JP2002163184A - Terminal, communication method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal and a communication method based on request pipelining. SOLUTION: This terminal can communicate with an HTTP(Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) server on the basis of request pipelining and make a request for the transmission of the following file even before receiving a file requested to transmit. A request processing module of the terminal is provided with request receiving management (thread) for receiving and managing the request, and connection management (thread) for managing the connection with a server for providing contents which is a request object, on the received request. The connection management generates a resource management instance for holding the data of the received contents, for every contents to be acquired, and generates a server connection management instance for managing the connection with the server, for every server for providing the contents to be acquired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a terminal, a communication method, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a terminal based on request pipelining.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a server-client system, a client can receive contents such as a home page from a server that provides contents such as a home page. Communication between the server and the client is, for example, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol).
ol).

[0003]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a home page. In the home page shown in FIG. 1, the base file (index.html) contains five image files (a.gif, b.gif, c.gif, d.gif, and
e.gif)).

Conventionally, when an HTTP client (a client that performs communication based on HTTP) receives a file (content) from an HTTP server (a server that performs communication based on HTTP), a single file transmission request (request) is received. Transmission), and after receiving the file, a transmission request for the next file is made.
FIG. 2 (a) shows a conventional operation when receiving the file of the homepage of FIG.

However, if a transmission request for the next file is made after waiting for reception of one file, the delay becomes large.

In connection with this, RFC (Request For Co
mments), a WWW (World Wide Web) access method called “request pipelining” is standardized. In request pipelining, a transmission request for the next file is made even before the file for which the transmission request was made is received. As a result, a delay in receiving a file can be reduced. FIG. 2B shows the operation of request pipelining when receiving the homepage file of FIG.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal and a communication method based on request pipelining.

[0008]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal, comprising: a request transmitting unit for transmitting a request to a server; Content receiving means for receiving the content that is the first request. The request transmitting means transmits the second request even before the content receiving means receives the first content targeted for the first request. It is characterized by transmitting.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal according to the first aspect, the request transmitting means receives and manages a request, and a request reception managing means for receiving and managing the request. Connection management means for managing a connection with a server providing the target content.

A third aspect of the present invention is the terminal according to the second aspect, wherein the connection management means holds, for each content targeted by the received request, data of the received content. It is characterized by comprising means for generating a resource management instance.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the terminal according to the second or third aspect, the connection management means includes, for each server that provides the content targeted for the received request, a connection with the server. Means for generating a server connection management instance for managing the connection of the server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the terminal according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the transmission and reception of the request and the content corresponding to the request are performed by HT.
It is performed based on TP.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication method, comprising: a request transmitting step of transmitting a request to a server; and a content receiving step of receiving, from the server, content targeted for the request. The request transmitting step transmits the second request even before the content receiving step receives the first content that is the target of the first request.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the communication method according to the sixth aspect, the request transmitting step includes:
The method includes a request reception management step of receiving and managing a request, and a connection management step of managing, with respect to the received request, a connection with a server that provides the content targeted for the request.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the communication method according to the seventh aspect, the connection management step holds, for each content targeted by the received request, received data of the content. And generating a resource management instance.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the communication method according to the seventh or eighth aspect, the connection management step includes, for each server that provides the content that is the target of the accepted request, the server Generating a server connection management instance that manages the connection with the server.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the communication method according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, wherein the transmission and reception of the request and the content corresponding to the request are performed based on HTTP. Features.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the communication method according to any one of the sixth to tenth aspects.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to provide a terminal and a communication method based on request pipelining.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system according to the present embodiment. The communication system shown in FIG.
HTTP server 200-1, 2 that provides content
00-2 and the HTTP servers 200-1 and 200-
And terminals 100-1 to 100-3 connected to the network 2 via the network 10 and provided with contents.
In the present embodiment, the terminals 100-1 to 100-3 are:
Takes the form of a personal computer. However, terminal 1
For example, 00-1 to 100-3 may be in the form of a mobile terminal that can be moved. Even if the number of terminals is one, two
Or four or more. Further, the number of HTTP servers may be one or three or more.

A WWW browser (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer) is installed in each of the terminals 100-1 to 100-3, and request pipelining is realized by plug-in software of the WWW browser. Also, the terminals 100-1 to 100-3 are:
HTTP server 200-1, 20 based on HTTP
0-2 can be communicated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a terminal according to the present embodiment. The terminal 100 shown in FIG. 4 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 105, a main storage device 110, an auxiliary storage device 115, a network interface 120, an input device 125, and a display device 130.

The CPU 105 performs various controls of the terminal 100. The main storage device 110 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores various programs and data. The auxiliary storage device 115 can take the form of a hard disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, an optical disk, or the like. The input device 125 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The display device 130 is used for displaying various data, contents, and the like.

The CPU 105 controls a control program such as an OS (Operating System) stored in the main storage device 110, WW
Performs processing based on the W browser program and its plug-in software. These programs can be stored in a floppy disk, CD-ROM, or the like, and can be read and executed in the main storage device 110, a hard disk, or the like before execution.

The terminal 100 can communicate with the HTTP server via the network interface 120 and the network.

The terminal 100 can communicate with the HTTP server based on the request pipelining, and makes a transmission request for the next file even before receiving the file for which the transmission was requested.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow at the time of transmitting a request and receiving a content in the present embodiment. The terminal 100 is a browser body module,
It has a mediation module and a request processing module.

The request processing module is realized as a dynamic link library and functions as a plug-in of a (WWW) browser.
P) The access speed is increased by hooking a request to the server and changing the request method and the transmission method. Regarding activation / termination, since the plug-in of the browser is used, the user of the terminal 100 can use it without being conscious. The request processing module is recognized by registering it in the registry managed by the browser, and request / response of content is performed through a predetermined class. In FIG. 5, a request reception management (thread) and a connection management (thread) are generated when the request processing module is activated, and the connection management has a single thread.

Here, consider a case where a request is issued from a browser (body module) (FIG. 5 (a)).
The plug-in is arranged below the mediation module on the program, and the requested address after URL analysis is passed.

When the request is an HTTP request, the mediation module generates an object (request reception (thread)) published as a COM interface of the request processing module registered in the registry as a single thread and delivers the request information. ((B)). When the request is received and the request is received, the validity of the request is determined, and if the request is not to be processed, an error code to be processed is notified by the default handle, and the process ends. If the request is to be processed, a request management object (instance) is generated.

The request management determines whether the requested content exists in the cache managed by the browser.
Check using PI. If there is, the update date and time of the cache is acquired, and an update date condition is added to the request information. The request management issues a request registration request to the request reception management (thread) ((c)).

The request reception management receives the request, registers the request in its own map, and issues a request registration notification to the connection management (thread) ((d)). The connection management is an object for managing a connection of a received request to a server that provides the content targeted by the request.

When the connection management receives the request notification,
It checks whether the resource management (instance) for the corresponding content already exists, based on its own resource management map. If it is existing, a new request is issued for resource management, and if it does not exist, resource management is newly generated ((e)). The resource management is an object generated for each content to be acquired (content that is a target of the received request), and holds data of the received content.

The resource management receiving the request checks its own data buffer, and if there is content information, notifies the connection management of a resource arrival event. The newly created resource management inquires of the connection management (thread) whether there is a server connection management (instance) for the content ((f)).
Server connection management is an object created for each server that provides the content you want to retrieve,
Holds server-specific information.

Upon receiving the inquiry, the connection management checks whether or not the server connection management for the corresponding content already exists based on its own server management map. If it has already existed, a new request is issued to the server connection management, and if it does not exist, a new server connection management is created ((g)).

Upon receiving the request, the server connection management generates a connection channel (thread) based on the HTTP server information held by itself ((h)). Then, the request information is added to the request list of the connection channel. In addition,
In this embodiment, one connection channel is generated for one server connection management. However, for one server connection management, connection channels are generated by the number of requests handled by the server connection management. You may do so.

The connection channel holds a socket with the HTTP server and exists as a single thread. The connection channel sequentially sends requests to the HTTP server according to its own request list ((i)).

When an event such as reception of a response from the socket or disconnection occurs ((j)), the connection channel issues an event to the server connection management ((k)). The connection channel has a response header analysis function, and completion of reception of response data is notified to the server connection management as a response completion event.

The server connection management receiving the event notification issues an event to the connection management ((l)).

The connection management that has received the event hands over the response data to the corresponding resource management and notifies the request reception management of the reception of the response data according to its own resource management map ((m)). The resource management registers the response data in its own data buffer.

Upon receiving the notification, the request reception management searches the corresponding request management using its own request reception map, and hands over the reference to the resource management holding the response data ((n)). The request reception issues a response data reception notification to the browser.

Upon receiving the response data reception notification, the browser asynchronously calls the request receiving data providing method and displays the data ((o)). The data providing method calls the data providing method of resource management and provides response data. It also adds to the cache entry managed by the browser. If the response data cannot be obtained due to an invalid request or an HTTP server, a content error completion notification is issued to the browser.

When an event such as a stop processing or a browser termination occurs during content acquisition, the browser notifies the termination event in response to the request reception. In this case, request reception, request management, request reception management, connection management,
Resource acquisition stop event is notified at the server connection management and connection channel route, and resource acquisition is interrupted.

Here, consider the example of FIG. After receiving the source file (index.html), the five image files (a.gif,
b.gif, c.gif, d.gif, and e.gif), a request is generated and a resource management (instance) is generated for each of the five image files. The number of server connection managers (instances) generated depends on the number of servers providing five image files. For example, if the image file of is provided by the server A and the image file of is provided by the server B, two server connection managements are generated.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, a terminal and a communication method based on request pipelining can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a homepage.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional operation when receiving a file of the homepage of FIG. 1 and an operation of request pipelining.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow at the time of transmitting a request and receiving a content according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 network 100, 100-1 to 100-3 terminal 105 CPU 110 main storage device 115 auxiliary storage device 120 network interface 125 input device 130 display device 200-1, 200-2 HTTP server

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Koji Tsurumaki, Inventor NTT Docomo, 2-1-1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (72) Masaya Kitaguchi 2-chome, Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 11 1 NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (72) Inventor Osamu Takahashi Osamu 2-11-1, Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan Inside NTT Docomo (72) Inventor Asada Kazunori 3-2-1 Kitano 2-jo, Kiyota-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido F-term in the open loop Co., Ltd. 5C064 BA07 BB10 BC18 BD02 BD07

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A terminal, comprising: a request transmitting unit that transmits a request to a server; and a content receiving unit that receives, from the server, content targeted for the request, wherein the request transmitting unit includes the content A terminal for transmitting a second request even before the receiving means has received the first content as a target of the first request. 2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the request transmitting unit receives and manages the request, and provides a request target content for the received request. A terminal comprising: connection management means for managing a connection with a server. 3. The terminal according to claim 2, wherein the connection management unit generates, for each content targeted by the received request, a resource management instance that holds received data of the content. A terminal comprising: 4. The terminal according to claim 2, wherein the connection management unit manages, for each server that provides the content targeted for the received request, a connection with the server. A terminal comprising means for generating a management instance. 5. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the transmission and reception of the request and the content corresponding to the request are performed based on HTTP. 6. A communication method, comprising: a request transmitting step of transmitting a request to a server; and a content receiving step of receiving, from the server, content targeted for the request, wherein the request transmitting step includes: A communication method, wherein the second request is transmitted even before the content receiving step receives the first content that is the target of the first request. 7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the request transmitting step includes: a request reception management step of receiving and managing a request; and providing the content targeted by the request with respect to the received request. A connection management step of managing a connection with a server that performs the communication. 8. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the connection management step generates, for each content that is the target of the received request, a resource management instance that holds received data of the content. A communication method comprising steps. 9. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the connection management step includes, for each server that provides the content targeted for the received request, a server that manages a connection with the server. A communication method comprising generating a connection management instance. 10. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the transmission of the request and the content corresponding to the request are performed based on HTTP. 11. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute the communication method according to claim 6 is recorded.