Systems and methods for accelerating data retrieval

• US 20050108246A1
• Filed: 06/22/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dillon, Doug
• Application Number:
  US10/873,993
• Publication Number:
  US 20050108246A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability

Abstract

A system for retrieving data includes a transmitter, a receiver and logic. The logic receives a command from a client for retrieving data stored on a server. The logic transmits the first command to the server via the transmitter. The logic also transmits at least one additional command to the server without additional input from the client, where the additional command is based on the first command.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one logic device configured to;

receive a first command from a client for retrieving an electronic mail (email) message stored on a server,

transmit the first command to the server, and

transmit at least one additional command to the server, the at least one additional command being transmitted without additional input from the client and being based on the first command.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first command and the at least one additional command comprise post office protocol (POP) 3 retrieval commands.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first command comprises a command for retrieving a first email message stored on the server and the at least one additional command comprises a second command for retrieving a second email message stored on the server.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

a memory configured to store responses from the server.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one logic device is further configured to:

receive the second command from the client,

determine whether a response to the second command is stored in the memory, and

forward, from the memory, the response to the second command to the client when the response is stored in the memory.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one logic device is further configured to:

wait until the response to the second command is received from the server, when the response is not stored in the memory, and

forward the response to the second command to the client after the response to the second command is received.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one logic device is further configured to:

receive a log in related command from the client,

transmit the log in related command to the server, and

transmit at least one of a statistics related command and a list related command to the server without further input from the client.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the log in related command comprises a command for transmitting a password, the statistics related command comprises a command for retrieving information indicating a number of messages waiting to be retrieved from the server and the list related command comprises a command for retrieving information regarding a size of each message waiting to be retrieved from the server, and wherein when transmitting at least one of the statistics related command and list related command, the at least one logic device is configured to:

transmit the statistics related command and the list related command to the server without further input from the client.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a memory configured to store information received from the server;

wherein the at least one logic device is further configured to;

transmit the statistics related command and the list related command to the server,

receive responses to the statistics related command and the list related command,

store the responses in the memory, and

forward the respective responses to the statistics related command and the list related command from the memory to the client, in response to receipt of the statistics related command and list related command from the client.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one logic device is configured to transmit the first command and the at least one additional command via a satellite link.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one logic device and the client are implemented in a same terminal device.

12. A method for retrieving data, comprising:

receiving a first command from an email client;

transmitting the first command to a server; and

transmitting at least one additional command to the server without additional input from the email client, the at least one additional command comprising a command expected to be received from the email client.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first command comprises a command for retrieving a first message stored on the server and the at least one additional command comprises a second command for retrieving a second message stored on the server, the method further comprising:

receiving the second command from the email client;

determining whether a response to the second command is stored in a memory; and

forwarding, from the memory, the response to the second command to the client, when the response is stored in the memory.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

waiting until the response to the second command is received from the server, when the response is not stored in the memory; and

forwarding the response to the second command to the email client after it is received.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first command is associated with logging into an account on the server and the at least one additional command comprises at least one of a statistics related command or a list related command, the method further comprising:

receiving responses to the first command and the at least one additional command;

storing the response to the at least one additional command in a memory; and

forwarding the response to the at least one additional command from the memory upon receiving a command corresponding to the at least one additional command from the email client.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the first command and the at least one additional command are transmitted via a satellite link.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of delete commands from the email client;

immediately responding to the email client regarding each of the plurality of delete commands;

storing at least some of the plurality of delete commands in a memory; and

transmitting the stored delete commands to the server.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a quit command from the email client;

determining whether a response to each of the plurality of delete commands has been received; and

forwarding the quit command to the server after responses to each of the plurality of delete commands has been received.

19. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of sequences of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive a first command from a client, the first command being associated with accessing electronic mail (email) messages stored on a server;

transmit the first command to the server; and

transmit at least one additional command to the server, the at least one additional command being transmitted without additional input from the client and prior to receiving a response to the first command, where the at least one additional command is based on the first command.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first command and the at least one additional command comprise post office protocol (POP) 3 retrieval commands.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first command comprises a command for retrieving a first email message stored on the server and the at least one additional command comprises a plurality of commands for retrieving a plurality of additional email messages stored on the server.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, further including instructions for causing the at least one processor to:

receive a response to the first command;

forward the response to the client;

receive responses to at least some of the plurality of commands;

store the received responses to the plurality of commands;

receive a second command from the client;

identify a stored response corresponding to the second command; and

forward the stored response corresponding to the second command to the client.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, further including instructions for causing the processor to:

wait until the response to the second command is received from the server, when the response has not been received; and

forward the response to the second command to the client after it is received.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first command is a log in related command and the at least one additional command comprises at least one of a statistics related command for retrieving information indicating a number of email messages waiting to be retrieved from the server or a list related command for retrieving information regarding a size of each email message waiting to be retrieved from the server.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, and wherein when transmitting the at least one additional command to the server, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the statistics related command and the list related command to the server without additional input from the client.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the least one processor is further configured to:

receive responses to the statistics related command and the list related command;

store the responses; and

forward the respective responses to the statistics related command and the list related command to the client, in response to receipt of the statistics related command and list related command from the client.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the first command and the at least one additional command via a satellite link.

28. A system for retrieving data, comprising:

means for receiving a first command from a client, the first command being associated with retrieving data stored on a server;

means for transmitting the first command to the server; and

means for transmitting at least one additional command to the server, the at least one additional command being transmitted without additional input from the client and being based on the first command.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising:

means for receiving responses to the first command and the at least one additional command;

means for forwarding the response to the first command to the client;

means for storing the received response to the at least one additional command;

means for receiving a second command from the client corresponding to the at least one additional command; and

means for forwarding the stored response to the at least one additional command to the client in response to receiving the second command from the client.

30. A device, comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit Internet Protocol (IP) data;

a receiver configured to receive IP data; and

logic coupled to the transmitter and receiver, the logic configured to;

receive a first command from an email client for retrieving data,

transmit the first command to a server via the transmitter,

transmit at least one additional command to the server via the transmitter without further input from the email client and the at least one additional command being based on the first command,

receive a response to the first command via the receiver,

forward the response to the email client,

receive a response to the at least one additional command via the receiver,

buffer the response to the at least one additional command, and

forward the buffered response to the at least one additional command to the email client in response to receiving a command from the email client corresponding to the at least one additional command.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the at least one additional command comprises at least one of a statistics related command, a list related command or a retrieval related command.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit IP data via a satellite link and the receiver is configured to receive IP data via a satellite link.

33. A terminal device configured to transmit and receive data via satellite, comprising:

a memory configured to store data; and

at least one logic device configured to;

receive a first command from a client for retrieving data,

transmit the first command to a server via satellite,

transmit, without further input from the client, at least one additional command to the server via satellite, the at least one additional command being based on the first command,

receive a response to the first command via satellite,

forward the response to the client,

receive a response to the at least one additional command via satellite,

buffer the response to the at least one additional command, and

forward the buffered response to the at least one additional command to the client in response to receiving a command from the client corresponding to the at least one additional command.

34. The terminal device of claim 33, further comprising:

a processor configured to execute an electronic mail program.

35. A system, comprising:

at least one logic device configured to;

receive a first command from a client for retrieving an electronic mail (email) message stored on a server,

transmit the first command to the server, and

transmit at least one additional command to the server, the at least one additional command being transmitted prior to receiving a response to the first command.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one additional command comprises a plurality of commands transmitted without additional input from the client and being based on the first command.

37. The system of claim 35, where the at least one additional command is transmitted with the first command or in close time proximity to the first command.

38. A satellite terminal, comprising:

a switch configured to;

receive a command associated with electron mail (email) retrieval, and

redirect the command; and

an email retrieval proxy configured to;

receive the redirected command, and

forward the redirected command to an email server.

39. The satellite terminal of claim 38, wherein the switch performs transport layer processing and the email retrieval is performed in accordance with post office protocol version 3.