System and Method for Content and Application Acceleration in a Wireless Communications System

• US 20120011271A1
• Filed: 07/07/2010
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Wang, Guo Qiang, Zhao, Jim
• Granted Patent: US 9,420,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A system and method for content and application acceleration in a wireless communications system are provided. A method for transmitting data includes receiving a block of data from a content provider, generating a signature from the block of data, and determining if the signature exists in a content cache. The content cache includes previously transmitted signatures and blocks of data associated with the previously transmitted signatures. The method also includes if the signature exists in the content cache, saving the signature but not the block of data in a buffer. The method further includes if the signature does not exist in the content cache, saving the block of data in the buffer. The method additionally includes transmitting contents of the buffer over a backhaul link.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data, the method comprising:

receiving a block of data from a content provider;

generating a signature from the block of data;

determining if the signature exists in a content cache, wherein the content cache comprises previously transmitted signatures and blocks of data associated with the previously transmitted signatures;

if the signature exists in the content cache, saving the signature but not the block of data in a buffer;

if the signature does not exist in the content cache, saving the block of data in the buffer;

transmitting contents of the buffer over a backhaul link.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising dividing the block of data into a plurality of blocks of data, wherein the blocks of data in the plurality of blocks of data are of a same size or of variable sizes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein saving the block of data further comprises saving the signature.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, if the signature does not exist in the content cache, the method further comprises adding the signature and the block of data to the content cache.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein adding the signature and the block of data to the content cache comprises:

determining if the content cache is full;

if the content cache is full,

selecting a signature to be deleted, and

saving the signature and the block of data over the signature to be deleted and a block of data associated with the signature to be deleted; and

if the content cache is not full saving the signature and the block of data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting a signature to be deleted comprises selecting a signature based on a first in first out (FIFO) technique, a least recently used (LRU) technique, a segmented LRU technique, a least frequently used (LFU) technique, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple blocks of data are received, and wherein the generating, the determining, the if the signature exists in the content cache, and the if the signature does not exist in the content cache is repeated for each block of data in the multiple blocks of data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple blocks of data are processed in an order in which they are received.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple blocks of data are processed in an ordering of the blocks of data as specified by a source of the multiple blocks of data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the block of data is received responsive to a request for the block of data by a user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising generating a user-flow signature for a user requesting the block of data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein saving the signature in a buffer further comprises updating the user-flow signature.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein saving the block of data in the buffer further comprises saving the block of data in the user-flow signature.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein saving the block of data in the buffer further comprises:

saving the signature in the buffer; and

saving the signature in the user-flow signature.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a signature comprises applying a hashing function to the block of data.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the contents of the buffer are transmitted to multiple recipients over multiple communications links.

17. A method for processing data, the method comprising:

requesting content from a provider;

receiving a transmission over a backhaul link, the transmission being based on the request;

determining if the transmission comprises a signature without a block of data or a signature and a block of data;

if the transmission comprises the signature without a block of data, retrieving an associated block of data from a content cache based on the signature;

if the transmission comprises the signature and the block of data, saving the signature and the block of data in the content cache; and

processing the block of data.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein processing the block of data comprises transmitting the block of data to a requester of the content.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein transmitting the block of data to a requester is made over a first connection different from a second connection used to receive the transmission over the backhaul link.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first connection comprises a wireless link.

21. A communications device comprising:

a receiver configured to receive incoming information from a data input port;

a transmitter configured to transmit outgoing information to a data output port;

a controller coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver, the controller configured to control transmissions to and from other communications devices; and

a content acceleration unit coupled to the controller, to the transmitter, and to the receiver, the content acceleration unit configured to reduce a bandwidth utilization of a backhaul link in a wireless communications system by compressing blocks of data provided by a content provider based on a request from a user.

22. The communications device of claim 21, wherein the content acceleration unit is further configured to divide a data payload, to generate signatures based on the divided data payload, and to maintain a content cache.

23. The communications device of claim 22, wherein the content acceleration unit comprises:

a payload divide unit coupled to the receiver, the payload divide unit configured to divide the data payload in the incoming information into a plurality of blocks;

a signature unit coupled to the payload divide unit, the signature unit configured to generate a signature from each block of the plurality of blocks, wherein the signature unit generates a unique signature from each unique block; and

a cache handler unit coupled to the payload divide unit and to the signature unit, the cache handler unit configured to store blocks in the content cache and retrieve blocks from the content cache based on their signatures.

24. The communications device of claim 23, wherein the content acceleration unit further comprises a payload compress/decompress unit coupled to the cache handler unit, to the payload divide unit, and to the signature unit, the payload compress/decompress unit configured to compress a block of data to be transmitted over the backhaul link or decompress a block of data received over the communications link.

25. The communications device of claim 22, wherein the content acceleration unit is further configured to intercept and re-direct traffic.