WO2014098563A1

WO2014098563A1 - Server-based url management method and system

Info

Publication number: WO2014098563A1
Application number: PCT/MY2013/000261
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chin Wee WONG; Yusuf RAMPURAWALA
Original assignee: Mimos Berhad
Priority date: 2012-12-19
Filing date: 2013-12-18
Publication date: 2014-06-26
Also published as: MY167136A

Abstract

A method implemented in a client-server network to redirect a client to a web page hosted at a local server in the network upon internet being disconnected is down is disclosed. In one embodiment, our method organizes and manages a client's web browsing request by identifying the client by its Internet Protocol (IP) address and associates it to the URL of each website visited thereby. For each new webside accessed and/or URL request sent, it is added to the user's URL History. Each website or URL is ten categorized as whether the resources is hosted in a server located either internal or external to the network. When internet connection is down, the user's browser would indicate such disconnection and redirect the user to a webpage hosted in a local server wherein is shown a list of resources hosted in internal servers which are still available for browsing. Upon detecting Internet connection being restored, indicating such re-connection and re- enabling said URLs of external servers with hyperlinking.

Description

Server-based URL management method and system

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] This invention generally relates to a data processing method and system for organizing and managing users' web browsing history. Specifically, the users' browsing history in form of URLs are organized and managed according to their availability depending on the state of internet connection.

BACKGROUND ART

[002] Providing effective internet access to rural areas is often challenging due to terrain, geographical expanse of coverage, low population density, electricity supply interruptions, etc. which add to the cost of deployment in initiatives to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural communities. Frequent disconnections or interruptions to internet access would dampen the rural users' enthusiasm to take up the internet as a reliable source of information and communication means. Wireless broadband standards are the favourite implementations for delivering Internet access to rural areas so that the "last mile" cable link investment in such a wide but sparsely populated geographical area may be avoided, just as a household chooses WiFi to avoid having to domestically wiring up each device at home for internet connection.

[003] Early forms of municipal-wide or metropolitan-wide wireless networks, such as WirelessMAN, HiperMAN, WiBro, etc. have since evolved into a common, interoperable WiMAX standard (IEEE 802.16) with its implementation presently integrating well with IP-based core networks. Although widening its coverage up to 50 km may lead to sacrifice in its bit-rate which may drop from 30 Mbit/s to 1-4 Mbit/s (as a result of increased bit error rate) this is acceptable in rural areas where power users are not typically concentrated in one neighbourhood or block in a metropolitan area. However, the rural user's surfing experience may still be dampened when internet connection is occasionally dropped as a result of the aforesaid physical factors or bit-rate error, resulting in the proxy server automatically redirecting the browser to a typical "Connection Error Page" such as the one shown by Microsoft's Internet Explorer in FIGURE 1 (Prior Art).

[004] A user would typically wait out the interruption and periodically press the Refresh or Retry buttons to see if internet connection has been restored as the browser does not provide any indication on internet link status. The computer's operating system might provide such an indication, e.g. the Wireless Network Connection in Microsoft Windows family but this is typically reduced to a small Taskbar icon and notifications in a fleeting 2-3 seconds which may not be noticed. Still, the bigger "opportunity lost" in the event of such internet link interruption is the user would not be aware that a number of resources hosted at local servers would still be available in the WiMAX or local area network despite internet disconnection and would just give up browsing further. These local servers could be providing or hosting various resources such as Local Host Application, Local communication, Local Community Content, IPTV, streaming services, cache servers carrying or mirroring content of external servers such as news portals, etc. Equally frustrating is the fact that once internet connection is restored, the user or client is not notified of the availability of the external resources and would be left to remain on the Connection Error or another redirected or cached page.

