Patents by Inventor Christopher A. Newton

Christopher A. Newton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210019359
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a computer-implemented method of receiving an invalidation command that includes a first asset identifier, and a set of extension value fields, identifying a first file that is stored in a first cache device and is associated with an identifier matching the first asset identifier, comparing attributes of the first file to the set of extension value fields, and upon determining that, for each extension value field, at least one attribute of the first file matches at least one value of the extension value field, causing the first file in the first cache device to be preserved, or upon determining that, for at least one extension value, at least one attribute of the first file does not match at least one value of the extension value field, causing the first file to be invalidated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2020
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Inventor: Christopher NEWTON
  • Patent number: 10893118
    Abstract: Embodiments herein include methods and systems for use in delivering resources to a client device over a local network. An exemplary system comprises a plurality of caching devices operable to cache resources on behalf of a plurality of content providers, and a local caching device communicatively situated between an access network and the client device, wherein the access network is communicably situated between the plurality of caching devices and the local caching device. The local caching device is operable to retrieve a requested resource from at least one of the plurality of caching devices, deliver the requested resource to the client device over the local network, and store the requested resource for future requests by other client devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: James Q. Crowe, John F. Waters, Jr., Andrew Dugan, Christopher Newton, Laurence Lipstone, Kenneth Brookman, Joseph Lawrence, Andrew Swart, David Fullagar, Kevin Paul
  • Publication number: 20200404052
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method in a content delivery network (CDN) having multiple delivery servers. The CDN delivers content on behalf of at least one content provider. Distinct delivery servers are logically grouped into delivery server groups. One or more CDN name servers are associated with some of the delivery server groups. Network map data are determined using network data determined by the CDN name servers associated with at least some of the deliver server groups. The network data with respect to a CDN name server relative to a resolver is based on an estimated popularity of that CDN name server for that resolver. Responsive to a client request, including a hostname associated with a content provider, at least one CDN name server determines, using network map data, at least one delivery server to process the client request.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Publication date: December 24, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20200389513
    Abstract: A content delivery method, and related apparatus, that involves the operations of receiving a request for a content resource including at least one embedded resource with a tag. Upon identification of the tag, using at least one delivery parameter to generate a modified embedded resource. Embedding the modified embedded resource in a content resource, such as an HTML document. Delivering, such as in response to request from a browser, the content resource with the modified embedded resource.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2020
    Publication date: December 10, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Newton, William R. Power
  • Patent number: 10862769
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method operable in a content delivery service (CDN), includes, by a collector system: (A) receiving at least one event stream of event data, said event data relating to operation of at least one type of CDN service, each event of said at least one event stream comprising: (i) a timestamp for said event, (ii) information relating to said event; and producing state data relating to information represented in said event data while being able to asynchronously respond to queries relating to said state data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Laurence R. Lipstone, William Crowder, Andrew Swart, Christopher Newton, Lewis Robert Varney
  • Publication number: 20200374341
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method in a content delivery network (CDN), wherein the CDN delivers content on behalf of at least one content provider. The method includes: a first server: receiving a request from a client for particular content; determining at least one delivery server in the CDN; migrating the request to the at least one delivery server; and then providing the least one delivery server with first network traffic from the client. Then a second server, distinct from the first server, determines information about the least one delivery server; and then, based on the determining, provides the least one delivery server with second network traffic from the client.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20200366730
    Abstract: A load-balancing cluster includes a switch having a plurality of ports; and a plurality of servers connected to at least some of the plurality of ports of the switch. Each server is addressable by the same virtual Internet Protocol (VIP) address. Each server in the cluster has a mechanism constructed and adapted to respond to connection requests at the VIP by selecting one of the plurality of servers to handle that connection, wherein the selecting is based, at least in part, on a given function of information used to request the connection; and a firewall mechanism constructed and adapted to accept all requests for the VIP address for a particular connection only on the server that has been selected to handle that particular connection. The selected server determines whether it is responsible for the request and may hand it off to another cluster member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Maksim Yevmenkin, David Fullagar, Christopher Newton, Jeffrey Koller
  • Patent number: 10841400
    Abstract: A node in a content delivery network (CDN) receives a request for content and determines information about the request. When sufficient information about the content is determined, the request is assigned to an appropriate CD service to process the request; and when insufficient information about the content is determined, the request is assigned to a generic CD service to process the request. The generic CD service processes the request; and provides updated information about the content to be used for processing future requests. An appropriate CD service processing a request may also provide updated information about the content to be used for processing future requests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10841177
    Abstract: An autonomous content delivery network (CDN) is partitioned into multiple virtual CDNs which are organized into a CDN hierarchy. Within the CDN hierarchy, a parent virtual CDN grants at least one privilege to at least one child virtual CDN. The parent virtual CDN has an instance of a CD service of a first type and the child virtual CDN has no instance of the CD service of the first type. The CD service of the first type is selected from: a rendezvous service; a streaming service, a configuration service, a control service, a collector service, and a cache service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Laurence R. Lipstone, William Crowder, Andrew Swart, Christopher Newton, Lewis Robert Varney
  • Patent number: 10841179
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve provisioning customers of an aggregator, such as a reseller, of a content delivery network (CDN). In one aspect, content requests to the CDN are processed in accordance with the virtual IP (VIP) address at which the request was received, according to a property template bound to the VIP where the template is selected by the customer and only involves discrete parameters for the reseller. In another aspect, cache fills of the network are processed without direct knowledge of the customer origin through a combination of some request attribute, e.g., alias host of the customer, and an attribute of the reseller to make a DNS request to a name server outside the CDN. Another aspect involves receiving a property template selection, an origin and an alias from a customer of the reseller, and providing appropriate DNS entries to validate the customer and provide origin information to the CDN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10841398
