Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer-to-computer data modifying
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-26
2003-11-25
Lim, Krisna (Department: 2153)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer-to-computer data modifying
C709S201000, C709S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06654814
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to web content and, more particularly, to the transfer and presentation of web content among data processing systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The Internet is a worldwide decentralized network of computers having the ability to communicate with each other. The Internet has gained broad recognition as a viable medium for communicating and interacting across multiple networks. The World Wide Web (Web) was created in the early 1990's, and is composed of server-hosting computers (web servers) connected to the Internet that have hypertext documents or web pages stored therewithin. Web pages are accessible by client programs (i.e., web browsers) utilizing the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) via a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection between a client-hosting device and a server-hosting device.
An intranet is a private computer network conventionally contained within an enterprise and that conventionally includes one or more servers in communication with multiple user computers. An intranet may be composed of interlinked local area networks and may also use leased lines in a wide-area network. An intranet may or may not include connections to the outside Internet. Intranets conventionally utilize various Internet protocols and, in general, often look like private versions of the Internet. An intranet user conventionally accesses an intranet server via a web browser running locally on his/her computer.
Exemplary web browsers for both Internet and intranet use include Netscape Navigator (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, Calif.) and Internet Explorer (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.). Web browsers typically provide a graphical user interface for retrieving and viewing information, applications and other resources hosted by Internet/intranet servers (hereinafter collectively referred to as “web servers” or “web sites”).
Web content including, but not limited to, information, applications, applets and other video and audio resources (collectively referred to herein as “files”) are conventionally delivered from a web server to a web browser on a user's computer in the form of web pages. As is known to those skilled in this art, a web page is conventionally formatted via a standard page description language such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) or Extensible Markup Language (XML), and typically displays text and graphics, and can play sound, animation, and video data. HTML and XML provide basic document formatting and allow a web content provider to specify hypertext links (typically manifested as highlighted text) to other servers and files. When a user selects a particular hypertext link, a web browser reads and interprets the address, called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the link, connects the web browser with the web server at that address, and makes an HTTP request for the file identified in the link. The web server then sends the requested file to the client in the format of the requested file (e.g. HTML, XML, GIF, JPEG, etc) which the browser interprets and displays to the user.
With the increasing mobility of today's society, the demand for mobile computing capabilities has also increased. Many workers and professionals are downsizing their laptop computers to smaller palm-top or hand-held devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). In addition, many people now utilize cellular telephones to access the Internet and to perform various other computing functions. Hand-held computing devices including, but not limited to, PDAs, cellular telephones, and computing devices utilized within appliances and automobiles, are often collectively referred to as “pervasive” computing devices. Many hand-held computing devices utilize the Microsoft Windows CE and 3Com Palm Computing platforms as well as web browsers such as HandWeb from SmartCode, Inc. and the Pocket Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Inc.
Unfortunately, hand-held computing devices may have limited functionality in comparison to desktop computers for which much web content has been developed. For example, hand-held devices may be voice only, may have limited processing capabilities, limited memory, black and white displays or may have displays that are small in size compared with desktop computer displays. As a result, images and text otherwise displayable on a desktop computer display may not be displayable on a hand-held computing device display or may be impractical or otherwise undesirable to display on a hand-held computing device. For example, a desktop computer display having an array of 1024 pixels by 768 pixels may be able to display a large (e.g., 2 megabit), 24 bit per pixel image. A hand-held computing device with a display having an array of 120 pixels by 120 pixels and with the ability to display only a few bits per pixel, may ignore much of the image data. As a result the image may not be displayed properly, if at all, via the hand-held computing device display. Furthermore, text within a file may have a particular font or size that can hinder the display thereof within a hand-held computing device display.
Files that may not be displayable via a hand-held computing device display can typically be transformed into a format that is displayable within a hand-held computing device display. For example, large, high resolution, color images can be transformed into small, black and white images that can be displayed within small, low resolution displays. Furthermore, because some web servers can recognize the type of client device requesting a file, files in the proper format for display via the requesting client device can be provided.
Furthermore, these pervasive computing devices may be connected to a network, such as the Internet or an intranet, through different communication methods. For example, the same pervasive computing device may be connected to a network via a direct Local Area Network (LAN) connection such as through a network interface card (NIC) during one session and then in a subsequent session be connected over a wireless communication link, such as over a cellular telephone. These differing connection methods may have substantially differing properties which may impact on the form of content provided to the pervasive computing device. Thus, the LAN connection provide low cost and short delays for acquiring and rendering information while the wireless communication link may be at a higher cost with longer delays. Thus, a form of content which may be acceptable for the LAN connection may be unacceptable for the wireless communication link.
Similarly, other performance issues, which may change from session to session or during a session, may also impact on the transformation or “tailoring” of content for pervasive computing devices. Thus, for example, the expected duration of the connection, congestion on the communication link or network or the content provided to the pervasive computing device may all impact on the type of tailoring of content to be performed.
Conventionally, this tailoring of content has been performed either at the server providing the content to the pervasive computing device or at the pervasive computing device. See for example, ProxiWeb browser and proxy from Proxinet, Inc., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,235. However, such an arbitrary allocation of tailoring functions may result in performance degradation to the server, the pervasive computing device or the network through which these devices communicate. Thus, a need exists for improvements in the tailoring of content for pervasive computing devices to better exploit the resources available to such devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above discussion, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved tailoring of content for data processing systems, such as pervasive computing devices.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for the improved tailoring of content without requiring modification of existing browsers or servers.
Still a
Britton Kathryn H.
Choi Owen H.
Floyd Richard A.
Hayes, Jr. Kent F.
Kessler Carl S.
Flynn Kim
Lim Krisna
Myers Bigel Sibley & Sajovec P.A.
Ray-Yarletts Jeanine S.
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