[005] We have not encountered any prior art overcoming the aforesaid disadvantages but consider the following publications as relevant background art. US-6310630 (IBM) and US-7962843 (Microsoft) are examples of URL history management at the user's browser or client side. Client memory storage, processing power, input means and display output are employed in organizing the URL history in inverse chronological order and are dynamically updated even as the user browses across multiple browser windows. US-7096263, US-7251688 (both Akamai), and US-63114465 (Lucent) disclosed URL management at a network core point between mirrored data centres that includes redirection for optimal file downloading purposes with ICMP or "pinging" to indicate inavailability of a server, and for load sharing or load balancing purposes between caching servers. US publication no. 2008/0005349 (UTStarcom) discloses a middleware API (application programming interface) which is capable of differentiating between requests for local and remote contents of media such as IPTV.

[006] Other relevant background art includes EP- 1343293 (Seiko-Epson) which discloses the familiar WiFi local area network implemented in restaurants and hotels which would still make local server's resources available (albeit limited to advertisements) until access to internet is obtained with passwords issued to paying customers. US-6081840 (Yan Zhao) is another LAN-level of method distinguishing access to resource servers into local and external to the network. US-7937450 (Viviana Research) manages cached access to local, external and terrestrial broadcast multimedia content for thin-clients, including synchronizing or downloading at off-peak and sleeping times. U.S. publication no. 2003/0074421 (Phillips) teaches a method which includes running a proprietary application on a local server to assist a user in accessing and downloading songs but is limited to user navigation between different hierarchies of file structure and does not differentiate between local and remote servers.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[007] From the above shortcomings in the background art, it is thus desirable to have a method implementable on the server side to redirect a client to a page wherein the user is informed of what local resources that are still accessible when internet connection is down. It is desirable that such a method and system be implementable or executable without the need for any installation or execution at client side. This would be particularly advantageous in a WiMAX network (which term is intended in this specification to include WirelessMAN, HiperMAN, WiBro and like wireless municipal- or metropolitan-wide area networks) or large intranets where there are a large number of resources hosted in local servers available to users to which access does not require internet connection. It would also be advantageous to indicate or notify to the user as soon as internet connection is restored, and to enable browsing to be resumed from where it was left off when internet link was disrupted. [008] Our present invention endeavours to address these disadvantages by providing for a method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network, the method being implemented at the server side which, in its general embodiment, comprises of the steps of:

(a) uniquely identifying the client and associate it to the URL of each website visited thereby;

(b) add to URL History for each new website and/or URL visited;

(c) categorizing each URL stored in URL History as resources hosted in a server located either internal or external to the network (respectively "internal servers" and "external servers");

(d) upon detecting Internet connection being down, indicating such disconnection and redirecting user's browser to a webpage hosted in a local server of the network wherein is shown

a list of URLs of resources hosted in said internal servers which are indicated as available for browsing, and

a list of URLs of resources hosted in said external servers which are indicated as unavailable for browsing and/or disabled from hyperlinking;

(e) upon detecting Internet connection being restored, indicating such re- connection and re-enabling said URLs of external servers with hyperlinking.

[009] The aforesaid steps are preferably executed at the core network. In an alternative embodiment, each new website and/or URL visited is added to URL History and categorized accordingly as internal or external to the network. This step of categorizing each website by its URL as either internal or external may preferably include comparing said URL to a list of local servers in the network. Preferably, the browsing history are organized in inverse chronological order. Alternatively, each new website and/or URL visited is added to the URL History and sorted accordingly.

[010] In one embodiment, our method includes at least in part executing an applet embedded on a webpage hosted in a local server. Preferably, the applet is capable of detecting and presenting internet link status. Upon detecting internet link as disconnected, a list of URLs of internal servers is preferably displayed by the applet. As the user's URL request for a resource that is located in an external server cannot be processed, the URL request is preferably stored.

[Oi l] In another aspect of our invention, a data processing system is provided for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network, the system being implemented on the server side comprising a server deployed at core network hosting at least one of a proxy server handling URL requests from the client and providing interface with an internet link detect and redirect module for redirecting URL requests upon detecting internet link being disconnected, a URL History management module for categorizing each website and/or URL visited by client as hosted in a server located either internal or external to the network and storing it as a URL History.

