Patent · US Expired

Method of transcoding documents in a network environment using a proxy server

US5918013A · kind A · utility

370Cited by
36References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 3, 1996
Grant dateJun 29, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 3, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99945
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of providing a document to a client coupled to a server is provided. The server provides a number of Internet services to the client, including functioning as a caching proxy on behalf of the client for purposes of accessing the World Wide Web. The proxying server includes a persistent document database, which stores various attributes of all documents previously retrieved in response to a request from a client. When a Web document is retrieved from a remote server in response to a request from the client, the database is consulted and the stored information relating to the requested document is used by the server in transcoding the document. The document is transcoded for various purposes, including to circumvent bugs or quirks found in the document, to size the document for display on a television set, to improve transmission efficiency of the document, and to reduce latency. The transcoder makes use of the document database to perform these functions. The document database is also used for prefetching previously requested documents and images and for reducing latency when downloading images to the client.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.