Proxy Network Geolocation via Source IP Metadata
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Solution Overview
Problem
Content providers face challenges in delivering location-specific content to users through proxy delivery networks, as they cannot reliably determine the end-user's location due to reliance on modified or forged client header information, leading to incorrect geolocation and inappropriate content serving.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a smart geolocation technique within a proxy acceleration network that forwards the end-user's source IP address as metadata, allowing content providers to accurately geolocate requests without trusting forwarded client header information, and using lightweight edge nodes to provide location-specific content while protecting content integrity through HTML streaming and caching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If proxy delivery networks are used to deliver content, then content delivery speed and caching capabilities are improved, but the ability to accurately determine end-user location deteriorates due to reliance on modified client header information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a geolocation service as an intermediary component that receives requests from proxy servers, performs independent geolocation analysis using multiple data sources (IP address, user agent, billing zip code), and returns authoritative location information. This mediator resolves the contradiction by providing accurate location data without requiring the content provider to directly trust modified client headers, while still operating within the proxy delivery network architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the geolocation service continuously refines location accuracy by comparing multiple data sources and updating geolocation databases. The proxy server receives feedback about location determination results and can adjust its request forwarding behavior. This feedback loop improves measurement precision over time while maintaining the speed benefits of the proxy network.
2Device complexity
If client header information is trusted for geolocation, then implementation simplicity is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to modified or forged header information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the geolocation service perform validation and cross-referencing of location data before it is used for content delivery decisions. The system pre-establishes trust relationships with geolocation providers and pre-processes geolocation data to identify potential forgeries. This preliminary validation maintains reliability without significantly increasing implementation complexity, as the validation logic is encapsulated in the geolocation service layer.
3Adaptability or versatility
If expensive proxy servers are deployed across geographic regions, then location-specific content delivery capability is improved, but infrastructure cost deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the proxy delivery network into two distinct layers: expensive, full-featured proxy servers that provide caching, HTML streaming, and acceleration capabilities, and lightweight edge nodes that provide only basic request forwarding with geolocation information collection. This segmentation allows the system to achieve broad geographic coverage and location-specific content delivery capability while minimizing infrastructure costs by deploying numerous low-cost edge nodes instead of expensive proxy servers everywhere.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses copying by having lightweight edge nodes replicate the basic proxy functionality of request forwarding and header stripping, but without the expensive caching and processing capabilities. These copied, simplified nodes can be deployed at low cost across many geographic regions, providing the necessary adaptability for location-specific content delivery without the high infrastructure costs of deploying full proxy servers everywhere.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of delivering location-specific content by a content processing server is disclosed. A request for web content is received by the content processing server. A location of an originator of the received request for web content is identified. A local proxy server is selected based on the identified location of the originator of the received request for web content. The web content is requested via the selected local proxy server. Location-specific web content from the content provider is received via the selected local proxy server. The received local-specific web content is sent to the originator of the received request in response to the received request.