Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Distributed data processing – Processing agent
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-13
2001-10-30
Coulter, Kenneth R. (Department: 2154)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Distributed data processing
Processing agent
C709S224000, C709S203000, C709S219000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311206
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to data transmission in a computer network, and more particularly to a unique data push technology where data is transmitted to recipients according to a particular state of the intended recipients.
2. Description of Prior Art
The standard client-server information push model is not efficient for pervasive computing (PvC) entities, which for the most part are disconnected from the network. Servers uselessly attempting to push data to disconnected clients waste resources, such as the CPU, the RAM, and the network bandwidth in the process.
Push
In a standard push model, such as HTTP Push, a given push source server (PSS) sends out new information to all subscribed clients. This works well in networks where clients are actively connected to the network most of the time and the network has sufficient bandwidth for the transmission. Such clients are able to receive the transmissions. However, because PvC devices are mostly disconnected from the network, this model fails since the majority of the transmissions will fail.
Push source servers may attempt to avoid transmissions to disconnected clients by checking the availability of the target clients before each transmission. This approach still results in heavy network load due to the large number of status checking probes.
Pull
If any given client machine was forced to request all information sent to it, e.g., using the HTTP GET request, then every data transmission would be guaranteed to be sent to an available client. The problem with the pull scenario is that because there is no way for a given client to know when or if a given source server has any new information, the client is forced to make many unnecessary pull requests to ensure that any and all new information is retrieved. This will result in a heavy network load due to the large number of unnecessary pull requests.
Poll
Yet another approach, similar to the pull technique, is polling, like that used by the PointCast Network http://www.pointcast.com, an Internet news service broadcasting personalized news and information directly to clients' computer screens. In polling, just as with the pull approach, additional network load is created by clients having to continually request information from source servers, even when no new information is in fact available, to ensure that any and all new data is retrieved.
Since PvC entities are already bandwidth-challenged, there remains a need for a way to enable an automated delivery of information, especially for that which is critical, yet only infrequently provided, such as bug fixes or virus checker updates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the aforementioned needs, the present invention is directed to a method and an apparatus for enabling a network server to trigger the transfer of data from a source server to a client entity, especially such that is often disconnected, like a PvC device, based on the client entity's particular state, like a connection to the network, for instance. The network server, which will be referred to as an “awareness server,” provides access to the transient status information of the network client entities, such as users, devices, applications, etc. The status information specifies whether a given device is connected to the network, a given user is logged, and whether a given user is actively participating in a given application. The process by which the awareness server triggers data transfers comprises the following steps:
the source server requesting the awareness server to notify it when a specific
client entity is in a particular state;
the client entity being in or entering the particular state;
the awareness server sending a notification to the requesting server after learning
of the specific client entity's state; and
the source server receiving the notification and transferring data to the specific
client entity.
The awareness server may also initiate data transfers from an intermediate proxy server in which push requests from source servers to target client entities are queued. Other methods are also provided to enable awareness notifications to be generated based on different criteria including:
whether a given client entity is connected and the manner of the connection, for example, the target client entity becomes TCP/IP linked at speeds of 14.4 Kbps or faster;
whether a given client entity is executing a particular application, for example, a web browser, and the manner of the execution;
whether a connection to a given client entity is secured and the manner of the connection, for example, when the target client entity becomes linked using SSL;
whether or not a given user is currently connected to the network, returning the network address of the user's current device in the notification; and
who is using a given client entity, for example, when the target client entity is being used by a particular user.
Methods are further provided for the awareness server to obtain state information by:
actively monitoring requested state and state changes;
learning of states or state changes from the target client entities themselves; and
learning of states or state changes from other servers, for example, learning from an Internet Access Provider when a given client is connected to the network.
Additional methods are provided for:
specifying information required for pushes in the awareness notifications, e.g., the port number of the application to which to transmit a given push;
determining the least expensive client device to which to transfer the given data, by using the awareness server; and
reducing the load of polling on the network, such as that done by network SNMP-based management servers, by initiating each poll by an awareness notification.
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Malkin Peter Kenneth
Yu Philip Shi-Lung
Coulter Kenneth R.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
Zarick, Esq. Gail H.
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