U.S. patent application number 15/669195 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-16 for techniques to transform network resource requests to zero rated network requests.
This patent application is currently assigned to Facebook, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Facebook, Inc.. Invention is credited to Shaheen A. Gandhi, Breno Pompeu Roberto, Peter Avelino Ruibal, Luiz Fernando Scheidegger, Marcus Erwin Schwartz.
Application Number | 20170331959 15/669195 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55962821 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170331959 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Gandhi; Shaheen A. ; et
al. |
November 16, 2017 |
TECHNIQUES TO TRANSFORM NETWORK RESOURCE REQUESTS TO ZERO RATED
NETWORK REQUESTS
Abstract
Techniques to transform network resource requests to zero rated
network requests are described. Some embodiments are particularly
directed to techniques transform network resource requests on a
cellular network to zero rating by replacing the destination of the
request with a zero-rated source for the network resource. In one
embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a data store and
a network access component. The data store may be operative to
store a plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules. The network access
component may be operative to receive a network request from an
application component on the mobile device, the network request for
access to a network resource; compare the network resource to the
plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules to identify a zero-rating
rewrite rule matching the network resource; transform the network
request to a zero-rated network request for the network resource
using the identified zero-rating rewrite rule; and perform the
zero-rated network request. Other embodiments are described and
claimed.
Inventors: |
Gandhi; Shaheen A.; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Scheidegger; Luiz Fernando; (Redwood
City, CA) ; Roberto; Breno Pompeu; (Santa Clara,
CA) ; Ruibal; Peter Avelino; (San Mateo, CA) ;
Schwartz; Marcus Erwin; (Oakland, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Facebook, Inc. |
Menlo Park |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Facebook, Inc.
Menlo Park
CA
|
Family ID: |
55962821 |
Appl. No.: |
15/669195 |
Filed: |
August 4, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
15410272 |
Jan 19, 2017 |
9755844 |
|
|
15669195 |
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|
14548043 |
Nov 19, 2014 |
9584671 |
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15410272 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/42 20130101;
H04W 4/24 20130101; H04L 12/1432 20130101; H04M 15/39 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04M 15/00 20060101
H04M015/00; H04L 29/06 20060101 H04L029/06 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving a rules request from an
application component of a client device, the rules request
comprising a request for one or more zero-rating rewrite rules
applicable to the client device; identifying the one or more
zero-rating rewrite rules applicable to the client device, the
zero-rating rules comprising a trigger pattern matching a network
request and a transformation converting a non zero-rated network
request into a zero-rated network request; and transmitting the one
or more zero-rating rewrite rules to the client device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a rule of the one or more
zero-rating rewrite rules comprises a wildcard character matching
against a plurality of different domain names.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the one or
more zero-rating rewrite rules to a network access component of the
client device.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a periodic
update to a rule of the one or more zero-rating rules from a rules
provider.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an
indication to the client device of whether a network resource
matching the network request may be retrieved from a zero-rated
source.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising matching a destination
of the request to the trigger pattern, and servicing the request
while refraining from generating bandwidth charges for the client
device.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising failing to match a
destination of the request to the trigger pattern, and servicing
the request while charging an account associated with the client
device.
8. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions
that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: receive
a rules request from an application component of a client device,
the rules request comprising a request for one or more zero-rating
rewrite rules applicable to the client device; identify the one or
more zero-rating rewrite rules applicable to the client device, the
zero-rating rules comprising a trigger pattern matching a network
request and a transformation converting a non zero-rated network
request into a zero-rated network request; and transmit the one or
more zero-rating rewrite rules to the client device.
9. The medium of claim 8, wherein a rule of the one or more
zero-rating rewrite rules comprises a wildcard character matching
against a plurality of different domain names.
10. The medium of claim 8, further storing instructions for
providing the one or more zero-rating rewrite rules to a network
access component of the client device.
11. The medium of claim 8, further storing instructions for
receiving a periodic update to a rule of the one or more
zero-rating rules from a rules provider.
12. The medium of claim 8, further storing instructions for
providing an indication to the client device of whether a network
resource matching the network request may be retrieved from a
zero-rated source.
13. The medium of claim 8, further storing instructions for
matching a destination of the request to the trigger pattern, and
servicing the request while refraining from generating bandwidth
charges for the client device.
14. The medium of claim 8, further storing instructions for failing
to match a destination of the request to the trigger pattern, and
servicing the request while charging an account associated with the
client device.
15. An apparatus comprising: a network interface configured to
receive a rules request from an application component of a client
device, the rules request comprising a request for one or more
zero-rating rewrite rules applicable to the client device; and
rules logic executable on a processor circuit, the rules logic
configured to identify the one or more zero-rating rewrite rules
applicable to the client device, the zero-rating rules comprising a
trigger pattern matching a network request and a transformation
converting a non zero-rated network request into a zero-rated
network request, wherein the network interface is further
configured to transmit the one or more zero-rating rewrite rules to
the client device.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a rule of the one or more
zero-rating rewrite rules comprises a wildcard character matching
against a plurality of different domain names.
17. The apparatus of claim 15, the network interface configured to
provide the one or more zero-rating rewrite rules to a network
access component of the client device.
18. The apparatus of claim 15, the network interface configured to
receive a periodic update to a rule of the one or more zero-rating
rules from a rules provider.
19. The apparatus of claim 15, the rules logic configured to
provide an indication to the client device of whether a network
resource matching the network request may be retrieved from a
zero-rated source.
20. The apparatus of claim 15, the rules logic configured to match
a destination of the request to the trigger pattern, and service
the request while refraining from generating bandwidth charges for
the client device.
21. The apparatus of claim 15, the rules logic configured to
service the request while charging an account associated with the
client device when the rules logic fails to match a destination of
the request to the trigger pattern.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of
and priority to previously filed U.S. patent application Ser. No.
15/410,272 filed Jan. 19, 2017, entitled "TECHNIQUES TO TRANSFORM
NETWORK RESOURCE REQUESTS TO ZERO RATED NETWORK REQUESTS," which is
a continuation of, claims the benefit of and priority to previously
filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/548,043 filed Nov. 19,
2014, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,584,671, entitled "TECHNIQUES TO
TRANSFORM NETWORK RESOURCE REQUESTS TO ZERO RATED NETWORK
REQUESTS," which are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Cellular carriers may provide cellular data communication to
their cellular customers. For example, smart phones and other
mobile devices may run web browsers that may be used while on the
cellular network to retrieve web pages. Additionally, many
applications that may be pre-installed or user-installed on a
mobile device may use cellular data communication to access remote
data, such as resources available on the Internet. Some of these
applications may use web requests--requests conforming to the
hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) or related protocols, such as
the hypertext transport protocol secure (HTTPS)--for their data
access, even for data access distinct from conventional web access.
