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A system and method for increasing the effective bandwidth of a communications network is provided by overlaying a "super" transport and caching structure over the conventional TCP/IP communications network, for example, the Internet, which increases the transfer rate of information in the communications network. The "super" transport and caching structure includes software or hardware or both added to at least two modules separated by a communications link in the communications network. The net result is that the users of the communications network have their time to access and/or retrieve information significantly reduced, and the communications network, particularly a large network, e.g., the Internet, becomes an efficient means of performing commercial transactions by both businesses and individuals.
1. A method for compressing data by a first computer system for transfer to a second computer system via a communications network, said method comprising:
selecting a section of data by said first computer system;
determining a cost value for each compression algorithm of a plurality of compression algorithms based on a plurality of system operating conditions associated with said first computer system;
selecting a compression algorithm from said plurality based on a smallest cost value; compressing said section using said selected compression algorithm, and sending said compressed section of data to said second computer system.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. A method for compressing data by a first computer system for transfer to a second computer system via a communications network, comprising:
selecting a section of data by said first computer system;
determining a data format of said section;
compressing said section using a compression algorithm, said compression algorithm automatically selected from a plurality of compression algorithms each comprising a cost value, wherein said compression algorithm is selected based on said data format and said cost value; and
sending said compressed section to said second computer.
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. A method of transferring application data via a communications network, the method comprising:
establishing a first Virtual Private Network of a plurality of Virtual Private Networks between a first computer of a plurality of computers and a second computer of said plurality of computers by using a centralized permission table comprising said first computer's address and said second computer's address, wherein said plurality of Virtual Private Networks is provided by said plurality of computers connected together by a public communications network;
establishing a second Virtual Private Network of said plurality of Virtual Private Networks between said first computer and a third computer of said plurality of computers by using said centralized permission table further comprising said third computer's address;
establishing a TCP connection between said first computer system and said second computer system;
receiving at said first computer system a plurality of packets from a plurality of source addresses, wherein said plurality of packets have a common destination, wherein each packet comprises application data;
extracting from said plurality of packets, information comprising said application data;
selecting a section of said information by said first computer system;
determining a cost value for each compression algorithm of a plurality of compression algorithms using said first computer's system operating conditions;
selecting a compression algorithm from said plurality based on a smallest cost value;
compressing said section using said selected compression algorithm;
creating a new packet comprising said compressed section;
sending said new packet to said second computer system over said TCP connection;
disconnecting said TCP connection;
receiving a request by said first computer to retrieve data from a data storage;
retrieving a first data item from said data storage by said first computer; and
said first computer concurrently sending said first data item to said third computer while
retrieving a second data item from said data storage.
The following copending, commonly assigned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: U.S. Utility Application entitled, "System And Method For Reducing The Time To Deliver Information From a Communications Network To a User", by Michael J. Parrella, Sr., et al., filed Jun. 4, 2002, Ser. No. 10/164,261; and U.S. Utility Application entitled, "System and Method For Modifying a Data Stream Using Element Parsing", by Michael J. Parrella, Sr., et al., filed Jun. 4, 2002, Ser. No. 10/164,296.
This application claims priority from and incorporates by reference in its entirety U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/295,721, titled "System and Method for Improving the Effective Bandwidth of a Communication Device", by Michael J. Parrella et. al., filed Jun. 4, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/295,672, titled "Method and System Providing Compression/Decompression of Communication Data", by Michael J. Parrella et al., filed Jun. 4, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60,295,676, titled "System and Method Providing Packaging of Parseable Data Elements in a Network Communication", by Michael J. Parrella et al., filed Jun. 4, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/295,720, titled "Bi-Directional File Transfer Multiplier", by Michael J. Parrella et al., filed Jun. 4, 2001, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/295,671, titled "Modification of a Data Stream Using Element Parsing", by Michael J. Parrella et al., filed Jun. 4, 2001.
The invention relates generally to the field of communications, and in particular to the efficient transfer of information over a computer network.
The Internet has grown considerably in its scope of use over the past decades from a research network between governments and universities to a means of conducting both personal and commercial transactions by both businesses and individuals. The Internet was originally designed to be unstructured so that in the event of a breakdown the probability of completing a communication was high. The method of transferring information is based on a concept similar to sending letters through the mail. A message may be broken up into multiple TCP/IP packets (i.e., letters) and sent to an addressee. Like letters, each packet may take a different path to get to the addressee. While the many small packets over many paths approach provides relatively inexpensive access by a user to, for example, many Web sites, it is considerably slower than a point-to-point connection between a user and a Web site.
More specifically, a single user at a personal computer (PC) 120 has several choices to connect to the PoP 112 such as a direct subscriber line (DSL) modem 122, a TV cable modem 124, a standard dial-up modem 126, or a wireless transceiver 128 on, for example, a fixed wireless PC or mobile telephone. The term personal computer or PC is used herein to describe any device with a processor and a memory and is not limited to a traditional desktop PC. At the PoP 112 there will be a corresponding access device for each type of modem (or transceiver) to receive/send the data from/to the user 110. For the DSL modem 122, the PoP 112 has a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) as its access device. For the cable modem 124, the PoP 112 has a cable modem termination system (CTMS) headend as its access device. DSL and cable modem connections allow hundreds of kilo bits per second (Kbps) and are considerably faster than the standard dial up modem 126 whose data is received at the PoP 112 by a dial-up remote access server (RAS) 134. The wireless transceiver 128 could be part of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or mobile telephone and is connected to a wireless transceiver 136, e.g., a base station, at the PoP 112.
A business user (or a person with a home office) may have a local area network (LAN), e.g., PCs' 140 and 142 connected to LAN server 144 by Ethernet links. The business user may have a T1 (1.544 Mbps), a fractional T1 connection or a faster connection to the PoP 112. The data from the LAN server 144 is sent via a router (not shown) to a digital connection device, e.g., a channel service unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU) 146, which in turn sends the digital data via a T1 (or fractional T1) line 148 to a CSU/DSU at the PoP 112.
The PoP 112 may include an ISP server 152 to which the DSLAM 130, CTMS Headend 132, RAS 134, wireless transceiver 136, or CSU/DSU 150, is connected. The ISP server 152 may provide user services such as E-mail, Usenet, or Domain Name Service (DNS). Alternatively, the DSLAM 130, CTMS Headend 132, RAS 134, wireless transceiver 136, or CSU/DSU 150 may bypass the ISP server 152 and are connected directly to the router 154 (dashed lines). The server 152 is connected to a router 154 which connects the PoP 112 to ISP1's backbone having, e.g., routers 162, 164, 166, and 168. ISP1's backbone is connected to another ISP's backbone (ISP 2) having, e.g., routers 172, 174, and 176, via NAP 170. ISP2 has an ISP2 server 180 which offers competing user services, such as E-mail and user Web hosting. Connected to the Internet "cloud" 160 are Web servers 182 and 184, which provide on-line content to user 110.
While the Internet provides the basically functionality to perform commercial transactions for both businesses and individuals, the significant time delay in the transfer of information between, for example, a Web server and a business or individual user is a substantial problem. For example a user at PC 120 wants information from a Web site at Web server 182. There are many "hops" for the data to travel back from Web server 182 to user PC 120. Also because information is being "mailed" back in packets, the packets travel back typically through different paths. These different paths are shared with other users packets and some paths may be slow. Hence there is a significant time delay even if there were sufficient capacity in all the links between Web server 182 and user 120. However, because there are also choke points, i.e., where the traffic exceeds the capacity, there is even further delay.
Two major choke points are the last and second to last mile. The last mile is from the PoP 112 to the user 110. This is readily evident when the user 120 is using a dial up modem with a maximum speed of 56 Kbps. Even with a DSL modem of about 512 Kbps downloading graphics may be unpleasantly slow. The second to last mile is between the ISPs. An ISP with PoP 112 may connect via its backbone 114 to a higher level ISP (not shown) to get regional/national/global coverage. As an increase in bandwidth to the higher level ISP increases the local ISP's costs, the local ISP with, for example PoP 112, may instead reduce the amount of bandwidth available to user 110. The effect is that there is more traffic than link capacity between Web server 182 and PC 120 and hence a significant delay problem. In today's fast pace world this problem is greatly hindering the use of the Internet as a commercial vehicle.
Therefore there is a need for improving the efficiency of the transfer of information over a communications network, e.g., the Internet, such that, either individually or collectively, the user's wait time for information is significantly reduced.
The present invention provides a system and method for increasing the effective bandwidth of a communications network by overlaying a "super" transport and caching structure over the conventional TCP/IP communications network, for example, the Internet, which increases the transfer rate of information in the communications network.
The "super" transport and caching structure includes software or hardware or both added to at least two modules separated by a communications link in the communications network. Between any two "super" modules a communication link is established which allows fast and efficient transfer of information, where transfer of information is not the same as the number of the raw bits being transferred, but includes only necessary data bits and excludes, for example, overhead control bits or redundant data bits. Since the communications link has a fixed capacity, increasing the information bits and decreasing the non-information bits reduces the amount of sharing of the link's capacity with non-information bits. Hence some of the information bits do not have to wait until some of the non-information bits are transferred first. Thus the transfer delay of information is significantly reduced.
The net result of the "super" transport and caching structure and hence the increased rate of information transfer is that the users of the communications network have their time to access and/or retrieve information significantly reduced, and the communications network, particularly a large network, e.g., the Internet, becomes an efficient means of performing commercial transactions by both businesses and individuals.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for compressing data by a first computer system for transfer to a second computer system via a communications network. First, a section of data is selected by the first computer system. Next, a cost value is determined for each compression algorithm of a plurality of compression algorithms using the first computer's system operating conditions. A compression algorithm is selected from the plurality based on a smallest cost value. The section is compressed using the selected compression algorithm, and sent to the second computer system.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for compressing data by a first computer system for transfer to a second computer system via a communications network. The method includes: selecting a section of data by the first computer system; determining a data format of the section; compressing the section using a compression algorithm, where the compression algorithm is automatically selected from a plurality of compression algorithms based on the data format; and sending the compressed section to the second computer.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for compressing data by a first computer system for transfer to a second computer system via a communications link. the method includes: selecting a section of data by the first computer system; when data traffic on the communications link is below transmission capacity, calculating a result of a function based on a time to compress the section and a link latency for the section; depending on the result, compressing the section; and sending the compressed section to the second computer.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for repackaging, by a first computer system, a plurality of packets having a common destination, wherein the first computer system is connected to a second computer system by a communications link. The method includes: receiving the plurality of packets, wherein each packet includes application data; extracting from the plurality of packets, information including the application data; creating a new packet including the information; and sending the new packet to the second computer system.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for providing a semi-permanent Transport Control Protocol (TCP) connection between a first computer system and a second computer system using a TCP/IP protocol. The method includes: establishing a TCP connection between the first computer system and the second computer system; receiving application information by the first computer system from a plurality of source addresses; sending the second application information, by the first computer system, over the TCP connection; and disconnecting the TCP connection.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method using a first computer system for pruning a plurality of duplicate data requests from a plurality of second computer systems, the plurality of duplicate data requests having a common destination. The method includes: receiving the plurality of duplicate data requests by the first computer system; recording return addresses of the plurality of second computer systems; creating a consolidated data request, including common data from the plurality of duplicate data requests, with the first computer system as a source address; and sending the consolidated data request.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method for providing a plurality of Virtual Private Networks by a plurality of computers connected together by a public communications network. The method includes: establishing a first Virtual Private Network of the plurality of Virtual Private Networks between a first computer of the plurality of computers and a second computer of the plurality of computers by using a centralized permission table having the first computer's address and the second computer's address; and establishing a second Virtual Private Network of the plurality of Virtual Private Networks between the first computer and a third computer of the plurality of computers by using the centralized permission table further having the third computer's address.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention includes a method for repackaging, by a first computer system, a plurality of packets having a common destination, wherein the first computer system is connected to a second computer system by a communications link. The method includes: receiving the plurality of packets, wherein each packet includes application data; extracting from the plurality of packets, information including the application data; creating a number of new packets including the information, wherein the number of new packets is determined based on the data traffic on the communications link; and sending the number of new packets to the second computer system.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a system for increasing a flow of information in a communications network having a standardized communications protocol. The system includes: a first module sending a packet, having first application information and first control information, using the standardized communications protocol; a second module for receiving the packet and sending a super packet using the standardized communications protocol, where the super packet has second application information and second control information, wherein the second application information includes the first application information and some of the first control information; and a third module for receiving the super packet using the standardized communications protocol.
A further embodiment of the present invention includes a method for reducing time for a requester computer system to retrieve information from a remote data storage via an intermediary computer system. The method includes: receiving a request by the intermediary computer system to retrieve data from the data storage; retrieving a first data item from the data storage by the intermediary computer system; and the intermediary computer system, concurrently sending the first data item to the requester computer system, while retrieving a second data item from the data storage.
An embodiment of the present invention includes a system for increasing performance in a network segment between two Super Modules of a plurality of Super Modules in a communications network. The system includes: a first Super Module of the plurality of Super Modules for receiving a plurality of IP packets and sending a modified data packet, where the data packet includes application data combined from said plurality of IP packets; and a second Super Module of the plurality of Super Modules for receiving the modified data packet, where the second Super Module, has a TCP/IP communication protocol stack with an additional application layer for processing the modified data packet.
These and other embodiments, features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough description of the specific embodiments of the invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the invention may be practiced without all the specific details given below. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
In order for individuals and businesses to use the Internet as an effective commercial vehicle, the time for a user to request and receive information must be significantly reduced compared to the typical times that occur today. The present invention provides both a "super" system that may be overlaid on parts of the Internet infrastructure and techniques to increase information flow in the network, which, either separately or in combination, significantly reduce the user's wait time for information from, for example, Web sites or other users.
The transport layer 314 includes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). TCP is a connection oriented protocol that provides a reliable virtual circuit between the source and destination. TCP guarantees to the applications that use it to deliver the stream of bytes in the order they were sent without duplication or data loss even if the IP package delivery service is unreliable. The transport layer adds control information via a TCP header 322 to the data 320 and this called a TCP data unit. UDP does not guarantee packet delivery and applications which use UDP must provide their own means of verifying delivery.
The Internet layer 316 is named because of the inter-networking emphasis of TCP/IP. This is a connectionless layer that sends and receives the Internet Protocol (IP) packets. While the IP packet has the original source address and ultimate destination address of the IP packet, the IP layer at a particular node routes the IP packet to the next node without any knowledge, if the packet reaches its ultimate destination. The IP packet includes an IP Header 324 added to the TCP data unit (TCP header 322 and data 320).
The network access layer 318 is the bottom layer that deals with the physical transfer of the IP packets. The network access layer 318 groups together the existing Data Link and Physical Layer standards rather than defining its own. This layer defines the network hardware and device drivers. A header 326 and a trailer (not shown) are added to the IP packet to allow for the physical transfer of the IP packet over a communications line.
An example of the use of the TCP/IP protocol in
There are several problems that occur in the above example of a conventional interaction between a user and a Web server. First the maximum transmission unit (MTU), i.e., the maximum amount of data, in an Ethernet frame is 1500 bytes. However, the largest value for the data 320 in TCP/IP is about 64,000 bytes. For example a 16 Mbps token ring has about a 18,000 byte MTU and a dial-up connection using a modem has about a 576 byte MTU. This means that even though the MTU leaving the LAN server 144 may be greater than 1500 bytes, the virtual circuit between PC 140 and Web server 182 will typically use packets with a MTU having the lowest of the MTUs between the user and the Web server, i.e., there will be many small IP packets sent back and forth. Second, there is not just one request and one response, but a whole series of browser requests and Web server responses that occur, when a user is using a Web site. For example, a user request for a web page with graphics is actually broken down by the browser into multiple requests, a request for the hypertext markup language (HTML), followed by several requests for the graphics. Third, the text and graphics are usually sent in uncompressed format, despite the fact that compression may reduce the size of the files considerably. Thus these and other problems cause the conventional TCP/IP network to have significant delay in getting data from the Web server to the user.
In other embodiments, one or more of the Super Modules may be missing, for example, the Super Appliance 532. In the case of a missing Super Appliance 532, Super CO Server 534 exchanges information with Super User 530 through LAN server 144. Another example is if Super Host 548 was not present, then web server 182 exchanges information with Super CO Concentrator 536. Thus if a Super Module is missing, the corresponding normal module, e.g., PC 140, LAN server 144, PoP server 150, PoP router 154, and web server 182, is used instead. All or some of the Super Modules can be used and as long as there is at least one communication link between at least two different Super Modules, the information flow across the link improves significantly. Additionally, more Super Modules can deployed to extend the granularity of the super layer over the network.
In addition to the user-to-server application described above, Super Modules within an Internet or network structure can be used to increase performance over those network segments. In such an embodiment, all data transferred between multiple Super Modules within the network structure is optimized. For example, communication between Super CO Server modules in different parts of the network is particularly attractive for improving efficiency of expensive or bandwidth limited links, such as trans-continental lines or satellite communication. This embodiment also improves the performance of and reduces the cost of communications between any two network points with Super Modules. The interoperability of any Super Modules also allows for a tiered approach to optimize communications for a logical or physical region. For example, several local Super CO Servers can tier to a regional Super Module, which in turn tiers to a national Super Module. This tiering approach extends the granularity of the super application layer throughout the network for all network traffic between the Super Modules, independent of the applications or the original source (i.e., there can be a combination of data from any number of Super Modules sources or any number of normal module sources).
The Super Module 462 upon receiving IP packets from one or more normal modules 460 extracts all the application layer data and applicable data from the IP and TCP headers of the IP packets to the Super Application layer 422. The application layer data from the normal modules and from the application layer 420 may be of any protocol, e.g., HTTP 1.0, HTTP 1.1, FTP, POP, SMTP, etc. The Super Application layer packages the application data and appropriate TCP layer and IP layer data into one big application layer data unit. Between Super Modules 462 and 464 the normal TCP/IP transport mechanism is used. This means that, when there are one or more intermediary normal nodes between Super Module 462 and Super Module 464, the TCP/IP stack like in normal module 460 is used to transfer the one big application layer data unit. When, for example, Super Module 464 must deliver an application packet to a normal module. The one big application layer data unit is unbundled by Super Application layer 442, the TCP/IP packet reconstructed and sent to the normal node. Thus effectively many partially filled packages of data, each with overhead address information, can be recombined into one big package. For long haul, e.g., overseas, communication, the analogy is similar to the cost savings due to container shipping.
Super System Components
Described below is one embodiment of each of the components of the super system of
The Super User 530 includes software which resides on the user's PC, e.g., PC 140. A browser, e.g., Microsoft's Internet Explorer, is set to proxy to the Super User 530, so that all browser requests for data are supplied from the Super User 530. In addition, all user requests via the browser are sent to the Super User 530. Hence the browser is isolated from the rest of the network by the Super User. The Super User caches all the data the user has requested in a local cache on the user's PC, so that when the user requests the data again, it may be retrieved locally, if available, from the local cache. If the data that is cached exceeds a predetermined file size, then the Super User analyzes all the data in the local cache and deletes the data that is least likely to be used. For example, a conventional least recently used algorithm may be used to discard old data. Some of the software function of Super User 540 are:
The Super Appliance 532 includes software executing on LAN server 144. Some of the functions performed by the Super Appliance 532 includes, firewall security, global caching, teaming, smart hosting, and email management. Further function performed by the Super Appliance software include:
The more web sites that are maintained at the Super Appliance the more the access speed for web pages approaches the local area network speed. The more web pages maintained at the Super User the more the web access speed approaches hard disk access speed. The more web pages that can be copied and maintained on the Super Appliance and the Super User, the less the last mile becomes a bottleneck for response time.
The Super CO Server 534 is the bridge between the Internet backbone 114 and the user 110. One objective of the Super CO Server 534 is to minimize the traffic between the user and the Internet. The Super CO Server accomplishes this by copying the web sites accessed by the Super Users or normal users via the Super CO Server. The more web sites that are hosted on the Super CO Server, the more the network is optimized by reducing the movement of data across the network. If the web sites that are hosted at Super CO Server come from web sites stored on a Super CO Concentrator 536, the Super CO Server 534 requests updated web pages whenever notified by the Super CO Concentrator 536 that the web pages have changed. Web pages from the Super CO Concentrator 536 are stored in compressed and repackaged format. If the web sites that are hosted on the Super CO Server are not stored in the Super CO Concentrator, then the Super CO Server checks at predetermined intervals for changes in the web site at the hosting web server. The Super CO Server keeps a log of the web sites that are hosted on every Super Appliance 532 cache. As changes occur to web sites that exist on a Super Appliance cache, a notification is sent to that Super Appliance that changes have occurred and that the Super Appliance should request updated copies of the changed web pages. As data is received from a non Super CO Concentrator site it is compressed, packaged and stored on the Super CO Server. The Super CO Server determines from its request logs the web sites that are being accessed by its users and determines which web sites to copy and maintain at the Super CO Server 534 cache. The Super CO Server will also delete sites that are not being used. If a web site is not being stored and maintained, the web page is maintained in a separate global cache so that if it is requested again it can be supplied from the global cache. A correct balance needs to be maintained between the global cache and the web hosting. The global cache and Super CO Server can be implemented as one cache and managed separately or implemented as two separate caches. If a web page is requested from a Super Appliance then the web page is sent in super compressed and repackaged format, otherwise the web page is decompressed and sent to the requesting user. The Super Module closest to the user unpackages any repackaged formats and decompresses the data so that it is sent to the user in native form. The Super Module closest to the user also caches the information in non-compressed and non-packaged format. The optimizations used are related to the amount of compression applied to the variable data (usually text) and the amount of variable data on the web page. The more Rich Data formats are used on the Internet the more optimization is achieved. Flash software, files, java programs, java scripts etc. are all stored at the Super CO Server.
The data requests from the Super Appliances that are not satisfied by the Super CO Server cache are sent to the Super CO Concentrator 536 that is responsible for servicing the URL (web site) requested. The requests are packaged compressed and imploded according to the optimization schemes. In one embodiment, the first level of data implosion occurs at the Super CO Server. In an alternative embodiment implosion is done by the Super Appliance. The Super CO Server is organized by ISP geography so that duplicate usage characteristics that are regionally oriented can be imploded on request and exploded on response. All requests and imploded requests that cannot be responded to by data in the Super CO Server's cache are passed to the Super CO Concentrator.
The Super CO Concentrator 536 is organized by Web sites (URL's). This increases the probability that Web site data that users need will be in the CO concentrator's cache. It also increase the probability that requests can be imploded and network traffic can be reduced. Each Super CO Concentrator is responsible for caching and interfacing with the Super Hosts, e.g. 538, and other non Super Host web sites. For non Super Host web sites, Super CO Concentrator 536 is the first Super Module encountered and the initial repackaging, first compression, final implosion, first explosion, the conversion of all graphics to an optimized compression format, such as PNG or proprietary compression algorithms, and the first level of super caching occurs. This is also where all the checking and refreshing occurs for the other Super Modules. As data from the Web sites is refreshed and updated the Super CO Servers are notified so that all caches can be updated and refreshed.
The Web server hosts one or more web sites that are attached to the Internet. The Super Host, i.e., Super Host 538, replies to requests made from the Super CO Concentrators, e.g., 536. Each time a request is made for a down load of any web site hosted on the Web server, the Super Host 538 retrieves the web pages from the Web server and compresses and packages the contents before sending it to the requesting Super CO Concentrator. This improves the efficiency of the web transport by the effective compression rate and by sending a single data block for all the requested web page data. Each piece of information is analyzed and compressed using techniques that best perform for the specific type of data. As each Super CO Concentrator request is received, the Super Host records the IP address of the Super CO Concentrator. The Super Host checks the web sites contained on the Web server and sends notifications of any changed web pages to any Super CO Concentrator that has requested data from the web sites historically. This allows the Super CO Concentrator to know when it needs to refresh its version of the Web site and minimizes Web traffic by allowing the Super CO Concentrator to service user requests for web pages directly from its version of the web page in the Super CO Concentrator's cache. The only time the Super CO Concentrator version of the web page needs to be refreshed is when it has changed. This allows for minimized traffic from the web hosting sites to the ISP sites. There are many ISP sites accessing data at each web site. This is a step in moving web sites to the outer fringe of the Internet and bringing compression and packaging to the inner workings of the Internet. The challenge of moving web sites to the outer fringes of the Internet is to make sure data is current, the interlocking of the Super Module caches insures this.
Compression and Efficient File Format
Data compression is particularly useful in communications because it enables devices to transmit the same amount of information in fewer bits. There are a variety of data compression techniques, but only a few have been standardized. In addition, there are file compression formats, such as ARC, GZIP and ZIP.
One aspect of the present invention compresses data as close to the source of the data as possible and passes that compressed data along the network to a point where its is necessary to decompress. The compressed data is stored in compressed format at each Super Module between the source and destination, although not necessarily in the same compressed format. This allows the compression to change along with the load dynamics of the network. The conventional browser technology needs decompressed data, thus the data at the web site should be compressed and only decompressed just before being handed off to the browser. A significant need for compression is the last mile for that is where bandwidth limitations exist. Hence it is important that compression occur between the Super CO Server 534 and the Super Appliance 532 or Super User 540.
Another embodiment of the present invention uses different compression algorithms for different data formats, where a data format is an established layout for data. In general, data formats include bitmaps (strings of 1's and 0's) that describe images or sound patterns or both, binary (executable computer programs), text formats, (in which typically each byte value is mapped to a character), and numeric data formats (used by spreadsheet and other database programs). Data formats may further include flash for vector graphic animations, audio information and motion video information for multimedia applications and word processing documents which have embedded layout control characters. By selecting a compression algorithm based on data format, better results, e.g., a smaller compresses file size, can be achieved than using a generic algorithm for all data formats. For example, much more aggressive compression techniques can be used on text data than on graphics or binary files.
There is a trade off between reducing transmission latency due to compression and the time it takes a processor to compress the section of data. The goal is to minimize the users wait time for the data. Hence, at times, it may take more time to compress and send the section of data, then to send the section of data uncompressed; hence the section of data should not be compressed In choosing the different compression algorithms with different compression amounts and compression times, system operating conditions such as available processing cycles or available temporary storage space, need also to be considered. Each Super Module selects the compression algorithms based upon operating knowledge of the network. This operation knowledge is passed between Super Modules along with the data in the courier packets. For example, if the Super Module is busy, i.e., there are few available processing cycles, a less computationally intensive compression should be used, i.e., effectively the compression time is increased. This allows the compression to change along with the load dynamics of the network.
Besides looking at what should be compressed and how (i.e., the best compression algorithm), where the data is located is also important. In one embodiment the graphic and binary web page data, java scripts, flash programming, and other data that typically doesn't change, and may be less compressible, is maintained at the Super User or Super Appliance site. The variable data contained in web pages, i.e., typically text data, which typically varies, but is highly compressible can be updated from the web server or some intermediate Super Module on the Internet side of the last mile.
In addition, to compression having the data stored in an efficient format, i.e., a format that gives a smaller file size, has an effect similar to compression. In an embodiment of the present invention the first Super Module that encounters an inefficient data format converts it to an efficient format. This improves the transmission and caching of the converted data throughout the rest of the system. An example is the conversion of all graphics data from bitmaps and GIF formats to JPEG formats. This gives is ten to one improvement for bitmaps and a five to one improvement for GIF. Because about 90% of web page graphics are stored in GIF format, conversion to JPEG significantly improves information transfer and storage for web page graphics.
Typical web pages today contain a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) document, and many embedded images. The conventional behavior for a browser is to fetch the base HTML document, and then, after receipt of the base HTML document, the browser does a second fetch of the many embedded objects, which are typically located on the same web server. Each embedded object, i.e., application data unit, is put into a TCP data unit and each TCP data unit is divided into one or more IP packets. Sending many TCP/IP packets for the many embedded objects rather than, e.g., one large TCP/IP packet, means that the network spends more time than is necessary in sending the control data, in other words, the control data/time to application data/time ratio is too large. It is more efficient to combine the many embedded objects into one large application data unit and then create one (or at least a minimum number of) large TCP data unit. For the one large TCP data unit the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for the link between this sender Super Module and the next receiver Super Module is used for the IP packet(s). The sender Super Module will try to minimize the number of IP packets sent by trying to make each IP packet as close to the MTU as practical. For each link between a Super Module sender and a Super Module receiver the MTU is determined for that link and the size of the IP packets may change. Unlike the prior art where the lowest common denominator MTU among all the MTUs of communication links between the user and Web server is normally used, in this embodiment, the MTU of each link is used.
In one embodiment of the present invention application data units, e.g., users requests and Web server responses, are repackaged (or unpackaged) into a larger (or multiple smaller) modified application data unit(s), when necessary, at each Super Module, e.g., Super User, Super Appliance, Super Central Office (CO) Server, Super CO Concentrator, and Super Host. For example, let's combine two IP packets into one IP packet, which is one example of a "courier " packet. The first IP packet has a first IP header, a first TCP header, and a first application data unit. The second IP packet has a second IP header, a second TCP header, and a second application data unit. A first modified application data unit is created which has the first application data unit and a first pseudo header having control data from the first IP Header and first TCP header, such as source address, source and destination ports and other control information needed to reconstruct the first IP packet. A second modified application data unit is created which has the second application data unit and a second pseudo header having control data from the second IP Header and second TCP header, such as source address, source and destination ports and other control information needed to reconstruct the second IP packet. A combined application data unit is made having the first modified application data unit concatenated to the second modified application data unit. A new TCP header and IP header are added to the combined application data unit and the courier packet is formed. Thus necessary control information is embedded in the combined application data unit and the TCP/IP protocol is used to move the combined application data unit between a Super Module sender and a Super Module receiver. When the receiver is not a Super Module the combined application data unit is unbundled and the first IP packet and second IP packet are recreated and sent to the normal receiver by the Super Module sender.
The decision on whether to form at step 936 one large TCP data unit or multiple small TCP data units is dynamically determined depending on the traffic load on the link leaving the sender Super Module. For example, if the link is near capacity then it is more efficient to send multiple small TCP data units, and hence small IP packets, then one (or several) large IP packets, which would have to wait.
In both directions, as each Super Module receives courier packets they are examined, unpacked, and the data used to update that Super Module's cache. As the courier packets are bundled and unbundled, implosions of data requests and explosions of data responses are performed.
Data Request and Data Transfer Parallelism
In the example of the user requesting a Web page, the conventional behavior for a browser is to fetch the base HTML document, and then using the base HTML document, the browser does a subsequent fetch of the many embedded objects, which are typically located on one or more web servers. The embedded objects could be put in one large TCP data unit and returned to the browser. An improvement would have the web server get both the base HTML document and the embedded objects and return both in one large TCP data unit. This means that the web server serially retrieves the base HTML document and the embedded objects and then sends both to the browser. A further embodiment of the present invention parallelizes this serial process, i.e., the retrieving and sending, by first getting the base HTML document and sending the base document to the browser. While the base HTML document is in transit, the web server retrieves the embedded objects. Then the embedded objects are sent. Hence the time to send the base HTML document is saved over the serial process. The user gets the whole web page in a shorter amount of time using this parallel process.
Because there are many users requesting data from a finite number of web sites, the probability that requests for data are replicated for multiple users increases the closer one gets to the web servers. These duplicate requests are unnecessary network traffic and should be combined. An embodiment of the present invention implodes these duplicate requests, i.e., prunes the duplicate requests into one request, and explodes the responses, i.e., duplicates one response into several copies, at each Super Module.
While the explosion process is not shown on
The implosion and explosion of data is particularly valuable for streaming audio and/or video (especially for broadcasting). When more than one user requests the same TV, video, radio or music the requests are imploded and the transmissions are exploded. The amount of bandwidth saved especially for real time broadcasting is substantial. If many people are listening to an Internet radio station, the requests are imploded as they approach the web hosting server and exploded as the travel back to the users. Since the Internet radio station is broadcasting identical data that is synchronized in time the implosion may be about 100% at the Super Host (all requests implode to one request at the Super Host) and the explosion may be about 100% (all users are served by one stream to the Super Host from the web server).
Repackaging and Implosion/Explosion
The packet repackaging methods work in combination with the implosion/explosion methods to significantly increase the information flow. One embodiment of the process of a Super User 530 requesting web page content from a Web server 182 is:
The Web server 182 then processes the HTTP requests and produces HTTP responses, which are sent to the Super Host 538. The response processing includes:
Repackaging changes the efficiency of caching by storing web page data in one or more efficient blocks. This significantly reduces disk accesses by reducing the number of disk seeks.
