SYSTEMS, DEVICES AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTED CONTENT PRE-FETCHING IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

• US 20170085670A1
• Filed: 12/01/2016
• Published: 03/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Senarath, Nimal Gamini, Leroux, Philippe, Stephenne, Alex, Akhavain Mohammadi, Mehdi Arashmid, Callard, Aaron
• Granted Patent: US 9,930,135 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

There are disclosed systems, devices, and methods for distributing pre-fetch data. A parent node obtains pre-fetch data comprising at least one of: i) data expected to be of interest to a particular user, pre-fetched by the parent node from at least one data source; and (ii) at least one identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user, for pre-fetching the identified data at a child node. The parent node selects first and second subsets of the pre-fetch data for transmission, respectively, to first and second child nodes, the selecting based on at least a predicted future location of the particular user and a respective geographic location of the first and second child nodes; and transmits the first and second subsets of the pre-fetch data, respectively, to the first and second child nodes.

Claims

1. A method at a parent node for distributing pre-fetch data to at least two child nodes, the method comprising:

obtaining pre-fetch data comprising at least one of;

(i) data expected to be of interest to a particular user, pre-fetched by the parent node from at least one data source by way of at least one data network; and

(ii) at least one identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user, for pre-fetching the identified data at at least one of the child nodes;

selecting a first subset and a second subset of the pre-fetch data for transmission, respectively, to a first child node and a second child node of the at least two child nodes, the selecting based on at least a predicted future location of the particular user and a respective geographic location of the first and second child nodes; and

transmitting the first subset and the second subset of the pre-fetch data, respectively, to the first child node and the second child node by way of the at least one data network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a desired location as the geographic location of a given one of the first and second child nodes based on at least the predicted future location of the particular user.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting a request to a device at the desired location to function as the given one of the first and second child nodes.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining when previously pre-fetched data is updated at the at least one data source.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

pre-fetching the updated data and transmitting the updated data to at least one of the child nodes.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

transmitting a request to at least one of the child nodes to pre-fetch the updated data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user from a device operated by the particular user; and

pre-fetching the identified data using the received identifier from at least one data source by way of the at least one data network.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing an authorized connection with the at least one data source.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating predictions of data expected to be of interest to the particular user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting is based on a numerical likelihood of particular portions of the pre-fetch data being of interest to the particular user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting is based on at least one of:

network transmission characteristics associated with data communication with at least one of the child nodes, a prediction of how soon data will be needed, content quantity, user cost preferences, traffic associated with other users, and data security requirements.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the network transmission characteristics comprise at least one of:

a data rate, a latency, a capacity, a congestion state, and a cost.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data source includes a cache, and the data pre-fetched at the parent node comprises data cached at the at least one data source.

14. A network node for distributing pre-fetch data, the node comprising:

a network interface for interconnection with at least two child nodes by at least one data network; and

at least one processor in communication with the network interface, the at least one processor configured to;

obtain pre-fetch data comprising at least one of;

(i) data expected to be of interest to a particular user, pre-fetched by the network node from at least one data source by way of the network interface; and

(ii) at least one identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user, for pre-fetching the identified data at at least one of the child nodes;

select a first subset and a second subset of the pre-fetch data for transmission, respectively, to a first child node and a second child node of the at least two child nodes, the selecting based on at least a predicted future location of the particular user and a respective geographic location of the first and second child nodes; and

transmit, by way of the network interface, the first subset and the second subset of the pre-fetch data, respectively, to the first child node and the second child node.

15. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to select a desired location as the geographic location of a given one of the first and second child nodes based on at least the predicted future location of the particular user.

16. The network node of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit, by way of the network interface, a request to a device at the desired location to function as the given one of the first and second child nodes.

17. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine when previously pre-fetched data is updated at the at least one data source.

18. The network node of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to pre-fetch the updated data and transmit the updated data to at least one of the child nodes.

19. The network node of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit a request to at least one of the child nodes to pre-fetch the updated data.

20. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive an identifier identifying data expected to be of interest to the particular user from a device operated by the particular user; and

pre-fetch the identified data using the received identifier from at least one data source by way of the at least one network interface.

21. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to establish an authorized connection with the at least one data source.

22. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate predictions of data expected to be of interest to the particular user.

23. The network node of claim 14, wherein the selecting is based on a numerical likelihood of particular portions of the pre-fetch data being of interest to the particular user.

24. The network node of claim 14, wherein the selecting is based on at least one of:

network transmission characteristics associated with data communication with at least one of the child nodes, a prediction of how soon data will be needed, content quantity, user cost preferences, traffic associated with other users, and data security requirements.

25. The network node of claim 24, wherein the network transmission characteristics comprise at least one of:

a data rate, a latency, a capacity, a congestion state, and a cost.

26. The network node of claim 14, wherein the at least one data source includes a cache, and the data pre-fetched at the network node comprises data cached at the at least one data source.