Method and apparatus for encoding content characteristics
US6519646B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 1, 1998 |
| Grant date | Feb 11, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 1, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2101/604
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for encoding characteristics for the retrieval of information. Depending on the characteristics, some methods for retrieving information may be preferred. If information is too large to utilize UDP, then TCP may be preferred. In addition, if information is not cacheable, then it is preferable to retrieve the information directly from the server instead of searching the cache first. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is utilized on the internet to specify the application protocol (e.g., http), the domain name (e.g., www.sun.com), and file location (e.g., /users/hcn/index.html). The suffix of a file indicator is utilized to identify how to process the data or information subsequent to retrieval. One or more embodiments of the invention provide for encoding characteristics of data to be transferred that indicates or hints at an optimal method to retrieve the data. For example, the URL may specify that TCP is the preferred transfer protocol, thereby avoiding an attempted transfer using UDP. Additionally, the encoding may specify that the client should preferably retrieve the information directly from the server instead of searching the proxy cache. The characterist…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.