US 8,046,494 B2Granted

Extensible transcoder annotation for transcoding proxy servers

AssigneeAccess Co., Ltd.

InventorRichard M. Levenberg

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Abstract

Within one embodiment of the present invention, the rules for transcoding web content are abstracted from the transcoding functionality of a transcoding proxy server. Specifically, within the transcoding proxy server, the functions that perform the transcoding of web content for a device having limited display capabilities is completely separate and distinct from the transcoding rules, e.g., extensible transcoder annotation (XTA), that provide the order, manner, and/or what web content should be transcoded for the requesting device. Therefore, when the transcoding proxy server receives a web page request from a device, its transcoding software accesses an XTA file to find a rule set that pertains to the web page request. Upon finding a corresponding XTA rule set, the transcoding proxy server follows the instructions of the rule set in order to transcode the requested web page for the device having limited display capabilities.

Claims31

Dependent claims

A method for enabling a transcoding proxy server to utilize an annotation rule set in order to transcode a web page for a portable computing device, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) a transcoding proxy server receiving a web page request from a portable computing device;
(b) said transcoding proxy server transmitting said web page request to a server computer coupled to said transcoding proxy server;
(c) said transcoding proxy server receiving from said server computer a web page element corresponding to said web page request;
(d) said transcoding proxy server locating, in a database coupled to said transcoding proxy server, a first annotation rule set that corresponds to said web page request by
(i) checking for a specific rule set associated with the web page, and if the specific rule set exists then using the specific rule set as the first annotation rule set, and
(ii) if the specific rule set does not exist, checking for a layout rule set pertaining to the web page, and if the layout rule set exists then using the layout rule set as the first annotation rule set, and
(iii) if the specific rule set and the layout rule set do not exist, then using a default rule set associated with the portable computing device as the first annotation rule set,
wherein said first annotation rule set is distinct from a transcoding functionality utilized by said transcoding proxy server;
and
(e) said transcoding proxy server transcoding said web page element for said portable computing device by following said first annotation rule set and utilizing said transcoding functionality.

7 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for causing a transcoding proxy computer to perform the steps of:

(a) receiving a web page request from a portable computing device;
(b) transmitting said web page request to a server computer coupled to said transcoding proxy computer;
(c) receiving from said server computer a web page element corresponding to said web page request;
(d) locating, in a database coupled to said transcoding proxy server, a first annotation rule set that corresponds to said web page request by
(i) checking for a specific rule set associated with the web page, and if the specific rule set exists then using the specific rule set as the first annotation rule set, and
(ii) if the specific rule set does not exist, checking for a layout rule set pertaining to the web page, and if the layout rule set exists then using the layout rule set as the first annotation rule set, and
(iii) if the specific rule set and the layout rule set do not exist, then using a default rule set associated with the portable computing device as the first annotation rule set,
wherein said first annotation rule set is distinct from transcoding functionality utilized by said transcoding proxy server;
and
(e) transcoding said web page element for said portable computing device by following said first annotation rule set and utilizing said transcoding functionality.

7 more elements

A method for enabling a transcoding proxy server to utilize an annotation rule set in order to transcode a web page for a personal digital assistant, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) a transcoding proxy server receiving a web page request from a personal digital assistant;
(b) said transcoding proxy server transmitting said web page request to a server computer coupled to said transcoding proxy server;
(c) said transcoding proxy server receiving from said server computer a web page element corresponding to said web page request;
(d) said transcoding proxy server locating, in a database coupled to said transcoding proxy server, a first extensible annotation rule set that corresponds to said web page request by
(i) checking for a specific rule set associated with the web page, and if the specific rule set exists then using the specific rule set as the first extensible annotation rule set, and
(ii) if the specific rule set does not exist, checking for a layout rule set pertaining to the web page, and if the layout rule set exists then using the layout rule set as the first extensible annotation rule set, and
(iii) if the specific rule set and the layout rule set do not exist, then using a default rule set associated with the personal digital assistant as the first extensible annotation rule set,
wherein said first extensible annotation rule set is distinct from a transcoding functionality utilized by said transcoding proxy server;
and
(e) said transcoding proxy server transcoding said web page element for said personal digital assistant by following said first extensible annotation rule set and utilizing said transcoding functionality.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.