System and method of predictive data acquisition

• US 8,886,760 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sandisk Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Jogand-Coulomb, Fabrice, Balma, Phillip Jeffrey, Caillon, Pascal Achille, Alluf, Aviv, Kavanagh, Brendan Barry, Webster, Kurt Forsyth, Broadwin, Elliot, Schram, James Frederick, Hutton, Henry Ricardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Chirag R
• Application Number:
  US12/495,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20100332586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,960 Days
• Field of Search: 709217-219, 709246-247, 709 52- 55, 711/137
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics

Abstract

Systems and methods of predictive data acquisition are disclosed. A personal proxy server is configured to acquire first data in response to a first request to access the first data and to acquire second data prior to receiving a second request to access the second data. The first request and the second request are received from a common source. The personal proxy server is also configured to store the acquired first data and the acquired second data so that the acquired first data and the acquired second data are accessible to the personal proxy server.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an interface, wherein the interface is removably coupleable to an access device that is distinct from the apparatus, the apparatus being configured to receive data and power from the access device via the interface;

a controller operatively coupled to the interface, wherein the controller is configured to function as a personal proxy server when the interface is coupled to the access device, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to;

use the access device, via the interface, to acquire first data from a remote source in response to a first request to access the first data, and

use the access device, via the interface, to acquire second data from the remote source prior to receiving a second request to access at least a portion of the second data, the first request and the second request received from an application of the access device, and

a memory coupled to the interface and accessible to the controller, wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to store the acquired first data and the acquired second data at the memory such that the acquired first data and the acquired second data are accessible to the personal proxy server.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a common source of the first request and the second request includes a user of the access device, the application of the access device, or a computing system remote from the access device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the personal proxy server acquires the second data by interacting, via the interface, with proxy server components that execute at the access device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a scheduler triggers acquisition of the second data, and wherein the scheduler is operative to access a profile associated with a common source of the first request and the second request.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the scheduler is implemented at a removable device that includes the interface, the personal proxy server and the memory.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to initiate acquiring the second data responsive to an instruction received from a device that is remote from the access device and remote from the apparatus.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instruction to initiate acquiring the second data is received at the access device via a short message service (SMS) message.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to acquire the second data based on a profile of a user that initiates the first request and the second request.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the access device is coupled to a subscriber identification module (SIM), and wherein an identification of the user is determined based on data stored at the SIM.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to prevent a user from accessing at least a portion of the acquired second data prior to a predetermined date.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second data comprises a plurality of advertisements, and wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to select at least one advertisement from the plurality of advertisements for display at the access device.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acquired first data and the acquired second data are exclusively accessible from the memory via the personal proxy server.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein activation of the personal proxy server is selectively enabled based at least partially on control information stored at a subscriber identification module (SIM).

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control information includes authentication information and wherein the activation of the personal proxy server is enabled responsive to the access device authenticating a removable device based on the authentication information.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive, via the interface from the application executing on the access device, a request for third data;

determine that the third data is not stored in the memory;

send a second request for the third data to a network data source via the interface and the access device;

receive the third data from the network data source via the interface and the access device;

store the third data at the memory; and

provide the third data to the application from the memory via the interface.

16. A host device comprising:

an interface coupleable to a removable device;

a power supply coupled to the interface; and

a first portion of a personal proxy server operatively coupled to the interface, wherein the first portion of the personal proxy server interacts with a second portion of the personal proxy server that is onboard the removable device when power is provided to the removable device via the interface;

wherein the personal proxy server is configured to acquire first data in response to a first request to access the first data,

wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to acquire second data prior to receiving a second request to access at least a portion of the second data, the second request and the first request originating from a common source, and

wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to store the acquired first data and the acquired second data at a memory of the removable device when the removable device is coupled to the interface.

17. The host device of claim 16, wherein the common source is a user, and wherein the personal proxy server is configured to acquire the second data based on a profile associated with the user.

18. The host device of claim 17, wherein the profile is stored at the memory of the removable device.

19. The host device of claim 16, wherein the personal proxy server includes a scheduler that schedules acquisition of the second data.

20. The host device of claim 16, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to prevent the common source from accessing at least a portion of the acquired second data from the memory prior to receiving an instruction to make the portion of the acquired second data accessible, wherein the instruction is received from an external system that is distinct from the host device and distinct from the removable device.

21. The host device of claim 16, wherein the removable device stores preloaded third data that is accessible via the personal proxy server, wherein the preloaded third data is written to the removable device prior to the removable device being first coupled to the interface.

22. The host device of claim 16, further comprising a user interface including an input device, wherein the first request and the second request are received via the input device.

23. The host device of claim 16, further comprising a subscriber identification module (SIM) storing control information, and wherein an operation of the personal proxy server is restricted at least partially based on the control information.

24. The host device of claim 16, wherein the second data is prefetch data and wherein the personal proxy server retrieves the prefetch data at particular times based on a user'"'"'s subscription with a wireless service provider.

25. A removable device comprising:

a housing;

an interface coupleable to an access device that is external to the housing, wherein the interface enables the removable device to receive power and data to be cached from the access device;

a memory controller within the housing and operatively coupled to the interface, the memory controller configured to function as a personal proxy server that is configured to acquire first data via the access device in response to a first request to access the first data, wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to acquire second data via the access device prior to receiving a second request to access at least a portion of the second data, the second request and the first request received from an application of the access device; and

a memory within the housing and coupled to the memory controller, the memory operative to store the acquired first data and the acquired second data.

