Showing papers on "Web service published in 2000"

Principled design of the modern Web architecture

Abstract: The World Wide Web has succeeded in large part because its software architecture has been designed to meet the needs of an Internet-scale distributed hypermedia system. The modern Web architecture emphasizes scalability of component interactions, generality of interfaces, independent deployment of components, and intermediary components to reduce interaction latency, enforce security, and encapsulate legacy systems. In this paper, we introduce the Representational State Transfer (REST) architectural style, developed as an abstract model of the Web architecture to guide our redesign and definition of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol and Uniform Resource Identifiers. We describe the software engineering principles guiding REST and the interaction constraints chosen to retain those principles, contrasting them to the constraints of other architectural styles. We then compare the abstract model to the currently deployed Web architecture in order to elicit mismatches between the existing protocols and the applications they are intended to support.

A workload characterization study of the 1998 World Cup Web site

Abstract: This article presents a detailed workload characterization study of the 1998 World Cup Web site. Measurements from this site were collected over a three-month period. During this time the site received 1.35 billion requests, making this the largest Web workload analyzed to date. By examining this extremely busy site and through comparison with existing characterization studies, we are able to determine how Web server workloads are evolving. We find that improvements in the caching architecture of the World Wide Web are changing the workloads of Web servers, but major improvements to that architecture are still necessary. In particular, we uncover evidence that a better consistency mechanism is required for World Wide Web caches.

People, places, things: Web presence for the real world

Abstract: The convergence of Web technology, wireless networks, and portable client devices provides new design opportunities for computer/communications systems. In the HP Labs' Cooltown project we have been exploring these opportunities through an infrastructure to support Web presence for people, places and things. We put Web servers into things like printers and put information into Web servers about things like artwork; we group physically related things into places embodied in Web servers. Using URLs for addressing, physical URL beaconing and sensing of URLs for discovery, and localized Web servers for directories, we can create a location-aware but ubiquitous system to support nomadic users. On top of this infrastructure we can leverage Internet connectivity to support communications services. Web presence bridges the World Wide Web and the physical world we inhabit, providing a model for supporting nomadic users without a central control point.

A system, method and article of manufacture for mobile communications utilizing an interface support framework

Abstract: A system is disclosed that facilitates web-based information retrieval and display system. A wireless phone or similar hand-held wireless device with Internet Protocol capability is combined with other peripherals to provide a portable portal into the Internet. The wireless device prompts a user to input information of interest to the user. This information is transmitted a query to a service routine (running on a Web server). The service routine then queries the Web to find price, shipping and availability information from various Web suppliers. This information is then available for use by various applications through an interface support framework.

Mining Access Patterns Efficiently from Web Logs

Abstract: With the explosive growth of data available on the World Wide Web, discovery and analysis of useful information from the World Wide Web becomes a practical necessity. Web access pattern, which is the sequence of accesses pursued by users frequently, is a kind of interesting and useful knowledge in practice. In this paper, we study the problem of mining access patterns from Web logs efficiently. A novel data structure, called Web access pattern tree, or WAP-tree in short, is developed for efficient mining of access patterns from pieces of logs. The Web access pattern tree stores highly compressed, critical information for access pattern mining and facilitates the development of novel algorithms for mining access patterns in large set of log pieces. Our algorithm can find access patterns from Web logs quite efficiently. The experimental and performance studies show that our method is in general an order of magnitude faster than conventional methods.

Integrating user-perceived quality into Web server design

Abstract: As the number of Web users and the diversity of Web applications continues to explode, Web Quality of Service (QoS) is an increasingly critical issue in the domain of e-commerce This paper presents experiments designed to estimate users' tolerance of QoS in the context of e-commerce In addition to objective measures, we discuss contextual factors that influence these thresholds and show how users' conceptual models of Web tasks affect their expectations We then show how user thresholds of tolerance can be taken into account when designing Web servers This integration of user requirements for QoS into systems design is ultimately of benefit to all stakeholders in the design of Internet services

How dynamic is the Web

Abstract: Recent experiments and analysis suggest that there are about 800 million publicly-indexable Web pages. However, unlike books in a traditional library, Web pages continue to change even after they are initially published by their authors and indexed by search engines. This paper describes preliminary data on and statistical analysis of the frequency and nature of Web page modifications. Using empirical models and a novel analytic metric of `up-to-dateness', we estimate the rate at which Web search engines must re-index the Web to remain current.

Power browser: efficient Web browsing for PDAs

Abstract: We have designed and implemented new Web browsing facilities to support effective navigation on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with limited capabilities: low bandwidth, small display, and slow CPU. The implementation supports wireless browsing from 3Com's Palm Pilot. An HTTP proxy fetches web pages on the client's behalf and dynamically generates summary views to be transmitted to the client. These summaries represent both the link structure and contents of a set of web pages, using information about link importance. We discuss the architecture, user interface facilities, and the results of comparative performance evaluations. We measured a 45% gain in browsing speed, and a 42% reduction in required pen movements.

Topical locality in the Web

Abstract: Most web pages are linked to others with related content. This idea, combined with another that says that text in, and possibly around, HTML anchors describe the pages to which they point, is the foundation for a usable World-Wide Web. In this paper, we examine to what extent these ideas hold by empirically testing whether topical locality mirrors spatial locality of pages on the Web. In particular, we find that the likelihood of linked pages having similar textual content to be high; the similarity of sibling pages increases when the links from the parent are close together; titles, descriptions, and anchor text represent at least part of the target page; and that anchor text may be a useful discriminator among unseen child pages. These results show the foundations necessary for the success of many web systems, including search engines, focused crawlers, linkage analyzers, and intelligent web agents.

Use of server access logs to generate scripts and scenarios for exercising and evaluating performance of web sites

Abstract: A visual Web site analysis program, implemented as a collection of software components, provides a variety of features for facilitating the analysis, management and load-testing of Web sites. A mapping component scans a Web site over a network connection and builds a site map which graphically depicts the URLs and links of the site. Site maps are generated using a unique layout and display methodology which allows the user to visualize the overall architecture of the Web site. Various map navigation and URL filtering features are provided to facilitate the task of identifying and repairing common Web site problems, such as links to missing URLs. A dynamic page scan feature enables the user to include dynamically-generated Web pages within the site map by capturing the output of a standard Web browser when a form is submitted by the user, and then automatically resubmitting this output during subsequent mappings of the site. An Action Tracker module detects user activity and behavioral data (link activity levels, common site entry and exit points, etc.) from server log files and then superimposes such data onto the site map. A Load Wizard module uses this activity data to generate testing scenarios for load testing the Web site.

WebSplitter: a unified XML framework for multi-device collaborative Web browsing

Abstract: WebSplitter symbolizes the union of pervasive multi-device computing and collaborative multi-user computing. WebSplitter provides a unified XML framework that enables multi-device and multi-user Web browsing. WebSplitter splits a requested Web page and delivers the appropriate partial view of each page to each user, or more accurately to each user's set of devices. Multiple users can participate in the same browsing session, as in traditional conferencing groupware. Depending on the access privileges of the user to the different components of content on each page, WebSplitter generates a personalized partial view. WebSplitter further splits the partial view among the devices available to each user, e.g. laptop, wireless PDA, projection display, stereo speakers, orchestrating a composite presentation across the devices. A wireless PDA can browse while remotely controlling the multimedia capabilities of nearby devices. The architecture consists of an XML metadata policy file defining access privileges to XML tags on a Web page, a middleware proxy that splits XML Web content to create partial views, and a client-side component, e.g. applet, enabling user login and reception of pushed browsing data. Service discovery finds and registers proxies, browsing sessions, and device capabilities. We demonstrate the feasibility of splitting the different tags in an XML Web page to different end users browsers, and of pushing updates from the browsing session to heterogeneous devices, including a laptop and a PDA.

Evaluating content management techniques for Web proxy caches

Abstract: The continued growth of the World-Wide Web and the emergence of new end-user technologies such as cable modems necessitate the use of proxy caches to reduce latency, network traffic and Web server loads. Current Web proxy caches utilize simple replacement policies to determine which files to retain in the cache. We utilize a trace of client requests to a busy Web proxy in an ISP environment to evaluate the performance of several existing replacement policies and of two new, parameterless replacement policies that we introduce in this paper. Finally, we introduce Virtual Caches, an approach for improving the performance of the cache for multiple metrics simultaneously.

Computing Geographical Scopes of Web Resources

Abstract: Many information resources on the web are relevant primarily to limited geographical communities. For instance, web sites containing information on restaurants, theaters, and apartment rentals are relevant primarily to web users in geographical proximity to these locations. In contrast, other information resources are relevant to a broader geographical community. For instance, an on-line newspaper may be relevant to users across the United States. Unfortunately, current web search engines largely ignore the geographical scope of web resources. In this paper, we introduce techniques for automatically computing the geographical scope of web resources, based on the textual content of the resources, as well as on the geographical distribution of hyperlinks to them. We report an extensive experimental evaluation of our strategies using real web data. Finally, we describe a geographicallyaware search engine that we have built to showcase our techniques.

