ACCELERATING CONNECTIONS TO A HOST SERVER

• US 20180367645A1
• Filed: 12/02/2016
• Published: 12/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Inventors: LEPESKA, PETER J, TSILLAS, DEMETRIOS J
• Granted Patent: US 11,870,836 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics

Abstract

In anticipation of a client device establishing a connection over a network with a remote host service, a pre-connect module generates a connection request (referred to herein as a “pre-connect request”) on behalf of the client device and sends the pre-connect request to the remote host server. The remote server responds with a connection response (referred to herein as a “pre-connect response”), which is pre-positioned on the client-side of the network along with information for generating a later connection request that is in material respects the same as the pre-connect request. Then, when the client device later seeks to establish a connection with the remote host server, the client device determines whether it has in local storage generation information for generating a connection request to the remote host server. If so, the client device uses the generation information to generate a connection request that is in material respects the same as the pre-connect request. An interceptor on the client-side of the network intercepts connection requests and determines whether a corresponding pre-connect response is locally stored. If so, the interceptor sends the locally stored pre-connect response as a complete response to the intercepted request, which can be discarded.

Claims

1. A method of accelerating setup of a persistent connection over a network between a client device and a remote host server, where establishing the connection requires a connection request by the client device and a corresponding connection response by the remote host server, the method comprising:

generating, by a pre-connect module on a server-side of the network, a pre-connect request on behalf of the client device;

sending the pre-connect request to the remote host server;

receiving, at the pre-connect module, a pre-connect response from the remote host server in response to the pre-connect request; and

prepositioning the pre-connect response on a client-side of the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-connect request mimics an actual connection request by the client device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the pre-connect request comprises an identifier identifying the client device as the requestor, and

the pre-connect response is addressed to the client device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-connect request is a request for a secure connection with the remote host server.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising sending to the client-side of the network generation information indicating how to generate the pre-connect request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the prepositioning is performed before receiving, at the pre-connect module, an actual connection request generated by the client device for a connection with the remote host server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network includes a satellite link between the client device and the remote host server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a pre-connect request is performed in response to a trigger indicating that the client device is expected to execute a network transaction comprising fetching a resource from the remote host server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the client device comprises a web browser,

the network transaction comprises the web browser rendering a web page, and

the web page comprises an instruction to fetch the resource from the remote host server.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the web page is stored on a web server located on the server side of the network, and

the host server is different than the web server.

11. A method of accelerating setup of a persistent connection over a network between a client device and a remote host server, where establishing the connection requires a connection request by the client device and a corresponding connection response by the remote host server, the method comprising:

intercepting, by an interceptor module on a client-side of the network, a connection request generated by the client device for a connection with the remote host server;

determining, by the interceptor module, whether a pre-connect response from the remote host server is stored on the client-side of the network and corresponds to the intercepted connection request; and

if the determining is affirmative, providing the pre-connect response to the client device as a complete response to the intercepted connection request.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising, if the determining is negative, forwarding the intercepted connection request over the network to the remote host server.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein if the determining is affirmative, discarding the intercepted connection request.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining is affirmative if a source of the pre-connect response and a destination of the intercepted connection request are both the remote host server.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining is affirmative if:

a source network address of the pre-connect response and a destination network address of the intercepted connection request are a network address of the remote host server; and

a socket associated with the source network address of the pre-connect response matches a socket associated with the destination network address in the intercepted connection request.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

generating, by the client device, the connection request; and

sending, by the client device, the connection request addressed to the remote host server.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the connection request is a request for a secure connection with the remote host server.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the network includes a satellite link between the client device and the remote host server.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the client device comprises a web browser,

the network transaction comprises the browser rendering a web page, and

the web page comprises an instruction to fetch the resource from the remote host server.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the web page is stored on a web server located on a host server side of the network, and

the remote host server is different than the web server.

21. An apparatus, disposed on a server-side of a communications network, for accelerating setup of a persistent connection over the network between a client device and a remote host server, where establishing the connection requires a connection request by the client device and a corresponding connection response by the remote host server, the apparatus comprising:

processor circuitry; and

digital storage having stored therein non-transient instructions that cause the processor circuitry to perform a method comprising;

generating a pre-connect request on behalf of the client device;

sending the pre-connect request to the remote host server;

receiving a pre-connect response from the remote host server in response to the pre-connect request; and

prepositioning the pre-connect response on a client-side of the network.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the pre-connect request mimics an actual connection request by the client device.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein:

the pre-connect request comprises an identifier identifying the client device as the requestor, and

the pre-connect response is addressed to the client device.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the pre-connect request is a request for a secure connection with the remote host server.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises sending to the client-side of the network generation information indicating how to generate the pre-connect request.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the prepositioning is performed before receiving an actual connection request generated by the client device for a connection with the remote host server.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the network includes a satellite link between the client device and the remote host server.

28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein generating a pre-connect request is performed in response to a trigger indicating that the client device is expected to execute a network transaction comprising fetching a resource from the remote host server.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein:

the client device comprises a web browser,

the network transaction comprises the web browser rendering a web page, and

the web page comprises an instruction to fetch the resource from the remote host server.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein:

the web page is stored on a web server located on the server side of the network, and

the host server is different than the web server.

31. An apparatus, disposed on a client-side of a communications network, for accelerating setup of a persistent connection over the network between a client device and a remote host server, where establishing the connection requires a connection request by the client device and a corresponding connection response by the remote host server, the apparatus comprising:

processor circuitry; and

digital storage having stored therein non-transient instructions that cause the processor circuitry to perform a method comprising;

intercepting a connection request generated by the client device for a connection with the remote host server;

determining whether a pre-connect response from the remote host server is stored on the client-side of the network and corresponds to the intercepted connection request; and

if the determining is affirmative, providing the pre-connect response to the client device as a complete response to the intercepted connection request.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises, if the determining is negative, forwarding the intercepted connection request over the network to the remote host server.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the method further comprises, if the determining is affirmative, discarding the intercepted connection request.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the determining is affirmative if a source of the pre-connect response and a destination of the intercepted connection request are both the remote host server.

35. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the determining is affirmative if:

a source network address of the pre-connect response and a destination network address of the intercepted connection request are a network address of the remote host server; and

a socket associated with the source network address of the pre-connect response matches a socket associated with the destination network address in the intercepted connection request.

36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises:

generating, by the client device, the connection request; and

sending, by the client device, the connection request addressed to the remote host server.

37. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the connection request is a request for a secure connection with the remote host server.

38. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the network includes a satellite link between the client device and the remote host server.

39. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein:

the client device comprises a web browser,

the network transaction comprises the browser rendering a web page, and

the web page comprises an instruction to fetch the resource from the remote host server.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein:

the web page is stored on a web server located on a host server side of the network, and

the remote host server is different than the web server.