For example, a social networking application may present a
customized smart phone interface for use of a social network and
use HTTP or HTTPS requests to retrieve the data presented on the
customized smart phone interface.
[0003] Cellular carriers may not provide any or unlimited free
cellular data communication to their cellular customers. Instead,
cellular customers may be charged for bandwidth that they use on
the carrier's cellular network. However, some cellular access may
be "zero rated." Zero-rated cellular access may not contribute to
capped free cellular data communication that may be included in a
cellular customer's plan or pre-paid purchase. Zero-rated cellular
access may not generate a fee to the cellular customer, even if
that customer is over a limited quantity of allocated or pre-paid
cellular data access, or where such an allocated or pre-paid
cellular data access does not exist. Zero-rated cellular access may
be dependent on the specific network accessed, with the cellular
carrier having a list of one or more network addresses--such as
internet protocol (IP) addresses--to which cellular customers have
zero-rated access. This list may vary between cellular
carriers.
SUMMARY
[0004] The following presents a simplified summary in order to
provide a basic understanding of some novel embodiments described
herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not
intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the
scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a
simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that
is presented later.
[0005] Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques to
transform network resource requests to zero rated network requests.
Some embodiments are particularly directed to techniques transform
network resource requests on a cellular network to zero rating by
replacing the destination of the request with a zero-rated source
for the network resource. In one embodiment, for example, an
apparatus may comprise a data store and a network access component.
The data store may be operative to store a plurality of zero-rating
rewrite rules. The network access component may be operative to
receive a network request from an application component on the
mobile device, the network request for access to a network
resource; compare the network resource to the plurality of
zero-rating rewrite rules to identify a zero-rating rewrite rule
matching the network resource; transform the network request to a
zero-rated network request for the network resource using the
identified zero-rating rewrite rule; and perform the zero-rated
network request. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
[0006] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends,
certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection
with the following description and the annexed drawings. These
aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles
disclosed herein can be practiced and all aspects and equivalents
thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject
matter. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent
from the following detailed description when considered in
conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a zero-rating
transformation system.
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a zero-rating
transformation system in which a zero-rating check request is
performed.
[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a zero-rating
transformation system in which zero-rating rewrite rules and a
zero-rating access security token are downloaded.
[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow for the
zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a centralized system for
the zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a distributed system for
the zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 7A illustrates an embodiment of a second logic flow for
the zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 7B illustrates an embodiment of a third logic flow for
the zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 7C illustrates an embodiment of a fourth logic flow for
the zero-rating transformation system of FIG. 1.
[0016] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a computing
architecture.
[0017] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a communications
architecture.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Various embodiments are directed to techniques for a network
access component operative to receive network requests for a
network resource and transform the network requests to a zero-rated
network requests for the same network resource. The network access
component may manage network access for an application on a smart
phone so as to minimize the cost of using cellular data access with
the application. For instance, the application may correspond to an
application for an Internet-based service, such as a social
networking service. The Internet-based service may maintain a
subset of servers which it has zero-rated with one or more cellular
carriers; for example, the Internet-based service may zero-rate
servers which are geographically proximate to, potentially even
co-located with, a cellular carrier. However, the cellular data
access of the application may be to a web front end for the
Internet-based service, with this web front end not configured to
return links to zero-rated resources for users that would benefit
from such. Further, for the web front end for the Internet-based
service to be configured to return links to zero-rated resources,
the web front end would need to know for each user which resources
would be zero-rated for that particular user, as that may vary
between users based on their respective cellular carriers.
[0019] Instead, the application may be equipped to automatically
transform uniform resource locators (URLs) to resources received
from the Internet-based service to be retrieved from sources (e.g.,
servers) that are zero-rated with there particular cellular
carrier. The application may download a list of rules, where each
rule has a pattern against which it will match. Where a rule
matches a URL, the rule may specify a transformation to generate a
new URL from the received URL where the new URL resolves to a
zero-rated server. This list of rules may be curated specifically
for the cellular carrier of the user, with the specific list of
rules provided to the user selected as corresponding to the user's
cellular carrier. The application may therefore attempt to minimize
the quantity of cellular data charges generated for the user by the
application's cellular data access. As a result, the embodiments
can improve the affordability of using an application and thereby
increase the use of the application by users.
[0020] Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like
reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel
embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In
other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in
block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof.
The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and
alternatives consistent with the claimed subject matter.
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for a zero-rating
transformation system 100. In one embodiment, the zero-rating
transformation system 100 may comprise a computer-implemented
system having an application 120 comprising one or more components.
The application 120 may comprise a software application wherein its
component comprise software modules running on a client device 110
and using a data store 140 of the client device 110. Although the
zero-rating transformation system 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a limited
number of elements in a certain topology, it may be appreciated
that the zero-rating transformation system 100 may include more or
less elements in alternate topologies as desired for a given
implementation.
[0022] It is worthy to note that "a" and "b" and "c" and similar
designators as used herein are intended to be variables
representing any positive integer. Thus, for example, if an
implementation sets a value for a=5, then a complete set of
components 122-a may include components 122-1, 122-2, 122-3, 122-4
and 122-5. The embodiments are not limited in this context.
[0023] The zero-rating transformation system 100 may comprise the
application 120. The application 120 may be generally arranged to
perform cellular data access on behalf of a user. The application
120 may be generally arranged to structure cellular data access to
use zero-rated resources whenever it possesses sufficient knowledge
to do so. The application 120 may comprise an application component
130 and a network access component 160. It will be appreciate that
the application 120 may not be limited to these components.
[0024] The client device 110 may comprise a mobile device served by
a cellular carrier. The cellular carrier for client device 110 may
be network carrier 170. It will be appreciated that network
carriers other than cellular carriers may be used with relation to
the described embodiments.
[0025] The application 120 may comprise an application component
130. The application component 130 may be generally arranged to
perform user-facing tasks for the application 120. For instance,
where the application 120 is an application for an Internet-based
service, the application component 130 may display network
resources for the user. The application component 130 may initiate
the retrieval of network resources for display for the user using
the network access component 160. The application component 130 may
submit a network request 135 to the network access component 160,
the network request 135 a request for access to a network resource
180.
[0026] The client device 110 may comprise a data store 140. The
data store 140 may store a plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules
150. The data store 140 may comprise any known technique or
technology for storing data on a client device 110.
