{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9696919","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9696919","title":"Source/copy reference tracking with block pointer sets","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2015-03-31T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-07-04T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G06F","G06F","G06F","G06F"],"num_claims":20,"abstract":"A technique for managing file systems that support block sharing places a source/copy attribute in each block pointer. The source/copy attribute identifies the respective block pointer as either a source-block pointer or a copy-block pointer. A reference count on each data block maintains a count of the number of source-block pointers pointing to the data block but excludes the number of copy-block pointers pointing to the data block. Block pointers are arranged in block pointer sets (BPSs), and sharing relationships are formed among BPSs and copies of BPSs. The sharing relationships generally keep most block sharing information at the BPS level, with reference counts on data blocks tracking only the number of source-block pointers, which is typically small, often being equal to one."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Source/copy reference tracking with block pointer sets","description":"A technique for managing file systems that support block sharing places a source/copy attribute in each block pointer. The source/copy attribute identifies the respective block pointer as either a sou","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9696919","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9696919","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Source/copy reference tracking with block pointer sets\" (US-9696919). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9696919","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9696919","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9696919","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T10:57:40.115Z"}