Optimizing bandwidth Consumption for document distribution over a multicast enabled wide area network

Abstract

A method for filtering documents includes receiving the document off of a multicast channel. It is determined whether the document includes relevant information. The document is processed if it includes relevant information. A filtering agent includes a session identification reading unit that retrieves a session identification from a document transmitted over a multicast channel. The filtering agent also includes an information classification unit that retrieves meta data from the document. The filtering agent also includes a source unit that retrieves source information from the document. An evaluation unit is coupled to the session identification reading unit, information classification unit, and the source unit. The evaluation unit determines whether the document includes relevant information based on the session identification, meta data, and the source information.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for filtering a document comprising: 
 receiving the document off of a multicast channel;    determining if the document includes relevant information; and    processing the document if the documents includes relevant information.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining a session identification associated with a request for the document;    determining whether the session identification corresponds to an active session run on a client terminal.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining meta data associated with the document; and    determining whether the meta data is of interest to a local computing resource.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein obtaining the meta data associated with the document comprises reading published meta tags in the document for the meta data.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein obtaining the meta data associated with the document comprises analyzing the content of the document.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein determining whether the meta data is of interest to the local computing resource comprises referencing a local information profile to determine whether the meta data is indexed in the local information profile.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining source information associated with the document; and    determining whether the source information is of interest to a local computing resource.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining whether the source information is of interest to the local computing resource comprises referencing a local information profile to determine whether the source information is indexed in the local information profile.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the document comprises forwarding the document to a client terminal that requested the document.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the document comprises caching the document in a storage device.  
     
     
         11 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions, the sequence of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of: 
 receiving a document off of a multicast channel;    determining if the document includes relevant information; and    processing the document if the documents includes relevant information.    
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining a session identification associated with a request for the document;    determining whether the session identification corresponds to an active session run on a client terminal.    
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining meta data associated with the document; and    determining whether the meta data is of interest to a local computing resource.    
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein obtaining the meta data associated with the document comprises reading published meta tags in the document.  
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein obtaining the meta data associated with the document comprises analyzing the content of the document.  
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the meta data is of interest to the local computing resource comprises referencing a local information profile to determine whether the meta data is indexed in the local information profile.  
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein determining if the document includes relevant information comprises: 
 obtaining source information associated with the document; and    determining whether the source information is of interest to a local computing resource.    
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein determining whether the source information is of interest to the local computing resource comprises referencing a local information profile to determine whether the source information is indexed in the local information profile.  
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein processing the document comprises forwarding the document to a client terminal that requested the document.  
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein processing the document comprises caching the document in a storage device.  
     
     
         21 . A filtering agent, comprising: 
 a session identification reading unit that retrieves a session identification from a document transferred over a multicast channel;    an information classification unit that retrieves meta data from the document;    a source unit that retrieves source information from the document; and    an evaluation unit, coupled to the session identification reading unit, information classification unit, and the source unit, that determines whether the document includes relevant information based on the session identification, meta data, and the source information.