Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing – Accessing a remote server
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-08
2003-01-07
Eng, David Y. (Department: 2155)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
Accessing a remote server
Reexamination Certificate
active
06505242
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and deals more particularly with a method, system, and computer-readable code for dynamically constructing page bundles on demand at a server, and downloading the bundles to a requesting client that may be portable and may have intermittent network connectivity. The bundles may then be accessed at the client, without requiring an on-going network connection. A bundle may include one or more servlets, enabling dynamic content generation at the client.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is commonplace today for computer users to connect their machines to other computers, known as “servers,” through a network. The network may be a private network, such as a corporate intranet of networked computers that is accessible only to computer users within that corporation, or it may a public network, such as the Internet or World-Wide Web. The Internet is a vast collection of computing resources, interconnected as a network, from sites around the world. The World-Wide Web (referred to herein as the “Web”) is that portion of the Internet which uses the HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) as a protocol for exchanging messages. (Alternatively, other protocols such as the “HTTPS” protocol can be used, where this protocol is a security-enhanced version of HTTP.)
The user may connect his computer to a server using a “wireline” connection or a “wireless” connection. Wireline connections are those that use physical media such as cables and telephone lines, whereas wireless connections use media such as satellite links, radio frequency waves, and infrared waves. Many connection techniques can be used with these various media, such as: using the computer's modem to establish a connection over a telephone line; using a Local Area Network (LAN) card such as Token Ring or Ethernet; using a cellular modem to establish a wireless connection; etc. The user's computer may be any type of computer processor, including laptop, handheld or mobile computers; vehicle-mounted devices; cellular telephones and desktop screen phones; peripheral (e.g. printer, fax machine, etc.); desktop computers; mainframe computers; etc., having processing and communication capabilities. The remote server, similarly, can be one of any number of different types of computer which have processing and communication capabilities. These techniques are well known in the art, and the hardware devices and software which enable their use are readily available. Hereinafter, the user's computer will be referred to as a “workstation,” and use of the terms “workstation” or “server” refers to any of the types of computing devices described above.
A user of the Internet typically accesses and uses the Internet by establishing a network connection through the services of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An ISP provides computer users the ability to dial a telephone number using their workstation modem (or other connection facility, such as satellite transmission), thereby establishing a connection to a remote computer owned or managed by the ISP. This remote computer then makes services available to the user's computer, hence such computers are often referred to as “servers.” Typical services include: providing a search facility to search throughout the interconnected computers of the Internet for items of interest to the user; a browse capability for displaying information located with the search facility; and an electronic mail facility, with which the user can send and receive mail messages to and from other computer users. Similar facilities are typically available when the user connects to a server in an intranet or an extranet (that is, a network owned or managed by another company and which provides services in a similar manner to the Internet or an intranet).
The user working in a networked environment will have software running on his workstation to allow him to create and send requests for information to a server and to see the results. When the user connects to the Web, these functions are typically combined in software that is referred to as a “Web browser,” or “browser.” After the user has created his request using the browser, the request message is sent out into the Internet for processing. The target of the request message is one of the interconnected servers in the Internet network. That server will receive the message, attempt to find the data satisfying the user's request, format that data for display with the user's browser, and return the formatted response to the browser software running on the user's workstation. The response is typically in the form of a display, referred to as a “Web page,” that may contain text, graphics, images, sound, video, etc. The user will also typically have an electronic mail (“e-mail”) software package installed on his workstation, which enables him to send and receive e-mail to and from the workstation of other computer users. Additionally, the user may have software on his workstation that supports sending requests to, and receiving responses from, automated file delivery services. For example, the File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”) may be used to retrieve a file stored in a remote location to the user's workstation.
These are examples of a client-server model of computing, where the machine at which the user requests information is referred to as the client, and the computer that locates the information and returns it to the client is the server. In the Web environment, the server is referred to as a “Web server.” The client-server model may be extended to what is referred to as a “three-tier architecture.” This architecture places the Web server in the middle tier, where the added tier typically represents data repositories of information that may be accessed by the Web server as part of the task of processing the client's request. This three-tiered architecture recognizes the fact that many client requests do not simply require the location and return of static data, but require an application program to perform processing of the client's request in order to dynamically create and format the data to be returned. In this architecture, the Web server augmented by the component performing this processing may be referred to as an “application server.”
As more people connect their workstations to the Web, the number of messages and files being sent is skyrocketing. (Hereinafter, the terms “message” and “file” are used interchangeably when referring to data being sent through a network, unless otherwise stated.) Coupled with this increase in the number of network users and files is an increase in the size of the files commonly being sent. For example, a short e-mail message with a relatively simple graphic image attached may be on the order of several hundred thousand bytes of data. Users may send and receive many such files over the course of a day's work or in their personal network communications.
A great deal of user frustration can result when trying to access popular Web sites which must service an ever-increasing number of user requests, and which often have slow response times due to this heavy request load. Additionally, long delays may result when users request delivery of large files to their workstation (or even when requesting relatively small files from congested servers), creating yet more user frustration. The popularity of using portable computers such as handheld devices for connecting to the Internet, or other networks of computers, is increasing as user interest in computing becomes pervasive and users are more often working in mobile environments. At the same time, the popularity of making network connections using connection services that charge fees based upon the duration of connections (such as cellular services, which are commonly used for wireless connections from portable computers) is also growing. When using this type of relatively expensive connection, the longer the user must wait to receive a file, the
Holland Ian Michael
Kaminsky David L.
Lau Christina
Singhal Sandeep K.
Clay A. Bruce
Doubet Marcia L.
Eng David Y.
International Business Machines - Corporation
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