DELIVERING CONTENT TO ELECTRONIC DEVICES USING LOCAL CACHING SERVERS

• US 20140040412A1
• Filed: 07/31/2012
• Published: 02/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Yanagihara, Kazuhisa, Gentil, Lionel, Jewell, Darrin B., Thorpe, Jason R., Redner, Jordan L., Vaughan, Gregory B., Burns, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 10,154,109 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2514 between local and global IP addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide a system that delivers content to an electronic device. The system includes a content provider that obtains a public address of the electronic device from a first request for the content from the electronic device. Next, the content provider uses the public address to identify a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device. Finally, the content provider provides a local address of the local caching server to the electronic device, wherein the local address is used by the electronic device to obtain the content from the local caching server and the LAN without accessing a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN.

Claims

1. A method for delivering content to an electronic device, comprising:

obtaining, at a content provider, a public address of the electronic device from a request for the content from the electronic device;

using the public address to identify a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device; and

providing a local address of the local caching server to the electronic device, wherein the local address is used by the electronic device to obtain the content from the local caching server and the LAN without accessing a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the CDN to the electronic device, wherein the CDN is used by the electronic device to obtain the content upon detecting an error associated with obtaining the content from the local caching server.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the error is associated with at least one of an unavailability of the local caching server, a corruption of the content, and an unsupported network topology between the electronic device and the local caching server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering the local caching server at the content provider to enable use of the local caching server by the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein registering the local caching server at the content provider comprises:

obtaining registration information for the local caching server; and

upon verifying the registration information, adding the local caching server to a global server list of local caching servers associated with the content provider.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein verifying the registration information comprises:

obtaining a certificate for the local caching server from the registration information; and

validating the certificate.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the registration information comprises at least one of the certificate, a public address of the local caching server, the local address, and a globally unique identifier (GUID) for the local caching server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises at least one of audio, video, an image, a book, an application, and a software update.

9. A method for providing content, comprising:

obtaining, at a local caching server, a request for the content from an electronic device on a local area network (LAN) of the local caching server;

if the content is available on the local caching server, using the local caching server to provide the content to the electronic device through the LAN; and

if the content is not available on the local caching server, using the local caching server to;

download the content from a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN;

cache the downloaded content; and

provide the downloaded content to the electronic device through the LAN.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

verifying the downloaded content at the local caching server; and

upon receiving a notification of corruption of the downloaded content from the electronic device;

expediting verification of the downloaded content; and

upon verifying corruption of the downloaded content, flushing the content from the local caching server.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein verifying the downloaded content at the local caching server comprises:

calculating a first checksum from a block of the downloaded content; and

comparing the first checksum with a second checksum for the block from the CDN.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

registering the local caching server with a registration server associated with the CDN to enable use of the local caching server by the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

maintaining registration of the local caching server with the registration server by periodically transmitting a communication from the local caching server to the registration server.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein registering the local caching server with the registration server comprises:

obtaining a certificate for the local caching server; and

providing registration information comprising the certificate to the registration server.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the certificate for the local caching server comprises:

providing a hardware key for the local caching server to a certificate server; and

obtaining the certificate from the certificate server.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the local caching server is further registered using a discovery protocol.

17. A system for delivering content to an electronic device, comprising:

a content provider configured to;

obtain a public address of the electronic device from a first request for the content from the electronic device;

use the public address to identify a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device; and

provide a local address of the local caching server to the electronic device; and

the local caching server configured to;

obtain a second request for the content from the electronic device;

if the content is available on the local caching server, provide the content to the electronic device through the LAN; and

if the content is not available on the local caching server;

download the content from a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN;

cache the downloaded content; and

provide the downloaded content to the electronic device through the LAN.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the content provider is further configured to:

provide the CDN to the electronic device, wherein the CDN is used by the electronic device to obtain the content upon detecting an error associated with obtaining the content from the local caching server.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the error is associated with at least one of an unavailability of the local caching server, a corruption of the content, and an unsupported network topology between the electronic device and the local caching server.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the local caching server is further configured to:

verify the downloaded content; and

upon receiving a notification of corruption of the downloaded content from the electronic device;

expedite verification of the downloaded content; and

upon verifying corruption of the downloaded content, flush the content from the local caching server.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the content provider is further configured to:

register the local caching server to enable use of the local caching server by the electronic device.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein registering the local caching server comprises:

obtaining registration information for the local caching server; and

upon verifying the registration information, adding the local caching server to a global server list of local caching servers associated with the content provider.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein verifying the registration information comprises:

obtaining a certificate for the local caching server from the registration information; and

validating the certificate.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the registration information comprises at least one of the certificate, a public address of the local caching server, the local address, and a globally unique identifier (GUID) for the local caching server.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for delivering content to an electronic device, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a content provider, a public address of the electronic device from a request for the content from the electronic device;

using the public address to identify a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device; and

providing a local address of the local caching server to the electronic device, wherein the local address is used by the electronic device to obtain the content from the local caching server and the LAN without accessing a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, the method further comprising:

providing the CDN to the electronic device, wherein the CDN is used by the electronic device to obtain the content upon detecting an error associated with obtaining the content from the local caching server.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, the method further comprising:

registering the local caching server at the content provider to enable use of the local caching server by the electronic device.

28. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein registering the local caching server at the content provider comprises:

obtaining registration information for the local caching server; and

upon verifying the registration information, adding the local caching server to a global server list of local caching servers associated with the content provider.

29. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for providing content, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a local caching server, a request for the content from an electronic device on a local area network (LAN) of the local caching server;

if the content is available on the local caching server, using the local caching server to provide the content to the electronic device through the LAN; and

if the content is not available on the local caching server, using the local caching server to;

download the content from a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN;

cache the downloaded content; and

provide the downloaded content to the electronic device through the LAN.

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, the method further comprising:

verifying the downloaded content at the local caching server; and

upon receiving a notification of corruption of the downloaded content from the electronic device;

expediting verification of the downloaded content; and

upon verifying corruption of the downloaded content, flushing the content from the local caching server.

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, the method further comprising:

registering the local caching server with a registration server associated with the CDN to enable use of the local caching server by the electronic device.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, the method further comprising:

maintaining registration of the local caching server with the registration server by periodically transmitting a communication from the local caching server to the registration server.

33. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein registering the local caching server with the registration server comprises:

obtaining a certificate for the local caching server; and

providing registration information comprising the certificate to the registration server.

34. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for downloading content to an electronic device, the method comprising:

sending a first request for the content to a content provider;

receiving, from the content provider, a response comprising a first identifier for a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device;

using the first identifier to send a second request for the content to the local caching server; and

obtaining the content from the local caching server and the LAN without accessing a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN.

35. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 34, the method further comprising:

upon detecting an error associated with obtaining the content from the local caching server;

obtaining a second identifier for the CDN from the response; and

using the second identifier to obtain the content from the CDN.

36. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the error is associated with at least one of an unavailability of the local caching server, a corruption of the content, and an unsupported network topology between the electronic device and the local caching server.

37. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the second identifier comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the CDN.

38. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the first identifier is at least one of a local address of the local caching server and a globally unique identifier (GUID) for the local caching server.

39. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the first request comprises a public address of the electronic device.

40. An electronic device that downloads content, comprising:

at least one processor that is configured to;

send a first request for the content to a content provider;

receive, from the content provider, a response comprising a first identifier for a local caching server on a local area network (LAN) of the electronic device;

use the first identifier to send a second request for the content to the local caching server; and

obtain the content from the local caching server and the LAN without accessing a content delivery network (CDN) outside the LAN.

41. The electronic device of claim 40, wherein:

upon detecting an error associated with obtaining the content from the local caching server, the at least one processor is configured to;

obtain a second identifier for the CDN from the response; and

use the second identifier to obtain the content from the CDN.

42. The electronic device of claim 41, wherein the error is associated with at least one of an unavailability of the local caching server, a corruption of the content, and an unsupported network topology between the electronic device and the local caching server.

43. The electronic device of claim 41, wherein the second identifier comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the CDN.

44. The electronic device of claim 40, wherein the first identifier is at least one of a local address of the local caching server and a globally unique identifier (GUID) for the local caching server.

45. The electronic device of claim 40, wherein the first request comprises a public address of the electronic device.