    Abstract: A content delivery network (CDN) includes a plurality of CDN components including at least one CDN rendezvous mechanism and at least one control core. The CDN components are controlled by control core data from the at least one control core. Some CDN components obtain CDN resources including control core data from at least some other CDN components. The CDN components use the CDN rendezvous mechanism to select one or more CDN components from which to obtain CDN resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Laurence R. Lipstone, William Crowder, Jeffrey G. Koller, David Fullagar, Maksim Yevmenkin, Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10834180
    Abstract: A content delivery (CD) network delivers content on behalf of multiple content providers. A method includes determining that certain content is trending in a first geographic region during a first time period; and, based on the determining, causing the certain content to be prefetched by the CDN in a second geographic region by a given time after said first time period, wherein, during the first time period, the time in the second geographic region is earlier than the time in the first geographic region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William Crowder, Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20200351338
    Abstract: Examples described herein relate to apparatuses and methods for a Content Distribution Network (CDN) node of a CDN to facilitate communication among two or more clients, including but not limited to determining, by the CDN node, that the two or more clients are connected to the CDN node for accessing content data originating from an origin server, receiving, by the CDN node, a message from a first client of the two or more clients, the message is to be routed to at least one second client of the two or more clients, and sending, by the CDN node, the message to the at least one second client without routing the message to the origin server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10826793
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method, operable in a system comprising multiple services, the services running on a plurality of devices, includes tracking first information about requests sent from at least one first service in a first collection of services to at least one second service in a second collection of services, the first collection of services being distinct from the second collection of services; tracking second information from the second collection of services about requests supposedly processed by the second collection of services; and reconciling the first information with the second information. The reconciling may be used to verify or audit information reported by the second collection of services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Lewis Robert Varney, Laurence R. Lipstone, William Crowder, Andrew Swart, Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20200344200
    Abstract: A content delivery method including the operations of receiving a uniform resource locator resolution request at an authoritative name server for a domain where the uniform resource resolution request is received based, at least in part, on a host name of the uniform resource resolution request where the host name is uniquely related to a resource associated with the uniform resource resolution request. The method further including the operation of tracking a popularity of the resource based on the host name uniquely related to the resource and providing a location within a network capable of delivering the resource where the provided location is based on the popularity of the resource.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10819774
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method, in a content delivery (CD) network that delivers content on behalf of multiple content providers. The method includes, at a server in the CDN, wherein the server is currently processing at least one other request in at least one other session: receiving a connection request from a client, the connection request being associated with a corresponding content request; determining whether handling the content request will cause the server to become overloaded; and, based on the determining in (B) and on information about the content request, conditionally (i) accepting the content request, and (ii) terminating or throttling at least one session on the server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: William R. Power, Christopher Newton, Laurence Lipstone, William Crowder
  • Publication number: 20200322446
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method, operable with a content delivery network (CDN) uses late binding of caching policies; by a caching node in the CDN, in response to a request for content, determining if the content is cached locally. When it is determined that said content is cached locally, then: determining a current cache policy associated with the content; and then determining, based on said current cache policy associated with the content, whether it is acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally; based on said determining, when it is not acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally, obtaining a new version of the content and then serving the new version of the content, otherwise when it is acceptable to serve the content that is cached locally, serving the content that is cached locally.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2020
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Newton, William Crowder
  • Patent number: 10791050
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method operable in a content delivery network (CDN), includes receiving a request a service in said CDN; determining a particular classification of an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with said request, said determining using a first function that maps IP addresses to one or more classifications, said particular classification being one of said one or more classifications; and processing said request based on said particular classification of said IP address associated with said request. A location-specific response to a request may be based on a geographic location associated with said IP address associated with said request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Lewis Robert Varney, Laurence R. Lipstone, William Crowder, Andrew Swart, Christopher Newton
  • Publication number: 20200287864
    Abstract: A content provider has a plurality of content provider domain names, and a content delivery network (CDN) allocates a plurality of CDN domain names to the particular content provider. The content provider domain names are mapped to the CDN domain names. CDN domain names are bound to corresponding CDN clusters. The binding of the of CDN domain names to corresponding CDN clusters is modified.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Applicant: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton
  • Patent number: 10771542
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method in a content delivery network (CDN) having multiple delivery servers. The CDN delivers content on behalf of at least one content provider. Distinct delivery servers are logically grouped into delivery server groups. One or more CDN name servers are associated with some of the delivery server groups. Network map data are determined using network data determined by the CDN name servers associated with at least some of the deliver server groups. The network data with respect to a CDN name server relative to a resolver is based on an estimated popularity of that CDN name server for that resolver. Responsive to a client request, including a hostname associated with a content provider, at least one CDN name server determines, using network map data, at least one delivery server to process the client request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Newton