Methods and systems for browser file transfer

• US 8,301,781 B1
• Filed: 10/28/2008
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ludwig, Scott, Hendriks, Erik Arjan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hussain, Imad
• Application Number:
  US12/259,894
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/227
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

The present invention relates to transferring files between browsers and other browsers or peer-to-peer (P2P) clients. In an embodiment, a system for transferring files includes a first browser and a second browser. The system may have a first client coupled to the first browser and a second client coupled to the second browser. The system may have a relay server coupled to the first and second clients configured to receive data from the first client, send the data to the second client, and send an acknowledgement to the first client upon completion.

Claims

1. A system for transferring a file between a first browser and a second browser comprising:

a first client, coupled to the first browser on a first processing device, that divides the file into chunks of data;

a second client coupled to the second browser on a second processing device; and

a relay server, coupled to the first and second clients, that;

(i) receives a first HTTP request from the first browser, the first HTTP request being an HTTP POST request,

(ii) receives a second HTTP request from the second browser, the second HTTP request being an HTTP GET request, and

(iii) for each of the first and second HTTP requests, determines that the HTTP request is to send the file or to receive the file based on whether the HTTP request is an HTTP POST request or an HTTP GET request respectively such that the relay server determines whether to send or receive data for the file in response to an HTTP request depending on the type of HTTP request method used,

wherein the first HTTP request is addressed to a first resource locator and the second HTTP request is addressed to a second resource locator, and the relay server determines whether the first and second HTTP requests are associated with each other based on the first and second resource locators; and

wherein the relay server receives the chunks of data from the first client and sends the chunks of data to the second client as the chunks of data are received.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the relay server further sends an acknowledgement to the first client upon completion of the file transfer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the relay server is connected to the first client as a data source and connected to the second client as a data sink.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first resource locator includes a session ID associated with the relay session, and second resource locator also includes the session ID.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first resource locator is the same as the second resource locator.

6. A method for transmitting a file between a first browser and a second browser comprising:

(a) establishing a relay session on a relay server;

(b) receiving, at the relay server, a first HTTP request from the first browser, the first HTTP request being an HTTP POST request addressed to a first resource locator;

(c) receiving, at the relay server, a second HTTP request from the second browser, the second HTTP request being an HTTP GET request addressed to a second resource locator;

(d) determining whether the first and second HTTP requests are associated with each other based on the first and second resource locators; and

(e) for each of the first and second HTTP requests, determining that the HTTP request is to send the file or to receive the file based whether the HTTP request is an HTTP POST request or an HTTP GET request respectively;

(f) determining whether to send or receive data for the file based on the type of HTTP request method received;

(g) receiving, as part of the first HTTP request, the file divided into chunks of data from the first browser via one or more networks; and

(h) sending, as a response to the second HTTP request, the chunks of data received from the first browser to the second browser as the chunks of data are received.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising (g) sending, as a response to the first HTTP request, an acknowledgement to the first browser upon completion of the file transfer.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising (g) sending information defining a location of the relay session to the second browser to establish a connection to the second browser.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the establishing (a) comprises determining a session ID for the relay session, and wherein the first and second resource locators each include the session ID.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first resource locator is the same as the second resource locator.