Intermediate Tunnel Nodes for Faster, Reliable Internet Content Fetching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing Internet communication technologies face challenges in optimizing data transmission and connection establishment due to network congestion, traffic load balancing, and unpredictable network behavior, leading to issues such as packet loss, duplication, and out-of-order delivery, which affect the efficiency and reliability of data transfer.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of intermediate nodes that function as both end-user and intermediate devices to enhance communication by managing and optimizing data transmission, utilizing TCP/IP protocols to improve connection establishment and data delivery, and employing HTTP persistent connections for efficient data exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional Internet communication protocols (TCP/IP) are used for data transmission, then reliable delivery and connection management are achieved, but network congestion, packet loss, and slow connection establishment occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between the client and server. This gateway pre-establishes persistent TCP connections with multiple servers and manages connection pooling, acting as a mediator that eliminates the need for clients to directly establish connections with each server. The gateway buffers and forwards data packets, reducing network congestion and improving transmission efficiency while maintaining reliable delivery through its connection management capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing persistent TCP connections with servers before actual data transmission needs occur. Connection pooling is implemented in advance, creating a pool of ready-to-use connections that can be quickly allocated when data transmission is required. This preliminary connection setup eliminates the time-consuming connection establishment process during actual data transfer operations.
2Speed
If multiple TCP connections are established for parallel data transfer, then data transmission speed is improved, but connection establishment time and system resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual client-server connections into a single gateway-mediated connection path. The gateway consolidates connection management responsibilities, maintaining a pooled set of persistent connections that serve multiple clients. This merging approach allows parallel data transfer through the pooled connections while eliminating redundant connection establishment processes, as the gateway reuses existing connections from the pool rather than creating new connections for each data transfer operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway serves multiple functions: it acts as a connection pool manager, data buffer, protocol translator, and traffic optimizer. By making the gateway universal and multi-functional, the system achieves efficient parallel data transfer through a single coordinated entity that manages pooled connections, rather than requiring each client to independently manage multiple connections to multiple servers.
3Productivity
If HTTP persistent connections are used, then connection reuse and reduced setup time are achieved, but network congestion and traffic load balancing challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway serves as an intermediary that simplifies traffic management despite the complexity of persistent connections and load balancing requirements. It centralizes connection pooling and traffic routing decisions, absorbing the complexity of managing multiple persistent connections and implementing load balancing algorithms internally. This allows the system to benefit from persistent connection reuse while the gateway handles the complex traffic management tasks in a coordinated manner.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway dynamically adjusts traffic routing parameters based on network conditions, server load, and connection pool status. It implements load balancing by changing routing parameters to distribute traffic optimally across available connections in the pool. The gateway monitors network congestion and adjusts transmission parameters, buffer sizes, and connection allocation strategies to maintain efficient data transfer while managing the complexity of persistent connections.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for fetching a content from a web server to a client device is disclosed, using tunnel devices serving as intermediate devices. The client device accesses an acceleration server to receive a list of available tunnel devices. The requested content is partitioned into slices, and the client device sends a request for the slices to the available tunnel devices. The tunnel devices in turn fetch the slices from the data server, and send the slices to the client device, where the content is reconstructed from the received slices. A client device may also serve as a tunnel device, serving as an intermediate device to other client devices. Similarly, a tunnel device may also serve as a client device for fetching content from a data server. The selection of tunnel devices to be used by a client device may be in the acceleration server, in the client device, or in both. The partition into slices may be overlapping or non-overlapping, and the same slice (or the whole content) may be fetched via multiple tunnel devices.