Content pre-fetching and preparation

A method of pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating at least one content pre-fetching policy and at least one content preparation policy, wherein each of the policies are at least in part a function of context information associated with a user;
• pre-fetching content based on information contained within the at least one content pre-fetching policy;
• preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy;
• and
• serving the pre-fetched content to the user in response to a change in the user's context, wherein the pre-fetched content is served from a cache in a replica store unit,
• wherein the generating step comprises predicting a device to be used by the user to access the content based at least in part on the context information associated with the user,
• wherein the context information used to predict the device comprises information that is data mined from a set of context information associated with the user based on a comparison to a persistence threshold value, the device not having been selected by the user prior to the prediction of the device;
• wherein preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy comprises pre-transcoding the pre-fetched content to a format that is compatible for rendering on the device which is predicted to be used by the user to access the pre-fetched content, and pre-binding components of one or more applications that are anticipated to be used for processing the pre-fetched content, and
• wherein the steps are performed by at least one processor.

An apparatus for pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the apparatus comprising:

• a processing device having a processor coupled to a memory, the processing device being operative for pre-fetching content and preparing the pre-fetched content and for generating pre-fetching and preparation policies that are used for said pre-fetching and preparing,
• wherein the generating operation comprises predicting a device to be used by the user to access the pre-fetched content based at least in part on the context information associated with the user,
• wherein the context information used to predict the device comprises information that is data mined by the processing device from a set of context information associated with the user based on a comparison to a persistence threshold value, the device not having been selected by the user prior to the prediction of the device,
• wherein the processor prepares the pre-fetched content in accordance with instructions contained within the preparation policies, wherein preparing the pre-fetched content comprises pre-transcoding the pre-fetched content to a format that is compatible for rendering on the device which is predicted to be used by the user to access the pre-fetched content, and pre-binding components of one or more applications that are anticipated to be used for processing the pre-fetched content, and
• wherein the processor comprises a policies table unit, wherein the policies table unit comprises content group definitions for specifying groups of content that are of interest to a user, pre-fetching policies for triggering requests for content to be forwarded from a content server to a content selection unit, and preparation policies for providing preparation instructions to a content preparation unit.

An article of manufacture for maintaining data in an information network, the article of manufacture comprising a storage device containing one or more programs which when executed by a processor implement the steps of:

• storing replicas of content data in two or more stores, wherein each replica of content data in each store comprises content data that is pre-fetched for anticipated use by a user;
• and
• synchronizing the replicas of content data in each of the two or more stores;
• wherein storing and synchronizing are performed by at least one processor;
• and
• wherein synchronizing the replicas of content data comprises pre-fetching content data from a content server based on pre-fetching policies and preparing the pre-fetched data based on data preparation policies,
• wherein preparing the pre-fetched content data comprises pre-transcoding the pre-fetched content data to a format that is compatible for rendering on a device which is predicted to be used by the user to access the pre-fetched content data, and pre-binding components of one or more applications that are anticipated to be used for processing the pre-fetched content data,
• wherein the pre-fetching and data preparation policies comprise policies that are determined as a function of a user's data access information and historical context information maintained by the at least one processor, and
• wherein the synchronizing is performed in advance of anticipated access of the content data by the user and triggered by a lapse of fixed time intervals.

An article of manufacture for pre-fetching and preparing content in an information processing system, the article of manufacture comprising a storage device containing one or more programs which when executed by a processor implement the steps of:

• generating at least one content pre-fetching policy and at least one content preparation policy, wherein each of the policies are at least in part a function of context information associated with a user;
• pre-fetching content based on information contained within the at least one content pre-fetching policy;
• preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy;
• and
• serving the pre-fetched content to the user in response to a change in the user's context, wherein the pre-fetched content is served from cache in a replica store unit,
• wherein the generating step comprises predicting a device to be used by the user to access the content based at least in part on the context information associated with the user,
• wherein the context information used to predict the device comprises information that is data mined from a set of context information associated with the user based on a comparison to a persistence threshold value, the device not having been selected by the user prior to the prediction of the device, and
• wherein preparing the pre-fetched content based on information contained within the at least one content preparation policy comprises pre-transcoding the pre-fetched content to a format that is compatible for rendering on the device which is predicted to be used by the user to access the pre-fetched content, and pre-binding components of one or more applications that are anticipated to be used for processing the pre-fetched content.