Semi-Permanent TCP/IP Connection
Under HTTP 1.0 for every browser request and Web page response, there is a new TCP/IP virtual circuit established. This causes substantial delay, as there are many request/response pairs when a user is viewing a web site, and each virtual circuit requires a three-way handshake to establish the virtual circuit and a two or three way handshake to disconnect the virtual circuit. HTTP 1.1 provides reduced delay by establishing a persistent connection between the Web server and the HTTP 1.1 compliant browser. Hence, multiple requests can be sent in one TCP data unit and multiple responses received in one response TCP data unit. However, there are still some problems with HTTP 1.1. First, if a browser receives data from a second web server within an individual web page, then either the persistent connection to the first web server is lost or another persistent connection must be established. Second multiple users to the same web site cannot use the same persistent connection. Third the HTTP persistent connection is for Web content only and other application layer protocols, e.g., FTP, are not covered. And fourth, the persistent connection is for the whole path, not for parts of the path between the Web server and browser.
An embodiment of the present invention creates a semi-permanent TCP virtual circuit between any two Super Modules, e.g., the Super Appliance or Super User and the Super CO Server (the last mile), that lasts for either a predetermined time interval "T" or until one of the Super Modules is shut down. The semi-permanent TCP virtual circuit is established by a typical three-way TCP/IP handshake and disconnected by a typical two-way or three-way TCP/IP handshake. During the data transfer period, application data of all types, e.g., HTTP, FTP, or SMNP, and from different end sources to a common end destination, e.g., multiple users to a Web server or multiple Web servers to a user, may be transferred over this virtual circuit.
The reason that there is no limitation on the type of data or the sources of the data is because of use of courier packets. A courier packet received (or created) at the sender Super Module has an aggregation of all request or response application data units to the same destination in a large application data unit, where each request or response application data unit has a pseudo header with relevant control data, such as source address, source and destination TCP ports, etc. At the receiver Super Module, if necessary, e.g., the end user is not a Super User, the large application data unit containing the pseudo headers can be unbundled into separate TCP data units and IP packets and forwarded to the common destination. In effect the application layer has hidden the protocol and source differences from the lower three layers and the data transfer period is the transfer of a very big application data unit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is private network, such as a corporate intra-net, that uses the resources of a public network, such as the Internet. Two typical types of VPNs are site-to-site and remote access. Each type makes use of a VPN gateway, which is a gatekeeper, typically specialized hardware, between a trusted private network and the untrusted public network. The gatekeeper has a "guest" list of who has access to the trusted private network. If a packet is not on the list then there is no access.
The conventional VPNs as illustrated in
In alternative embodiment, Super User 1536 may also be a remote user and may not be logged on, when VPN 1552 is created. When Super User 1536 logs in, it is assigned an IP address and according to the permission table, a three way VPN including, Super User 1536, Super User 1510 and Super Appliance 1544, is established.
The optimizations described above for the super transport system can be applied across any VPN of embodiments of the present invention, as long as an Super Appliance module is installed on both sides of the VPN. As an example, two Super Modules can be connected using a VPN and all data transfers, whether they are files, email or web pages, use, for example, the compression techniques, courier packets, persistent TCP/IP, implosion/explosion, and/or efficient file formats described above.
Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described, various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, and equivalents are also encompassed within the scope of the invention. The described invention is not restricted to operation within certain specific data processing environments, but is free to operate within a plurality of data processing environments. Additionally, although the invention has been described using a particular series of transactions and steps, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of the invention is not limited to the described series of transactions and steps.
Further, while the invention has been described using a particular combination of hardware and software, it should be recognized that other combinations of hardware and software are also within the scope of the invention. The invention may be implemented only in hardware or only in software or using combinations thereof.
The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.
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text:
Drug Compare
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- Basic Info
Generic: difluprednate ophthalmic
It is used in the eye to treat pain and swelling caused by eye surgery or uveitis.
What is this medicine?DIFLUPREDNATE (DYE floo PRED nate) is used in the eye to treat pain and swelling caused by eye surgery or uveitis.
What should I tell my health care provider before I take this medicine?They need to know if you have any of these conditions:
How should I use this medicine?This medicine is only for use in the eye. Do not take by mouth. Follow the directions on the prescription label. Shake well before using. Wash your hands before and after use. Tilt your head back slightly, and then pull your lower eyelid down with your index finger to form a pouch. Do not to touch the tip of the dropper to your eye, fingertips, or other surface. Squeeze the prescribed number of drops into the eye pouch. Gently close the eye for a few moments to spread the drops. Do not blink. Keep the eyes closed and apply gentle pressure to the inner corner of the eye with your finger for 1 or 2 minutes to allow the medicine to be absorbed by the eye. Do not use the medicine more often than directed. Do not stop using this medicine earlier than directed by your doctor or health care professional.
Talk to your pediatrician regarding the use of this medicine in children. Special care may be needed.
What if I miss a dose?If you miss a dose, use it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, use only that dose. Do not use double or extra doses.
What may interact with this medicine?Interactions are not expected. Do not use any other eye products without asking your doctor or health care professional.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The GoPro Hero3+ Silver edition is now 15% smaller and lighter than past models. GoPro have really pushed the silver this year, it is 2X more powerful than the previous model, making it the most advanced silver edition…
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The GoPro Hero3+ Silver edition is now 15% smaller and lighter than past models. GoPro have really pushed the silver this year, it is 2X more powerful than the previous model, making it the most advanced silver edition to date. The Silver edition features a maximum 1080p resolution, 10 megapixels and has the capacity to d0 120 frames per second. Like the Black edition the Silver has the ability to take powerful photos, with 10 megapixel stills and also a time lapse option. With these features you can make your edits interesting with all the different modes that the silver has to offer.
The Silver, this year, has to offer a vastly upgraded lens and sensor. With this the sensor can adapt to different lighting levels and overall delivers incredible shots under low lighting giving you the best possible outcome. Working along side this is the sharper lens, which in comparison to last years is Crisper, clearer and with reduced distortion it can make even the roughest part of your ride, drive, surf look smooth. The Silver+ records in sharp and clear video quality, with high resolution and high frame rate you are shooting at professional level.
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MP4 File Format
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Micro SD card (not included) micro SD Class 10 memory card required, Up to 64gb capacity supported
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High Capacity Li-ion Battery
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HERO3+ Silver Edition Camera, 131'/40m Waterproof Housing, Higher Capacity Li-ion Battery, Quick Release Buckle, Vertical Quick Release Buckle, 1 Curved + 1 Flat Adhesive Mount, 3-Way Pivot Arm, USB Charging Cable
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Camera: 74grams Camera with Housing: 136grams
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We offer a range of delivery services for our UK and International customers. UK Customers can select our FREE standard delivery option on most non bike orders over £20. Or if you're in a hurry you can upgrade to our Next Day, Saturday or Sunday delivery services. You can also use our free Click & Collect service, where you can collect your purchases from a choice of over 50 Evans Cycles stores. International customers can benefit from FREE delivery on most orders and save UK VAT if we are shipping outside of the EU.
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text:
Thanks very much Michael for that kind introduction.
It's a pleasure to be in L.A. tonight with the World Affairs Council.
They don't let me out of the Pentagon much.
Either Secretary Gates or I have to be in Washington at all times. We have a very active Secretary who likes to get out and see the troops. That means that I'm generally in Washington rather than out. So I'm particularly happy to come to L.A.
The city plays an important role in our national defense, particularly through the contributions of the defense industry. L.A. is the home of many of our biggest and best defense contractors and aerospace firms. Together they form a critical part of your regional economy. As I understand the numbers, if you separated L.A. County out as a nation, it would have the 15th largest economy in the world. So it's clearly a substantial part of the nation's economic infrastructure.
Industry is a vital part of what DOD does. Our military might depends in great part on the ingenuity of our defense firms, which help ensure our troops have the very best equipment at all times. I was just down at Camp Pendleton yesterday and I got to see an important example of what that defense industry-Defense Department partnership can bring.
I saw something called the infantry simulation trainer. It trains troops at the squad level to understand what they're going to face in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a squad level simulation. It has all the smells. It has actors playing the roles of Iraqi or Afghan villagers. It's wired so it has simulations for RPGs, for IEDs, for firing. It was the brainchild of General Jim Mattis, who is now the commander of our Joint Forces Command.
Mattis had the inspiration that if we can use simulators to train pilots to learn how to fly 747s or F-15s or F-16s, why can't we use simulation to help train infantry squads. Why is that important? Because today, as is in almost all past wars, we suffer about 85 percent of our casualties at the ground force level.
Not only do 85 percent of the casualties come from ground troops, but the highest proportion comes in the first few weeks that they are in theatre. Until they get used to the rhythm that they're facing, until they understand what kinds of pulls and pressures they're going to have, they are at most risk. This simulation system helps them understand that before they're at risk and, therefore, is helping to reduce casualties.
