Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing – Accessing a remote server
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-06
2004-06-22
Lin, Wen Tai (Department: 2152)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
Accessing a remote server
C709S224000, C709S233000, C370S231000, C370S236000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06754700
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for managing data transfer in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing data transfer in a browser program.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply “the Web”. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.). The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify “links” to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a “page” or a “Web page”, is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web “browser”. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by a URL at the client machine. Retrieval of information on the Web is generally accomplished with an HTML-compatible browser. The Internet also is widely used to transfer applications to users using browsers. With respect to commerce on the Web, individual consumers and business use the Web to purchase various goods and services. In offering goods and services, some companies offer goods and services solely on the Web while others use the Web to extend their reach.
Depending on the type of connection, downloading images using a web browser often may be a slow process. This situation is especially true when the interface used to obtain information is a modem. Often times, while an image is being downloaded, the user may open another browser window to view other less data intensive sites. The new browser window is another instance of the browser and may be equally slow because the bandwidth of the network interface, the modem, is being consumed by the downloading of the image. As a result, both browsers are useless or slow until the image has been downloaded. Such a situation is often frustrating for users.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for downloading images.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for managing receipt of data by a browser through a communications interface. Responsive to a user input, a first rate at which data is received is reduced at the browser to a decreased rate. A determination is then made as to whether incoming data for the communications interface is being received at a rate less than a threshold. Responsive to a determination that incoming data for the communications interface is being received at a rate less than the threshold, the first rate at which data is at the browser is restored.
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Gordon Robert B.
Marquardt David Richard
McBrearty Gerald Francis
Mullen Shawn Patrick
Shieh Johnny Meng-Han
Emile Volel
Holmes Patrick C. R.
Lin Wen Tai
Yee Duke W.
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