Adaptive downloading or streaming to conserve mobile device or network resources

• US 9,094,481 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2014
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Seven Networks LLC (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: Seven Networks Inc
• Inventors: Srinivasan, Suresh, Lee, Yuan Kang, Sengupta, Chaitali
• Primary Examiner(s): Christensen, Scott B
• Application Number:
  US14/253,574
• Publication Number:
  US 20140310386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 469 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1045 Proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1085 involving dynamic management of active down- or uploading connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure include techniques for optimization on downloading/streaming activities of media and/or other files (e.g., on a local client, or a local proxy on a mobile device). An example of such downloading/streaming is a user accessing media content including video and/or audio content using a mobile device such as a smart phone, a tablet, or a “phablet,” etc.

Claims

1. A method of adaptively adjusting downloaded or streamed network traffic in a mobile network, the method comprising:

providing a mobile device including an optimization engine, the mobile device executing one or more applications;

intercepting, by the optimization engine, data network requests to be transmitted from the mobile device to the mobile network, the data network requests initiated by the one or more mobile applications and intercepted before the data network requests are transmitted from the mobile device, wherein the intercepted data network requests include at least a header portion and a body portion, the header portion including at least a source and a destination network address;

detecting, by the optimization engine, that one or more of the intercepted data network requests are associated with downloading or streaming media files;

acquiring, by the optimization engine, user-specific information of a user of the mobile device, the user-specific information of a user of the mobile device being acquired separately from the one or more intercepted network requests;

based on the acquired user-specific information, adaptively modifying, by the optimization engine, the detected data network requests that are associated with downloading or streaming the media files, wherein the adaptively modifying causes the downloading or streaming of the media files to be adjusted; and

directing, by the optimization engine, the adaptively modified data network request to a content server corresponding to the destination network address via the mobile network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network traffic associated with the media files is adaptively modified as a result of the adaptive adjustment to the one or more data network requests.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the mobile device, the one or more modified data network requests to a content server to download or stream the media file,

wherein each media file is downloaded or streamed to the mobile device in multiple chunks, and

wherein each chunk is received by the mobile device in response to a corresponding data network request.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each chunk has one or more chunk characteristics that are determined based on the corresponding data network request.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the chunk characteristics comprises a download or display size that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the chunk characteristics comprises a streaming quality that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising acquiring the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein acquiring the information comprises:

generating one or more Application Program Interface or system calls to access the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device includes operational parameters specific to the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device includes real-time conditions specific to the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device includes behavior of the user of the mobile device with respect to the streaming media files.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein adaptively modifying the one or more data network requests reduces overall network traffic in the mobile network occurring as a result of the one or more data network requests.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking, by the optimization engine, the media files that are accessed by the user of the mobile device based on the data network requests;

identifying a subset of the media files that are accessed by the user of the mobile device, the subset comprising one or more of the media files that are most frequently accessed by the user of the mobile device;

caching the subset of the media files on the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more data network requests comprise a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more data network requests comprise a real-time protocol request.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes one of translating, converting, or adjusting the detected data network requests.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes adjusting a download size or a streaming quality of the requested media file.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes suspending or resuming the requests.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes combining a plurality of the detected data network requests into a single combined request.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes dividing at least one detected data network requests into a plurality of divided requests.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes converting a request to stream a first specified media file to a request to download the first specified media file.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein adaptively modifying the detected data network requests includes converting a request to download a second specified media file to a request to stream the second specified media file.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more data network requests comprise one or more of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request or real-time protocol requests.

23. A method of adaptively modifying downloaded or streamed network traffic in a mobile network, the method comprising:

providing a mobile device including an optimization engine, the mobile device executing one or more applications;

intercepting, by the optimization engine, network signaling data network requests to be transmitted from the mobile device to the mobile network, the intercepted data network requests associated with downloading or streaming a media file,

wherein the network signaling is initiated by the one or more mobile applications and intercepted before the data network requests are transmitted from the mobile device, and

wherein the network signaling includes one or more data network requests, wherein the intercepted data network requests include at least a header portion and a body portion, the header portion including at least a source and a destination network address;

acquiring, by the optimization engine, information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device, the user-specific information of a user of the mobile device being acquired separately from the one or more intercepted network requests;

based on the acquired information, adaptively modifying, by the optimization engine, the one or more data network requests associated with downloading or streaming the media files,