[012] A software application module is further provided being embedded on a webpage hosted on at least one of the internal servers, the applet is executable to displaying internet link connection status, displaying URL History as external and/or internal to the network and wherein, upon internet link being disconnected, disabling said external URLs and listing said internal URLs as still accessible by the client; upon internet link being reconnected, enabling said external URLs and indicating them as accesible; a memory storage for storing said URL History; and a memory storage for local servers list, providing a basis for categorizing a URL or webpage visited by client is located internally or externally to the network. Preferably, the proxy server identifies the client by its IP address.

LIST OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[013] The drawings accompanying this specification as listed below may provide a better understanding of our invention and its advantages when referred to in conjunction with the detailed description that follows. They are described herein and to be understood as exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of our method: [014] FIGURE 1 (Prior Art) shows a conventional browser redirect page upon encountering internet disconnection.

[015] FIGURE 2 illustrates a browser displaying a redirect page of a server implementing an embodiment of our method wherein the internet status is indicated by an embedded applet and resources still accessible at local servers being displayed.

[016] FIGURE 3 embodies suggested dialog or notification boxes in browsers indicating internet connection being down (left) compared with internet connection being up (right) and the examples of resources available according to their respective connection status.

[017] FIGURE 4 exemplifies an example of one embodiment of our invention deployed in an intranet environment.

[018] FIGURE 5 shows an example of another embodiment of our invention deployed in a WiMAX environment. [019] FIGURE 6 illustrates schematically the components of the invention implemented in the core network responsible for the redirection of the HTTP traffic and management of URL history.

[020] FIGURE 7 embodies a schematic operation flowchart of the method according to our present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS [021] From a user's viewpoint, the objects of our invention may be achieved by having the two novel and desirable features incorporated as display interface or Redirection Page 10 in a browser as shown in FIGURE 2 wherein the internet status 12 is indicated by an embedded web applet 20 and resources still accessible at local servers being displayed 30 within the page. The web applet 20 may be embedded on the content pages of websites hosted in local servers. Alternatively, these two features may be displayed as suggested in FIGURE 3 as dedicated dialog or notification boxes 31, 32, 33, 34 wherein the internet link status is shown as disconnected 31 with indicator light unlit or greyed out while in connected status 32 the indicator light is lit or in green. Optionally, URL History may be displayed by expanding a drop-down list 33 wherein URLs of resources hosted in local servers that are still available are highlighted while those of resources hosted in remote servers that are no longer available are greyed out. In the corresponding dropdown list 34 when internet connection is up, the list of URLs of both local and remote or external servers are highlighted and shown as available. In this specification, "URL" (uniform resource locater) may be taken to also generally include "uniform resource identifier" (URI) or the more specific "uniform resource name" (URN) leading to the resources hosted in a website.

[022] The method and system for achieving the aforesaid user interface will now be explained. Our method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network implemented at the server side essentially comprises of, firstly, uniquely identifying the client, e.g. by its Internet Protocol (IP) address and associate it to the URL of each website visited by that client. Apart from IP address, the user may also be uniquely identified by other conventional methods such as the user device's MAC address, Window s/hAN user login, broadband DSL or PPPoE login, etc. or other forms of Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) that a skilled person may use to uniquely identify a user and/or client. In this specification, "IP address" is employed as representative of any such unique identifier for the user or client.

[023] Next, the URL of each website visited is categorized and stored in URL History on the basis whether that URL is hosted in a server located internally or externally to the network (respectively referred to herein as "internal servers" and "external servers"). Upon detecting Internet connection being down, such disconnection is indicated and the user's browser is redirected to a webpage hosted in a local server of the network. The redirected webpage shows a list of URLs of resources hosted in the internal servers which are indicated as available for browsing. A list of URLs of resources hosted in the external servers is also indicated as unavailable for browsing and/or disabled from hyperlinking. Upon detecting that Internet connection is restored, such re-connection is indicated and the URLs of the external servers may be indicated as enabled. [024] Preferably, the browsing history is organized in inverse chronological order after each new website and/or URL visited is added to the URL History and sorted accordingly. Alternatively, a different sort order may be selected by the user, i.e. alphabetical order, subject index, etc. while the default sort order would preferably be in inverse chronological order for ease of user to re-select the last request made. URL History may also be imported from the browser's history; however, in order not to be concerned with the type of browser, its security features allowing such import and in order not to rely on resources on the client side, we opt for building our own URL History at the server side as and when the user or client goes.

