Apparatus, system and method for maintaining a persistent data state on a communications network

• US 9,407,673 B1
• Filed: 04/30/2014
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Priceline.com LLC (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Priceline.com LLC (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Inventors: Nedderman, Scott, Taylor, Jonathan, Lenz, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilles, Jude Jean
• Application Number:
  US14/266,780
• Time in Patent Office: 825 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 709/220, 709/223, 709/237, 709/246, 709/249
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment

Abstract

The present invention is an apparatus, system, and method for the improved tracking of a data state. The present invention allows session states to be maintained by sites that run on multiple, load-balanced servers. The present invention removes a single point of failure in a system, thus preventing all active sessions from being lost by providing persistent session data distributable across one or more machines over a communications network.

Claims

1. A method of maintaining a session state on at least one server, comprising:

generating a session key, wherein each user session key is uniquely associated with a user and a session state;

transmitting the user session keys to a remote computing device;

providing the user session keys to a requesting session client associated with session information;

providing session information for each session key,

wherein the session information for each session key comprises at least one entry to a form segment data field, and

wherein the session key, state and session information are provided from at least one server separate from a server interacting with the requesting session client; and

associating the session information with each session key.

2. The method of claim 1 further wherein the session states are maintained on a server separate from a server for which the session states are associated.

3. The method of claim 2 further wherein said separate server is a plurality of servers.

4. The method of claim 3 further wherein said plurality of servers are distributed servers.

5. The method of claim 1 further wherein said separate server is a web server.

6. The method of claim 1 further wherein said separate server is a non-web server.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the session key is uniquely associated with one user.

8. The method of claim 1 where the session keys are associated with a plurality of users.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said form segment data field is a segment data field.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said form segment data field is a web segment data field.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said form segment data field is a request data field.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said form segment data field is a web request data field.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said form segment data field is an application data field.

14. The method of claim 1 where the user session keys are provided via any of:

embedding in a web page, or outside a web page.

15. A method of maintaining a session state on a server, comprising:

generating unique user session key uniquely associated with a user and a state;

transmitting said unique user session key to a remote computing device for storage and subsequent transmission to a requesting session client associated with session information;

providing the session information, wherein the session information for each session key comprises at least one entry to a form segment data field, and wherein the session key, state and session information are provided from at least one server separate from a server interacting with the requesting session client; and

associating the session information with the unique user session key.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said form segment data field is a segment data field.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said form segment data field is a web segment data field.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said form segment data field is a request data field.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said form segment data field is a web request data field.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein said form segment data field is an application data field.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein said session information is maintained on a web server.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein said session information is stored on an server outside a web server.

23. The method of claim 15 wherein said session information is stored on a computing device outside a web server.

24. The method of claim 15 where the user session key is provided via any of:

embedding in a web page, or outside a web page.

25. A method of maintaining a plurality of session states on at least one server, comprising:

generating a plurality of user session keys, wherein each user session key is uniquely associated with a user and a state;

transmitting said plurality of user session keys to remote computing devices;

providing the plurality of session keys to requesting session clients associated with session information;

providing session information for each session key, wherein the session information for each session key comprises at least one entry to a form segment data field; and

associating the session information with each session key.

26. The method of claim 25 further wherein said session states are stored on a server separate from a server for which the session states are associated.

27. The method of claim 26 further wherein said separate server is a plurality of servers.

28. The method of claim 27 further wherein said plurality of servers are distributed servers.

29. The method of claim 25 further wherein said separate server is a web server.

30. The method of claim 25 further wherein said separate server is a non-web server.

31. The method of claim 25 wherein said plurality of session keys are uniquely associated with one user.

32. The method of claim 25 where said plurality of session keys are associated with a plurality of users.

33. The method of claim 25 where the user session keys are provided via any of:

embedding in a web page, or outside a web page.

34. A method of maintaining a plurality of session states on a server, comprising:

generating a plurality of user session keys based on a user IP address, wherein each user session key is uniquely associated with a user and a state;

providing the plurality of session keys to a requesting session client associated with session information;

providing the session information for each session key, wherein the session information for each session key comprises at least one entry to a form segment data field; and

associating the session information with each session key.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said state is a web form state.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein said form segment data field is a web form segment data field.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein said form segment data field is a web request data field.

38. The method of claim 34 where the user session keys are provided via any of:

embedding in a web page, or outside a web page.

39. A method of maintaining a plurality of session states on a server, comprising:

generating a plurality of user session keys based on a user IP address, wherein each user session key is uniquely associated with a user and a web form state;

providing the plurality of session keys to a requesting session client associated with session information;

providing the session information for each session key, wherein the session information for each session key comprises at least one entry to a web form segment data field; and

associating the session information with each session key.