Method and apparatus for improving wireless data networks performance

• US 8,694,609 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2004
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Knittel, Steven F., Moganti, Madhav, Rao, Nataraj
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phuoc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Belani, Kishin G
• Application Number:
  US10/780,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20050182826A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,702 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• 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 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/04 Interfaces between hierarchically different network devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus for data communications over a wireless network. A user contacts an Internet gateway over the wireless network. When the user requests an Internet resource it sends an improved HTTP command to the gateway. The improved HTTP command causes the internet gateway to access a resource file and obtain not only the requested resource, but also all of the resources embedded in the requested resource. The requested resource and embedded resources are bundled into a file and sent to the user. By eliminating parsing of the requested resource by the user and subsequent requests for embedded information, the wireless network does not have to make multiple supplemental communication channel assignments, which improves overall performance.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in a communication network, comprising:

a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to;

receive a request for a resource having embedded data;

obtain the resource and the embedded data using a resource index file having information regarding the resource and the embedded data, wherein the resource index file includes a link listing comprising a plurality of links to the embedded data, wherein the links to the embedded data specify locations of respective portions of the embedded data, wherein the link listing is arranged in an order of estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data, wherein the estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data are determined based on prior access time information comprising prior access times to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data;

bundle the resource and the embedded data into a response file; and

send the response file.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a uniform resource identifier.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the request is received from a wireless access network.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the request is from a client device.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to update the resource index file based on obtaining of the embedded data.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, for obtaining the embedded data, the processor is configured to:

send a plurality of uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file; and

receive the embedded data.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to send the uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file based on the order of estimated lengths of time to obtain the embedded data.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to perform at least one of data acceleration, compression, trans-coding, and application-based optimization on the resource and the embedded data.

9. An apparatus for use in a communication network, comprising:

a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to;

receive a request for a resource having embedded data;

obtain the resource and the embedded data using a resource index file having information regarding the resource and the embedded data, wherein the resource index file includes a link listing comprising a plurality of links to the embedded data, wherein the links to the embedded data specify locations of respective portions of the embedded data, wherein the link listing is arranged in an order of estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data, wherein the estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective ortions of the embedded data are determined based on prior access time information comprising prior access times to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data; and

update the resource index file based on obtaining of the embedded data using the resource index file.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the request is received from a client device, wherein the processor is further configured to:

bundle the resource and the embedded data into a response file; and

send the response file toward the client device.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

send a plurality of uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file; and

receive the embedded data.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to send the uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file based on the order of predetermined estimated lengths of time to obtain the embedded data.

13. A method, comprising:

using a processor and a memory for;

receiving a request for a resource having embedded data;

obtaining the resource and embedded data using a resource index file having information regarding the resource and the embedded data, wherein the resource index file includes a link listing comprising a plurality of links to the embedded data, wherein the links to the embedded data specify locations of respective portions of the embedded data, wherein the link listing is arranged in an order of estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data, wherein the estimated lengths of time to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data are determined based on prior access time information comprising prior access times to obtain the respective portions of the embedded data from the locations specified by the links to the embedded data;

bundling the resource and the embedded data into a response file; and

sending the response file.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the request is received and the response file is sent over a wireless access network.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein obtaining the resource and embedded data using the resource index file comprises:

sending a plurality of uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file; and

receiving the embedded data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the uniform resource location requests for the embedded data using the links of the resource index file is performed based on the order of estimated lengths of time to obtain the embedded data.