User agent information management

• US 9,298,843 B1
• Filed: 09/27/2011
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jenkins, Jonathan A., Hill, Peter F., Taylor, Brett R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hwang, Joon H
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALRIYASHI, ABDULKADER MOHAMED
• Application Number:
  US13/246,662
• Time in Patent Office: 1,645 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226, 709/219, 709/228
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor

Abstract

Systems and methods for the generation and management of content requests generated by client computing devices are provided. A client computing device initiates a browse session with a content provider. Based on specific network resources, the client computing device processes the content request to determine appropriate user agent information. In one embodiment, the processed content request can be transmitted directly to a content provider. In another embodiment, a remote browse session can be established between the client computing device and a network computing provider, and utilized in the transmission of browse session state data and client interaction data between the client computing device and the network computing provider.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, by a browser application executing on a client computing device, an original request for a network resource, the original request including an original user agent string, wherein the browser application is operable to transmit requests for network resources to content providers, the requests including the original user agent string, and wherein a content provider of the content providers transmits one of at least two versions of a requested network resource responsive to a user agent string included in a received request;

obtaining, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, user agent string configuration information from a network-accessible user agent string configuration service provider, the user agent string configuration information identifying a plurality of user agent string designations associated with at least one network resource;

determining, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, that the network resource in the original request corresponds to the at least one network resource identified in the user agent string configuration information;

obtaining, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, one or more performance criteria, the one or more performance criteria including at least one measured performance criterion for the client computing device;

selecting, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, one of the plurality of user agent string designations in the user agent string configuration information for the at least one network resource, wherein the selection is based at least in part on evaluation of the one or more performance criteria, the evaluation including a determination of whether the client computing device meets the at least one measured performance criterion;

processing, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, the original request according to the user agent string configuration information, wherein processing the original request includes modifying the original user agent string included in the original request with a second user agent string included in the selected user agent string designation to cause the content provider to transmit, responsive to the second user agent string, a different one of the at least two versions of the network resource; and

transmitting, by the browser application executing on the client computing device, the processed original request for the network resource, the processed original request including the second user agent string.

2. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second user agent string corresponds, at least in part, to a type of client computing device, a type of software application, or a version of software application.

3. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining that the network resource in the original request corresponds to the network resource in the user agent string configuration information includes evaluating criteria included in the user agent string configuration information.

4. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein transmitting the processed original request for the network resource includes transmitting the processed original request for the network resource to a network computing provider, the network computing provider hosting an instance of a browser software application for processing the request for the network resource.

5. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein transmitting the processed original request for the network resource includes transmitting the processed original request for the network resource to the content provider.

6. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by one or more computing devices configured to execute a browser application, that a request for a network resource is to be transmitted to a content provider, the content provider operable to transmit one of at least two different versions of the requested network resource based at least partly on a user agent string included in the request;

obtaining, by the browser application, user agent string configuration information from a separate user agent string configuration information provider, the user agent string configuration information identifying a corresponding plurality of user agent string designations for at least one network resource;

determining, by the browser application, that the network resource in the request corresponds to the at least one network resource identified in the user agent string configuration information;

obtaining, by the browser application, one or more performance criteria, the one or more performance criteria including at least one measured performance criterion associated with the one or more computing devices to select user agent string designations;

selecting, by the browser application, one of the plurality of user agent string designations in the user agent string configuration, wherein the selection is based at least in part on evaluation of the one or more performance criteria, the evaluation including a determination of whether the one or more computing devices meets the at least one measured performance criterion;

modifying, by the browser application, an original user agent string included in the request with a second user agent string included in the selected user agent string designation; and

transmitting, by the browser application, the request for the network resource, wherein the request includes the second user agent string.

7. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, wherein the user agent string configuration information corresponds, at least in part, to a type of client computing device, a type of software application, or a version of software application.

8. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, further comprising determining that the network resource in the request matches the network resource in the user agent string configuration information based at least partly on evaluating criteria included in the user agent string configuration information.

9. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, wherein transmitting the request for the network resource includes transmitting the request for the network resource to a network computing provider, the network computing provider hosting an instance of a browser software application for processing the request for the network resource.

10. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, wherein transmitting the request for the network resource includes transmitting the request for the network resource to a content provider.

11. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6, wherein obtaining a request for a network resource includes obtaining the request for the network resource from a client computing device.

12. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 6 further comprising obtaining a confirmation regarding the modification of the user agent string prior to modifying the original user agent string.

13. A system for processing requests for content comprising:

a user agent string configuration information service provider, the user agent string configuration information service provider maintaining user agent string configuration information utilized to process requests for content; and

one or more client computing devices, wherein the one or more client computing devices execute a browser application operable to;

determine, by the browser application, that a request for a network resource is to be transmitted to a content provider, the request including an original user agent string, wherein the content provider transmits one of at least two versions of the requested network resource responsive to a user agent string included in the request;

obtain, by the browser application, user agent string configuration information, the user agent string configuration information obtained from the user agent string configuration information service provider and identifying at least one network resource and a corresponding plurality of user agent strings for a set of network resources;

determine, by the browser application, that the network resource in the request corresponds to the at least one network resource identified in the user agent string configuration information;

obtain, by the browser application, one or more criteria for selecting user agent strings, the one or more criteria including at least one measured performance criterion associated with the one or more client computing devices and utilized, at least in part, to select user agent strings;

select, by the browser application, one of the plurality of user agent strings for the requested network resource, wherein the selection is based at least in part on evaluation of the one or more criteria, the evaluation including a determination of whether the one or more client computing devices meet the at least one measured performance criterion;

modify, by the browser application, the request for the network resource with the selected user agent string; and

transmit, by the browser application, the modified request for the network resource, the modified request including the selected user agent string.

14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the user agent string configuration information corresponds, at least in part, to a type of client computing device, a type of software application, or a version of a software application.

15. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the browser application is further operable to determine whether the network resource in the request matches the network resource in the user agent string configuration information by evaluating criteria included in the user agent string configuration information.

16. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more client computing devices is further configured to transmit the request for the network resource to a network computing provider, the network computing provider hosting an instance of a browser software application for processing the request for the network resource.

17. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more client computing devices is further configured to transmit the request for the network resource to a content provider.

18. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the user agent string configuration information is generated by a manual process initiated by the user agent string configuration information service provider.

19. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the user agent string configuration information is generated at least in part by feedback received by the user agent string configuration information service provider.

20. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the user agent string configuration information is generated at least in part by input from content providers and received by the user agent string configuration information service provider.