wherein the network traffic associated with the media files is adaptively adjusted as a result of the adaptively modifying the one or more data network requests;

wherein each media file is downloaded or streamed to the mobile device in multiple chunks and each chunk is received by the mobile device in response to a corresponding data network request;

wherein the adaptively modifying causes the downloading or streaming of the media files to be adjusted; and

directing, by the optimization engine, the adaptively modified data network request to a content server corresponding to the destination network address via the mobile network.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

transmitting, by the mobile device, the one or more modified data network requests to a content server to download or stream the media file,

wherein each chunk has one or more chunk characteristics that are determined based on the corresponding data network request.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the chunk characteristics comprises a download or display size that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request or a streaming quality that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

acquiring the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device,

wherein acquiring the information comprises generating one or more Application Program Interface or system calls to access the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device includes operational parameters specific to the mobile device, real-time conditions specific to the mobile device, or behavior of the user of the mobile device with respect to the streaming media files.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

tracking, by the optimization engine, the media files that are accessed by the user of the mobile device based on the data network requests;

identifying a subset of the media files that are accessed by the user of the mobile device, the subset comprising one or more of the media files that are most frequently accessed by the user of the mobile device;

caching the subset of the media files on the mobile device.

30. A mobile device comprising:

a radio;

one or more processors;

a memory unit storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the mobile device to;

intercept data network requests to be transmitted from the mobile device to the mobile network, the data network requests initiated by mobile applications executing on the mobile device in the mobile network and intercepted before the data network requests are transmitted from the mobile device, wherein the data network requests include at least a header portion and a body portion, the header portion including at least a source and a destination network address;

detect that one or more of the intercepted data network requests are associated with downloading or streaming media files;

acquire user-specific information of a user of the mobile device, the user-specific information of a user of the mobile device being acquired separately from the one or more intercepted network requests;

adaptively modify the one or more of the data network requests that are associated with downloading or streaming the media files based on the acquired information,

wherein the network traffic associated with the media files is adaptively modified as a result of the adaptive adjustment to the one or more data network requests,

wherein the adaptively modifying causes the downloading or streaming of the media files to be adjusted; and

directing, by the optimization engine, the adaptively modified data network request to a content server corresponding to the destination network address via the mobile network.

31. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the mobile device to:

direct the radio to transmit the one or more modified data network requests to a content server to download or stream the media file,

wherein each media file is downloaded or streamed to the mobile device in multiple chunks, and

wherein each chunk is received by the mobile device in response to a corresponding data network request.

32. The mobile device of claim 30, further comprising:

a cache memory system,

wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the mobile device to cache a subset of the media files that are accessed most frequently by the user of the mobile device on the cache memory system.

33. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein at least one of the chunk characteristics comprises a download or display size that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request or a streaming quality that is adaptively selected based on the corresponding data network request.

34. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the mobile device to:

acquire the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device,

wherein acquiring the information comprises generating one or more Application Program Interface or system calls to access the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device.

35. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein the information specific to the mobile device or the user of the mobile device includes operational parameters specific to the mobile device, real-time conditions specific to the mobile device, or behavior of the user of the mobile device with respect to the streaming media files.

36. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions to be implemented by a mobile device having a processor, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the mobile device to:

intercept data network requests initiated by mobile applications executing on the mobile device in the mobile network to be transmitted from the mobile device to the mobile network, the data network requests initiated by the one or more mobile applications and intercepted before the data network requests are transmitted from the mobile device, wherein the intercepted data network requests include at least a header portion and a body portion, the header portion including at least a source and a destination network address;

detect one or more of the intercepted data network requests that are associated with downloading or streaming media files;

adaptively modify the one or more of the data network requests that are associated with downloading or streaming the media files based on acquired information specific to the mobile device or a user of the mobile device,

wherein the adaptively modifying causes the downloading or streaming of the media files to be adjusted,

wherein the user-specific information of a user of the mobile device is acquired separately from the one or more intercepted network requests,

wherein the network traffic associated with the media files is adaptively modified as a result of the adaptive adjustment to the one or more data network requests;

direct the radio to transmit the one or more adaptively modified data network requests to a content server corresponding to the destination network address via the mobile network to download or stream the media file,

wherein each media file is downloaded or streamed to the mobile device in multiple chunks, and

wherein each chunk is received by the mobile device in response to a corresponding data network request.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the mobile device to cache a subset of the media files that are accessed most frequently by the user of the mobile device on a cache memory system.