Method and system for confirming receipt of data opportunistically broadcast to client computer systems
First Claim
1. A method in a client computer system for confirming receipt of data broadcast by a server computer system, the broadcasted data being broadcasted using a broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data unidirectionally from the server computer system to the client computer systems, the method comprising:
- when the client computer system does not have a connection established with the server computer system,receiving the broadcasted data; and
storing an indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and
when the client computer system later establishes a connection with the server computer system,checking for presence of the stored indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and
when the stored indication is present, sending a confirmation that the client computer system received the broadcasted data to the server computer system using the established connectionso that the server computer system can track those client computer systems that have sent confirmations and can send the broadcasted data to those client computer systems that have not sent confirmations.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for opportunistically downloading data from a server computer system to client computer systems. The server computer system has a point-to-point transmission mechanism for receiving data from each client computer system and has a broadcast transmission mechanism for broadcasting data to the client computer systems. Each client computer system has a broadcast receiver for receiving data broadcast by the broadcast transmission mechanism when the client computer system is in a receiving state. In a preferred embodiment, the server computer system selects data to be downloaded from the server computer system to the client computer systems, and broadcasts the selected data using the broadcast transmission mechanism. Each client computer system that is in the receiving state receives the broadcasted data and sends a confirmation that the client computer system has received the broadcasted data to the server computer system using the point-to-point transmission mechanism. Conversely, when a client computer system enters the receiving state, it sends a request to send the selected data to the server computer system using the point-to-point transmission mechanism. The server computer system receives the sent request and transmits the selected data to the client computer system that sent the request when the server computer system has not received confirmation that the client computer system that sent the request received the broadcasted data.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method in a client computer system for confirming receipt of data broadcast by a server computer system, the broadcasted data being broadcasted using a broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data unidirectionally from the server computer system to the client computer systems, the method comprising:
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when the client computer system does not have a connection established with the server computer system, receiving the broadcasted data; and storing an indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and when the client computer system later establishes a connection with the server computer system, checking for presence of the stored indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and when the stored indication is present, sending a confirmation that the client computer system received the broadcasted data to the server computer system using the established connection so that the server computer system can track those client computer systems that have sent confirmations and can send the broadcasted data to those client computer systems that have not sent confirmations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for ensuring receipt of data that is broadcast from a server computer system and received by a plurality of client computer systems, the server computer system having a broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data unidirectionally from the server computer system to the client computer systems, each client computer system having an identity and a broadcast receiver for receiving data broadcast by the broadcast transmission mechanism, the method comprising:
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broadcasting the data using the broadcast transmission mechanism; receiving at each of the plurality of client computer systems, the broadcasted data using the broadcast receiver; upon receiving the broadcast data at a client computer system, sending a confirmation from the client computer system to the server computer system through a point-to-point transmission mechanism for sending data from client computer system to the server computer system; and upon receiving by the server computer system a confirmation from a client computer system, determining the identity of the client computer system that sent the confirmation; and storing the identity of the client computer system that sent the confirmation so that the identity of a client computer system that did not receive the broadcasted data can be determined. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A method in a server computer system for transmitting data from the server computer system to a plurality of client computer systems, the method comprising:
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broadcasting the data using a unidirectional transmission mechanism so that at least some of the client computer systems receive the data; and for each of the plurality of client computer systems, p2 establishing a connection with the client computer system using a bidirectional transmission mechanism; determining whether the client computer system has confirmed receipt of the broadcasted data; and when it is determined that the client computer has not confirmed receipt of the broadcasted data, transmitting the data using the bidirectional transmission mechanism to the client computer system. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to ensure receipt of data that is broadcast from a server computer system and received by a plurality of client computer systems, the server computer system having a broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data unidirectionally from the server computer system to the client computer systems, each client computer system having a broadcast receiver for receiving data broadcast by the broadcast transmission mechanism, by:
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broadcasting the data using the broadcast transmission mechanism; receiving at each of the plurality of client computer systems, the broadcasted data using the broadcast receiver; and upon receiving the broadcasted data at each of the plurality of client computer systems, sending a confirmation from the client computer system to the server computer system through a bidirectional transmission mechanism for sending data between client computer system and the server computer system whereby the server computer system can track the client computer systems that have received the broadcasted data based on the sent confirmations. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for downloading data from a server computer system to a plurality of client computer systems, the server computer system having a broadcast transmission mechanism and a point-to-point transmission mechanism, the broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data from the server computer system to the client computer system but cannot transmit data from the client computer systems to the server computer system, each client computer system having a broadcast receiver for receiving data broadcast by the broadcast transmission mechanism, the point-to-point transmission mechanism being for transmitting data to and receiving data from each of the plurality of client computer systems, the method comprising:
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determining broadcast transmission characteristics for the transmission of the data to be downloaded; determining point-to-point transmission characteristics for the transmission of download data; selecting whether to transmit the download data using the broadcast transmission mechanism or using the point-to-point transmission mechanism based on the determined transmission characteristics; when the broadcast transmission mechanism is selected, broadcasting the data to be downloaded using the broadcast transmission mechanism; and when the point-to-point transmission mechanism is selected, sending the data to be downloaded to each client computer system using the point-to-point transmission mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method in a server computer system for transmitting data to a plurality of client computer systems, the server computer system having a broadcast transmission mechanism and having a point-to-point transmission mechanism, the broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data from the server computer system to the client computer system but cannot transmit data from the client computer systems to the server computer system, each client computer system for receiving data transmitted through the point-to-point transmission mechanism, only some of the client computer systems capable of receiving data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism, the method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting the data using the broadcast transmission mechanism; transmitting the data using the point-to-point transmission mechanism to each client computer system that is not capable of receiving the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism; receiving a confirmation from each client computer system that received the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism; and when confirmations have not been received from all the client computer system that are capable of receiving data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism, re-transmitting the data using either the broadcast transmission mechanism or the point-to-point transmission mechanism so that each client computer system that is capable of receiving the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism receives the transmitted data.
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20. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a server computer system to transmit data to a plurality of client computer systems, the server computer system having a broadcast transmission mechanism and having a point-to-point transmission mechanism, the broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data from the server computer system to the client computer system but cannot transmit data from the client computer system to the server computer system, each client computer system for receiving data transmitted through the point-to-point transmission mechanism, only some of the client computer systems capable of receiving data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism, by:
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transmitting the data using the broadcast transmission mechanism; transmitting the data using the point-to-point transmission mechanism to each client computer system that is not capable of receiving the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism; receiving a confirmation from each client computer system that received the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism; and when confirmations have not been received from all the client computer system that are capable of receiving data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism, re-transmitting the data using either the broadcast transmission mechanism or the point-to-point transmission mechanism so that each client computer system that is capable of receiving the data transmitted through the broadcast transmission mechanism receives the transmitted data.
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21. A computer system for confirming receipt of data broadcast by a server computer system, the broadcasted data being broadcasted using a broadcast transmission mechanism for transmitting data unidirectionally from the server computer system, comprising:
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a receiving component that, when the computer system does not have a connection established with the server computer system, receives the broadcasted data and stores an indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and a confirmation component that, when the computer system later establishes a connection with the server computer system, checks for presence of the stored indication that the broadcasted data has been received; and
when the stored indication is present, sends a confirmation that the computer system received the broadcasted data to the server computer system using the established connection. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification