Server to client cache protocol for improved web performance
First Claim
1. In a data network including a cache and a server, a method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request at the server from the cache for information to be kept informed about changes made by said server to the contents of an object in the server; and
providing the requested information to the cache about a change to the contents of the object in the server, whenever a change occurs in the contents of the object in the server, or at the end of each periodic interval if a change occurs in the contents of the object during said interval, as specified by said cache until directed to stop.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
On the Internet (106), rather than retrieving a frequently requested Web object from its originating server (105) in response to a request from a client terminal (101, 102), the object rather can be retrieved from a cache (103) within the Internet Access Service Provider (IASP) (104), which connects the client terminal to the Internet. What is stored in the cache may, however, not be the most recent version of the object. Distinct from providing the Web object itself, information about changes to the object is provided by the server in response to a cache request that is asynchronous to a request from a client for the object. Such information about changes to an object includes the date and time when the object was last modified, the byte size of the modified object, and information on the type of content of the object. After receiving this information about changes to an object, the cache may then request that a copy of the object be downloaded to it.
118 Citations
15 Claims
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1. In a data network including a cache and a server, a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request at the server from the cache for information to be kept informed about changes made by said server to the contents of an object in the server; and providing the requested information to the cache about a change to the contents of the object in the server, whenever a change occurs in the contents of the object in the server, or at the end of each periodic interval if a change occurs in the contents of the object during said interval, as specified by said cache until directed to stop. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a data network including a cache and a server, and a terminal coupled to the cache, a method, carried out in said cache, comprising the steps of:
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making a request to the server for information, to be delivered pursuant to a schedule specified by said cache, about a change to the contents of an object in the server that have been previously stored in said cache in response to one or more requests from said terminal to read said object; receiving at the cache from the server the requested information about the change to the contents of the object in the server; parsing said information to determine whether said contents of said object need to be requested from said server; sending a request for said contents of said object when said step of parsing determines that said contents need to be requested; receiving said contents of said object and storing said contents in said cache; and supplying said terminal with a requested object from said cache, when the requested object is found in said cache, and sending a request for contents of said requested object to the server when said requested object is not found in said cache. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification