Method and system for prioritized downloading of embedded web objects
First Claim
1. A method executed in a computer network to facilitate acting on information elements, the computer network including at least a client computer and a server computer, the method comprising the steps of:
- sorting a list of information elements so that the list is ranked from a first information element with a highest priority to a last information element with a lowest priority;
retrieving from the server computer to the client computer, the information elements in ranked order, anddisplaying retrieved information elements in the order received,wherein the step of retrieving the information elements further comprises the steps of;
determining whether at least one information element is currently being retrieved;
when the determination indicates that at least one information element is currently being retrieved, performing the following steps to facilitate retrieval of a next information element;
obtaining an indication of an available rate of incoming bandwidth to the client computer;
obtaining an indication of an available rate of outgoing bandwidth to the server computer;
determining a minimum rate of the available incoming bandwidth and the available outgoing bandwidth; and
accepting data associated with the next information element at a rate corresponding to a selected increment over the minimum rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method retrieves a web file and sorts one or more information element references according to a priority attribute associated with each reference. After ranking the information element references by priority, the method then retrieves each information element in the order that their references were ranked. After receiving an information element, a user acts upon the information element in the appropriate manner. Typical objects, and their actions, would include displaying an image file, executing an applet, or playing an audio file. By using the steps of the preferred method, more important objects are retrieved before less important objects, thus allowing the user to act upon the more important objects sooner than the user could have acted on the important objects using methods available in the prior art.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method executed in a computer network to facilitate acting on information elements, the computer network including at least a client computer and a server computer, the method comprising the steps of:
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sorting a list of information elements so that the list is ranked from a first information element with a highest priority to a last information element with a lowest priority; retrieving from the server computer to the client computer, the information elements in ranked order, and displaying retrieved information elements in the order received, wherein the step of retrieving the information elements further comprises the steps of; determining whether at least one information element is currently being retrieved; when the determination indicates that at least one information element is currently being retrieved, performing the following steps to facilitate retrieval of a next information element; obtaining an indication of an available rate of incoming bandwidth to the client computer; obtaining an indication of an available rate of outgoing bandwidth to the server computer; determining a minimum rate of the available incoming bandwidth and the available outgoing bandwidth; and accepting data associated with the next information element at a rate corresponding to a selected increment over the minimum rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer program product to facilitate acting on information elements, in a computer network which includes a client computer and a server computer, the computer program product comprising:
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code that (1) sorts a list of information elements so that the list is ranked from a first information element with a highest priority to a last information element with a lowest priority;
(2) retrieves from the server computer to the client computer, the information elements in ranked order, and (3) displays the information elements in the order retrieved,wherein the code resides on a tangible medium, wherein the step of retrieving the information elements further comprises; code that determines whether at least one information element is currently being retrieved; and code that performs the following steps to facilitate retrieval of a next information element, when the determination indicates that at least one information element is currently being retrieved, code that obtains an indication of an available rate of incoming bandwidth to the client computer; code that obtains an indication of an available rate of outgoing bandwidth to the server computer; code that determines a minimum rate of the available incoming bandwidth and the available outgoing bandwidth; and code that accepts data associated with the next information element at a rate corresponding to a selected increment over the minimum rate. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus to facilitate acting on information elements in a computer network the computer network including a client computer and a server computer, the apparatus comprising:
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a mechanism configured to sort a list of information elements so that the list is ranked from a first information element with a highest priority to a last information element with a lowest priority; and a mechanism configured to retrieve from the server computer to the client computer, and to display the information elements, both in ranked order, wherein the mechanism configured to retrieve the information elements further comprises; a mechanism configured to determine whether at least one information element is currently being retrieved; a mechanism configured to perform the following steps to facilitate retrieval of a next information element, when the determination indicates that at least one information element is currently being retrieved, a mechanism configured to obtain an indication of an available rate of incoming bandwidth to the client computer; a mechanism configured to obtain an indication of an available rate of outgoing bandwidth to the server computer; a mechanism configured to determine a minimum rate of the available incoming bandwidth and the available outgoing bandwidth; and a mechanism configured to accept data associated with the next information element at a rate corresponding to a selected increment over the minimum rate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification