Server, client device and methods therein for handling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10652352-B2
Application number	US-201615037263-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2016
Priority date	Mar 29, 2016
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

A server (600), a client device (602) and methods therein, for handling cached content resources. When the client device (602) sends a download request (6:3) in a downloading session, the server (600) identifies (6:4) at least one content resource deemed to be potentially needed later in the downloading session. The server (600) then sends a cache map to the client device (602) in a response to the download request. The cache map comprises a pre-fetch indication indicating that the identified at least one content resource should be pre-fetched by the client device (602) from a cache (604) containing the identified at least one content resource. Thereby, the client device is able to pre-fetch (6:8) the content resources before the performance of communication may become reduced so that communication with the cache (604) is difficult or even impossible, e.g. due to deteriorated radio conditions or congestion in the communication network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed by a server for handling cached content resources, the method comprising:
receiving a download request from a client device in a downloading session,
identifying at least one content resource deemed to be potentially needed later in the downloading session, and
sending a cache map to the client device in a response to the received download request, the cache map comprising a pre-fetch indication indicating that the identified at least one content resource should be pre-fetched by the client device from a cache containing the identified at least one content resource,

wherein an entry in the cache map for each of the identified at least one content resource comprises a pre-fetch indicator which is set to provide said pre-fetch indication and further comprises metadata indicating at least one of time and position of the client device for pre-fetching the respective content resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one content resource is identified based on any of:
events in one or more previous downloading sessions with the client device,
information in a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of a previous download request received from the client device, and
information about a current user of the client device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the information about the current user is obtained in a report message received from the client device or from a user information node to which the client device has reported previous download activities of the client device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-fetch indication is included in the cache map upon detecting that a communication network used for the downloading session will be congested.

5. A method performed by a server for handling cached content resources, the method comprising:
receiving a download request from a client device in a downloading session,
identifying at least one content resource deemed to be potentially needed later in the downloading session, and
sending a cache map to the client device in a response to the received download request, the cache map comprising a pre-fetch indication indicating that the identified at least one content resource should be pre-fetched by the client device from a cache containing the identified at least one content resource, wherein the pre-fetch indication is included in the cache map upon detecting that a wireless connection used by the client device will get degraded.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said detecting comprises at least one of:
detecting that the client device is moving into an area of deficient radio coverage, and
detecting that said wireless connection will be lost or interfered due to intense radio traffic.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-fetch indication is included in the cache map when further detecting that a signal quality of said wireless connection will be above a predefined level before getting degraded.

8. A server arranged to handle cached content resources, the server comprising a processor and a memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the server is configured to:
receive a download request from a client device in a downloading session,
identify at least one content resource deemed to be potentially needed later in the downloading session, and
send a cache map to the client device in a response to the received download request, the cache map comprising a pre-fetch indication indicating that the identified at least one content resource should be pre-fetched by the client device from a cache containing the identified at least one content resource,

wherein an entry in the cache map for each of the identified at least one content resource comprises a pre-fetch indicator which is set to provide said pre-fetch indication and further comprises metadata indicating at least one of time and position of the client device for pre-fetching the respective content resource.

9. The server of claim 8 , wherein the server is configured to identify the at least one content resource based on any of:
events in one or more previous downloading sessions with the client device,
information in a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header of a previous download request received from the client device, and
information about a current user of the client device.

10. The server of claim 9 , wherein the information about the current user is obtained in a report message received from the client device or from a user information node to which the client device has reported previous download activities of the client device.

11. The server of claim 8 , wherein the server is configured to include the pre-fetch indication in the cache map upon detecting that a communication network used for the downloading session will be congested.

12. A server arranged to handle cached content resources, the server comprising a processor and a memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the server is configured to:
receive a download request from a client device in a downloading session,
identify at least one content resource deemed to be potentially needed later in the downloading session, and
send a cache map to the client device in a response to the received download request, the cache map comprising a pre-fetch indication indicating that the identified at least one content resource should be pre-fetched by the client device from a cache containing the identified at least one content resource, wherein the server is configured to include the pre-fetch indication in the cache map upon detecting that a wireless connection used by the client device will get degraded.

13. The server of claim 12 , wherein the server is configured to perform said detecting by at least one of:
detecting that the client device is moving into an area of deficient radio coverage, and
detecting that said wireless connection will be lost or interfered due to intense radio traffic.

14. The server of claim 12 , wherein the server is configured to include the pre-fetch indication in the cache map when further detecting that a signal quality of said wireless connection will be above a predefined level before getting degraded.

15. A method performed by a client device for handling cached content resources, the method comprising:
receiving a cache map from a server during a downloading session, the cache map comprising a pre-fetch indication indicating that at least one content resource should be pre-fetched from a cache, and
pre-fetching the at least one content resource from the cache according to the pre-fetch indication, to enable subsequent usage of the at least one content resource in the client device once the at least one content resource is requested or needed in the client device,

wherein an entry in the received cache map for each of the at least one content resource comprises a pre-fetch indicator which is set to provide said indication and wherein the at least one content resource is pre-fetched from said cache according to metadata comprised in said entry, the metadata indicating at least one of time and position of the client device for pre-fetching the respective content resource.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said pre-fetching of the at least one content resource from the cache is executed by means of a caching agent implemented in any one of:
a client application running in the client device,
a script of a ServiceWorker, and
a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Library.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the cach

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Bergkvist Adam
• Håkansson Stefan
• Holmberg Christer
• Lindström Daniel

Classifications

• H04L67/306

  User profiles · CPC title

• H04W4/18

  Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04L67/22

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/2847 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic