher speed transfer compared to a cloud-based network.