COLLABORATIVE SHARING OF CONTEXTUALLY SIMILAR CACHE DATA TO REDUCE NETWORK USAGE

• US 20140162608A1
• Filed: 12/06/2012
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte., Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cudak, Gary D., Do, Lydia M., Hardee, Christopher J., Roberts, Adam
• Application Number:
  US13/706,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20140162608A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1078 Resource delivery mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data

Abstract

A computer program product for controlling a wireless user device comprises computer usable program code for caching data downloaded from websites over a cellular communications network in response to user-entered requests for data; establishing near field communication directly between the wireless user device and other user devices within range of the near field communication; searching metadata stored by the other user devices, wherein the metadata is stored in association with cached data and describes one or more characteristic of the cached data; receiving a user request for data; for determining if the user request can be satisfied with cached data stored by a selected one of the other user devices; receiving cached data directly from the selected user device when the cached data satisfies the user request; and receiving data over the communications network when the cached data stored on the other user devices does not satisfy the user request.

Claims

1-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A computer program product including computer usable program code embodied on a tangible computer usable storage medium for controlling a wireless user device, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for caching data downloaded from websites over a cellular communications network in response to user-entered requests for data;

computer usable program code for establishing near field communication directly between the wireless user device and other user devices within range of the near field communication;

computer usable program code for searching metadata stored by the other user devices, wherein the metadata is stored in association with cached data and describes one or more characteristic of the cached data;

computer usable program code for receiving a user request for data;

computer usable program code for determining if the user request can be satisfied with cached data stored by a selected one of the other user devices;

computer usable program code for receiving cached data directly from the selected user device when the cached data satisfies the user request; and

computer usable program code for receiving data over the communications network when the cached data stored on the other user devices does not satisfy the user request.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the one or more characteristic of the cached data is selected from context, keywords, source, timestamp, and combinations thereof.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the computer usable program code for determining if the user request can be satisfied with cached data stored by a selected one of the other user devices, includes computer usable program code for determining if the cached data is contextually similar to the requested data.

29. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for displaying a prompt allowing a user to select whether the user device will receive the cached data from the selected user device or receive data over the communications network.

30. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for advertising the metadata stored on the user device to the other user devices within range of the near field communication.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, further comprising:

computer usable program code for receiving user input enabling or disabling the capability of the user device to advertise metadata and share cached data associated with the metadata; and

computer usable program code for increasing the amount of data cached by the user device in response to enabling the capability of the user device to advertise metadata and share cached data associated with the metadata.

32. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the data downloaded over the cellular communications network is selectively cached.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising:

computer usable program code for caching only single files having greater than a predetermined quantity of data.

34. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for caching the data received directly from one of the other user devices.

35. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for advertising the metadata stored on each of the other user devices; and

computer usable program code for searching the advertised metadata stored on each of the other user devices to locate metadata indicating that the associated data would satisfy the request, wherein the data that the wireless user device receives directly from the other user device is identified by being associated with the located metadata.

37. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the user devices exchange data directly using near field communication.

38. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the request for data includes entering a uniform resource locator into a web browser.

39. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the data is cached for a predetermined period of time.

40. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the data is cached for a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time varies according to the type or source of the data.

41. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for advertising the metadata stored on each user device to the rest of the user devices; and

computer usable program code for searching the advertised metadata stored on each of the other user devices to locate metadata indicating that the associated data is contextually similar to the requested data, wherein the data that the wireless user device automatically receives directly from the selected user device is identified by being associated with the located metadata.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the data is contextually similar to the requested data when the metadata contains one or more keywords in the request.

43. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the data is contextually similar to the requested data when the metadata indicates that the source provides data of the same type as the data requested.

44. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

computer usable program code for identifying, from among the other user devices, other user devices having data that is contextually similar to the data requested; and

computer usable program code for displaying a prompt on the wireless user device allowing a first user to select a user device from among the other user devices, wherein the wireless user device receives data directly from the selected other user device.

45. The computer program product of claim 44, wherein the prompt that is displayed on the wireless user device identifies the data that is available from each of the multiple other user devices.