Abstract: A data processor controlled user interactive display system for displaying hypertext documents, each including a sequence of display screen pages received over a communications network such as the World Wide Web. In order to reduce downloading time, Web pages are transmitted as HTML files in which images are represented by identifiers. The images corresponding to the identifiers may be fetched from libraries of universal images. The invention is implemented by the display stations which receive the Web pages. These stations, through associated browsers, retrieve the universal image libraries via the internet and download such libraries once and store them locally on caches associated with the browsers.

Abstract: Each client in an intranet includes at least the minimum functionality required to serve a remote request such as an HTTP request. Existing browsers within the intranet may share their collective local caches to form a scalable cache. The intranet proxy routes page requests from one client within the intranet to another when a local cache within the intranet contains a current copy of the requested page. A trust protocol insures that clients serving as caches may be trusted by the proxy, while a refresh mechanism such as a time-out policy ensures that the page is reloaded after a predetermined period of time. The collective cache thus scales with the number of browsers in the intranet, and existing browsers may be employed without direct modification. The same mechanism may be utilized, either within a network or through an Internet service provider, to permit individuals and companies to maintain Web sites on their own personal systems without paying fees for uninterrupted connection to the Internet.