The need for this training indicates something I want to talk to you about tonight. The changing nature of warfare. We need to adjust to several dynamics and security threats that have really started to move the tectonic plate of our national security environment.
Each of these changes has implications for how we design our defense programs. Each of them, if not carefully managed, could greatly undermine our security. I would like to go through these changes and talk about what we are doing to respond to them—how we are planning to shift the strategy.
The first and most prominent change in the global strategic environment has to do with lethality. Previously when you looked at the range of threats that we faced, the more capable the potential adversary, the higher level of lethality that they possessed. Large nation states had nuclear weapons and sophisticated conventional capabilities. Rogue states, terrorists, and insurgents did not.
In the world we live in now, this is no longer the case. Terrorist organizations and rogue states seek weapons of mass destruction. Insurgents are armed with improvised explosive devices that can penetrate even our most sophisticated armored vehicles. We even see criminals who have world class cyber capabilities.
In short, lethality no longer tracks closely along the threat spectrum. Today, lethality at the low end of the spectrum can be equal to that at the high end. To respond to this, our military forces must achieve greater agility. They need to be as proficient at waging a counterinsurgency campaign as they are confronting a large, sophisticated adversary.
The second change in the global security environment is the increasing duration of conflict. Since the Cold War ended, most war planning has revolved around fighting two major conflicts nearly simultaneously. There have been different iterations of that scheme or paradigm over the past 20 years. But in every instance, fighting two major conflicts has been at the core of our planning assumptions.
And what our planning always anticipated was that while a conflict might be very intense, it would be relatively short. Desert Storm was the classic example of this type of conflict. But the construct no longer fits our current reality. We are already fighting two wars and it was not the intensity of the initial combat phase that proved the most challenging in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rather, after eight years in those two conflicts, we are finding that it is the duration of the conflicts that places the most stress on our military. These wars have now lasted longer than the United States' participation in World War I and World War II combined. Sending forces back for second, third, and fourth deployments comes at a very high cost.
It imposes a tremendous burden on our war fighters, on their families, and ultimately on the nation. So as we look out at potential scenarios, the possible duration of a conflict becomes as important a driver as its intensity.
The third change in the global security environment is that the practice of war has moved more and more toward asymmetric threats. Battlegrounds used to be a meeting of like on like forces, cavalry on cavalry, armor on armor in World War II. In the Cold War, nuclear versus nuclear.
But this is less and less the case today. U.S. conventional dominance in almost all instances has led potential adversaries to seek asymmetric tactics. Rather than fighting us head to head, they use IEDs to counter our mechanized advantage, or guerrilla tactics to avoid direct combat. Some countries with ambitions in their regions are also investing in asymmetric weapons that could deny our access to the global commons.
These weapons include surface-to-surface missiles, cyber capabilities, and anti-satellite technologies. They can be used to block our use of the air, the sea, the space, and the cyberspace domains. Asymmetric tactics are designed to force us further from the battlefield and to prevent us from using all of our capabilities. To maintain our ability to project military power, we must address these efforts to negate our conventional superiority. This is a critical element in the new strategy we're developing.
The fourth and final trend in the global security environment is what brings me to California today—the cyber threat to our national security and to our economic security. This afternoon I spoke with a group of CEOs here in L.A. about the cyber threat. I just spent a half hour with high school students, and most of their questions revolved around the cyber threat.
Tomorrow I'm going up to Silicon Valley to spend time with some of the firms up there, to understand what their perspective is on the threats we face. But there's no exaggerating our nation's dependence on information networks. This is especially true in the Department of Defense.
For command and control of our forces, intelligence and logistics, for weapons and technologies that we field, they all depend on computer systems and networks. The Internet is magical in its ability to connect us to others. But it's also a two-way street. And over the past 10 years, the frequency and sophistication of cyber intrusions has increased exponentially.
Our networks are under threat every hour of every day. They are probed thousands of times a day. They are scanned millions of times a day, and we have not always been as successful as we need to be in stopping those intrusions or even in determining where they came from.
We know more than 100 foreign intelligence organizations are trying to hack into U.S. systems. We know foreign military are developing offensive cyber capabilities. And we know some governments already have the capacity to disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure. As I said, we even see criminals who have world-class cyber capabilities.
Not even our President has been spared. During the presidential campaign in 2008, hackers gained access to the campaign files of Barack Obama. Policy papers, travel plans, and sensitive e-mails were all compromised. The intrusion was eventually detected and repelled, but not before some sensitive information was taken.
For all of these reasons, the President has called the cyber threat one of the "most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation." So the cyber threat is a very real one to our military but also to our critical infrastructure and to our economy.
To meet this new range of threats, Secretary Gates and I have proposed several strategic adjustments in the Department of Defense. First, we need the capability to respond to both high-end and low-end threats. Our military must have what Secretary Gates has called "a portfolio of military capabilities with maximum possible versatility across the widest spectrum of conflict." We are not going to be able to predict with certainty where we're going to fight next, what the nature of the adversary is, or what their specific capabilities will be. So to address unforeseen circumstances, we need agility and flexibility in our forces.
Second, we need to shift some resources from longer-range scenarios, looking out a decade or more, to the fights that we face right now, today. Secretary Gates has done that by deploying mine-resistant vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan, by deploying more intelligence and surveillance support for our troops, and by deploying more rotary lift to move those troops around the theatres.
We have aggressively supported tools for the war fighters that are directly applicable to Iraq and Afghanistan. But in a broader sense we are working to institutionalize our ability to wage irregular warfare, a core mission that has been neglected for too long. At the same time, we need to address the asymmetric threats I described by developing a range of new capabilities. This includes our ability to track and neutralize weapons of mass destruction, our ability to offer security assistance to weak and fragile states, and our ability to defend our computer networks against intrusion and attacks.
Third, the longer duration of conflict has implications for our force planning and how we support our troops and their families. We must plan for a range of plausible conflicts that include both high-end confrontations, as well as major overlapping campaigns in distant theatres. But we also must take account of engagements that may be of lower intensity but longer duration.
Given these pressures, we are moving to reduce the stress on our force. To address the broader set of missions our forces are taking on, we have halted reductions in the Navy and in the Air Force and we have increased the size of the Army and the Marine Corps ahead of schedule. This will enable us to reduce deployment tempos and increase dwell times, which are key goals of both the Secretary and the President.
We have also made large investments in programs to support military families, and to support wounded warriors. Our people are the greatest strategic resource we have, and we especially need to help them cope with the stress of multiple deployments and combat injuries.
Identifying changes in the nature of war is only the first step. We also need to resource the strategic judgments we have made. But because of our nation's challenging fiscal climate, resources are more constrained today than they have been in many years. In his State of the Union address, President Obama announced a spending freeze on all domestic agencies.
At the same time the President made a strategic choice to continue funding real budget growth in our national security agencies. As we fight two wars and as we face new threats, the President believes that budget increases are critical to protect our national security. But even with these increases, some of the costs embedded in our budget are going to grow faster than the budget as a whole. Health care costs, wages and benefits, and some of the most advanced weapons technology are all likely to continue growing faster than our overall budget.
This presents a dilemma. Either the Department, in partnership with our industrial base, can become more efficient. Or else we will eventually be forced to reduce programs and ultimately to diminish capabilities. So we're looking to make a series of lasting reforms that will develop efficiencies and yield cost savings while maintaining performance.
We have identified three areas of potential improvements in the Department that could yield these efficiency gains. The first is the acquisition system. In many cases, we found the Department simply was not a smart buyer. So over the next five years we are increasing our acquisition workforce. We are hiring 9,000 new employees and we're converting 11,000 contractors to federal service.
The point of this effort is to strengthen our in-house expertise in cost estimation, program management, and systems engineering. These are the very disciplines that we were lacking and that prevented us from being the smart buyer we need to be.
We are also exploring how the acquisition process should be geared for different applications. Buying services or technologies on the commercial market presents different acquisition challenges than complex weapons systems that have significant R&D components. Take information technology as an example. On average, it takes the Department 81 months from when an IT program is first funded to when it becomes operational.
If we take into the account the continued growth of computing power, this means that systems are being delivered four to five generations behind the state of the art. By comparison, the iPhone was developed in 24 months. That's less time than it would take us to budget for an iPhone.
I'm serious.
Just to prepare, defend, and receive congressional approval for our budget takes about 24 months. This has to change. We need a different approach for the acquisition of information technology and to many of the other technologies and services we buy.
