Accelerating access to wide area network information

• US 6,236,661 B1
• Filed: 02/05/1998
• Issued: 05/22/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: eAcceleration Corporation
• Original Assignee: Acceleration Software International Corporation
• Inventors: Ballard, Clinton L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Wellington
• Assistant Examiner(s): JONES, PRENELL P
• Application Number:
  US09/019,325
• Time in Patent Office: 1,202 Days
• Field of Search: 370/410, 370/409, 717/11, 717/204, 707/102-104, 709/204, 709/220, 709/217, 709/200, 379/202, 379/200, 713/176, 713/177, 713/200
• US Class Current: 370/410
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Portions of the internet are embedded onto a transportable media, then delivered periodically to subscribing clients. The contents are indexed to relate a given document to a URL and a time stamp. During on-line access to the internet, the transportable media serves as a read only cache. After issuing a command to view a document at a given URL, a test is performed to see if the document stored on the media is up to date. A command is sent over the internet to identify the date for the most recent update of the document. If the identified date is more recent then the corresponding time stamp, the media version is out of date. So the document is downloaded and displayed. If, however, the time stamp is the same or more recent then the identified date, the document as stored on the media is displayed.

Claims

1. A method for reducing latency time for viewing documents stored in a wide area network of network server computers, in which latency time is from a time at which a request to view a given document is made until a later time that such document is presented for viewing, the method comprising the steps of:

loading a transportable media into a first computer, the transportable media storing (i) a plurality of documents located on the wide area network, (ii) corresponding wide area network address identifications for said documents, and (iii) a time stamp;

forming an on-line connection between the first computer and the wide area network;

generating a command at the first computer to obtain a version date for a specific document stored on the wide area network, wherein said command is routed over the on-line connection to the wide area network;

receiving the version date in response to the routed command;

reading the time stamp for the specific document;

comparing the returned version date for the specific document to the time stamp;

displaying the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media;

wherein the time stamp is one of a plurality of time stamps stored on the transportable storage media, wherein there is a time stamp for each of the plurality of documents; and

wherein the step of reading comprises reading said one time stamp corresponding to said specific document;

further comprising after the step of comparing, the steps of;

downloading the specific document from the wide area network when the version date is more current than the time stamp for the specific document;

displaying the specific document as downloaded from the wide area network either one of after or during the step of downloading; and

either one of after or during the step of downloading, comparing the downloaded document with the corresponding document as stored on the transportable storage media, and after the step of comparing the downloaded document, the step of displaying the specific document as downloaded from the wide area network when select content of the downloaded document differs from corresponding content in the corresponding document as stored on the transportable storage media.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media occurs when the select content of the downloaded document is the same as the corresponding content in the corresponding document as stored on the transportable storage media.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of reading the time stamp comprises reading an updated time stamp for the specific document from an updated time stamp table, and further comprising the step of storing the received version date as the time stamp for the specific document in the updated time stamp table when the when the select content of the downloaded document is the same as the corresponding content in the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the select content excludes a today'"'"'s date data portion.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the select content excludes a count of times the specific document has been accessed.

6. A method for reducing latency time for viewing documents stored in a wide area network of network server computers, in which latency time is from a time at which a request to view a given document is made until a later time that such document is presented for viewing, the method comprising the steps of:

copying a plurality of documents stored in the wide area network onto a storage medium to generate a current version of select wide area network document content;

distributing transportable storage media storing the current version, wherein the transportable storage media includes the plurality of documents, corresponding wide area network address identifications for said documents, and a time stamp;

forming an on-line connection between a first computer and the wide area network;

generating a command at the first computer to obtain a version date for a specific document as stored in the wide area network, wherein said command is routed over the on-line connection to the wide area network;

receiving the version date at the first computer in response to the routed command;

reading the time stamp for the specific document;

comparing the returned version date for the specific document to the time stamp; and

displaying the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media at least when the time stamp is at least as recent as the received version date.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the time stamp is one of a plurality of time stamps stored on the transportable storage media, wherein there is a time stamp for each of the plurality of documents;

and wherein the step of reading comprises reading said one time stamp corresponding to said specific document.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of displaying comprises displaying the specific document on a second computer in communication with the first computer.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of copying comprises copying a subset of documents stored in the wide area network onto a storage medium to generate a current version of select wide area network document content;

and wherein the transportable storage media stores the current version of said subset of documents, said subset determined by select criteria.

