Method and apparatus for evaluating service to a user over the internet

• US 6,625,647 B1
• Filed: 10/19/1999
• Issued: 09/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dynatrace LLC (Dynatrace, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Keynote Systems (Dynatrace, Inc.)
• Inventors: Barrick, James G. Jr., Zou, Tong, Ge, Guoqiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, Marc D.
• Application Number:
  US09/414,837
• Time in Patent Office: 1,435 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/203, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 709/223, 709/224, 709/227, 709/230
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/875 Monitoring of systems including the internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for gathering information relating to a loading time experienced by a user of information over a network. A browser agent is sent to a user machine in response to a user request to access a Web page. The browser agent initiates the sending of a user HTTP GET request and the browser agent is operable to log a first time corresponding to the sending of the user HTTP GET request. The browser agent measures a download time interval that is determined according to the difference between the first time and a second time corresponding to the loading of the web page. The browser agent is operative to cause the user machine to send a modified HTTP GET request, wherein the modified HTTP GET request contains a performance parameter indicative of the measured download time interval. Thus, the download time interval experienced by the user is measured and a parameter indicative of the measured download time interval is sent as part of the modified HTTP GET request

Claims

1. A method of gathering information relating to a loading time experienced by a user of information over a network comprising:

sending a browser agent to a user machine in response to a user request to access a Web page, wherein the browser agent is operable to log a first time corresponding to the sending of a user HTTP GET request, wherein the browser agent initiates the sending of the user HTTP GET request, and wherein the browser agent measures a download time interval, the download time interval being determined according to the difference between the first time and a second time corresponding to the loading of the Web page; and

wherein the browser agent is operative to cause the user machine to send a modified HTTP GET request, wherein the modified HTTP GET request contains a performance parameter indicative of the measured download time interval;

whereby the download time interval experienced by the user is measured and a parameter indicative of the measured download time interval is sent as part of the modified HTTP GET request.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the browser agent is further operative to cause the user to send a user information cookie as part of the HTTP GET request, wherein the user information cookie includes information related to the user.

3. A method as recited in claim 2 wherein the information related to the user includes a geographical coordinate.

4. A method as recited in claim 2 wherein the geographical coordinate is predetermined according to a city indicated by the user.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 further including receiving a plurality of user modified HTML requests from a plurality of users and recording a plurality of performance parameters, the plurality of performance parameters being indicative of a plurality of measured download time intervals determined by each of the plurality of users.

6. A method as recited in claim 5 further including generating a map that indicates the performance experienced by users in different regions.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the modified HTTP GET request is generated by the browser agent.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the performance parameter is the difference between the first time and the second time.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the performance parameter is a qualitative evaluation of performance based on the difference between the first time and the second time.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the second time corresponds to the completion of the loading of the Web page.

11. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein download time interval is equal to the difference between the first time and the second time.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the network is the Internet.

13. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the information downloaded is a Web page.

14. A system for assembling performance data related to the downloading of information from a computer network comprising:

a Web server configured to send an browser agent to a user in response to a user request, wherein the browser agent is operable to log a first time corresponding to the sending of a user HTTP GET request, wherein the browser agent is configured to initiate the sending of the user HTTP GET request, and wherein the browser agent is configured to measure a download time interval, the download time interval being determined according to the difference between the first time and a second time corresponding to the loading of the Web page; and

a relay server configured to receive from the user a modified HTTP GET request, wherein the modified HTTP GET request contains a performance parameter indicative of the measured download time interval;

whereby the download time interval experienced by the user is measured and a parameter indicative of the measured download time interval is received as part of the modified HTTP GET request.

15. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the relay server is configured to receive from the user as part of the HTTP GET request a user information cookie, wherein the user information cookie includes information related to the user.

16. A system as recited in claim 15 wherein the information related to the user includes a geographical coordinate.

17. A system as recited in claim 15 wherein the geographical coordinate is predetermined according to a city indicated by the user.

18. A system as recited in claim 15 wherein the network in the Internet.

19. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the relay server is operable to receive a plurality of user modified HTML requests from a plurality of users and record a plurality of performance parameters, the plurality of performance parameters being indicative of a plurality of measured download time intervals determined by each of the plurality of users.

20. A system as recited in claim 14 further including means for generating a map that indicates the performance experienced by users in different regions.

21. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the performance parameter is the difference between the first time and the second time.

22. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the performance parameter is a qualitative evaluation of performance based on the difference between the first time and the second time.

23. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the second time corresponds to the completion of the loading of the Web page.

24. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the download time interval is equal to the difference between the first time and the second time.

25. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the Web server and the relay server are implemented on a single physical machine.

26. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the Web server and the relay server are implemented on different physical machines.

27. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein the network is the Internet.

28. A system for assembling performance data related to the downloading of information from a computer network comprising:

a Web server configured to send a browser agent to a user in response to a user request to access a Web page, wherein the browser agent is operable to log a first time corresponding to the sending of a user HTTP GET request, wherein the browser agent is configured to initiate the sending of the user HTTP GET request, and wherein the browser agent is configured to measure a download time interval, the download time interval being determined according to the difference between the first time and a second time corresponding to the loading of the Web page; and

wherein the browser agent is configured to send a modified HTTP GET request, the modified HTTP GET request containing a performance parameter indicative of the measured download time interval;

whereby the download time interval experienced by the user is measured and a parameter indicative of the measured download time interval is sent as part of the modified HTTP GET request.

29. A system as recited in claim 28 wherein the download time interval is included in the header of the modified HTTP GET request.

30. A system as recited in claim 28 wherein the network is the Internet.