NETWORK APPLICATION PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT USING SPECULATIVE EXECUTION

• US 20100312858A1
• Filed: 06/04/2009
• Published: 12/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Nightingale, Edmund B., Mickens, James W., Lorch, Jacob R., Elson, Jeremy E., Howell, Jonathan R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,646 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching

Abstract

A speculative web browser engine may enable providing transmission of content between a server and a client prior to a user-initiated request for the content hidden in imperative code (event handlers), which may reduce user-perceived latency when the user initiates the imperative code. In some aspects, a speculative browser state may be created from an actual browser state and used to run the event handlers. The event handlers may be modified to direct actions of the event handler to update the speculative browser state. Speculative content may be transmitted between the server and the client in response to an execution of the modified code. The speculative content may be stored in a cache and made readily available for use when the user initiates the event handler and finds that the desired content has already been fetched.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of reducing user-perceived latency of network transmissions between a server and a client, the method comprising:

copying a portion of a current browser state to create a speculative browser state that includes an event handler;

generating a speculative event handler from the event handler that directs resultants of the event handler to the speculative browser state;

executing the speculative event handler;

identifying speculative content that may be transmitted between the server and the client in response to the execution of the speculative event handler;

transmitting the speculative content between the server and the client for storage in a cache; and

retrieving speculatively fetched data from a local cache when the user later triggers the speculated-upon event.

2. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying event handlers that are initiated by user events.

3. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

creating a speculative layout using the transmitted speculative content; and

retrieving this layout when a user triggers the speculated-upon event.

4. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising implementing the speculative browser state using context pooling to create the speculative browser state and to avoid user-perceived disruptions during a user interaction with the current browser state.

5. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the transmitted speculative content is uploaded from the client to the server in anticipation of a user-triggered upload of the speculative content.

6. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the event handler is designated as including speculative content by employing a lazy cloning designation configured to be implemented by a developer.

7. An application program interface to enable speculative execution and data transfer of speculative content between a server and a client, the application program interface being embodied on a computer-readable medium and having processes for performing the following functions:

identifying an event handler in web content made available to a client from a server over a network;

executing the event handler in a speculative browser state to determine a resultant of the event handler, the resultant including a request for additional content over the network;

transmitting the additional content as speculative content between the client and the server when the resultant of the event handler requires the additional content; and

storing the speculative content in cache for access by a browser on the client when a user triggers the event handler.

8. The application program interface as recited in claim 7, further having processes for performing the following functions:

creating the speculative browser state by copying a portion of the current browser state, the current browser state including the event handler; and

modifying program code of the event handler to direct actions of the event handler to update the speculative browser state.

9. The application program interface as recited in claim 8, wherein the creating the speculative browser state includes only copying Document Object Model (DOM) objects and the current browser state that can be updated by the event handlers.

10. The application program interface as recited in claim 7, wherein the transmitting additional content includes at least one of downloading the speculative content from the server to the client or uploading the speculative content from the client to the server over a network.

11. The application program interface as recited in claim 10, further having processes for performing a function of creating a speculative layout using the downloaded speculative content, storing the speculative layout in the speculative browser state, and making the speculative layout visible to a user when the user triggers the event handler.

12. The application program interface as recited in claim 7, further having processes for performing a function of using equivalence classes that map different user actions that result in a same browser event to a single canonical speculatable event.

13. The application program interface as recited in claim 7, further having processes for performing a function of transmitting a prioritization signal to the server prior to the server transmitting the additional content, the prioritization signal enabling the server to prioritize the speculative transfer request as a lower priority than non-speculative requests to enable smoothing loads of the server.

14. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to performs acts comprising:

identifying a browser state having an event handler;

creating a copy of at least a portion of the browser state as a speculative browser state that includes the event handler;

modifying the event handler to perform actions within the speculative browser state; and

executing the event handler prior to user input to determine an action of the event handler.

15. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein the acts further comprise:

transmitting speculative content between the client and the server when the action of the event handler requires additional content; and

storing the speculative content as speculative content in cache for access by a browser on the client when a user triggers the event handler.

16. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the transmitting the speculative content includes downloading the additional content from the server to the client in advance of a user-initiated request for the additional content.

17. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise creating a speculative layout using the downloaded speculative content.

18. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein the acts further comprise transmitting a prioritization tag with the request for additional content to enable smoothing load on a server by deprioritizing transmission of speculative content.

19. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein the at least a portion of the browser state to speculatively copy is selected by determining browser objects that are modified by the event handler.

20. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, wherein the event handler includes a speculation tag created by a developer to enable identification of the event handler as a target for speculative execution.