Ensuring our workforce is composed of the right set of skills and is the right size for the task is the second broad way we can achieve efficiencies. We are currently evaluating the appropriate balance of civil servants and private contractors in our workforce. The trend towards contract support over the last two decades has yielded many important gains, but we believe we have over-steered in several areas.
In the past few years the private contractor workforce has surged to about 39 percent of our overall workforce. Over our next five-year period, the goal is to reduce that back to the more traditional level, a steady-state of about 26 percent of the workforce. Cost effectiveness is one of the most important reasons for rolling back the use of contractors, but other criteria matter as well.
Some contracting introduces operational risk or contributes to the de-skilling of the federal workforce. And some activities are best performed by employees with direct responsibility for the public interest. So the Department is in the process of establishing 33,000 positions in various DOD components.
Finally, bringing efficiency to the Department in the end requires the discipline to cancel programs that either aren't working or aren't needed. President Reagan famously said that the closest thing to immortality in this life is a government program.
Secretary Gates has demonstrated that this Washington truism isn't true in every case. In both the FY 2010 budget and the 2011 budget, he has canceled several types of programs. Programs that were performing poorly. Programs that were providing redundant capabilities. And programs that were funding exquisite capabilities that were simply not central to our security challenges. If carried to completion, the programs Secretary Gates canceled would have cost the taxpayer more than $330 billion.
The bottom line is that by exercising program discipline we're able to direct resources to the highest priority programs. In the aggregate, these tough decisions enhance our ability to protect the American people.
The world continues to present dangerous and unpredictable challenges to our national security. I have described some of the trends in the strategic environment that we believe have far-reaching implications. These trends are driven by fundamental changes in the nature of war, changes we already see reflected in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are moving aggressively to adjust our strategy in the underlying programs and posture to meet these challenges.
And we are doing so in an austere fiscal environment that requires us to go beyond merely adding new capabilities. Because our costs are growing faster than our budget, we also must become more efficient at what we do.
Succeeding in these tumultuous times, while prevailing in Afghanistan and Iraq, will not be easy. But I am confident that we have chartered a path that will keep our nation safe.
Our military today is the best equipped, best trained, and best led the world has ever seen. Yesterday at Camp Pendleton, I saw us utilize new techniques in simulation to make this force even better. We can never let up pursuing this kind of excellence in our military. We have to adjust to the changing nature of warfare and we need to utilize our technology to stay ahead of our potential adversaries.
Thank you very much.
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Washington, D.C.
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Charlotte, North Carolina
As Delivered by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
As Delivered by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Berlin, Germany
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, National Museum of the Marine Corps
As Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA


text:
Q&A: iPod and Market Structure: In what type of market does the iPod operate in?
In this answer I will assume that we are discussing the market for personal digital audio and video media players. Keep in mind that music can be downloaded (legally and illegally) in numerous ways such as the iPod, smart phones and standard laptops.
Apple's iPod was launched in 2001 and in that time Apple has sold more than 180 million units. Quarterly sales worldwide continue to nudge between 9 and 10 million. Despite the entry of Microsoft's Zune digital media player (launched in 2006, manufactured by Japan's Toshiba and pictured below) and existing players produced by the likes of Sony, Creative and Samsung, the Apple iPod continues to enjoy a market share of more than eighty per cent. In this sense, the iPod can be said to have a monopoly position in the market and well established market dominance.
An important point is that the early generations of the iPod largely created a new market rather than displacing an existing one. And Apple's strategy since then has been to innovate and deliver new products to the market that appeal to a new group of consumers.
Indeed there are those who claim that Apple has built up a vertical monopoly in this market based around the success of the iPod, iPod Shuffle, iTouch, iPod Nano with Apples iTunes software, the iTunes Music Store platform, and the FairPlay digital rights management system (DRM). Until recently, DRM acted as a barrier to entry in the market because it prevented consumers who had purchased songs through iTunes from using them on digital players other than Apple's own products.
In January 2009 Apple has finally made agreements with the big music labels to offer music free of DRM protection. As the Times reported in January 2009 "DRM-protected songs prevent music being copied — an option insisted on by recording studios — meaning that iTunes tracks could be played only on Apple products such as iPods." iPod's market position has been further reinforced by a mini-economy of accessories that have been released onto the market - from docking stations to headphones.
Another view is that the different versions of the iPod compete within an oligopoly.
An oligopoly is a market dominated by a few producers, each of which has some control over the market. However, oligopoly is best defined by the conduct (or behaviour) of firms within a market rather than its market structure. In an oligopoly we frequently see many of these aspects:
1/ Periods of intense price competition between rival brands
2/ Heavy investment in research and development to speed up product and process innovation
3/ An emphasis on non-price competition as a way of gaining and protecting market share
4/ The existence of entry and exit barriers which limit the number of businesses that can operate profitably in the market
The iPod fits fairly neatly into this type of market structure
(i) The use of patented technologies such as digital rights management to protect Apple's position
(ii) Encouraging developers to bring out new applications for products such as the iTouch
(iii) Exploitation of large economies of scale which brings down the unit costs of production
(iv) Occasional price wars as the main suppliers compete for market share
(v) Strong focus on the brand and on new generations of digital media players with new features / extra functionality / stronger design and improved portability
The success of the iPhone raises questions about the future of the iPod! Is there still a distinct need for a personal digital media player when all of its features are offered by the iPhone? The fiercest battle is now in the smart phone market where Apple faces tough competition from Nokia and Research in Motion, the manufacturer of the Blackberry.
Will the iPod still be around in ten years time?
This course supports colleagues delivering labour market topics included in the new A Level Economics specifications.
This resource comprises a complete collection of editable lesson topic worksheets and exam-style case studies that are ideal for teaching individual topics for the whole Year 1 (AS) teaching content.
This 48-page, full-colour printed revision guide written by tutor2u's Geoff Riley is designed to support students preparing for their AS Economics exams on microeconomics.


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Surprising Sharks, a free exhibition with plenty of bite, opens at the Natural History Museum at Tring today.
If you thought all sharks were human-eating killers, this new exhibition should give you a big surprise.
The exhibition lets you discover the amazing variety of shark shapes and sizes and the tricks used by these fish that make them top predators. And find out why humans are more of a threat to sharks than they are to us.
'Sharks are captivating creatures with an undeserved bad reputation' said Paul Kitching, Museum Manager of the Natural History Museum at Tring. 'We hope this exhibition makes our visitors realise how incredible sharks are and that some prefer eating plankton to people.'
You can peer inside the jaws of a great white shark, marvel at the chocolate bar-sized spined pygmy shark and feel shark teeth and skin for yourself. There will be activities for the school holidays to accompany the exhibition including making shark sock puppets and masks.
Surprising Sharks is based on the popular book by Nicola Davies and features illustrations by James Croft, and runs from 11 February - 6 July 2008.


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Entirely in line with expectations, the Reserve Bank of India in its mid-quarter policy review announced on Tuesday reduced the policy repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 7.5 per cent. On strict monetary grounds the case for a rate cut might not have been so obvious. However, in its first policy statement after the budget, the RBI would have found it difficult to resist pressures and not so subtle hints including from the Finance Minister himself. The budget had stressed fiscal consolidation, which the RBI has been asking for, as an essential complement to the anti-inflation stance of its monetary policy. So irrespective of whether the revised fiscal road map — which among other signposts calls for the ratio of gross fiscal deficit to GDP to decline to 4.8 per cent in 2013-14 — can in fact be reached, the RBI was forced to act. However, even without the government's prompts, the RBI has not ignored growth concerns. Recent policy statements have, in fact, shifted the RBI's focus away from inflation towards growth. As so often in the past, the mid-quarter review explains why monetary policy has to balance the conflicting claims of growth and inflation.
Growth has decelerated significantly. In the third quarter of the current year, GDP growth at 4.5 per cent was the weakest in 15 quarters. Particularly worrying has been the decade-low growth in the services sector. Industrial output has turned positive in January but significant weaknesses in capital goods production and mining activity remain. Initial estimates of the kharif crop indicate a lower level of foodgrains production compared to last year. If these suggest an easier monetary policy, the messages from the inflation front are not so clear-cut. While WPI inflation has edged up to 6.8 per cent in February from 6.6 in January, the other widely relied upon inflation index relating to core inflation — non-food manufactured inflation — has been coming down. Food inflation has remained worryingly high. Persistently high food prices have a negative impact on inflation expectations. They also explain the growing wedge between wholesale and retail inflation. Inflation is expected to remain at around the current levels during 2013-14. A competitive interest rate is necessary for reviving investment, but it needs to be backed by other measures such as easing supply constraints, staying the course on fiscal consolidation and emphasising quality governance. For these reasons, while the monetary policy stance underscores the need to address growth risks, the headroom for further monetary easing remains quite limited.


