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A client assistant, sometimes called a browser helper, runs on a client computer. The client assistant monitors a user's browsing activities and infers one or more next documents that are most likely to be requested by the user. The client assistant attempts to locate a fresh copy of the inferred ne

A client assistant, sometimes called a browser helper, runs on a client computer. The client assistant monitors a user's browsing activities and infers one or more next documents that are most likely to be requested by the user. The client assistant attempts to locate a fresh copy of the inferred next document within a client cache. If a fresh copy of the inferred document is not found in the client cache, the client assistant submits a document download request to a document server.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method for expediting access to a document in a client-server network environment, comprising: at a client: monitoring a user's browsing activities within a currently displayed document having links to associated documents, including monitoring proximity of a user-controlla

What is claimed is: 1. A method for expediting access to a document in a client-server network environment, comprising: at a client: monitoring a user's browsing activities within a currently displayed document having links to associated documents, including monitoring proximity of a user-controllable pointer to one or more of the links in the currently displayed document; prior to user selection of any respective link in the currently displayed document: identifying a link satisfying predefined criteria, the predefined criteria including proximity criteria with respect to the user-controllable pointer, and transmitting to a server a request for a document corresponding to the identified link. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting to the server, along with the request for the document, a content identifier of a document stored at the client, the content identifier uniquely identifying a version of the document, corresponding to the identified link, that is stored at the client. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content identifier is a content fingerprint. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the transmitting, searching a client cache for the document corresponding to the identified link, and when the result of the search is negative, performing the transmitting. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document includes determining whether the user-controllable pointer is positioned over a link in the currently displayed document. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document includes determining whether a user-controllable pointer has hovered over a predefined region associated with a link in the currently displayed document for at least a predefined threshold amount of time. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document includes determining whether the user-controllable pointer has moved for a predefined period of time or a predefined distance along a trajectory that crosses over or near a link in the currently displayed document. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document includes sampling two or more pointer locations and fitting a curve to the two or more pointer locations; and the predefined criteria includes determining proximity of the curve to a position of one or more links in the currently displayed document. 9. The method of claim 1, including receiving a document corresponding to the identified link from the server computer; and prior to user selection of the identified link, caching the received document in a client cache. 10. The method of claim 1, including receiving a content difference corresponding to a difference between a fresh version of the document corresponding to the identified link and a stale version of the document in a client cache; and regenerating the fresh version of the document using the received content difference, and caching the fresh version of the document in the client cache prior to user selection of the identified link. 11. A client computer, comprising: one or more processors; memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors; a client assistant configured to monitor a user's browsing activities within a currently displayed document having links to one or more associated documents, including monitoring proximity of a user-controllable pointer to one or more of the links in the currently displayed document; the client assistant including instructions for identifying a link satisfying predefined criteria, the predefined criteria including proximity criteria with respect to the user-controllable pointer; and a communications interface coupled to the client assistant for transmitting to a server, prior to user selection of any respective link, a request for a document corresponding to the identified link. 12. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the one or more programs including instructions to transmit, along with the request for the document, a content identifier of a document stored at the client, the content identifier uniquely identifying a version of the document, corresponding to the identified link, that is stored at the client. 13. The client computer of claim 12, wherein the content identifier is a content fingerprint. 14. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant is configured to monitor the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document using a device selected from the group consisting of: a trackball device, a touch pad, a joystick, a tablet, a glove, and an eye movement detector. 15. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant is further configured to search a client cache for the document corresponding to the identified link, and when the result of the searching is negative, to initiate the transmitting of the request. 16. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer is positioned over a predefined region surrounding a link in the currently displayed document. 17. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer has hovered over a predefined region associated with a link in the currently displayed document for at least a predefined threshold amount of time. 18. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a mouse-down action has been performed while a user-controllable pointer is positioned over a link in the currently displayed document. 19. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer has moved for a predefined period of time or a predefined distance along a trajectory that crosses over or near a link in the currently displayed document. 20. The client computer of claim 11, wherein monitoring the user's browsing activities within the currently displayed document includes sampling two or more pointer locations and fitting a curve to the two or more pointer locations; and the predefined criteria includes determining proximity of the curve to a position of one or more links in the currently displayed document. 21. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for receiving a document corresponding to the identified link from the server computer; and instructions for caching the received document in a client cache of the client computer prior to user selection of the identified link. 22. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for receiving a content difference corresponding to a difference between a fresh version of the document corresponding to the identified link and a stale version of the document in a client cache; and instructions for regenerating the fresh version of the document using the received content difference, and caching the fresh version of the document in the client cache prior to user selection of the identified link. 23. The client computer of claim 11, wherein the identified link is a hyperlink embedded in the currently displayed document. 24. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a client computer, the one or more programs including: a client assistant configured to monitor a user's browsing activities within a currently displayed document having links to one or more associated documents, including monitoring proximity of a user-controllable pointer to one or more of the links in the currently displayed document; the client assistant including instructions for identifying a link satisfying predefined criteria, the predefined criteria including proximity criteria with respect to the user-controllable pointer; and a communications interface coupled to the client assistant for transmitting to a server, prior to user selection of any respective link, a request for a document corresponding to the identified link. 25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the one or more programs includes instructions to transmit, along with the request for the document, a content identifier of a document stored at the client, the content identifier uniquely identifying a version of the document, corresponding to the identified link, that is stored at the client. 26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the content identifier is a content fingerprint. 27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant is further configured to search a client cache for the document corresponding to the identified link, and when the result of the searching is negative, to initiate the transmitting of the request. 28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer is positioned over a link in the currently displayed document. 29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer is positioned over a predefined region surrounding a link in the currently displayed document. 30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer has hovered over a predefined region associated with a link in the currently displayed document for at least a predefined threshold amount of time. 31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a mouse-down action has been performed while a user-controllable pointer is positioned over a link in the currently displayed document. 32. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for determining whether a user-controllable pointer has moved for a predefined period of time or a predefined distance along a trajectory that crosses over or near a link in the currently displayed document. 33. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for sampling two or more pointer locations and fitting a curve to the two or more pointer locations; and the predefined criteria includes determining proximity of the curve to a position of one or more links in the currently displayed document. 34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the client assistant includes instructions for receiving a content difference corresponding to a difference between a fresh version of the document corresponding to the identified link and a stale version of the document in a client cache; and instructions for regenerating the fresh version of the document using the received content difference, and caching the fresh version of the document in the client cache prior to user selection of the identified link. 35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the identified link is a hyperlink embedded in the document.