[0027] The network resource 180 may comprise an Internet-accessible
resource that may be provided by one or more Internet-accessible
servers, such as non-zero rated hosting server 195 and zero-rated
hosting server 190. Non-zero-rated hosting server 195 may comprise
a source for network resource 180 that is not zero-rated by network
carrier 170 for client device 110. Zero-rated hosting server 190
may comprise a source for network resource 180 that is zero-rated
by network carrier 170 for client device 110. Application component
130 may be agnostic as to whether network resource 180 is retrieved
from non-zero-rated hosting server 195 or zero-rated hosting server
190 so long as network resource 180 is retrieved in response to
network request 135. Network resource 180 may be hosted by a
plurality of servers, with both non-zero-rated hosting server 195
and zero-rated hosting server 190 among that plurality.
[0028] The application 120 may comprise a network access component
160. The network access component 160 may be generally arranged to
receive a network request 135 from an application component 130 on
the client device 110, the network request 135 for access to a
network resource 180; compare the network resource 180 to the
plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to identify a
zero-rating rewrite rule matching the network resource 180;
transform the network request 135 to a zero-rated network request
165 for the network resource 180 using the identified zero-rating
rewrite rule; and perform the zero-rated network request 165. While
not all network requests will prompt a response from the server to
which they are requested, where the zero-rated hosting server 190
returns a response to the zero-rated network request 165 the
network access component 160 may be operative to receive the
response and pass it to the application component 130. In some
cases, a zero-rated source for a network resource 180 may not be
known to the network access component 160--the plurality of
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 may not include a rule encompassing
the network resource 180--in which case the network access
component 160 may request the network resource 180 from a
non-zero-rated hosting server 195.
[0029] In some cases the network resource 180 may comprise a web
resource. The network resource 180 may comprise a web page. The
network resource 180 may comprise a hypertext markup language
(HTML) file, extensible markup language (XML), extensible hypertext
markup language (XHTML) file, or any other file for composing the
body of a web page. The network resource 180 may comprise an image
file such as a joint photographic experts group (JPEG) file,
graphic interchange format (GIF) file, portable network graphics
(PNG) file, or any other type of image file. The network resource
180 may generally comprise any sort of web resource. For example,
an application component 180 may load a web page and request a
plurality of network resources including the HTML file making up
the body of the page, a cascading style sheets (CSS) file
describing the look and formatting of the page, and a plurality of
media files includes images file. The network access component 160
may receive a request for each of those resources, apply the
plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to each to transform
them to zero-rated sources for those resources, and request the
zero-rated resources.
[0030] The network access component 160 may be generally operative
to receive, transform, and request any network resources that may
be referenced by a URL or other technique for specifying locations
for network-accessible resources. As such, where the network
resource 180 comprises a web resource, the network request 135
comprising a request to retrieve the web resource from a non-zero
rated URL, the network access component 160 may be operative to
transforming the non-zero-rated URL to a zero-rated URL for the web
resource using a zero-rating rewrite rule identified as matching
the non-zero-rated URL for the web resource.
[0031] The network resource 180 may be hosted on a network server,
such as non-zero-rated hosting server 195. The network resource 180
may also be hosted on a zero-rated network server, such as
zero-rated hosting server 190. Comparing the network resource 180
to the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 may consist of
matching a domain name for the network resource 180 against a
plurality of domain name tags for the plurality of zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 to identify the zero-rating rewrite rule
associated with a domain name tag of the plurality of domain name
tags matching the domain name. The domain name for the network
resource 180 may be part of a URL for the network resource 180. A
domain name tag may comprise a domain name pattern against which a
domain name may be matched. The domain name tag may contain
wildcard characters or other signifiers that indicate that multiple
domain names may match against the tag. For example, a domain name
tag "*.facebook.com" might match against any domain name ending
with "facebook.com".
[0032] Transforming the network request 135 to the zero-rated
network request 165 may comprise rewriting the domain name for the
network request 135 to a zero-rated domain name corresponding to a
zero-rated network server, such as zero-rated hosting server 190.
The zero-rated network request 165 may comprise the zero-rated
domain name replacing the domain name for the network resource 180
from the network request 135. Performing the zero-rated network
request 165 therefore comprises requesting the network resource 180
from the zero-rated network server. The network resource 180 may be
represented by a URL. Transforming the network request 135 to the
zero-rated network request 165 may comprise replacing the domain
name for the network request 135 in the URL with the zero-rated
domain name according to the matching zero-rating rewrite rule.
[0033] The network access component 160 may be operative to
retrieve the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 from a data
store 140, each of the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150
associated with a domain name pattern of a plurality of domain name
patterns. A domain name pattern may comprise a standardized string,
text field, or other data encoding representing one or more domain
names. The domain name patterns may use wildcard characters to
empower matching the domain name patterns against a plurality of
different domain names. The network access component 160 may
compare the domain name for the network resource 180 to one or more
of the plurality of domain name patterns to identify the
zero-rating rewrite rule of the plurality of zero-rating rewrite
rules 150 matching the domain name for the network resource 180.
The network access component 160 matching the zero-rating rewrite
rule to the network resource 180 may correspond to the zero-rating
rewrite rule identifying as matching the domain name for the
network resource.
[0034] Zero rating transformation system 100 may include an
authorization server (or other suitable component(s)) that allows
users to opt in to or opt out of having their actions logged by
zero rating transformation system 100 or shared with other systems
(e.g., third-party systems), for example, by setting appropriate
privacy settings. A privacy setting of a user may determine what
information associated with the user may be logged, how information
associated with the user may be logged, when information associated
with the user may be logged, who may log information associated
with the user, whom information associated with the user may be
shared with, and for what purposes information associated with the
user may be logged or shared. Authorization servers or other
authorization components may be used to enforce one or more privacy
settings of the users of application 120 and/or network carrier 170
through blocking, data hashing, anonymization, or other suitable
techniques as appropriate.
[0035] Exchanging network traffic, such as performing zero-rated
network request 165, may comprise transmitting and receiving
network traffic via a network interface controller (NIC). A NIC
comprises a hardware component connecting a computer device, such
as client device 110, to a computer network. The NIC may be
associated with a software network interface empowering software
applications to access and use the NIC. Network traffic may be
received over the computer network as signals transmitted over data
links. The network traffic may be received by capturing these
signals and interpreting them. The NIC may receive network traffic
over the computer network and transfer the network traffic to
memory storage accessible to software applications using a network
interface application programming interface (API).
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates a second block diagram for a zero-rating
transformation system 100. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2
a zero-rating check request 235 is made by the application
component 130 to the network access component 160 prior to making
the network request 135.