Client side, web-based spreadsheet

Abstract: A method and system that that allows a designer to create “spreadsheet” web pages, which can then be viewed and used by the designer and/or by other users. The described embodiments of the present invention allow people to collaborate and to share spreadsheets over the web. The described embodiment allows a user of the spreadsheet to email the spreadsheet to others and to embed the spreadsheet into web pages owned by the designer or by third parties. A described embodiments of the web-based spreadsheet allowed the designer to specify both web data and real-time data in the cells of the “spreadsheet.” The web data includes a URL of an image that is to be placed in a cell. The web data includes a link to a web page in a cell. The real-time data includes stock quotes and currency conversion information in the cells of the spreadsheet. Such data reflects a current (or specified) day's stock quote or a current (or specified) currency conversion value.

Method and apparatus for providing dynamic information to a user via a visual display

Abstract: A client-server system for recording web site activity by web users and dynamically customizing web display apparatuses for optimal information presentation based on the users' prior activity history. The system assigns each user a user identifier that allows the system to track the user's web sessions. The system also assigns every web site an application identifier that allows the system to track the user's activities at a particular web site. The system then records the user's activities as they visit different web sites via the user and application identifiers. The system determines how the user prefers to view each web site based on their prior activity, their preferences, the web site, and various other factors. As the user surfs from web site to web site, the system dynamically configures the user's web browser and the web page information for optimum presentation based on how the user prefers to view the web site.

Analysis of navigation behaviour in web sites integrating multiple information systems

Abstract: The analysis of web usage has mostly focused on sites composed of conventional static pages. However, huge amounts of information available in the web come from databases or other data collections and are presented to the users in the form of dynamically generated pages. The query interfaces of such sites allow the specification of many search criteria. Their generated results support navigation to pages of results combining cross-linked data from many sources. For the analysis of visitor navigation behaviour in such web sites, we propose the web usage miner (WUM), which discovers navigation patterns subject to advanced statistical and structural constraints. Since our objective is the discovery of interesting navigation patterns, we do not focus on accesses to individual pages. Instead, we construct conceptual hierarchies that reflect the query capabilities used in the production of those pages. Our experiments with a real web site that integrates data from multiple databases, the German SchulWeb, demonstrate the appropriateness of WUM in discovering navigation patterns and show how those discoveries can help in assessing and improving the quality of the site.

Scalable Web server clustering technologies

Abstract: The exponential growth of the Internet, coupled with the increasing popularity of dynamically generated content on the World Wide Web, has created the need for more and faster Web servers capable of serving the over 100 million Internet users. Server clustering has emerged as a promising technique to build scalable Web servers. We examine the seminal work, early products, and a sample of contemporary commercial offerings in the field of transparent Web server clustering. We broadly classify transparent server clustering into three categories.

Application-layer anycasting: a server selection architecture and use in a replicated Web service

Abstract: Server replication improves the ability of a service to handle a large number of clients. One of the important factors in the efficient utilization of replicated servers is the ability to direct client requests to the "best" server, according to some optimality criteria. In the anycasting communication paradigm, a sender communicates with a receiver chosen from an anycast group of equivalent receivers. As such, anycasting is well suited to the problem of directing clients to replicated servers. This paper examines the definition and support of the anycasting paradigm at the application-layer, providing a service that uses an anycast resolver to map an anycast domain name and a selection criteria into an IP address. By realizing anycasting in the application-layer, we achieve flexibility in the optimization criteria and ease the deployment of the service. As a case study, we examine the performance of our system for a key service: replicated Web servers. To this end, we develop an approach for estimating the response time that a client will experience when accessing given servers. Such information is maintained in the anycast resolver that clients query to obtain the identity of the server with the best estimated response time. Our performance collection technique combines server push with resolver probes to estimate the expected response time without undue overhead. Our experiments show that selecting a server using our architecture and estimation technique can improve the client response time by a factor of two over nearest server selection and by a factor of four over random server selection.

Semantic community Web portals

Abstract: Community Web portals serve as portals for the information needs of particular communities on the Web. We here discuss how a comprehensive and flexible strategy for building and maintaining a high-value community Web portal has been conceived and implemented. The strategy includes collaborative information provisioning by the community members. It is based on an ontology as a semantic backbone for accessing information on the portal, for contributing information, as well as for developing and maintaining the portal. We have also implemented a set of ontology-based tools that have facilitated the construction of our show case — the community Web portal of the knowledge acquisition community.

