1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly, to processing of captured data events by computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional computer systems, in some embodiments, may be configured to support the collection of data from devices such as measurement devices. For example, in a laboratory or industrial process control environment, various measurement devices may be configured to collect data pertaining to various environmental variables. Measurement devices including sensors and transducers may be distributed throughout the measurement environment and configured to convey their observations to a computer system, which may collect and process received data as well as coordinate the configuration and operation of the various devices. A computer system configured to perform such tasks may also be referred to herein as a data capture system.
In some instances, measurement devices may be configured to convey their observations to the data capture system as those observations are made, which rate may depend entirely on the behavior of the measurement environment. In such instances, the rate of data flow from the measurement devices to the data capture system may vary dramatically over time, as the corresponding measured environmental variables change.
A data capture system may be configured to process data observations as they are received, and may attempt to do so with additional constraints such as a maximum limit on the time delay between receipt of a data observation and its processing. However, variability in the rate at which observations are made may complicate the processing task of the data capture system. The data capture system may incur processing overhead in the course of performing protocol operations to receive data observations, transporting those observations internally, and processing observations. High processing overhead, particularly when combined with a high rate of receipt of data observations, may result in delays in data processing or even data loss.