[0037] A zero-rating check request 235 is a request made to the
network access component 160 to compare a network resource 180,
such as a URL for the network resource 180, to the zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 to determine whether the network resource 180 can
be retrieved from a zero-rated source such as zero-rated hosting
server 190. Each of the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150
contain a pattern against which they will trigger. When used with a
network request such as network request 135 this pattern is used to
identify a particular rule so as to retrieve the associated
transformation that may be used to convert the zero-rated network
request 165 into the zero-rated network request 165, with the
zero-rated network request 165 then automatically performed by the
network access component 160. When used with a zero-rating check
request 235 this pattern is used to determine whether the
zero-rating check request 235 matches a particular rule such that
the resource 180 identified by the zero-rating check request 235
may be transformed. The transformation itself is not performed on
the network resource 180 of the zero-rating check request 235 nor
is a request performed on the network carrier 170 in response to
the zero-rating check request 235. As such, the application
component 130 may use a zero-rating check request 235 to determine
whether a particular network resource 180 may be requested from a
zero-rated source.
[0038] The network access component 160 may transmit a zero-rating
check response 245 to the application component 130. The
zero-rating check response 245 may comprise an indication to the
application component 130 of whether the network resource 180
referenced by the zero-rating check request 235 can be retrieved
from a zero-rated source such as zero-rated hosting server 190. The
zero-rating check response 245 may comprise an indication to the
application component 130 of whether the zero-rating rewrite rules
150 contain a rule matching the network resource 180, such as a
rule containing a pattern matching a provided URL for the network
resource 180.
[0039] The application component 130 may be operative to perform a
zero-rating check request 235 in response to a user request to the
application 120 to make a network request 135. For instance, a user
may select an icon, picture, or segment of text, follow a link, or
otherwise select that a URL be loaded or otherwise accessed. The
application component 130 may, in response to the user request,
transmit zero-rating check request 235 to the network access
component 160 to determine whether the user request may be
performed without generating bandwidth costs for the user with the
network carrier 170.
[0040] If the zero-rating check response 245 indicates that a
network request 135 would be transformed to a zero-rated network
request 165 if performed with the network access component 160, the
application component 130 may automatically proceed to perform the
network request 135 for the network resource 180 without
consultation with the user of application 120. If the zero-rating
check response 245 indicates that a network request 135 would not
be transformed to a zero-rated network request 165--that the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 do not contain a rule to transform a
network request 135 to a zero-rated network request 165--the
application component 130 may inform the user that accessing
network resource 180 may incur bandwidth charges with the network
carrier 170. The application component 130 may display a dialog to
the user of application 120 informing them of the possible
bandwidth charges and asking whether they still want to access the
network resource 180. If the user indicates through the dialog that
they still want to access the network resource 180, the application
component 130 may, in response, perform network request 135, with
the network resource 180 retrieved from a non-zero rated hosting
server 195, potentially incurring charges with network carrier
170.
[0041] As shown in FIG. 2, network requests--including zero-rated
network request 165 and an untransformed network request 135--may
be performed by the network access component 160 using a
communications component 260 of the client device 110. The
communications component 260 may comprise a software component of
an operating system of the client device 110, may comprise one or
more hardware component such as a cellular communications
component, and may comprise a combination of such software and
hardware components. For instance, the communications component 260
may be provided by the client device 110 and managed by an
operating system and firmware of the client device 110. The
communications component 260 may be accessible to the application
120 and its network access component 160 via the operating system
of the client device 110 for use in performing cellular
communication via network carrier 170.
[0042] The network access component 160 may perform transmission
control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) communication via a
TCP/IP network application programming interface (API) of an
operating system of the client device 110. The network access
component 160 may perform user datagram protocol/IP (UDP/IP)
communication via a UDP/IP network API of an operating system of
the client device 110. The network access component 160 may
generally perform communication via an API of the operating system
of the client device 110, the OS transmitted the communication via
the communications component 260.
[0043] The network carrier 170 will receive a request such as
network request 135 or zero-rated network request 165 and compare
the destination of the request to a list of zero-rated destinations
to determine whether the request is zero-rated or should generate
charges to the client. If a request received from a client device
110 is on the list of zero-rated destinations, which list may be
denominated and indexed by IP address, the request will not
generate specific bandwidth charges to the client. If the request
received from the client device 110 is not on the list of
zero-rated destinations, the network carrier 170 will charge the
user's account--such as prospectively to a future monthly bill or
reducing a balance of available bandwidth or prepaid amount--for
the bandwidth used in transmitting the request and, if applicable,
receiving a response.
[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates a third block diagram for a zero-rating
transformation system 100. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3
the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 and a zero-rating
access security token 370 are downloaded by the network access
component 160 from a zero-rated app support server 390.
[0045] The network access component 160 uses the zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 to transform network requests to zero-rated
network requests and to determine which network requests may be
transformed into zero-rated network requests. However, to the
extent that the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 accurately perform
this task the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 must match the actual
listing of zero-rated sources (e.g., network addresses) for the
network carrier 170 of the client device 110. As such, the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150, in order to function properly, must
both be specific to the network carrier 170 for the client device
110 and be kept up-to-date. Therefore, the application 120 cannot
simply ship with a set of zero-rating rewrite rules 150, such as
being distributed through a mobile app distribution service with
the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 already configured, and simply
continue to use the same plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150
through its operation.
[0046] Instead, the application 120 may be operative to retrieve
the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 from a zero-rated app support
server 390. The zero-rated app support server 390 may provide
zero-rating support functionality to client devices such as client
device 110 in performing zero-rating transformations of network
requests. The zero-rated app support server 390 may be particularly
associated with a provider of application 120. For instance, if
application 120 is an Internet-service specific application, such
as an application specifically for using a social-networking
service, the Internet service may provide one or more zero-rated
app support servers for providing zero-rating rewrite rules to
users of application 120. The zero-rated app support server 390 may
maintain pluralities of zero-rating rewrite rules, wherein a
specific plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules may be associated
with each network carrier supported by the zero-rated app support
server 390, with the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 associated with
network carrier 170 comprising one such association.
[0047] As such, an application 120 may transmit a rules request 340
to the zero-rated app support server 390 and receive the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 in response to the rules request 340.
The rules request 340 may contain information provided by the
application 120 sufficient for the zero-rated app support server
390 to identify the network carrier 170 for the client device 110,
so as to empower the zero-rated app support server 390 to identify
the particular zero-rating rewrite rules 150 appropriate to the
client device 110. Alternatively, the zero-rated app support server
390 may infer the network carrier 170 used by the client device 110
based on one or more aspects of the delivery of rules request 340
to the zero-rated app support server 390. For instance, the rules
request 340 may be delivered via a gateway of the network carrier
170 that the zero-rated app support server 390 identifies in order
to identify the network carrier 170. In general, the zero-rated app
support server 390 may receive the rules request 340, determine the
network carrier 170 associated with the client device 110, and
transmit the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 in response to the
network access component 160. Upon receiving the zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 from the zero-rated app support server 390 the
network access component 160 may store the zero-rating rewrite
rules 150 in the data store 140 for future use.
[0048] The zero-rated app support server 390 may itself be
zero-rated with the network carrier 170. In general, the provider
and maintainer of the zero-rated app support server 390 may
contract, certify, or otherwise arrange with the network carrier
170 to be zero-rated for its clients.
[0049] The zero-rated app support server 390 may be preconfigured
with the network access component 160 for an initial retrieval of
the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 during
initialization of the network access component 160. The application
120 may on installation, first launch, or first authentication with
an Internet-based service perform various initialization
operations. One of these initialization operations may be to
initialize the network access component 160 with the zero-rating
rewrite rules 150. The network access component 160 may use an
address--such as a URL, domain, or IP address--preconfigured with
the network access component 160 to contact the zero-rated app
support server 390 to perform the rules request 340 and receive the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 in response. This may correspond to a
bootstrap process in which the zero-rated app support server 390 is
initially the only zero-rated server known to the application 120,
with the received zero-rating rewrite rules 150 empowering the
application 120 to perform more general network tasks using
zero-rated sources.
[0050] The application 120 may also periodically update itself with
the most recent zero-rating rewrite rules 150 for its network
carrier 170 using the zero-rated app support server 390. The
application 120 may, on a predefined schedule, contact the
zero-rated app support server 390 with a rules request 340, receive
the zero-rating rewrite rules 150, and store the zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 in the data store 140. This predefined schedule
may comprise, for example, a twenty-four hour schedule. In some
embodiments, the network access component 160 may only perform this
update when the application 120 is being run by the user--such as
being foregrounded by the user--with the network access component
160 performing the update based on a determination that at least a
minimum amount of time defined by the predefined schedule has
passed since the last retrieval of the zero-rating rewrite rules
150. In other embodiments the update may be performed even where
the application 120 is backgrounded.
[0051] In some embodiments, the zero-rated hosting server 190 may
only respond to, process, or otherwise allow zero-rated network
requests, such as zero-rated network request 165, where such a
request is accompanied by a zero-rating access security token 370.
The zero-rated hosting server 190 being zero-rated may correspond
to the provider of the zero-rated hosting server 190 making an
agreement with the network carrier 170. In some cases, this
agreement may incur fees for the provider of the zero-rated hosting
server 190, such as covering the charges that would normally be
applied to the user of client device 110 or some other form of
bandwidth-based charge. As such, the provider of zero-rated hosting
server 190 may be benefited by limiting access to the zero-rated
hosting server 190. For instance, the provider of the zero-rated
hosting server 190 may prefer to only allow access to the
zero-rated hosting server 190 by users of an application 120
specific to an Internet-based service provided by the provider of
the zero-rated hosting server 190, not allowing access to the
zero-rated hosting server 190 to those who access the
Internet-based service using, for example, a web front-end to the
service.
[0052] In some embodiments, the network access component 160 may
transmit token request 360 and receive the zero-rating access
security token 370. In some cases, the zero-rating access security
token 370 may only be received where the application 120
authenticates with the Internet-based service. The zero-rating
access security token 370 may be uniquely associated with an
account for the Internet-based service, such as by being a hash of
a user identifier of the user of the client device 110 with the
Internet-based service. In some embodiments, the token request 360
may be transmitted to and the zero-rating access security token 370
received from the zero-rated app support server 390, as the
zero-rated app support server 390 is a zero-rated server known to
the application 120 at the time of initialization of the
application 120. In other embodiments, the token request 360 may be
transmitted to and the zero-rating access security token 370
received from a different server, which may or may not be
zero-rated, maintained by the provider of the Internet-based
service. The network access component 160 may, upon receive the
zero-rating access security token 370, store the zero-rating access
security token 370 in the data store 140. The zero-rating access
security token 370 may also be a general security token for the
application 120 and be used for other interactions with the
Internet-based service. In some cases only a portion of zero-rated
network requests will use the zero-rating access security token
370, with other zero-rated network requests not requiring any proof
of authentication to be performed. For example, a first portion of
the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 may correspond to the provider of
the Internet-based service maintaining the zero-rated app support
server 390 and a second portion of the zero-rating rewrite rules
150 may correspond to other provider of Internet-based resources.
The zero-rating access security token 370 might only be used with
the first portion, with the second portion not requiring a security
token for access, or using their own, distinct security token or
other proof of authorization.
[0053] Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of
exemplary methodologies for performing novel aspects of the
disclosed architecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of
explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, for
example, in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram, are shown and
described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of
acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a
different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown
and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will
understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be
represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as
in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a
methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
[0054] FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 400. The
logic flow 400 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0055] The logic flow 400 may begin at block 410. This may
correspond to the initiation of the logic corresponding to the
network access component 160, to the network access component 160
exiting a wait state, or any other operation putting the network
access component 160 in position to receive and process a network
request 130. The logic flow 400 may then proceed to block 420.
[0056] The logic flow 400 may receive a request at block 420. This
may comprise an API being used to provide the request to a network
access component 160. This may correspond to an application 120
entering into a portion of its logic responsible for the
performance of requests such as network requests and zero-rating
check requests. The logic flow 400 may then proceed to block
430.
[0057] The logic flow 400 may determine whether the request is for
a zero-rating transformation check at block 430. If the request is
a zero-rating transformation check, then the logic flow 400 may
proceed to block 440. Otherwise, the logic flow 400 may proceed to
block 460.
[0058] The logic flow 400 may check the request against the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 at block 440. The request may be
compared to the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to determine whether
any of the rules match the request, such as by matching a domain or
URL identifying the network resource 180 requested by the request.
The logic flow 400 may then proceed to block 450.
[0059] The logic flow 400 may return the check result to the
requestor at block 450. The requestor may correspond to another
component, function, logical unit, thread, or other element of an
application 120 executing the logic flow 400. The logic flow 400
may then terminate, such as an inherent part of returning the check
result, until a new request is initiated.
[0060] The logic flow 400 may check the request against the
zero-rating rewrite rules at block 460. The request may be compared
to the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to determine whether any of
the rules match the request, such as by matching a domain or URL
identifying the network resource 180 requested by the request. The
logic flow 400 may then proceed to block 470.
[0061] The logic flow 400 may branch on whether the request can be
zero-rated at block 470. If the request can be zero-rated by the
zero-rating rewrite rules 150, then the logic flow 400 may proceed
to block 480. Otherwise, the logic flow 400 may proceed to block
490.
[0062] The logic flow 400 may transform the request to use a
zero-rated source at block 480. A network resource 180 may be
provided by more than one source, with a subset of the sources
being zero-rated with a network carrier 170. The zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 may be used to transform the domain, URL, or
other address component of the request to be a zero-rated source.
The logic flow may then proceed to block 490.
[0063] The logic flow 400 may transmit the request at block 490.
Transmitting the request may comprise using a communications
component 260 of the client device 110 to transmit the request via
cellular signals to a network carrier 170, which then transmits the
request to a server over the Internet. This may be performed by
engaging a network API of the client device 110. Where the request
could be transformed by the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to use a
zero-rated source a zero-rated hosting server 190 may be the
recipient of the request. Where the request could not be
transformed by the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to use a
zero-rated source a non-zero-rated hosting server 195 may be the
recipient of the request. The logic flow 400 may then terminate.
The logic flow 400 may return an indication of successful
transmission to another element of the logic flow the application
120. The logic flow 400 may return this indication as an inherent
part of terminating.
[0064] The embodiments are not limited to this example.
[0065] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a centralized system
500. The centralized system 500 may implement some or all of the
structure and/or operations for the zero-rating transformation
system 100 in a single computing entity, such as entirely within a
single server device 520.
[0066] The server device 520 may comprise any electronic device
capable of receiving, processing, and sending information for the
zero-rating transformation system 100. Examples of an electronic
device may include without limitation an ultra-mobile device, a
mobile device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile
computing device, a smart phone, a telephone, a digital telephone,
a cellular telephone, ebook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a
two-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal computer
(PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a
netbook computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a server,
a server array or server farm, a web server, a network server, an
Internet server, a work station, a mini-computer, a main frame
computer, a supercomputer, a network appliance, a web appliance, a
distributed computing system, multiprocessor systems,
processor-based systems, consumer electronics, programmable
consumer electronics, game devices, television, digital television,
set top box, wireless access point, base station, subscriber
station, mobile subscriber center, radio network controller,
router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine, or combination
thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context.
[0067] The server device 520 may execute processing operations or
logic for the zero-rating transformation system 100 using a
processing component 530. The processing component 530 may comprise
various hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of
both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices, logic
devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits,
processor circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors,
capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits,
application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic
devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable
gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates, registers,
semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth.
Examples of software elements may include software components,
programs, applications, computer programs, application programs,
system programs, software development programs, machine programs,
operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules,
routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software
interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets,
computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code
segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof.
Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware
elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance with any
number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power
levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates,
output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other
design or performance constraints, as desired for a given
implementation.
[0068] The server device 520 may execute communications operations
or logic for the zero-rating transformation system 100 using
communications component 540. The communications component 540 may
implement any well-known communications techniques and protocols,
such as techniques suitable for use with packet-switched networks
(e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networks such
as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks
(e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination of
packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks (with
suitable gateways and translators). The communications component
540 may include various types of standard communication elements,
such as one or more communications interfaces, network interfaces,
network interface cards (NIC), radios, wireless
transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wired and/or wireless
communication media, physical connectors, and so forth. By way of
example, and not limitation, communication media 512, 522 include
wired communications media and wireless communications media.
Examples of wired communications media may include a wire, cable,
metal leads, printed circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch
fabrics, semiconductor material, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable,
fiber optics, a propagated signal, and so forth. Examples of
wireless communications media may include acoustic, radio-frequency
(RF) spectrum, infrared and other wireless media.
[0069] The server device 520 may comprise the zero-rated app
support server 390 and the zero-rated hosting server 190. The
server device 520 may communicate with network carrier 170 using
signals 514 sent over media 512. The server device 520
communicating with the network carrier 170 may comprise the
zero-rated app support server 380 receiving the zero-rating rewrite
rules 150 from the network carrier 170 for storage and eventual
distribution to clients such as client device 110. The signals 512
sent over media 512 may also comprise communication between the
client device 110 and the server device 520, such as for the
performance of the operations of the zero-rated app support server
390 and the zero-rated hosting server 190 with respect to the
client device 110.
[0070] The client device 110 may communicate with network carrier
170 using cellular signals 534 transmitted using cellular
broadcast. The client device 110 may comprise cellular
communications component 560 that uses cellular transmission to
connect to cell site 550. It will be appreciated that the cell site
550 may be provided by the network carrier 170 and be part of its
infrastructure. The cellular communications component 560 may
correspond to the communication component 260 discussed with
reference to FIG. 2. It will be appreciated that client device 110
may connect to a variety of cellular sites on various uses of
application 120 as the client device 110 transitions between
locations and therefore cellular sites. The signals 534 may be used
by the client device 110 to communicate with the network carrier
170, the zero-rated app support server 390 and the zero-rated
hosting server 190 hosted by server device 520, and with other
servers, clients, and other computing devices accessible via the
network carrier 170, such as servers, clients, and other computing
devices accessible via the Internet.
[0071] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a distributed system
600. The distributed system 600 may distribute portions of the
structure and/or operations for the zero-rating transformation
system 100 across multiple computing entities. Examples of
distributed system 600 may include without limitation a
client-server architecture, a 3-tier architecture, an N-tier
architecture, a tightly-coupled or clustered architecture, a
peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture, a shared
database architecture, and other types of distributed systems. The
embodiments are not limited in this context.
[0072] The distributed system 600 may comprise a client device 110
and server devices 620, 670, and 680. In general, the client device
110 and the server devices 620, 670, and 680 may be the same or
similar to the server device 520 as described with reference to
FIG. 5. For instance, the client device 110 and the server devices
620, 670, and 680 may each comprise a processing component 630 and
a communications component 640 which are the same or similar to the
processing component 530 and the communications component 540,
respectively, as described with reference to FIG. 5. In another
example, the devices 110, 620, 670, and 680 may communicate over a
communications media 612 using communications signals 614 via the
communications components 640. The client device 110 may be bridged
to media 612 by cellular signals 634 broadcast to a cell site 650
and by signals 624 sent over media 622 to the network carrier 170.
It will be appreciated that the cell site 650 may be provided by
the network carrier 170 and be part of its infrastructure.
[0073] The server device 620 may comprise or employ one or more
server programs that operate to perform various methodologies in
accordance with the described embodiments. In one embodiment, for
example, the server device 620 may implement the zero-rated app
support server 350. As such, the communication between the server
device 620 and the client device 110 may correspond to the client
requesting and receiving the zero-rating rewrite rules 150 and
zero-rating access security token 370.
[0074] The server device 670 may comprise or employ one or more
server programs that operate to perform various methodologies in
accordance with the described embodiments. In one embodiment, for
example, the server device 670 may implement the zero-rated hosting
server 150. As such, the communication between the server device
670 and the client device 110 may correspond to the client
requesting and receiving the network resource 180 as a zero-rated
communication.
[0075] The server device 680 may comprise or employ one or more
server programs that operate to perform various methodologies in
accordance with the described embodiments. In one embodiment, for
example, the server device 680 may implement the non-zero-rated
hosting server 195. As such, the communication between the server
device 670 and the client device 110 may correspond to the client
requesting and receiving the network resource 180 as a
non-zero-rated communication.
[0076] FIG. 7A illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 700. The
logic flow 700 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0077] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the logic
flow 700 may receive a network request 135 from an application
component 130, the network request 135 for access to a network
resource 180 at block 702.
[0078] The logic flow 700 may compare the network resource 180 to a
plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 to identify a
zero-rating rewrite rule matching the network resource 180 at block
704.
[0079] The logic flow 700 may transform the network request 135 to
a zero-rated network request 165 for the network resource 180 using
the identified zero-rating rewrite rule at block 706.
[0080] The logic flow 700 may perform the zero-rated network
request 165 at block 708.
[0081] FIG. 7B illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 710. The
logic flow 710 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0082] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the logic
flow 710 may receiving a network request 135 from an application
component 130, the network request 135 for access to a network
resource 180 hosted on a network server at block 712.
[0083] The logic flow 710 may match a domain name for the network
resource 180 against a plurality of domain name tags for a
plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 using a processor
circuit to identify a zero-rating rewrite rule associated with a
domain name tag of the plurality of domain name tags matching the
domain name at block 714.
[0084] The logic flow 710 may rewrite the domain name for the
network request 135 to a zero-rated domain name corresponding to a
zero-rated network server using the identified zero-rating rewrite
rule at block 716.
[0085] The logic flow 710 may request the network resource 180 from
the zero-rated network server using a network interface component
at block 718.
[0086] FIG. 7C illustrates one embodiment of a logic flow 720. The
logic flow 720 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0087] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the logic
flow 720 may receive a network request 135 from an application
component 130, the network request 135 for access to a network
resource 180 at block 722.
[0088] The logic flow 720 may retrieve a plurality of zero-rating
rewrite rules 150 from a data store 140, each of the plurality of
zero-rating rewrite rules 150 associated with a domain name pattern
of a plurality of a domain name patterns at block 724.
[0089] The logic flow 720 may compare, using a processor circuit, a
domain name for the network resource 180 to one or more of the
plurality of domain name patterns to identify a zero-rating rewrite
rule of the plurality of zero-rating rewrite rules 150 matching the
domain name for the network resource 180 at block 726.
[0090] The logic flow 720 may transform the network request 135 to
a zero-rated network request 165 for the network resource 180 using
the identified zero-rating rewrite rule, the zero-rated network
request 165 comprising a zero-rated domain name replacing the
domain name for the network request 135 at block 728.
[0091] The logic flow 720 may perform the zero-rated network
request 165 using a network interface component at block 730.
[0092] The embodiments are not limited to these examples.
[0093] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing
architecture 800 suitable for implementing various embodiments as
previously described. In one embodiment, the computing architecture
800 may comprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device.
Examples of an electronic device may include those described with
reference to FIG. 8, among others. The embodiments are not limited
in this context.
[0094] As used in this application, the terms "system" and
"component" are intended to refer to a computer-related entity,
either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software,
or software in execution, examples of which are provided by the
exemplary computing architecture 800. For example, a component can
be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor,
a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical
and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread
of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration,
both an application running on a server and the server can be a
component. One or more components can reside within a process
and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one
computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Further,
components may be communicatively coupled to each other by various
types of communications media to coordinate operations. The
coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directional
exchange of information. For instance, the components may
communicate information in the form of signals communicated over
the communications media. The information can be implemented as
signals allocated to various signal lines. In such allocations,
each message is a signal. Further embodiments, however, may
alternatively employ data messages. Such data messages may be sent
across various connections. Exemplary connections include parallel
interfaces, serial interfaces, and bus interfaces.
[0095] The computing architecture 800 includes various common
computing elements, such as one or more processors, multi-core
processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers,
peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards,
audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power
supplies, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited
to implementation by the computing architecture 800.
[0096] As shown in FIG. 8, the computing architecture 800 comprises
a processing unit 804, a system memory 806 and a system bus 808.
The processing unit 804 can be any of various commercially
available processors, including without limitation an AMD.RTM.
Athlon.RTM., Duron.RTM. and Opteron.RTM. processors; ARM.RTM.
application, embedded and secure processors; IBM.RTM. and
Motorola.RTM. DragonBall.RTM. and PowerPC.RTM. processors; IBM and
Sony.RTM. Cell processors; Intel.RTM. Celeron.RTM., Core (2)
Duo.RTM., Itanium.RTM., Pentium.RTM., Xeon.RTM., and XScale.RTM.
processors; and similar processors. Dual microprocessors,
multi-core processors, and other multi-processor architectures may
also be employed as the processing unit 804.
[0097] The system bus 808 provides an interface for system
components including, but not limited to, the system memory 806 to
the processing unit 804. The system bus 808 can be any of several
types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory
bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a
local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus
architectures. Interface adapters may connect to the system bus 808
via a slot architecture. Example slot architectures may include
without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Card Bus,
(Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), Micro Channel
Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect
(Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.
[0098] The computing architecture 800 may comprise or implement
various articles of manufacture. An article of manufacture may
comprise a computer-readable storage medium to store logic.
Examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include any
tangible media capable of storing electronic data, including
volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable
memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable
memory, and so forth. Examples of logic may include executable
computer program instructions implemented using any suitable type
of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code,
executable code, static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code,
visual code, and the like. Embodiments may also be at least partly
implemented as instructions contained in or on a non-transitory
computer-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or
more processors to enable performance of the operations described
herein.
[0099] The system memory 806 may include various types of
computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more higher
speed memory units, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access
memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM),
synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM
(PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable
programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as
ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change or
ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)
memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state
memory devices (e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any
other type of storage media suitable for storing information. In
the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the system memory 806
can include non-volatile memory 810 and/or volatile memory 812. A
basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile
memory 810.
[0100] The computer 802 may include various types of
computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more lower
speed memory units, including an internal (or external) hard disk
drive (HDD) 814, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 816 to read
from or write to a removable magnetic disk 818, and an optical disk
drive 820 to read from or write to a removable optical disk 822
(e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 814, FDD 816 and optical disk
drive 820 can be connected to the system bus 808 by a HDD interface
824, an FDD interface 826 and an optical drive interface 828,
respectively. The HDD interface 824 for external drive
implementations can include at least one or both of Universal
Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies.
[0101] The drives and associated computer-readable media provide
volatile and/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures,
computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For example, a
number of program modules can be stored in the drives and memory
units 810, 812, including an operating system 830, one or more
application programs 832, other program modules 834, and program
data 836. In one embodiment, the one or more application programs
832, other program modules 834, and program data 836 can include,
for example, the various applications and/or components of the
zero-rating transformation system 100.
[0102] A user can enter commands and information into the computer
802 through one or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a
keyboard 838 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 840. Other
input devices may include microphones, infra-red (IR) remote
controls, radio-frequency (RF) remote controls, game pads, stylus
pens, card readers, dongles, finger print readers, gloves, graphics
tablets, joysticks, keyboards, retina readers, touch screens (e.g.,
capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs, trackpads, sensors,
styluses, and the like. These and other input devices are often
connected to the processing unit 804 through an input device
interface 842 that is coupled to the system bus 808, but can be
connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394
serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so
forth.
[0103] A monitor 844 or other type of display device is also
connected to the system bus 808 via an interface, such as a video
adaptor 846. The monitor 844 may be internal or external to the
computer 802. In addition to the monitor 844, a computer typically
includes other peripheral output devices, such as speakers,
printers, and so forth.
[0104] The computer 802 may operate in a networked environment
using logical connections via wire and/or wireless communications
to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 848. The
remote computer 848 can be a workstation, a server computer, a
router, a personal computer, portable computer,
microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or
other common network node, and typically includes many or all of
the elements described relative to the computer 802, although, for
purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 850 is
illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless
connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 852 and/or larger
networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 854. Such LAN and
WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and
companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such
as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications
network, for example, the Internet.
[0105] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 802
is connected to the LAN 852 through a wire and/or wireless
communication network interface or adaptor 856. The adaptor 856 can
facilitate wire and/or wireless communications to the LAN 852,
which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for
communicating with the wireless functionality of the adaptor
856.
[0106] When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 802
can include a modem 858, or is connected to a communications server
on the WAN 854, or has other means for establishing communications
over the WAN 854, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 858,
which can be internal or external and a wire and/or wireless
device, connects to the system bus 808 via the input device
interface 842. In a networked environment, program modules depicted
relative to the computer 802, or portions thereof, can be stored in
the remote memory/storage device 850. It will be appreciated that
the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of
establishing a communications link between the computers can be
used.
[0107] The computer 802 is operable to communicate with wire and
wireless devices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of
standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in
wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.8 over-the-air modulation
techniques). This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity),
WiMax, and Bluetooth.TM. wireless technologies, among others. Thus,
the communication can be a predefined structure as with a
conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at
least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called
IEEE 802.8x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast
wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect
computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks
(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).
[0108] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary
communications architecture 900 suitable for implementing various
embodiments as previously described. The communications
architecture 900 includes various common communications elements,
such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver, radio, network
interface, baseband processor, antenna, amplifiers, filters, power
supplies, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited
to implementation by the communications architecture 900.
[0109] As shown in FIG. 9, the communications architecture 900
comprises includes one or more clients 902 and servers 904. The
clients 902 may implement the client device 910. The servers 904
may implement the server device 950. The clients 902 and the
servers 904 are operatively connected to one or more respective
client data stores 908 and server data stores 910 that can be
employed to store information local to the respective clients 902
and servers 904, such as cookies and/or associated contextual
information.
[0110] The clients 902 and the servers 904 may communicate
information between each other using a communication framework 906.
The communications framework 906 may implement any well-known
communications techniques and protocols. The communications
framework 906 may be implemented as a packet-switched network
(e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networks such
as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), a circuit-switched
network (e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a
combination of a packet-switched network and a circuit-switched
network (with suitable gateways and translators).
[0111] The communications framework 906 may implement various
network interfaces arranged to accept, communicate, and connect to
a communications network. A network interface may be regarded as a
specialized form of an input output interface. Network interfaces
may employ connection protocols including without limitation direct
connect, Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base
T, and the like), token ring, wireless network interfaces, cellular
network interfaces, IEEE 802.11a-x network interfaces, IEEE 802.16
network interfaces, IEEE 802.20 network interfaces, and the like.
Further, multiple network interfaces may be used to engage with
various communications network types. For example, multiple network
interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over
broadcast, multicast, and unicast networks. Should processing
requirements dictate a greater amount speed and capacity,
distributed network controller architectures may similarly be
employed to pool, load balance, and otherwise increase the
communicative bandwidth required by clients 902 and the servers
904. A communications network may be any one and the combination of
wired and/or wireless networks including without limitation a
direct interconnection, a secured custom connection, a private
network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), a public network (e.g., the
Internet), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Local Area Network
(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), an Operating Missions as
Nodes on the Internet (OMNI), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless
network, a cellular network, and other communications networks.
[0112] Some embodiments may be described using the expression "one
embodiment" or "an embodiment" along with their derivatives. These
terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic
described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least
one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment"
in various places in the specification are not necessarily all
referring to the same embodiment. Further, some embodiments may be
described using the expression "coupled" and "connected" along with
their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as
synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be
described using the terms "connected" and/or "coupled" to indicate
that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical
contact with each other. The term "coupled," however, may also mean
that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each
other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.
[0113] With general reference to notations and nomenclature used
herein, the detailed descriptions herein may be presented in terms
of program procedures executed on a computer or network of
computers. These procedural descriptions and representations are
used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the
substance of their work to others skilled in the art.
[0114] A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a
self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result.
These operations are those requiring physical manipulations of
physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these
quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical signals
capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and
otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times, principally
for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits,
values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms
are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and
are merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.
[0115] Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to
in terms, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly
associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No
such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in
most cases, in any of the operations described herein which form
part of one or more embodiments. Rather, the operations are machine
operations. Useful machines for performing operations of various
embodiments include general purpose digital computers or similar
devices.
[0116] Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for
performing these operations. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the required purpose or it may comprise a general
purpose computer as selectively activated or reconfigured by a
computer program stored in the computer. The procedures presented
herein are not inherently related to a particular computer or other
apparatus. Various general purpose machines may be used with
programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may
prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform
the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of
these machines will appear from the description given.
[0117] It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is
provided to allow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the
technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that
it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of
the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it
can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single
embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This
method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an
intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than
are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following
claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all
features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following
claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with
each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In the
appended claims, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as
the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising"
and "wherein," respectively. Moreover, the terms "first," "second,"
"third," and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are not
intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
[0118] What has been described above includes examples of the
disclosed architecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe
every conceivable combination of components and/or methodologies,
but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many
further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly,
the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations,
modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope
of the appended claims.
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