10. A system, including a vendor and a plurality of clients, the system serving to reduce latency time for viewing documents stored in a wide area network of network server computers, wherein latency time occurs between a time at which a request to view a given document is made to a later time that such document is presented for viewing, the system comprising:

means for copying a plurality of documents stored in the wide area network onto a storage medium to generate a current version of select wide area network document content;

distributable transportable storage media which receive the current version, wherein the transportable storage media include the plurality of documents, corresponding wide area network address identifications for said documents, and a time stamp;

a first computer, including;

means for reading the transportable storage media;

means for forming an on-line connection with the wide area network;

processing means for generating a command to obtain a version date for a specific document stored in the wide area network, wherein said command is routed over the on-line connection to the wide area network, and in response the version date is returned; and

processing means for comparing the returned version date for the specific document to the time stamp; and

display means which displays the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media at least when the time stamp is at least as recent as the returned version date.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the time stamp is one of a plurality of time stamps, said one time stamp corresponding to said specific document, and wherein there is a time stamp for each of the plurality of documents.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the display means is part of the first computer.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first computer is a network server computer and further comprising a second computer, the second computer including the display means.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of documents stored on the transportable storage media are a subset of all documents stored in the wide area network, said subset determined by select criteria.

15. A computer system for communicating with a wide area network, the wide area network storing a plurality of documents retrievable by the computer system, the computer system comprising:

a transportable storage media storing (i) a current version of the plurality of wide area network documents, (ii) corresponding wide area network address identifications for said plurality of wide area network documents, and (iii) a time stamp;

means for reading the transportable storage media;

means for forming an on-line connection with the wide area network;

processing means for generating a command to obtain a version date for a specific document stored in the wide area network to be displayed, wherein said command is routed over the on-line connection to the wide area network, and in response the version date is returned;

processing means for comparing the returned version date for the specific document to the time stamp;

display means which displays the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media at least when the time stamp is at least as recent as the returned version date, wherein the transportable storage media stores a respective time stamp for each one of the plurality of documents; and

means for comparing the downloaded document with the corresponding document as stored on the transportable storage media, wherein the specific document as downloaded from the wide area network is displayed by the display means when select content of the downloaded document differs from corresponding content in the corresponding document as stored on the transportable storage media.

16. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising an updated time stamp table, wherein the received version date is stored as the time stamp for the specific document in the updated time stamp table when the select content of the downloaded document is the same as the corresponding content in the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media.

17. A computer system for communicating with a wide area network, the wide area network storing a plurality of documents retrievable by the computer system, the computer system comprising:

a transportable storage media storing (i) a current version of the plurality of wide area network documents, (ii) corresponding wide area network address identifications for said plurality of wide area network documents, and (iii) a time stamp;

means for reading the transportable storage media;

means for forming an on-line connection with the wide area network;

processing means for generating a command to obtain a version date for a specific document stored in the wide area network to be displayed, wherein said command is routed over the on-line connection to the wide area network, and in response the version date is returned;

processing means for comparing the returned version date for the specific document to the time stamp;

display means which displays the specific document as stored on the transportable storage media at least when the time stamp is at least as recent as the returned version date,

wherein the storage media stores a respective time stamp for each one of the plurality of documents,

means for downloading the specific document from the wide area network when the version date is more current than the time stamp for the specific document; and

means for comparing the downloaded document with the corresponding document as stored on the storage media, wherein the specific document as downloaded from the wide area network is displayed by the display means when select content of the downloaded document differs from corresponding content in the corresponding document as stored on the storage media.