Access to network content

• US 8,954,524 B1
• Filed: 03/14/2012
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamon, Dominic
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky, Moustafa M
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHIU, HO T
• Application Number:
  US13/419,906
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A method and system for improving access to network content are described. Aspects of the disclosure minimize the delay between a navigation event and a network response by prerendering the next navigation event. For example, the method and system may predict a likely next uniform resource locator during web browsing to preemptively request content from the network before the user selects the corresponding link on a web page. The prediction operation may use a current location of a computing device to identify a set of browsing habits associated with that location. The browsing habits may be used to identify a most likely navigation event for prerendering. The methods and systems describe a variety of manners for prerendering content and managing and configuring prerendering operations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for accessing network content, the method comprising:

determining a location of a client device;

identifying, using a processor, a set of browsing habits corresponding to one or more past physical locations of the client device, the set of browsing habits comprising a plurality of navigation events associated with the one or more past physical locations;

clustering the set of browsing habits into subsets using location data associated with the plurality of navigation events, each clustered subset indicating a past physical location at which an aggregate of navigation events occurred;

predicting a navigation event using the clustered subsets, wherein at least one subset of the clustered subsets corresponds to the location of the client device; and

prerendering the predicted navigation event using the client device, wherein the prerendered predicted navigation event is stored in a completely executed and rendered format.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of navigation events are associated with a particular user account.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location is determined using a location application programming interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of navigation events are stored as navigation event-location pairs.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the location to a remote server; and

receiving the set of browsing habits from the remote server in response to sending the location to the remote server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a selected navigation event; and

storing the location and the selected navigation event in the plurality of navigation events.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

determining a location of a client device;

identifying a set of browsing habits corresponding to one or more past physical locations of the client device, the set of browsing habits comprising a plurality of navigation events, the subset associated with the one or more past physical locations;

clustering the set of browsing habits into subsets using location data associated with the plurality of navigation events, each clustered subset indicating a past physical location at which an aggregate of navigation events occurred;

predicting a navigation event using the clustered subsets, wherein at least one subset of the clustered subsets corresponds to the location of the client device; and

prerendering the predicted navigation event using the client device, wherein the prerendered predicted navigation event is stored in a completely executed and rendered format.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the plurality of navigation events are associated with a particular user account, and wherein the client device is logged into the particular user account.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the location is determined using a location application programming interface.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the plurality of navigation events are stored as navigation event-location pairs.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, the method further comprising:

sending the location to a remote server; and

receiving the set of browsing habits from the remote server in response to sending the location to the remote server.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, the method further comprising:

selecting a selected navigation event; and

storing the location and the selected navigation event in the plurality of navigation events.

13. A processing system for predicting navigation events, the processing system comprising:

a memory for storing navigation events; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to;

determine a location of a client device;

identify a set of browsing habits corresponding to one or more past physical locations of the client device, the set of browsing habits comprising a plurality of navigation events associated with the one or more past physical locations;

cluster the set of browsing habits into one or more subsets using location data associated with the plurality of navigation events, each clustered subset indicating a past physical location at which an aggregate of navigation events occurred;

predict a next navigation event using at least one of the one or more subsets; and

prerender the predicted next navigation event using the client device, wherein the prerendered predicted next navigation event is stored in a completely executed and rendered format.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a current location from a client device; and

determine the at least one of the one or more subsets to be used in predicting the next navigation event using the current location.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the next navigation event is predicted by sending the at least one of the one or more subsets to a client device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the next navigation event is predicted by selecting the next navigation event from the at least one of the one or more subsets and sending the next navigation event to a client device.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to accept a user credential to access a user account, and wherein the plurality of navigation events are associated with the user account.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive at least one of the plurality of navigation events and a location associated with the at least one navigation event; and

store the at least one of the plurality of navigation events and the location associated with the at least one navigation event in the memory.