Adaptive Web sites

Abstract: D esigning a complex Web site so that it readily yields its information is a difficult task. The designer must anticipate the users' needs and structure the site accordingly. Yet users may have vastly differing views of the site's information, their needs may change over time, and their usage patterns may violate the designer's initial expectations. As a result, Web sites are all too often fossils cast in HTML, while user navigation is idiosyncratic and evolving. Understanding user needs requires understanding how users view the data available and how they actually use the site. For a complex site this can be difficult since user tests are expensive and time-consuming, and the site's server logs contain massive amounts of data. We propose a Web management assistant: a system that can process massive amounts of data about site usage Examining the potential use of automated adaptation to improve Web sites for visitors.

Method and system for single sign-on user access to multiple web servers

Abstract: Methods and systems for single sign-on user access to multiple web servers are provided. A user is authenticated at a first web server (e.g., by user name and password). The first web server provides a web page to the user having a service selector (e.g., a hyperlink comprising the URL of a second web server offering the service indicated by the selector). When the user activates the service selector, the first web server constructs and transmits an encrypted authentication token (e.g., a cookie) from the first web server to a second web server via the user client. The first and second web servers share a sub-domain. The authentication token comprises an expiration time and is digitally signed by the first web server and is authenticated at the second web server. Upon authentication, the second web server allows the user to conduct a session at the second web server.

The scent of a site: a system for analyzing and predicting information scent, usage, and usability of a Web site

Abstract: Designers and researchers of users' interactions with the World Wide Web need tools that permit the rapid exploration of hypotheses about complex interactions of user goals, user behaviors, and Web site designs. We present an architecture and system for the analysis and prediction of user behavior and Web site usability. The system integrates research on human information foraging theory, a reference model of information visualization and Web data-mining techniques. The system also incorporates new methods of Web site visualization (Dome Tree, Usage Based Layouts), a new predictive modeling technique for Web site use (Web User Flow by Information Scent, WUFIS), and new Web usability metrics.

Method of providing transfer capability on Web-based interactive voice response services

Abstract: Interactive voice response (IVR) services are provided to an end user at a telephone terminal (201) connected to the PSTN (202) through a telephone/IP server (205) that serves as an interface between the PSTN and an IP network (204) such as the Internet. A first IVR service is provided by a web server (203) running a service logic (207) for that service, which produces pages formatted in a phone markup language (PML) in response to an HTTP request sent over the IP network by the telephone/IP server to the web server at the URL address associated with the service. These pages represent an interactive dialog for that first service, which when received by the telephone/IP server, are translated and converted to audio by an interpreter (206) for audio presentation to the end user. The end user's responses, either verbal or touch-tone, to questions posed during the dialog are collected by the telephone/IP server, translated, and forwarded to the web server. Hyperlinks to a second IVR service offered on a web server (208) at a different URL address are embedded and associated with a specific question or statement in a PML-formatted page produced by the first service. When the end user affirmatively responds to that statement or question through a verbal or touch-tone input, the telephone/IP server translates that response as a "click" on the hyperlink and establishes a virtual connection to the hyperlinked URL address of the web server providing the second service. Further, information associated with the end user's interaction with the first service, such as his identity, PIN, and/or zip code, is transferred to the second service by means of a cookie, URL encoding or other information transference mechanism, to provide an audio experience that seamlessly transfers the end user from the first service to the second.

Method and apparatus for providing estimated response-wait-time displays for data network-based inquiries to a communication center

Abstract: An Estimated Wait Time (EWT) service for a Web page provider has an internet-connected facility for monitoring communication status with a communication center having communication equipment hosting agents of the web page provider, and an interactive link in a web page hosted by the Web page provider. The interactive link is presented to a user accessing the Web page, and when selected, connects the user to the facility for monitoring communication status. In a preferred embodiment the facility provides a Web page display for the user, displaying parameters regarding the communication status, such as estimated wait time (EWT). In some cases there are options in a user interface for placing an Internet Phone (IP) call, for sending a message, and e-mail, and so forth, or for requesting a call back. In the case of a cal back the user may, in some embodiments, provide alternative numbers or addresses and times for call back.

Web-based voice dialog interface

Abstract: A web-based voice dialog interface for use in communicating dialog information between a user at a client machine and one or more servers coupled to the client machine via the Internet or other computer network. The interface in an illustrative embodiment includes a web page interpreter for receiving information relating to one or more web pages. The web page interpreter generates a rendering of at least a portion of the information for presentation to a user in an audibly-perceptible format. A grammar processing device utilizes interpreted web page information received from the web page interpreter to generate syntax information and semantic information. A speech recognizer processes received user speech in accordance with the syntax information, and a natural language interpreter processes the resulting recognized speech in accordance with the semantics information to generate output for delivery to a web server in conjunction with a voice dialog which includes the user speech and the rendering of the web page(s). The output may be processed by a common gateway interface (CGI) formatter prior to delivery to a CGI associated with the web server.

Electronic financial transaction system

Abstract: A financial transaction system consistent with the invention allows clients of a financial institution to use a web-based workstation to interface with a plurality of back office systems within one or more financial institutions. In an exemplary embodiment, a financial transaction system comprises a hub server, a plurality of financial institutions, at least one web server, and at least one database server. The hub server receives data in the form of a plurality of disparately formatted instructions and communicates the instructions to the financial institutions, which are connected to the hub server for receiving the data and have a plurality of differing reception formats to receive the reformatted data. Data is transmitted between the web server and at least one user via a network interface, and between the web server and the hub server. The web server stores data and at least one application in an application database. Data is transmitted between the database server, the hub server, and the web server, and is stored in a hub database. The hub server maps data received from the financial institutions and loads it onto the hub database. The web server receives the mapped data from the hub database, transmits it onto the application database, and permits the user to manipulate it using the application. In another exemplary embodiment, a method of executing a financial transaction consistent with the present invention comprises the steps of receiving into an application database an instruction to execute a financial transaction from at least one user using an application, receiving the instruction into a hub database, reformatting the instruction, and routing the reformatted instruction to at least one financial institution.

Two approaches to bringing Internet services to WAP devices

Abstract: The next big challenge of the Internet is mobile access. More and more information is available on the Internet and intranets and mobile users will also need access to it. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based devices make it possible to access Wireless Markup Language (WML) based services with mobile browsers. The first WAP compliant devices have already been released on the market and more are to come. In the future there will be a need for Web services that are specially targeted for mobile users. We have studied this mobile-aware approach to service design by implementing a WML application and evaluating it on three different WAP platforms. Based on our evaluation results, we recognize challenges for future WAP devices and mobile-aware services. We have also studied if it would be possible to access the already existing Internet information with WAP devices. We have developed an HTML/WML conversion proxy server, which converts HTML-based Web contents automatically and on-line to WML. This approach gives the mobile users transparent access to their familiar Web pages from their mobile phones and other mobile devices. Our study indicates that if HTML-based Web services follow certain guidelines, they can be converted automatically to WML and adapted to the client device. In principle these guidelines already exist as World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Content Accessibility Guidelines and W3C Note for HTML 4.0 Guidelines for Mobile Access.

A publishing system for efficiently creating dynamic Web content

Abstract: This paper presents a publishing system for efficiently creating dynamic Web content. Complex Web pages are constructed from simpler fragments. Fragments may recursively embed other fragments. Relationships between Web pages and fragments are represented by object dependence graphs. We present algorithms for efficiently detecting and updating Web pages affected after one or more fragments change. We also present algorithms for publishing sets of Web pages consistently; different algorithms are used depending upon the consistency requirements. Our publishing system provides an easy method for Web site designers to specify and modify inclusion relationships among Web pages and fragments. Users can update content on multiple Web pages by modifying a template. The system then automatically updates an Web pages affected by the change. Our system accommodates both content that must be proof-read before publication and is typically from humans as well as content that has to be published immediately and is typically from automated feeds. Our system is deployed at several popular Web sites including the 2000 Olympic Games Web site. We discuss some of our experiences with real deployments of our system as well as its performance.

Keeping up with the changing Web

Abstract: Most information depreciates over time, so keeping Web pages current presents new design challenges. This article quantifies what "current" means for Web search engines and estimates how often they must reindex the Web to keep current with its changing pages and structure.

System and method for providing behavioral information of a user accessing on-line resources

Abstract: A system and method for monitoring usage or user behavior when using resources over a network, e.g., a behavioral information of a web user browsing web pages on selected web sites is provided. The behavioral information is stored and is available for further analysis. When a user visits a web site, the user is given an option to download and install an agent program. The agent program monitors the user's behavior on selected web sites and uploads the behavioral information to a server. The server collecting the information is typically not related to the web sites being monitored. The behavioral information is provided from the agent to the server with a least amount of intrusion on the user device resources and at the same time protects the user identity and privacy. The behavioral information may be provided to any entity interested in knowing user's behavior on a selected list of web sites. At any point in time the user has total control over the collected information, the user can visualize what has been collected so far, exit from the panel permanently or temporarily. The user that agrees to download the agent program on the user's device may be rewarded the agent via various incentives and accesses to privileged on-line services and resources.