26. The removable device of claim 25, wherein the personal proxy server is responsive to a second proxy server of the access device.

27. The removable device of claim 26, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to store content for the second proxy server at the memory.

28. The removable device of claim 26, wherein the personal proxy server is configured to track access to the acquired first data and to the acquired second data by the second proxy server.

29. The removable device of claim 28, wherein the personal proxy server or the second proxy server implements at least one network communication protocol that is not implemented by the other one of the personal proxy server or the second proxy server.

30. The removable device of claim 25, wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to store profile information at a secure portion of the memory, the profile information indicating at least one of user specified preferences, frequently accessed content pages, timestamp data of content access, bookmarks, duration of content page views, and global positioning system (GPS) data.

31. The removable device of claim 30, wherein the user specified preferences include at least one page specified by a user of the access device.

32. The removable device of claim 25, wherein the memory controller is further configured to track usage data and store user tracking data.

33. The removable device of claim 32, wherein the memory controller is further configured to report the user tracking data to a service provider, the user tracking data corresponding to a particular user of the access device.

34. The removable device of claim 25, wherein the personal proxy server is further configured to perform data metering for billing a user of the access device.

35. The removable device of claim 34, wherein the user is not charged for the access device acquiring the second data unless the user requests access to the second data.

36. The removable device of claim 25, wherein the memory controller is further configured to provide the second data to the access device from the memory in response to the application providing the second request.

37. The removable device of claim 36, wherein the memory controller is further configured to provide the second data to a second access device from the memory when the interface is coupled to the second device and in response to a second application of the second access device providing a third request to access the second data.

38. A removable data storage device comprising:

a housing;

an interface coupleable to an access device that is external to the housing, wherein the interface enables the removable data storage device to receive power and data to be cached from the access device;

a memory within the housing, the memory operative to store a profile and to store prefetched data that is accessible to an application of the access device via a personal proxy server when the interface is coupled to the access device; and

a memory controller within the housing, coupled to the memory and coupled to the interface, wherein the memory controller is configured to implement a scheduler, and wherein the scheduler is operative to initiate acquisition of the prefetched data, via the access device, for the personal proxy server in accordance with the profile.

39. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the memory controller is configured to store the prefetched data in a secure portion of the memory.

40. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the personal proxy server comprises:

a first proxy server that is executable at the memory controller to provide cached data to the application of the access device via the interface; and

a second proxy server that is executable at the access device to retrieve the prefetched data via a network connection of the access device and to provide the prefetched data to the memory controller via the interface.

41. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the personal proxy server is operative to access the prefetched data from the memory in response to receiving a network access request from a client application of the access device.

42. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein tracking data corresponding to a particular user of the access device is stored in a secure portion of the memory.

43. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the memory controller is further configured to store profile information at a secure portion of the memory, the profile information specifying at least one of user specified preferences, frequently accessed content pages, timestamp data of content access, bookmarks, duration of content page views, and global positioning data.

44. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein a credential associated with a service provider network subscription is stored at a secure portion of the memory.

45. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the scheduler initiates acquisition of the prefetched data by instructing the personal proxy server to predictively retrieve content from a public network for later consumption by a user of the access device.

46. The removable data storage device of claim 45, wherein the scheduler initiates the acquisition of the prefetched data based on a roaming condition of the access device.

47. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the scheduler initiates the acquisition of the prefetched data based on a battery condition of the access device.

48. The removable data storage device of claim 38, wherein the memory controller restricts the personal proxy server from accessing the prefetched data prior to authenticating the personal proxy server.

49. The removable data storage device of claim 48, wherein at least a portion of the prefetched data includes promotional data that is preloaded to the memory prior to a user preference being stored to the profile.

50. A method comprising:

accessing a user profile from a memory of a removable device, wherein the user profile specifies at least one user preference;

sending the user profile to a scheduler of a network proxy server;

receiving data at the removable device via the network proxy server and via an external device to which the removable device is coupled, wherein at least a portion of the data is retrieved based on the at least one user preference and is acquired by the network proxy server in response to the scheduler; and

storing the received data in the memory at the removable device;

wherein the network proxy server is configured to receive a network access request from a client application executing at the external device and to provide the client application with access to the data from the memory of the removable device in response to the network access request.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the scheduler is implemented at a memory controller of the removable device.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein the scheduler is implemented at the external device that is coupled to the removable device.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the network proxy server is configured to retrieve updates to the data in response to the scheduler, wherein the updates are retrieved based on a bandwidth criteria.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein the received data comprises data having a first data format corresponding to the external device and data having a second data format corresponding to a second external device to which the removable device is coupleable.

55. The method of claim 50, further comprising preventing caching of at least one page of retrieved content at the memory to enable tracking of access to the at least one page.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein a memory controller of the removable device authenticates the network proxy server prior to enabling the network proxy server to access the data from the memory.

57. The method of claim 50, wherein an activity of the network proxy server is restricted based on control information stored at a subscriber identification module (SIM) coupled to the external device.

58. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

receiving an access request from the network proxy server, the access request generated by the client application and requesting second data;

determining that the second data is not stored in the memory of the removable device;

sending a request for the second data to a network data source via the external device;

receiving the second data from the network data source via the external device;

storing the second data at the memory of the removable device; and

providing the second data to the client application from the memory of the removable device via the network proxy server.