System and Method for Scheduling Downloading in a Cached Network Environment
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of scheduling downloading for a downloading system comprising:
- receiving a request for a content file, the request having a service time and a specified cache server;
listing the request in a job list in chronological order according to service time. the job list having a scheduling pointer initialized to a request for a content file at a top of the job list;
determining whether the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer is stored on the specified cache server and whether free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request; and
upon determining that the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer is not stored on the specified cache server and that the free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request, downloading the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer to the specified cache server.
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Abstract
A system and method schedules downloading of content files from a content server to a client through a cache server. A user can request a content file for future delivery at a certain service time at a certain location such as a hotspot. A cache server receives these requests and sorts them in an order which depends on the relative service times, and eliminates redundancies by only downloading content files not already stored in the cache server. A scheduling algorithm minimizes the instances of tardiness under the constraint of cache storage capacity.
43 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of scheduling downloading for a downloading system comprising:
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receiving a request for a content file, the request having a service time and a specified cache server; listing the request in a job list in chronological order according to service time. the job list having a scheduling pointer initialized to a request for a content file at a top of the job list; determining whether the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer is stored on the specified cache server and whether free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request; and upon determining that the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer is not stored on the specified cache server and that the free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request, downloading the content file required for the request at the scheduling pointer to the specified cache server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system comprising:
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a cache server having a job list; means to process a user request that a content file be available on the cache server at a service time; means to add the request to the job list and arrange the job list in chronological order according to service time. the job list having a scheduling pointer initialized at a request for a content file at a top of the job list; means to determine whether the content file required by the request at the scheduling pointer is stored on the cache server and whether free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request; means to send a request to a content source to download the content file required by the request at the scheduling pointer to the cache server when it is determined that the content file required for the request at scheduling pointer is not stored on the cache server and that the free space exists on the specified cache server to store the content file required for the request; and means to grant a downloading request from the cache server. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification