APPLICATION-DRIVEN CDN PRE-CACHING

• US 20130159383A1
• Filed: 12/16/2011
• Published: 06/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Holt, Nicholas Leonard, Huang, Cheng, Tuliani, Jonathan Roshan
• Granted Patent: US 9,294,582 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0862 with prefetch
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/602 Details relating to cache prefetching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/6028 Prefetching based on hints or prefetch instructions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics

Abstract

Techniques are provided for the caching of content prior to the content being requested. A request for desired content may be received from a client application at a caching server. The request may also indicate additional content related to the desired content that may be subsequently requested by the client application. The indicated additional content (and the desired content, if not already cached) is retrieved from an origin server. The desired content is transmitted to the client application at the user device, and the additional content is cached at the caching server. Subsequently, a second request may be received from the client application that includes a request for the additional content. The additional content, which is now cached at the caching server, is served to the client application by the caching server in response to the second request (rather than being retrieved from the origin server).

Claims

1. A method in a caching server, comprising:

receiving a request for desired content from a client application in a user device and an indication of additional content related to the desired content that may be subsequently requested by the client application;

transmitting a request for at least the indicated additional content to an origin server;

receiving the additional content from the origin server;

transmitting the desired content to the client application at the user device; and

caching the additional content.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second request from the client application that includes a request for the additional content; and

serving the cached additional content to the client application at the user device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second request indicates second additional content related to the first additional content that may be subsequently requested by the client application, the method further comprising:

transmitting a request for the indicated second additional content to the origin server;

receiving the second additional content from the origin server; and

caching the second additional content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of additional content includes a likelihood indication that indicates a likelihood that the additional content may be subsequently requested by the client application;

wherein said transmitting a request for at least the indicated additional content to an origin server comprises;

prioritizing transmitting a request for the indicated additional content to the origin server based on at least one of the likelihood indication, an available storage capacity, an available network capacity, or an available processing capacity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for desired content received from the client application is an HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) message that indicates the additional content in a header.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired content includes a first image and the additional content is a second image that is spatially adjacent to the first image, is adjacent to the first image in time, is a portion of the first image, or includes the first image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for desired content is received from the client application separately from the indication of additional content.

8. A caching server, comprising:

a content request parser that receives a request for desired content from a client application in a user device and an indication of additional content related to the desired content that may be subsequently requested by the client application;

a content retriever module that transmits a request for at least the indicated additional content to an origin server, receives the additional content from the origin server, and caches the additional content in storage; and

a content provider module that transmits the desired content to the client application at the user device.

9. The caching server of claim 8, wherein the content request parser receives a second request from the client application that includes a request for the additional content, and the content provider module serves the cached additional content to the client application.

10. The caching server of claim 9, wherein the second request indicates second additional content related to the first additional content that may be subsequently requested by the client application;

and

the content retriever module transmits a request for the indicated second additional content to the origin server, receives the second additional content from the origin server, and caches the second additional content in the storage.

11. The caching server of claim 8, wherein the request for desired content further includes a likelihood indication that indicates a likelihood that the additional content may be subsequently requested by the client application;

and

the content retriever module prioritizes transmitting a request for the indicated additional content to the origin server based on the likelihood indication.

12. The caching server of claim 8, wherein the desired content includes a first content item in referenced by a web page and the additional content is a second content item referenced by the web page.

13. The caching server of claim 8, wherein the desired content includes a first video frame and the additional content is a second video frame that is subsequent to the first video frame in a video stream.

14. A computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions embodied in said computer readable storage medium for a client application, the computer program instructions comprising:

first computer program instructions that enable a processor to generate a first request for desired content that indicates additional content related to the desired content that may be subsequently requested by the client application;

second computer program instructions that enable a processor to receive the desired content from a caching server that retrieved the desired content from an origin server in response to the first request for the desired content;

third computer program instructions that enable a processor to generate a second request for the additional content; and

fourth computer program instructions that enable a processor to receive the additional content when received from the caching server that retrieved the additional content from an origin server and cached the additional content in response to the first request for the desired content.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the second request indicates second additional content related to the first additional content that may be subsequently requested by the client application, the second additional content being retrieved from an origin server and cached by the caching server in response to the second request

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth computer program instructions that enable a processor to generate a likelihood indication that indicates a likelihood that the additional content may be subsequently requested by the client application, the likelihood indication included in the first request for desired content.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the first request for desired content is generated by the first computer program instructions as an HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) message that indicates the additional content in a header.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the desired content includes a first audio frame, the computer readable storage medium further comprising:

fifth computer program instructions that determines the additional content to be a second audio frame subsequent to the first audio frame in an audio stream.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the client application is a web browser.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the client application is a media player or web application.