[025] As shown in FIGURE 4, which is an example of one embodiment of our invention deployed in an intranet environment, our aforesaid method, which is implemented at the server side, is preferably executed at the core network (also known as "backbone network" in enterprise private networks). As shown in FIG. 4, our URL management method and system may be embodied in a local server 42 connected to a second local server 43 hosting the Redirection Page 10. Although it is shown in the drawing that the URL management system and the Redirection Page are located in different servers, for ease of understanding, they can be hosted in the same server or machine. These local servers 42, 43 are located behind the firewall 44 protecting the intranet from the internet link, just as the core switches 46 (also known as core router) as a backbone device connecting all of the intranet's edge switches 48 (also known as edge device) linking each of the clients A, B, C and D to the intranet. [026] FIGURE 5 illustrates another example of an embodiment of our invention deployed in a WiMAX environment where a plurality of clients A, B, C and D are linked via various level of devices that may include indoor WiFi cum gateways (or subscriber stations) to outdoor units (WiWi 1.8 to WiWi 2.0) and base stations (WiWi 3.0). The relative position of the local servers 52, 53 hosting our URL management method and system, and the Redirection Page are the same as that in the intranet environment of FIG. 4, i.e. just before the internet link. In both network examples shown in FIG. 4 (intranet) and FIG. 5 (WiMAX), the disconnection of internet link will render all the clients in the respective networks unable to access resources of the World Wide Web (WWW) but still maintain access to resources hosted in each network's local servers. Hence, it could be seen from the above two networking architectures that a method and system which are capable of distinguishing between internal or locally-hosted resources and external or remotely-hosted resources would still allow clients to access local resources in the event internet connection is down.

[027] The schematic implementation of our method may be represented in FIGURE 6 wherein the various components of the invention in the core network responsible for the redirection of the HTTP traffic and management of URL history. As shown in schematic representation in FIG. 6, each of the clients 61, 62 of a client-server network may independently send URL requests from their respective browsers and access the network 63 via HTTP port 64 to be processed by a proxy server 65 in our URL mangement system. The proxy server may preferably be hosted at the network core so that the HTTP traffic from all clients connected to the network may be controlled. The network core may also hosts one of the following components comprising the system implementing our method at the server side of the network, namely— an Internet Link detection & Redirect Module 66, a URL History Management Module 67, a software application module, which may preferably be a Web Applet Module 20; a URL history memory storage 68 and Local Server List memory storage 69. Each of these modules or components' functions or operation in the system is briefly outline below.

Internet Link detection & Redirect Module 66, for detecting whether internet connection is up or down before deciding 72 how the user's URL request will be processed.

URL History Management Module 67, for storing and categorizing each URL requested and visited as to whether its resource is hosted in a server that is internal or external to the network.

a software application module, which may preferably be a Web Applet Module 20, for executing the method of our present invention. a URL history memory storage 68, for storing the aforesaid list of URL History.

Local Server List memory storage 69, for storing a list of servers within the network.

[028] The data comprising the URL history and Local Server List may be stored in their respective memory storages 68, 69 in a readable or retrievable and re- writeable forms such as in a database table. The operation of these components in FIG. 6 as a system may be better understood when considered in conjunction with the schematic operation flowchart of FIGURE 7, in respect of organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network. Central to the system for implementing our method, i.e. a server deployed at the server side, preferably at network core. This server hosts the proxy server which handles URL requests from the clients passing through HTTP traffic port 64. Prior to detecting internet connection, our invention first employs the proxy server to identify the client sending the URL request and associate it with its URL History. This identification is enabled with the proxy server uniquely identifying the client by its IP address. Subsequently, the next course of operation depends on whether internet connection is up or down.

