Method and apparatus for content pre-fetching and preparation

• US 20030187984A1
• Filed: 03/29/2002
• Published: 10/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Banavar, Guruduth Somasekhara, Lei, Hui, Sow, Daby Mousse, Hunt, Guerney Douglass Holloway, Ebling, Maria Rene
• Granted Patent: US 8,516,114 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

A method of pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system is provided. The method includes the steps of generating at least one content pre-fetching policy and at least one content preparation policy, wherein each of the policies are at least in part a function of context information associated with a user. The content is pre-fetched based on information contained within the at least one content pre-fetching policy. Once the content has been pre-fetched, it is prepared based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy. The context information associated with the user includes at least one of the user'"'"'s usage patterns, current location, future plans and preferences.

Claims

1. A method of processing content in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

predicting a device used by a user to access content residing in the network, wherein the prediction of the device is at least in part a function of context information associated with the user; and

processing the content for access by the user via the predicted device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the processing step comprises the step of transcoding the content into a predetermined format wherein the format is compatible with the predicted device.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the context information comprises at least one of past, present and future context information.

4. A method of processing content in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

predicting at least one content item to be requested by a user, wherein the prediction of the content item is at least in part a function of context information associated with the user; and

processing the content item for access by the user.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising the steps of pre-fetching the content items and transferring the content items to at least one replica store wherein the content items will be held pending a request by the user.

6. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising the step of discovering an access pattern for a specific combination of context attribute values.

7. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising the step of entering an access pattern for a specific combination of context attribute values.

8. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising the step of maintaining consistency of content item based on context information.

9. A method of maintaining data in an information network, comprising the steps of:

storing replicas of content data in two or more stores; and

synchronizing the content data in each of the two or more stores, wherein timing of the synchronization process is a function of a user'"'"'s historical context information.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the synchronizing step is triggered by an update of content data to at least one of the two or more stores.

11. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the synchronizing step is triggered by a demand request at the stores.

12. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the synchronizing step is triggered by a lapse of fixed time intervals.

13. A method of pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

generating at least one content pre-fetching policy and at least one content preparation policy, wherein each of the policies are at least in part a function of context information associated with a user;

pre-fetching content based on information contained within the at least one content pre-fetching policy; and

preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the context information associated with the user includes at least one of the user'"'"'s usage patterns, current location, future plans and preferences.

15. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of forwarding content from a content server to a content selection and preparation unit, wherein a request for the content to be forwarded is triggered by the at least one content pre-fetching policy.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the at least one preparation policy provides preparation instructions to a content preparation unit.

17. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the preparing step further comprises the step of transcoding the content in a predetermined format.

18. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the preparing step further comprises the step of binding the application components in a predetermined manner.

19. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of serving content to a user in response to a request for the content, wherein the content is served from cache in a replica store unit.

20. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of serving content to a user in response to a change in the user'"'"'s context, wherein the content is served from cache in a replica store unit.

21. An apparatus for pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a processing device having a processor coupled to a memory, the processing device being operative for pre-fetching and preparing content and for generating pre-fetching and preparation policies.

22. The apparatus as recited in claim 21 wherein the processor comprises a content selection and synchronization unit for selecting content based on a request from a user and making the appropriate requests to one or more content servers, and for maintaining consistency of content stored on the one or more content servers and one or more replica stores.

23. The apparatus as recited in claim 22 wherein the processor further comprises a content preparation unit for preparing content in accordance with instructions contained within the preparation policies.

24. The apparatus as recited in claim 22 wherein the processor further comprises a user agent unit for facilitating communication of a request from a user to the one or more replica stores.

25. The apparatus as recited in claim 21 wherein the processor comprises an access monitor unit, an access record table unit, a context collector unit, a context history unit, a context correlator unit, a context miner unit, an access pattern unit, a persistent context unit, an user preferences unit, a device profiles unit, a policy generator unit, a policies unit, and a content groups unit.

26. The apparatus as recited in claim 21 further comprising a policies table unit, wherein the policies table unit comprises content group definitions for specifying groups of content that are of interest to a user, pre-fetching policies for triggering requests for content to be forwarded from a content server to a content selection and preparation unit, and preparation policies for providing preparation instructions to a content preparation unit.

27. An article of manufacture for processing content in a network, the article comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

predicting a device used by a user to access content residing in the network, wherein the prediction of the device is at least in part a function of context information associated with the user; and

processing the content for access by the user via the predicted device.

28. An article of manufacture for processing content in a network, the article comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

predicting at least one content item to be requested by a user, wherein the prediction of the content item is at least in part a function of context information associated with the user; and

processing the content item for access by the user.

29. An article of manufacture for maintaining data in an information network, the article of manufacture comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

storing replicas of content data in two or more stores; and

synchronizing the content data in each of the two or more stores, wherein timing of the synchronization process is a function of a user'"'"'s historical context information.

30. An article of manufacture for pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the article of manufacture comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

generating at least one content pre-fetching policy and at least one content preparation policy, wherein each of the policies are at least in part a function of context information associated with a user;

pre-fetching content based on information contained within the at least one content pre-fetching policy; and

preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy.