Browser and publisher for multimedia object storage, retrieval and transfer

• US 6,269,403 B1
• Filed: 06/30/1997
• Issued: 07/31/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Anders, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US08/885,065
• Time in Patent Office: 1,492 Days
• Field of Search: 707/9, 707/522, 395/200.58, 395/200.36, 395/200.77, 395/806, 395/610, 395/770, 345/302, 345/332, 370/94.1, 711/5, 364/512, 348/441, 348/7, 348/585, 371/40.18, 709/219, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/566 Grouping or aggregating service requests, e.g. for unified processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

In a computer environment, a browser and publisher capable of exchanging multimedia objects provided in a new storage and delivery data format that increases performance and improves the user experience by reducing the transactions needed to retrieve a set of n objects from n to 1. The object data is interleaved with data definition entries identifying respective object data into a data format comprising a single stream for storage and/or delivery. The data format eliminates the need for multiple, asynchronous transactions thus reducing latency in the data transfer process. Moreover, the data format allows for optimization of how the object data is prioritized and interleaved to achieve desired performance objectives upon delivery of the multimedia objects for display using the browser.

Claims

1. In a computer environment, a publisher for storing and transmitting a stream of objects, each object in the stream having object data packets, comprising:

a stream configurator producing a template providing an order in which to display each of the objects in the stream;

a data definition generator providing at least one data definition entry corresponding to each object in the template; and

an interleavor assembling the stream by interleaving the object data packets and the data definition entries according to the order provided in the template, wherein the at least one data definition entry is interleaved with the object data packets such that the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the stream precedes any object data packets of the one object in the stream.

2. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the data definition entry corresponding to the one object in the stream precedes any reference to the one object from any other object in the stream.

3. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise HTML data.

4. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise JPEG data.

5. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise GIF data.

6. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise WAV data.

7. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise BMP data.

8. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise ActiveX data.

9. The publisher of claim 1, wherein the object data packets comprise Java data.

10. In a computer environment, a browser for displaying an image on a display, the image represented by a stream of objects, each object in the stream having object data packets, comprising:

an unpacker receiving the stream, the stream having data definition entries interleaved with object data packets, the unpacker extracting the object data packets from the stream with reference to the data definition entries;

an unpacker object cache (UOC) storing object data packets provided by the unpacker, the UOC organizing the object data packets according to the corresponding data definition entry for each object in the stream; and

at least one data handler interpreting object data packets selected by the unpacker so that the interpreted object data packets can be rendered on the display.

11. The browser of claim 10, wherein the data definition entries are interleaved with the object data packets such that the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the stream precedes any object data packets of the one object in the stream.

12. The browser of claim 11, wherein the data definition entry corresponding to the one object in the stream precedes any reference to the one object from any other object in the stream.

13. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets HTML object data packets.

14. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets JPEG object data packets.

15. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets GIF object data packets.

16. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets WAV object data packets.

17. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets BMP object data packets.

18. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets ActiveX object data packets.

19. The browser of claim 10, wherein the at least one data handler interprets Java object data packets.

20. In a computer environment, a method of forming a stream from a page having a plurality of objects, each object having object data packets, comprising the steps of:

creating data definition entries corresponding to the objects in the page; and

interleaving the data definition entries with the object data packets so as to form the stream, wherein the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the page precedes any object data packets of the one object.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of transmitting the stream to a browser.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of storing the stream in a data repository.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of generating a template to define a display sequence, wherein the step of interleaving said data definition entries comprises interleaving said data definition entries with said object data packets so as to display objects in the stream according to the display sequence of the template.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of creating a stream header for placement at the beginning of the stream.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of appending an end of stream indicator at the end of the stream.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the page is an HTML page.

27. In a computer environment, a method of displaying a page having a plurality of objects, each object having object data packets, comprising the steps of:

receiving a stream having data definition entries interleaved with object data packets corresponding to each of the plurality of objects;

unpacking said object data packets from said stream with reference to said data definition entries; and

displaying data representing said object data packets on a viewing device.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said step of unpacking said object data packets comprises retrieving object data from an unpacker object cache.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein said step of displaying data representing said object data packets further comprises:

selecting a data handler to interpret the object data; and

displaying the interpreted object data on a viewing device.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein said step of displaying data representing said object data packets comprises displaying data representing said object data packets for more than one object simultaneously.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the page is an HTML page.

32. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable modules for generating a user-specified data stream having object data packets, wherein the object data packets are stored in content storage, comprising:

a stream configurator module for receiving object data packets and user input and for creating a template as a function of the object data packets and the user input;

a data definition generator module for generating data as a function of each object data packet and responsive to the template; and

an interleavor module for generating a data stream as a function of the template, object data packets, and the data definition generator module.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the stream configurator module receives object data packets having a format selected from the group consisting of HTML data, JPEG data, GIF data, WAV data, BMP data, ActiveX data and Java data.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the stream configurator module receives object data packets stored in content storage.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the stream configurator module parses a page of data stored in content storage.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the stream configurator module receives data representative of the sequence of display.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the data definition generator module interprets the template.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the data definition generator module generates information about each object data packet.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the data definition generator module generates an object data packet identifier for an object data packet.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the data definition generator module generates a stream identifier number for an object data packet.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the data definition generator module generates information representative of the size of an object data packet.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the interleavor module interprets the template.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the interleavor module interleaves data definition entries with object data packets.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the interleavor module arranges data definition entries adjacent to object data packets.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the interleavor module arranges data definition entries prior to object data packets.

46. A computer-readable medium stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving user input;

receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet; and

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein receiving user input includes receiving information relative to sequencing of object data packets in the data stream.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein receiving user input includes selecting object data packets for inclusion in the data stream.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein receiving one or more object data packets includes accessing content storage.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein generating a template includes specifying the sequence of object data packets in the data stream.

51. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein generating a data definition packet includes accessing an object data packet.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating an object data packet identifier.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating a stream identifier.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating information representative of the size of the object data packet.

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein interleaving includes arranging a data definition packet adjacent to the corresponding object data packet.

56. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein interleaving includes accessing the template and arranging, in alternating sequence, data definition packets and corresponding object data packets.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 including the step of preparing a stream header.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 including the step of appending an end of stream indicator.

59. In a computer environment, a publisher for storing and transmitting a stream of objects, each object in the stream having object data packets, comprising:

a stream configurator producing a template providing an order in which to display each of the objects in the stream;

a data definition generator providing at least one data definition entry corresponding to each object in the template, each data definition entry comprising an object identifier and a stream identifier; and

an interleavor assembling the stream by interleaving the object data packets and the data definition entries according to the order provided in the template, wherein the at least one data definition entry is interleaved with the object data packets such that the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the stream precedes any object data packets of the one object in the stream.

60. The publisher of claim 59, wherein the data definition entry corresponding to the one object in the stream precedes any reference to the one object from any other object in the stream.

61. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for generating a user-specified data stream having object data packets, wherein the object data packets are stored in content storage, the computer-readable medium comprising:

a stream configurator module for receiving object data packets and user input and for creating a template as a function of the object data packets and the user input;

a data definition generator module for generating data as a function of each object data packet and responsive to the template, each data comprising an object identifier and a stream identifier; and

an interleavor module for generating a stream as a function of the template, object data packets and the data definition generator module.

62. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the data definition generator module interprets the template.

63. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the data definition generator module generates information about each object data packet.

64. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the data definition generator module generates an object data packet identifier for an object data packet.

65. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the data definition generator module generates a stream identifier number for an object data packet.

66. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the data definition generator module generates information representative of the size of an object data packet.

67. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the interleavor module interprets the template.

68. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the interleavor module interleaves data definition entries with object data packets.

69. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the interleavor module arranges data definition entries adjacent to object data packets.

70. The computer-readable medium of claim 61 wherein the interleavor module arranges data definition entries prior to object data packets.

72. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein generating a data definition packet includes accessing an object data packet.

73. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating an object data packet identifier.

74. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating a stream identifier.

75. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein generating a data definition packet includes generating information representative of the size of the object data packet.

76. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein interleaving includes arranging a data definition packet adjacent to the corresponding object data packet.

77. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 wherein interleaving includes accessing the template and arranging, in alternating sequence, data definition packets and corresponding object data packets.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 69 including preparing a stream header.

71. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for generating a data stream, the method comprising:

receiving user input;

receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet; and

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet.

79. A computer-readable medium instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving user input;

receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet;

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet; and

transmitting each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet.

80. In a computer environment, a publisher for storing and transmitting a stream of objects, each object in the stream having object data packets, comprising:

a stream configurator parsing to identify objects or receiving data about objects and producing a template based on the parsed or received data, wherein the template provides an order in which to display each of the objects in the stream;

a data definition generator providing at least one data definition entry corresponding to each object in the template; and

an interleavor assembling the stream by interleaving the object data packets and the data definition entries according to the order provided in the template, wherein the at least one definition entry is interleaved with the object data packets such that the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the stream precedes any object data packets of the one object in the stream.

81. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable modules for generating a user-specified data stream having object data packets, wherein the object data packets are stored in content storage, comprising:

a stream configurator module for parsing and receiving object data packets and user input and for creating a template as a function of the object data packets and the user input;

a data definition generator module for generating data as a function of each object data packet and responsive to the template; and

an interleavor module for generating a data stream as a function of the template, object data packets, and the data definition generator module.

82. A computer-readable medium stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving user input;

parsing and receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet; and

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet.

83. In a computer environment, a publisher for storing and transmitting a stream of objects, each object in the stream having object data packets, comprising:

a stream configurator parsing to identify objects or receiving data about objects and producing a template based on the parsed or received data, wherein the template provides an order in which to display each of the objects in the stream;

a data definition generator providing at least one data definition entry corresponding to each object in the template, each data definition entry comprising an object identifier and a stream identifier; and

an interleavor assembling the stream by interleaving the object data packets and the data definition entries according to the order provided in the template, wherein the at least one data definition entry is interleaved with the object data packets such that the data definition entry corresponding to one of the objects in the stream precedes any object data packets of the one object in the stream.

84. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for generating a user-specified data stream having object data packets, wherein the object data packets are stored in content storage, the computer-readable medium comprising:

a stream configurator module for parsing and receiving object data packets and user input and for creating a template as a function of the object data packets and the user input;

a data definition generator module for generating data as a function of each object data packet and responsive to the template, each data comprising an object identifier and a stream identifier; and

an interleavor module for generating a stream as a function of the template, object data packets and the data definition generator module.

85. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for generating a data stream, the method comprising:

receiving user input;

parsing and receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet; and

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet.

86. A computer-readable medium instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving user input;

parsing and receiving one or more object data packets;

generating a template as a function of the user input and the one or more object data packets;

generating a data definition packet for each object data packet wherein each data definition packet corresponds to, and is a function of, an object data packet;

interleaving as a function of the template, each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet, wherein each data definition packet precedes the corresponding object data packet; and

transmitting each data definition packet with a corresponding object data packet.