System and method for the distribution of code and data
First Claim
1. A method of providing at least a portion of a file stored in a first storage, comprising:
- receiving a first request describing the file;
beginning transmission of the file responsive to the first request received;
beginning to receive at least one new version of the file;
receiving a second request describing the file before the new version of the file is substantially fully received;
storing the second request received responsive to the beginning to receive step; and
responsive to the completion of receipt of the new version of the file, transmitting at least a portion of the new version of the file responsive to the second request received.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for distributing software applications and data to many thousands of clients over a network. The applications are called “channels”, the server is called the “transmitter”, and the client is called the “tuner”. The use of channels is based on subscription. The end-user needs to subscribe to channel before it can be executed. When the end-user subscribes to a channel the associated code and data is downloaded to the local hard-disk, and once downloaded the channel can be executed many times without requiring further network access. Channels can be updated automatically at regular intervals by the tuner, and as a result the end-user is no longer required to manually install software updates, instead these software and data updates are automatically downloaded and installed in the background. This method of automatic downloading of updates achieves for the client the same result as the broadcast distribution of software over a connection based network, but wherein the client initiates each update request without requiring any special broadcast networking infra structure.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of providing at least a portion of a file stored in a first storage, comprising:
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receiving a first request describing the file;
beginning transmission of the file responsive to the first request received;
beginning to receive at least one new version of the file;
receiving a second request describing the file before the new version of the file is substantially fully received;
storing the second request received responsive to the beginning to receive step; and
responsive to the completion of receipt of the new version of the file, transmitting at least a portion of the new version of the file responsive to the second request received. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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2. A method of updating at least one first file, comprising:
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receiving at a first computer system an indicator of at least one first file; and
responsive to the indicator received in a first set of at least one indicator;
identifying as a candidate for modification at least one of the at least one first files corresponding to the indicator received;
providing at least one second file responsive to the at least one first file identified; and
transmitting from the first computer system to a second computer system instructions regarding building a single file comprising at least a portion of at least one of the first files identified and at least a portion of at least one of the second files provided. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
the identifying step comprises, for each of a plurality of the first files identified, identifying a new file different from the first file identified; and
at least one of the second files provided is different from the new file identified.
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4. The method of claim 2, additionally comprising the steps of, responsive to the indicator received in a second set of at least one indicator:
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identifying at least one third file responsive to the indicator received; and
providing at least one of the at least one third file identified.
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5. A method of requesting an update to a first set of at least one file and a second set of at least one file, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first request for the update to the first set of at least one file;
receiving the updated to the first set of at least one file, the update comprising an indicator of a period of delay;
waiting a period of time responsive to the indicator received; and
transmitting, after the waiting step, a second request for the update to the second set of files. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
receiving the second set of files requested; and
installing at least one of the second set of files received.
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6. A method of providing an update for a set of at least one file, the method comprising:
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receiving from a device a request for the update to the set of at least one file;
determining an indicator of a minimum period of time from which an additional request from the device is not desired;
providing the update for the set of at least one file; and
providing the indicator. - View Dependent Claims (16)
receiving a second request for the update to the set of at least one file; and
providing the update responsive to the second request.
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7. A method of applying an update to a set of at least one file, the method comprising:
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requesting the update to the set of at least one file;
receiving a portion of the update requested;
responsive to the portion of the update comprising all of the update, applying the update to at least one of the files in the set; and
responsive to the portion of the update comprising less than all of the update, deleting the portion of the update received. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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8. A method of requesting an update for a set of at least one file, the method comprising:
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transmitting to a first server a first request for an update for a set of at least one file;
receiving an identifier of a second server responsive to the first request transmitted; and
transmitting to the second server a second request for an update for a set of at least one file corresponding to the first request. - View Dependent Claims (9)
receiving the update from the second server; and
updating the set of files responsive to the update received.
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10. A method of responding to a request for an update of a set of at least one file, the method comprising:
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receiving at a first server a first request to update a set of at least one file;
providing an identifier of a second server;
receiving at a second server a second request for the update of the set of at least one file corresponding to the first request received; and
providing the update responsive to the second request. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification