Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer-to-computer session/connection establishing – Network resources access controlling
Utility Patent
1998-03-27
2001-01-02
Geckil, Mehmet B. (Department: 2756)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer-to-computer session/connection establishing
Network resources access controlling
C709S225000
Utility Patent
active
06170013
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of networking systems and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for controlling access to network information sources.
2. Background Information
As computer technology has evolved, so too has the use of networks which communicatively couple computer systems together enabling them to communicate with one another. One of the more popular of such computer networks is colloquially referred to as the Internet, which is an internetworking of a number of publicly accessible networks/servers available throughout the world. Individually, the networks/servers comprising the Internet come in a number of alternative topologies, employing a number of alternative communication technologies. However, one reason for the wide-spread acceptance of the Internet is the use of the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which effectively renders the transition between the various network topologies and communication technologies virtually transparent to the end-user.
Those that have used the Internet as a source for research can appreciate the wealth of information that the Internet provides. Research that may have previously required days or weeks to accomplish just a couple of years ago, can now be accomplished in hours on the Internet. The wealth of information available on the Internet is not always a positive attribute, as one can quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available on the Internet. Moreover, the Internet is a very dynamic source of information. An example of the dynamism of the information available on the Internet may best be illustrated by way of an example, wherein school children are given an assignment by their teacher to determine the “latest” stock price for a local company. If there are thirty (30) students in the class, the teacher may well get thirty different answers to the question obtained by the students at thirty different times throughout the day/week, and all of them would be correct. That is, those attempting to utilize information available via the Internet as a common source of discussion cannot ensure that all parties to the discussion are viewing the exact same material, e.g., same revision, etc., unless they control the source/dissemination of the information.
In addition to the dynamism of the information available on the Internet, another problem faced by many attempting to utilize the Internet as an information tool is the cost associated with its use. In the United States, access to the Internet is typically available at an affordable monthly rate, and sometimes offering unlimited access if a standard telephone line is employed. However, those outside of the United States, or those within the United States accessing the Internet through ISDN or T1 connections, typically have to pay line usage fees on a pay-per-use basis. For example, an Internet user from the Netherlands may well be charged for Internet access in much the same way that they are charged for telephone service, e.g., on a per-minute basis for local and long distance connections utilized.
In an effort to reduce the cost and response time associated with network access through the Internet, network caches are often deployed in the network devices, gateways and proxy servers comprising the routing fabric of the Internet. That is, as each of the interfaces/gateways/proxies along the Internet handle a response from an information source, the interfaces/gateways/proxies responsible for routing the response back through the Internet to the requesting client that have such a network cache, store a copy of the response to satisfy any subsequent requests for the same information. Consequently, subsequent requests for the information need not go all the way to the originating server to satisfy the request, as the request is handled by the network cache of the first interface/gateway/proxy along the routing path of the request that has the information available in a network cache. A number of network device manufacturers have thus begun to incorporate network caches in their product offerings.
However, as will be described in greater detail below, these prior art network devices incorporating network caches have a number of limitations. When responding to a request for information, a host may include an expiration time in the header of the response packet that denotes when the information contained in the response will become stale. Prior art network devices employing network caches do not respond to requests with stale information. Consequently, although a network cache in an interface/gateway/proxy may well have a copy of the requested information, if the expiration time of the information has passed the cached information is determined to be stale and the request is passed along to the “origin server”, e.g., the host ultimately responsible for the maintenance of the information, for “fresh” information. Further, there are no restraints on the expiration time that an origin server may give to a response packet. Typically, an origin server may not provide an expiration time at all, wherein it is assumed that the expiration time is the time-stamp of when the response is issued, e.g., it is stale upon issuance. Many of the prior art network devices will not bother to cache stale responses, while others will cache the information, but check with the origin server to determine the last update to the information before providing the information in the cached response. In either case, if the origin server fails to provide an expiration date, prior art network devices must initiate a network access to either obtain fresh information or to determine if an update to the cached information is available. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the use of prior art network devices incorporating network caches does not provide an adequate solution to the problems developed above.
Thus, a method and apparatus for controlling access to network information sources incorporating the ability to selectively maintain and respond to information requests with stale information is required, unencumbered by the deficiencies and inherent limitations commonly associated with the network devices of the prior art. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from the description to follow, that the present invention achieves these and other desired results.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a method and apparatus for controlling access to a network information source is provided. In particular, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus communicatively coupling at least one client to a data network includes a storage device, operative to store and retrieve information on demand, and a controller coupled to the storage device. The controller is operative to receive information from the data network on behalf of and in response to a client request, and to provide the requesting client with the received information. In addition, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, the controller is operative to modify an expiration time of the received information and store the received information in the storage device wherein subsequent requests for the information are satisfied by the information available within the storage device, rather than the data network, until the modified expiration time has expired.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5859971 (1999-01-01), Bittinger et al.
patent: 5864852 (1999-01-01), Luotonen
patent: 5867661 (1999-02-01), Bittinger et al.
patent: 5991760 (1999-01-01), Gauvin et al.
Instant Internet Software Installation and User's Guide Bay Networks Inc. pp. 1-161, Apr. 1998.
RFC 2068, “Hypertext Transfer Protocol—Http/1.1”, Network Working Group, RFC 2068 pp. 1-162, Jan. 1997.
Searchedu.com Search Results showing “cache” copies http://www.searchedu.com pp. 1-2, Jan. 14, 2000.*
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Geckil Mehmet B.
Nortel Networks Limited
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