Layer 4 Accelerator Engine for Network Protocol Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Communication networks face significant latency due to initialization steps like DNS lookup, TCP 3-way handshake, and SSL/TLS certificate exchange, which increase connectivity overhead and impact user experience in applications such as video streaming and search functions.
Innovation Solution
A Layer 4 accelerator engine pre-resolves DNS queries, pre-connects with TCP servers, and secures connections with SSL/TLS certificates ahead of application requests, reducing DNS lookup time, TCP connect time, and secure certificate exchange time, thereby minimizing network protocol latency and providing zero connectivity overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If DNS lookup, TCP 3-way handshake, and SSL/TLS certificate exchange are performed before application requests, then network protocol latency is reduced, but system complexity increases due to the need for a Layer 4 accelerator engine
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing DNS lookups, TCP 3-way handshakes, and SSL/TLS certificate exchanges before the application actually needs to send requests. The Layer 4 accelerator engine proactively establishes connections and resolves domain names in advance, so that when the application needs to communicate with a server, the connection is already ready. This eliminates the latency of these initialization steps during actual application operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a Layer 4 accelerator engine as an intermediary component between the application and the network infrastructure. This mediator handles the complex tasks of DNS resolution, TCP connection management, and SSL/TLS certificate exchange, shielding the application from these complexities while providing optimized network access. The accelerator engine acts as a buffer that manages the time-consuming initialization processes separately from the application logic.
2Reliability
If socket setup initialization steps are performed before first byte transmission, then connection reliability is improved, but connectivity overhead increases affecting user experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs socket setup initialization steps including DNS lookup, TCP 3-way handshake, and SSL/TLS certificate exchange in advance, before the application needs to transmit the first byte. By completing these reliability-critical steps beforehand, the system ensures that when actual data transmission occurs, the connection is already established and verified, eliminating delays during user-facing operations while maintaining connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network communication process into two distinct phases: a preliminary phase handled by the Layer 4 accelerator engine (DNS resolution, TCP handshake, SSL/TLS exchange) and an application phase where the actual business logic executes. This segmentation allows the time-consuming initialization steps to be performed separately and in parallel with application preparation, reducing the perceived connectivity overhead while ensuring connection reliability is established before data transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments herein disclose methods and systems for reducing network protocol latency for at least one application on an electronic device, a method includes pre-resolving a plurality of Domain Name System (DNS) queries for the at least one application. The plurality of DNS queries is pre-resolved before triggering at least one DNS resolution query from the at least one application. The method includes pre-connecting a plurality of TCP connections of the at least one application with at least one Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) server. The plurality of TCP connections are pre-connected before triggering at least one TCP connection request from the at least one application. The method includes exchanging a plurality of secure certificates with the at least one TCP server to secure the plurality of pre-connected TCP connections. The secure certificates are exchanged before receiving at least one request from the at least one application for secure certificate negotiation.