Virtual Private Router DNS Request Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies face challenges in reducing the number of DNS requests from client computers, especially when connected through proxy or VPN servers, leading to increased latency and data traffic, particularly in mobile networks.
Innovation Solution
A Virtual Private Router (VPR) intercepts DNS requests, returns pseudo IP addresses, and stores the correspondence between domain names and IP addresses, allowing content requests to bypass DNS resolution over the network, thereby reducing latency and data traffic by using an intermediary server to resolve real IP addresses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If client computer issues DNS requests to resolve domain names to IP addresses, then content retrieval can proceed, but latency increases and data traffic increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-resolves domain names to IP addresses before actual content requests are made. The system maintains a cache of pre-resolved domain names and their corresponding IP addresses, allowing client applications to retrieve content without waiting for DNS resolution at the time of request. This preliminary action eliminates DNS latency for cached domains while maintaining the ability to proceed with content retrieval.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (such as a local resolver or proxy service) that sits between the client application and the external DNS server. This intermediary pre-performs DNS resolutions and caches the results locally, mediating between the application's need for fast access and the DNS system's resolution process. The intermediary can serve cached IP addresses immediately without requiring real-time DNS queries for previously resolved domains.
2Measurement precision
If client computer issues DNS requests for every content request, then accurate IP address resolution is achieved, but number of DNS requests increases and network traffic increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs DNS resolutions in advance and stores the results in a local cache. When content requests are made for domains that have been pre-resolved, the cached IP addresses are used directly without generating new DNS requests. This maintains resolution accuracy for cached domains while dramatically reducing the quantity of DNS requests sent to external servers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a DNS response cache that stores resolved domain name to IP address mappings for reuse. Instead of discarding DNS resolution results after a single use, the system recovers and reuses these resolutions for subsequent requests to the same domains. The cache entries are maintained until they expire or are invalidated, preventing redundant DNS requests while ensuring accurate IP address resolution is preserved through cached data.
3Loss of time
If proxy server is used to suppress client-side DNS requests, then DNS latency decreases and data traffic decreases, but client applications that do not support proxy settings continue to issue DNS requests
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a local DNS resolver or proxy service that operates at the system level rather than requiring application-level configuration. This intermediary component intercepts DNS requests from all client applications uniformly, regardless of whether the applications have proxy settings enabled. The local resolver caches DNS responses and serves them to applications, effectively suppressing external DNS requests for all applications while maintaining compatibility with applications that have varying proxy support.
Solution Approach 2:
The system designs a universal DNS resolution mechanism that serves multiple client applications simultaneously through a common local resolver. This multi-functional approach allows the same DNS caching infrastructure to benefit all applications on the system, whether or not they individually support proxy settings. The universal resolver handles DNS requests from any application, providing consistent latency reduction and traffic optimization across the entire system.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual private router (VPR) intercepts DNS requests and returns a pseudo IP address to the requesting application and the pseudo IP address is mapped to a domain name in the request. Requests for content including the pseudo IP address are modified to include the corresponding domain name and transmitted to an intermediary server, which resolves the domain name to a real IP address and forwards the content request. The content is received by the intermediary server, which returns it to the requesting application, such as by way of the VPR. Real IP addresses may be returned by the intermediary server such that subsequent content requests to the domain name may bypass the intermediary server. Requests for certain domains, ports, and/or protocols may bypass the intermediary server such that the VPR resolves the domain names to real IP addresses.