Electronic device and method for DNS processing

• US 9,866,448 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2013
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Lai, Yu-Chuan, Chen, Po-Fei, Chen, Zhi-Yuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Biagini, Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gebre, Messeret f
• Application Number:
  US13/759,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20140082172A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,799 Days
• Field of Search: 709223, 709228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/58 Caching of addresses or names

Abstract

A method for DNS processing is provided. The method is executed by an electronic device and includes the following steps: determining a plurality of TTL values, wherein each of the TTL values corresponds to one of a plurality of operating states of the electronic device, and determining whether to remove an entry from a local DNS cache in the electronic device or not according to the TTL value corresponding to the current state among the operating states of the electronic device.

Claims

1. A method for a Domain Name System (DNS) processing between a DNS server and an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a processor and a local DNS cache, and the method is executed by the processor of the electronic device, comprising:

receiving a DNS query from an application;

generating and storing a plurality of time-to-live (TTL) values corresponding to a first entry in the local DNS cache based on a first response which is provided by the DNS server, wherein each of the TTL values respectively corresponds to one of a plurality of operating states of the electronic device;

identifying a current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the current operating state is one of the plurality of operating states of the electronic device;

identifying a TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the identified TTL value is one of the plurality of TTL values;

determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache in the electronic device or not according to the identified TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device;

if the first entry is determined not to be removed, returning a result to the DNS query according to the first entry in the local DNS cache,

if the first entry is determined to be removed, sending the DNS query to the DNS server;

receiving a second response to the sent DNS query from the DNS server; and

adding a second entry into the local DNS cache according to the second response, and returning a result of the DNS query to the application according to the received second response,

wherein the step of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not comprises;

calculating a first expiration time of the first entry in the local DNS cache according to the identified TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the first expiration time of the entry corresponds to the identified current operating state of the electronic device;

determining whether a current time is later than the first expiration time of the entry; and

removing the first entry from the local DNS cache if the current time is later than the first expiration time of the entry.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating and storing the TTL values corresponding to the first entry in the local DNS cache based on the first response which is provided by the DNS server comprises:

sending a DNS query for an Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponding to a domain name of a target server to the DNS server, wherein the DNS server provides the first response to the electronic device in response to the DNS query;

receiving the first response from the DNS server;

generating and storing the TTL values based on the first response; and

adding the first entry into the local DNS cache according to the IP address, the domain name, and the TTL values corresponding to the first response.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the TTL values comprise a first TTL value and a second TTL value, the first response comprises at least one original TTL value, and the step of generating and storing the TTL values based on the first response comprises:

setting the first TTL value to be a minimum value of the at least one original TTL value; and

determining the second TTL value based on the first TTL value.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining the second TTL value comprises:

when the first TTL value is smaller than a predefined value, setting the second TTL value to be the predefined value; and

when the first TTL value is larger than the predefined value, setting the second TTL value to be the first TTL value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating states at least comprise one of a first state defined by when a screen of the electronic device is turned on, a second state defined by when the screen is turned off, a third state defined by when the electronic device does not receive any user operation in a predefined period of time, and a fourth state defined by when a foreground application executed by the electronic device does not need network connection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entry comprises an IP address and a reference count that is increased by one whenever the first entry is used to look up the IP address, and the step of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not further comprises:

determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not according to the reference count and the TTL values.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not further comprises:

removing the first entry from the local DNS cache when the reference count is larger than a predefined threshold value and the current time is not later than the first expiration time and the current time is later than a second expiration time, wherein the second expiration time is calculated according to another TTL value corresponding to another operating state of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entry comprises an IP address and the step of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not further comprises:

determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not according to a network condition between the electronic device and the IP address.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not further comprises:

removing the first entry from the local DNS cache when the current time is not later than the first expiration time and the IP address is unreachable from the electronic device after a previous query for the IP address.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the IP address is regarded as unreachable when the processor sends a network packet to the IP address and does not receive any response to the network packet from the IP address.

11. An electronic device for a Domain Name System (DNS) processing between a DNS server and an electronic device, comprising:

a storage device, storing a local DNS cache; and

a controller, coupled to the storage device,

wherein the controller is configured to receive a DNS query from an application,

wherein the controller is configured to generate and store a plurality of time-to-live (TTL) values corresponding to a first entry in the local DNS cache based on a first response which is provided by the DNS server, wherein each of the TTL values respectively corresponds to one of a plurality of operating states of the electronic device,

identify a current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the current operating state is one of the plurality of operating states of the electronic device,

identify a TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the identified TTL value is one of the plurality of TTL values,

wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not according to the identified TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device,

wherein if the first entry is determined not to be removed, the controller is further configured to return a result to the DNS query according to the first entry in the local DNS cache,

wherein if the first entry is determined to be removed from the local DNS cache, the controller is further configured to send the DNS query to the DNS server,

wherein the controller is further configured to receive a response to the sent DNS query from the DNS server,

wherein the controller is further configured to add a second entry into the local DNS cache, and return a result of the DNS query to the application according to the received response,

wherein the in the operation of determining whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not,

the controller calculates a first expiration time of the first entry in the local DNS cache according to the identified TTL value corresponding to the identified current operating state of the electronic device, wherein the first expiration time of the entry corresponds to the identified current operating state of the electronic device, and

the controller determines whether a current time is later than the first expiration time of the entry,

wherein the controller removes the first entry from the local DNS cache if the current time is later than the first expiration time of the entry.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the controller sends a DNS query for an Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponding to a domain name of a target server to the DNS server, wherein the DNS server provides the first response to the electronic device in response to the DNS query, receiving the first response from the DNS server, generates and stores the TTL values based on the first response, and adds the first entry into the local DNS cache according to the IP address, the domain name, and the TTL values corresponding to the first response.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the TTL values comprise a first TTL value and a second TTL value, the first response comprises at least one original TTL value, the controller sets the first TTL value to be a minimum value of the at least one original TTL value, and the controller determines the second TTL value based on the first TTL value.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein when the first TTL value is smaller than a predefined value, the controller sets the second TTL value to be the predefined value;

when the first TTL value is larger than the predefined value, the controller sets the second TTL value to be the first TTL value.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the operating states at least comprise one of a first state defined by when a screen of the electronic device is turned on, a second state defined by when the screen is turned off, a third state defined by when the electronic device does not receive any user operation in a predefined period of time, and a fourth state defined by when a foreground application executed by the electronic device does not need network connection.

16. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first entry comprises an IP address and a reference count, the controller increases the reference count by one whenever the controller uses the first entry to look up the IP address, and the controller determines whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not according to the reference count and the TTL values.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the controller removes the first entry from the local DNS cache when the reference count is larger than a predefined threshold value and the current time is not later than the first expiration time and the current time is later than a second expiration time, wherein the controller calculates the second expiration time according to another TTL value corresponding to another operating state of the electronic device.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first entry comprises an IP address and the controller determines whether to remove the first entry from the local DNS cache or not according to a network condition between the electronic device and the IP address.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the controller removes the first entry from the local DNS cache when the current time is not later than the first expiration time and the IP address is unreachable from the electronic device after a previous query for the IP address.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the controller regards the IP address as unreachable when the controller sends a network packet to the IP address and does not receive any response to the network packet from the IP address.