Pro-active HTTP content delivery
View Patent ↗A method and systems for multicasting web content to users is disclosed. According to the invention, the behavior of Internet users is analyzed for determining user profiles. The data accessed by a user are multicast to all the users sharing the same profile. Optionally, information relative to the number of access to the document is provided to the users to whom data are multicast.
1. A method for multicasting data to users in a network environment from a proxy server comprising a set of predetermined user profiles, the method comprising:
receiving a request for new data from a user;
accessing the new data requested by the user;
determining a profile of the user among the set of user profiles;
storing the new data within the proxy server;
associating the stored new data with the user's profile;
accessing and multicasting, from the proxy server, the stored new data and all previously stored data associated with the user's profile to the user and to all other users sharing the user's profile; and,
erasing, from the proxy server, the data associated with the user's profile when a percentage of the other users sharing the user's profile who have not accessed the multicast data is less than a predetermined threshold.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a set of requests is associated with each profile of the set of user profiles, and wherein determining the profile of the user among the set of user profiles further comprises:
comparing the at least one request of the user with the set of requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the set of requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles is ordered, and wherein determining the profile of the user among the set of user profiles further comprises:
comparing a sequence of requests of the user with the set of ordered requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, if the profile of the user is not recognized among the set of user profiles, transmitting the accessed data requested by the user to the user, wherein transmitting the accessed data requested by the user, to the user, if the profile of the user is not recognized among the set of user profiles, further comprises:
storing a user identifier and the at least one user's request.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
for each profile of the set of user profiles and for each data associated with the profile, determining a percentage of users corresponding to the profile who accessed the data.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
transmitting the determined percentage with the data.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented within a service provider server.
8. An apparatus for multicasting data to users in a network environment from a proxy server comprising a set of predetermined user profiles, comprising:
a system for receiving one a request for new data from a user over a network comprising at least one computer device;
a system for accessing the new data requested by the user;
a system for determining a profile of the user among the set of user profiles;
a system for storing the new data within the proxy server, associating the stored new data with the user's profile, accessing and multicasting, from the proxy server, the stored new data and all previously stored data associated with the user's profile to the user and to all other users sharing the user's profile; and
a system for erasing, from the proxy server, the data associated with the user's profile when a percentage of the other users sharing the user's profile who have not accessed the multicast data is less than a predetermined threshold.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein a set of requests is associated with each profile of the set of user profiles, and wherein the system for determining the profile of the user among the set of user profiles further comprises:
a system for comparing the at least one request of the user with the set of requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the set of requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles is ordered, and wherein the system for determining the profile of the user among the set of user profiles further comprises:
a system for comparing a sequence of requests of the user with the set of ordered requests associated with each profile of the set of user profiles.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising a system for transmitting the accessed data requested by the user to the user, if the profile of the user is not recognized among the set of user profiles wherein the system for transmitting the accessed data requested by the user, to the user, if the profile of the user is not recognized among the set of user profiles, further comprises:
a system for storing a user identifier and the at least one user's request.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:
a system for determining a percentage of users corresponding to the profile who accessed the data, for each profile of the set of user profiles and for each data associated with the profile.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a system for transmitting the determined percentage with the data.