SERVER-BASED BROWSER SYSTEM

• US 20090300111A1
• Filed: 08/04/2009
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mercury Kingdom Assets Limited
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: RANA, Ahad
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,637 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• 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 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC

Abstract

A server-based browser system provides a server-based browser and a client system browser. The client browser reports the position of a user click on its display screen, hotspot ID, or URL to the server-side browser which retrieves a Document Object Model (DOM) model and view tree for the client and finds the location on the Web page that the user clicked on using the coordinates or hotspot ID received from the client. If there is a script associated with the location, it is executed and the resulting page location is requested from the appropriate server. If there is a URL associated with the location, it is requested from the appropriate server. The response Web page HTML definition is parsed and a DOM tree model is created which is used to create a view tree model. The server-side browser retrieves a style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints for the client device and lays out the view model using them onto a virtual page and determines the visual content. Textual and positional information are highly compressed and formatted into a stream and sent to the client browser which decodes the stream and displays the page to the user using the textual and positional information.

Claims

1. A process for a server-based Web browser that interacts with a plurality of client device types, comprising the steps of:

a server-based browser receiving a web page from a web server;

said server-based browser creating a layout of said web page received from said web server by determining the content elements present in said web page and determining position of each content element within said web page

said server-based browser creating a compressed stream containing said content elements and the position information of each content element;

said server sending said compressed stream to a client-based browser that accepts said compressed stream; and

said client-based browser decompressing said compressed stream and displaying said content elements using said position information.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing a database of style sheets on a storage device for supported client devices;

providing a database of layout algorithms on said storage device for supported client devices;

providing a database of device constraint information on said storage device for supported client devices;

wherein said server-based browser retrieves a style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints from said storage device for said client system; and

wherein said server-based browser lays out said Web page based on said client system'"'"'s style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints.

3. The process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

parsing said Web page'"'"'s HTML code to create a Document Object Model (DOM) tree;

creating a view tree using said DOM tree; and

storing said DOM tree and said view tree on a storage device for said client system.

4. The process of claim 3, wherein said client-based browser accepts a URL from a user or determines a position or hotspot ID of a user'"'"'s click or press on a display page, wherein said client browsing means sends said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID to said server-based browser, and wherein said server-based browser accepts said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID from said client-based browser means.

5. The process of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

said server-based browser retrieving a DOM tree and view tree from said storage device for said client system;

determining the location of said position or hotspot ID on said Web page using said view tree;

finding a script or URL associated with the location using said DOM tree;

wherein if a script is associated with the location then executing the script and determining the resulting URL; and

requesting the Web page associated with said resulting URL or said associated URL from the appropriate server.

6. The process of claim 3, further comprising the step of:

saving said client system'"'"'s state information on said storage device for a particular user;

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information includes Javascripts and cookies; and

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information allows said browsing means to track the current state of said client system and the particular user.

7. An apparatus for a server-based Web browser that interacts with a plurality of client device types, comprising:

a server-based browser for creating a layout of a web page received from a web server by determining the content elements present in said web page and determining position of each content element within said web page;

wherein said server-based browser creates a compressed stream containing said content elements and the position information of each content element;

a client-based browser for accepting said compressed stream;

means on said server for sending said compressed stream to said client-based browser;

wherein said client-based browser decompresses said compressed stream and displays said content elements using said position information.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, said server-based browser further comprising:

a database of style sheets on a storage device for supported client devices;

a database of layout algorithms on said storage device for supported client devices;

a database of device constraint information on said storage device for supported client devices;

wherein said server-based browser means retrieves a style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints from said storage device for said client system; and

wherein said server-based browser lays out said Web page based on said client system'"'"'s style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, said server-based browser further comprising:

a module for parsing, said Web page'"'"'s HTML code to create a Document Object Model (DOM) tree;

a module for creating a view tree using said DOM tree; and

a module for storing said DOM tree and said view tree on a storage device for said client system.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said client-based browser accepts a URL from a user or determines a position or hotspot ID of a user'"'"'s click or press on a display page, wherein said client-based browser sends said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID to said server-based browser, and wherein said server-based browser accepts said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID from said client-based browser.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, said server-based browser further comprising:

a module for retrieving a DOM tree and view tree from said storage device for said client system;

a module for determining the location of said position or hotspot ID on said Web page using said view tree;

a module for finding a script or URL associated with the location using said DOM tree;

wherein if a script is associated with the location then executing the script and determining the resulting URL; and

a module for requesting the Web page associated with said resulting URL or said associated URL from the appropriate server.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, said server-based browser further comprising:

a module for saving said client system'"'"'s state information on said storage device for a particular user;

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information includes Javascripts and cookies; and

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information allows said server-based browser further comprising to track the current state of said client system and the particular user.

13. A program storage medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform a method for a server-based Web browser that interacts with a plurality of client device types, comprising the steps of:

a server-based browser receiving a web page from a web server;

said server-based browser creating a layout of said web page received from said web server by determining the content elements present in said web page and determining position of each content element within said web page

said server-based browser creating a compressed stream containing said content elements and the position information of each content element;

said server sending said compressed stream to a client-based browser that accepts said compressed stream; and

said client-based browser decompressing said compressed stream and displaying said content elements using said position information.

14. The program storage medium of claim 13, said method further comprising the steps of:

providing a database of style sheets on a storage device for supported client devices;

providing a database of layout algorithms on said storage device for supported client devices;

providing a database of device constraint information on said storage device for supported client devices;

wherein said server-based browser retrieves a style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints from said storage device for said client system; and

wherein said server-based browser lays out said Web page based on said client system'"'"'s style sheet, layout algorithms, and device constraints.

15. The program storage medium of claim 13, said method further comprising the steps of:

parsing said Web page'"'"'s HTML code to create a Document Object Model (DOM) tree;

creating a view tree using said DOM tree; and

storing said DOM tree and said view tree on a storage device for said client system.

16. The program storage medium of claim 15, wherein said client-based browser accepts a URL from a user or determines a position or hotspot ID of a user'"'"'s click or press on a display page, wherein said client browsing means sends said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID to said server-based browser, and wherein said server-based browser accepts said URL, said position, or said hotspot ID from said client-based browser means.

17. The program storage medium of claim 16, said method further comprising the steps of:

said server-based browser retrieving a DOM tree and view tree from said storage device for said client system;

determining the location of said position or hotspot ID on said Web page using said view tree;

finding a script or URL associated with the location using said DOM tree;

wherein if a script is associated with the location then executing the script and determining the resulting URL; and

requesting the Web page associated with said resulting URL or said associated URL from the appropriate server.

18. The program storage medium of claim 16, said method further comprising the step of:

saving said client system'"'"'s state information on said storage device for a particular user;

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information includes Javascripts and cookies; and

wherein said client system'"'"'s state information allows said browsing means to track the current state of said client system and the particular user.