[029] If internet connection is detected to be up, the URL request is sent to the web server 73 so that the resources could be located and loaded accordingly (as it would have been done conventionally). In our method, this URL request is further processed by storing 74 and categorizing 75 the request as external or internal, i.e. whether the resource requested is located in a server that is local to the network or that is external or web-based, i.e. accessible through the internet. Because internet connection is up, accessing an external resource would not be a problem as the URL request is sent to the web-based server. If the URL request is determined 76 to be for a resource in a local server, our invention calls for all URLs as well as the internet link status to be enabled. Both the enabled URLs and internet link status are displayed by the web applet embedded in the response page 78.

[030] If internet connection is detected to be down, the URL request will be redirected by the proxy server 65 to the designated local server where the Redirection Page would usually be displayed under conventional URL redirection, except that in our invention, several additional steps or operations are carried upon the URL redirection. Firstly, upon redirection 81, the URL request will be stored 82 and categorized as internal or external 83. Next, a list of internal URLs are enabled and displayed for the user to choose and click, while external URLs are preferably shown as disabled, e.g. by having its font colour greyed out or in a faint colour. A software application module, which may preferably be a Web Applet Module 20 may then be executed 85 and embedded 86 in the webpage for enabling displaying or presenting of the URLs that are available to the user. Briefly, this applet is executable to display or to present internet link connection status, URL History as external and/or internal to the network, and upon detecting internet link being disconnected, disabling said external URLs and listing said internal URLs as still accessible by the client; or upon internet link being reconnected, enabling said external URLs and indicating them as accesible.

[031] When internet link is disconnected, upon which an external URL requested by the user becomes inaccessible, it is more important to assuage the user's browsing interest by offering a list of resources that are still available in local servers so that the user may continue browsing. To this end, a list of URLs of resources hosted by internal servers may preferably be displayed by the applet in the browser to show clearly or prominently to the users of these local resources' continued availability despite internet connection is down. [032] This list of resources available in local servers may be pre-compiled and stored in the Local Server List memory storage 69, collated and grown into such a list as URL History from the client requests based on the IP addresses of the resources accessed or combination of both. This Local Server List may include local servers holding cached or mirrored contents of the external servers. Many of the aforedescribed features and functionality of our invention may be achieved or enabled by a web applet 60 embedded in a web page of a local server and executed as redirected thereto by the proxy server. The applet 60 may be programmed to include at least part of the processing algorithm of our method. In this regard, the applet's capabilities may be restricted by the browser acting as its container although functionally, the applet may perform beyond the default capabilities of the browser.

[033] As with web-based applets, our applet 20 may be embedded into a webpage hosted in a local server 43, 53 such as on the Redirection Page 10 and may be programmed to include at least part of the processing algorithm of our method. Invoking or execution of the applet or part of its script may also be made dependent or conditional to the internet link status as detected by the Internet Link detection & Redirect Module 66. With the versatility of a web-based applet, the internet connection status may be displayed in a variety of ways including streaming (e.g. news tickers) and multimedia features (e.g. embedded media players) to catch the attention of the user once internet connection is restored. Conversely, during internet disconnection, the list of URLs of external servers that would not be available may be displayed as greyed out or in faint-coloured fonts to indicate their inaccessibility. As for the original URL request that is stored 74, 82, once internet connection is restored and the user has meanwhile chosen to browse a local server resource, the applet may display in the browser a notification that internet connection is now resumed and will offer to the user the original URL request that was stored earlier so that he does not have to retype it.

[034] Another alternative embodiment of our invention in respect of storing the URL requests, categorizing them into local and external resources and adding the requests to the URL History is to enable that local Redirection Page to be built up into a portal for internet access that is customized and personalized to a user (based on the unique client identification, e.g. IP address or user login, being associated with its URL History in step 1). This Personal Portal for internet access may also serve as a personal gateway to the world wide web, with the URL History of the identified user or client displayed as hyperlinks which are all enabled when Internet connection is up and whereby hyperlinks to resources of external servers are disabled when Internet connection is down.

[035] Apart from the configuration of our invention's method and system being installable and executable at the server side whereby no computing or memory storage resources at the client side is required, a skilled person would be able to see that such a method and system is implementable in networks where the clients may be thin clients and is especially advantageous for deployment in rural areas as ultra-thin clients or web-thin clients. Apart from being embodied in the form of an applet embedded in a webpage of a local server, one or more in combination of the aforedescribed features may also be alternatively embodied as routines, subroutines, servlets, modules, procedure or function - whether as part of the source code within the larger container in form of the browser application or as separately executable application. For example, those features of our invention that does not immediately require graphical user interface (GUI), e.g. categorizing URL requests into local or external resources, could be configured to be implemented by servlets.

[036] A person having ordinary skilled in the art would also be able to provide vary, modify or reconfigure our invention once being taught the crux or essence of our method and system without departing from our inventive concept. The principles and concepts of our method disclosed herein may also be implemented in various manner or form in conjunction with appropriate software and system configuration which may not have been specifically described herein but which are to be understood as encompassed within the scope and letter of the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network, the method being implemented at the server side comprising the steps of:

(b) add to URL History for each new website and/or URL visited;

(c) categorizing each URL stored in URL History as a resource hosted in a server located either internal or external to the network (respectively "internal servers" and "external servers");

(d) upon detecting Internet connection being down and a URL requested by user is for a resource hosted in a server external to the network, indicating such disconnection and redirecting user's browser to a webpage hosted in a local server of the network wherein is shown

a list of URLs of resources hosted in said external servers which are indicated as unavailable for browsing and/or disabled from hyperlinking; and

2. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein the aforesaid steps are executed at the core network.

3. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein each new website and/or URL visited is added to URL History and categorized accordingly as internal or external to the network.

4. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein the step of categorizing each website by its URL as either internal or external includes comparing said URL to a list of local servers in the network.

5. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein the browsing history are organized in inverse chronological order.

6. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein each new website and/or URL visited is added to the URL History and sorted accordingly.

7. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 2 wherein said method includes at least in part executing an applet embedded on a webpage hosted in a local server.

8. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 2 wherein the method is implemented by an applet embedded on a webpage hosted in a local server.

9. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claims 7 wherein the applet is capable of detecting and presenting internet link status.

10. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 9 wherein upon detecting internet link as disconnected, a list of URLs of internal servers is displayed by the applet.

11. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein step (a) in uniquely identifying the client comprises identification by its Internet Protocol (IP) address.

12. A method for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 1 wherein in step (d), upon detecting Internet connection as being down and the user's URL request is for a resource located in an external server, said URL request is stored.

13. A data processing system for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network, the system being implemented on the server side comprising:

a server deployed at core network hosting at least one of:

a proxy server handling URL requests from the client and providing interface with

an internet link detect and redirect module for redirecting URL requests upon detecting internet link being disconnected;

a URL History management module for categorizing each website and/or URL visited by client as hosted in a server located either internal or external to the network and storing it as a URL History;

- a software application module embedded on a webpage hosted on at least one of the internal servers, said applet is executable to

displaying internet link connection status;

displaying URL History as external and/or internal to the network; upon internet link being disconnected, disabling said external URLs and listing said internal URLs as still accessible by the client;

upon internet link being reconnected, enabling said external URLs and indicating them as accesible;

a memory storage for storing said URL History; and

a memory storage for local servers list, providing a basis for categorizing a URL or webpage visited by client is located internally or externally to the network.

14. A data processing system for organizing and managing a client's web browsing request in a client-server network according to Claim 13 wherein the proxy server identifies the client by its IP address.