Speed sensitive content delivery in a client-server network

• US 20040255019A1
• Filed: 05/05/2004
• Published: 12/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Varsanyi, Eric, Padua, Vincent M., Duclos, Phil J., Trescott, Robert C. Jr., Jardin, Cary A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,673,026 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/263 Rate modification at the source after receiving feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/35 involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/59 using proxies for addressing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The response time from a client on a network is measured and a destination address is selected based on the measured response time. The client requests an address from the network. The network may be a local network or a wide area network such as the Internet. The response time of the client is measured to determine the optimum speed at which the client may operate. The measured response time is communicated to the server, where a destination address is selected based on the requested address and the measured response time. The client may then be connected to the destination address.

Claims

1. A method of enhancing data delivery comprising:

sending a first packet from a client interface to a remote terminal at a first time;

receiving at the client interface a second packet from the remote terminal at a second time;

determining a response time of the remote terminal at the client interface based on a time period between the first time and the second time;

using said response time to determine information related to a connection speed between the remote terminal and the client interface;

providing a plurality of different content versions, each having a different amount of information, each content version being optimized for a specific connection speed;

based on said determined connection speed, automatically selecting a content version from said plurality of content versions; and

providing the remote terminal with the selected content version.

2. The method o f claim 1, further comprising determining a data flow rate from the determined response time of the remote terminal, and wherein the determining the response time comprises:

starting a timer at the first time when the client interface sends the first packet to the remote terminal; and

stopping the timer at the second time when the client interface receives the second acknowledgement packet from the remote terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining network congestion based on the determined response time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the response time based on a timing of a handshake between the remote terminal and the client interface.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the destination address from a plurality of addresses is based on a requested address by the remote terminal and the determined response time.

6. A method of connecting a remote terminal to a server comprising:

sending a first packet from a client interface to the remote terminal;

receiving at the client interface a second packet from the remote terminal;

determining a response time of the remote terminal at the client interface based on a time period elapsing between the first packet being sent and the second packet being received;

using said response time to determine a connection speed between the remote terminal and the client interface;

providing a plurality of content versions, each content version having a different amount of information at a server coupled to the client interface, each content version being optimized for a specific connection speed;

receiving a request for content;

based on said connection speed, selecting a version corresponding to the request; and

communicating data indicating the selected version to the remote terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a data flow rate from the remote terminal based on the response time.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the requested destination address includes a main destination address and a plurality of sub-addresses, each of said sub-addresses corresponding to a connection speed and optimized for a said connection speed.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a network congestion based on the determined response time.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising connecting the remote terminal to the selected destination address.

11. An apparatus, including instructions residing on a machine-readable storage medium, for use in a machine-based system to handle a plurality of instructions, the instructions causing the machine system to:

send a first packet from a client interface to the remote terminal;

receive at the client interface a second packet from the remote terminal;

determine a response time of the remote terminal at the client interface based on a time period between the first packet being sent and the second packet being received;

use said response time to determine a connection speed between the remote terminal and the client interface;

access a plurality of content versions, each content version having a different amount of content, and each content version being optimized for a specific connection speed;

receive a request for content;

based on said determined connection speed, select a content version corresponding to the request; and

communicate the selected version to the remote terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the machine system to connect the remote terminal to the selected destination address.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the response time includes effects for network congestion.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the response time is determined based on the timing of a handshake between the remote terminal and the client interface.