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State Board of Education members blasted Georgia Cyber Academy officials Tuesday, saying the online school is failing to meet the needs of its special education students.
GCA, Georgia's first statewide online school, has seen its student population explode in recent years. Its number of special needs students has risen to 1,100 from 600 two years ago, according to the head of the school, Matt Arkin.
Board members said GCA has not increased its capacity to assess and teach its special needs students, despite a repeated push from the Georgia Department of Education. In unusually harsh language for a board that typically supports charter schools, members ripped Arkin and GCA.
"We have very serious concerns," board member Brian Burdette said. "They have been warned several times that they are out of compliance. They have been given second chance after second chance."


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Tom Degan: Strategically, Ryan was a pretty good choice. He'll bring out the brain-dead base, and uninformed moderates will be wooed by his amiable qualities.
When "Good" Dictators Go Bad
Norman Solomon: And so, the secretary of state condemns awful Iran, invoking "our sense of human dignity, the rights that flow from it and the principles that ground it." But don't hold your breath for any such condemnation of, say, Saudi Arabia — surely an "awful" government that "routinely violates the rights of its people."


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Adam Lambert On His Best Behavior for David Letterman: Video
There was no kissing, no crotch grabbing, just Adam Lambert doing what he did best on last season of 'American Idol' ... raising the roof with his voice. Watch the performance:
Following the AMAs, Lambert told PopEater "If you are in the public eye and you are a certain type of persona, you're putting certain ideas out there you're bound to have people look up to them. You're also bound to have people who completely reject them and hate you for it. I could be somebody's role model, but on the flip side I could be somebody's worst nightmare at the same time. You never know how you're going to affect people, being in this position." Read More of Our Interview With Him >>>
- Filed under:
- Music News -
- TV News -
- Celebrity Scandal -
- Videos -
- Hottest Stories -
- Adam Lambert
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Tom
I'm damn sure someone kicked Lambert in the ass, anad told him he was dangerously close to blowing his career. Bad play of words, but you know what I mean.
Better keep a low profile Lambert.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy mickey
Sorry bozo homo, can't unring a bell.
- Friday 27 NovemberBy gngrgurl
Amen! A woman beater over Adam, NOT!! I luv Adam's vocals & presentation but I would not have suggested that particular performance on AMA. That was an ooooops. Don't be another Boy George. Let's get back to & stick with positive music performances for the younger generation since they're the ones spending most of the money to buy Adam's music. He is worth the money. I want to see him get rich off his positive talent. These would be the same suggestions I'd offer to my adult son & adult grandson if they were in show business.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Sam Mendez
No matter what, to me U are a tryly star and phenomenen
Kepp it like that and just if U focus in ur voice, U'll be a Rock star wh'll last forever ^_^
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy jbjg24m
u need to learn how to spell !
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy roseybaby63
I really enjoyed this performance. I liked the song he sang at the AMAs, but the performance was a bit too much. I like him toned down a bit much better.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy LaylaHigh Rank Vote downVote upReport this
I actually really liked this song! I HATED the song at the AMA's but loved his performance. This was a really nice song and performance, nice job Adam!
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Robert
Just sing man, that's all you need to do to be successful.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Jan
Yes Robert...You said it in a nutshell. JUST SING ADAM...We dont need all the other stuff. I for one, fell in love with his amazing voice, not to mention he is gorgeous and was very humble before t he AMA'S. lETS HOPE PEOPLE CAN PUT THIS BEHIND THEM AND ALLOW ADAM TO SHOW THE WORLD HIS AMAZING VOICE AND TALENT,.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Robert
He's got a great voice Jan glad you agree, I'd hate to see that dismissed. As a musician I appreciate his talent.
Another Black Season
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy milo
He's a no talent, nut job who likes to suck other men.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy pj
thank you adam thats the one i fell in love with on AI great performance
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy ChoperiaLow Ranked Vote downVote upReport this
If a male or female kissed me like he did that band member I would be pissed! Doesn't anyone question that? As an attorney I would nail him on that fact as it was planned. He wasn't winging it. Geez...............LIAR
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Tad
This was Adam at his best. Thank God Letterman didn't wimp out and cancel him after the debacle on the AMA. This song is one of the best on his new CD...and there will be others singles to follow - chart busters each and every one. The guy is destined for super stardom, not because he pushes boundaries, but soley due to his enormous talent and stage presence....and that voice! Put your judgements aside and allow him to develop as other artists have done. This guy's career has legs...trust me.
- Friday 27 NovemberBy kathyrn5kHigh Rank Vote downVote upReport this
Letterman needs ratings...Adam surely will give him that!
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy roni
I don't think Adam should conform to societies rules. Break all the rules Adam!! We love you because you are a total non-conformist. Be edgy, sexy, raunchy, over the top, that's why we all LOVE YOU!!
***please follow @firecelytimid ***
- Friday 04 DecemberBy el
Nate you are an idiot!
- Thursday 26 November
This guy is an idiot. Too late buddy, ya blew it.
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Harrison
Adam SUCKS ...in more ways than one! He has no talent and makes a fool of himself so he will be noticed. Does any gay guy really want that Drag?
- Thursday 26 NovemberBy Sal
He is one turkey azz.
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CreditStats: Integrated Oil & Gas--Europe, Middle East, Africa Aug 12
- Language: English
- Published: August 2012
- Region: Africa, East Africa, Middle East
How should we set future refining margins for credit analysis purposes- Due to low visibility of the sector's margins, it is beyond doubt that prudence is needed when estimating future margins and taking into account the fundamental positives and negatives. Apart from explaining how Standard & Poor's Ratings Services makes its refining margin assumptions, this article explores accounting and analytical financial issues that are specific to the refining sector. An introduction to this subject is provided in the article titled "Will European Oil Refiners Be Prepared When The Cycle Turns-". A second article, "European Refining Business Risks: What Drives Cycles And Profits-" focuses on the refining sector's business risk outlook, which underpins part of our refining working assumptions set out...
Companies mentioned in this report are:
- Royal Dutch Shell PLC
- Repsol S.A.
- Eni SpA
- Total S.A.
- MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas PLC
Standard and Poors RatingsXpress Credit Research provides in-depth coverage of international corporates, financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, sovereigns and structured finance programs. RatingsXpress Credit Research lets users determine the credit rating of holdings and identify key factors underlying an issuer's creditworthiness, distinguishes the different risk exposures for new and existing deals, and provides an understanding of how their analysts interpret key regulatory, political and environmental events and their economic impact.
Research Type: Commentary
Criteria articles describe the thought process and methodology Standard & Poor's analysts use in determining ratings. These commentary pieces discuss both the quantitative (economic and financial) and qualitative (business analysis and caliber of management) aspects of the analysis, as well as legal issues. SHOW LESS READ MORE >
- Royal Dutch Shell PLC
- Repsol S.A.
- Eni SpA
- Total S.A.
- MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas PLC


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The EPA is essentially "energy profiling" by picking favorites to drive U.S. energy policy, and there are questions concerning whether EPA's proposed rule, if enacted, will stand in court.
This policy play has been tried and failed many times. In Australia, a carbon tax drove up energy costs to double that of other nations. Outrage over soaring electricity costs, lost jobs and a soft economy resulted in the worst Labor defeat in eight decades, with recent installation of the new liberal party government.
"Beware the Faddish Politics of Climate Change"
- Wall Street Journal, Sept. 9, 2013
The Australian carbon tax sent electricity cost soaring to averages costs that were more than 175% higher than the average cost per kilowatt hour in the United States.
In Europe, a longstanding emissions trading system has raised electricity prices, increased national debt and driven out businesses and jobs. Electricity prices rose 37 percent higher than those in the United States when indexed against 2005 prices, according to the European Commission. And the region suffers a 26 percent unemployment rate. Sadly, about 1.4 million European households are expected to be pushed into energy poverty as soon as 2020.
The average electricity prices in the European Union are 37 percent higher than those in the United States when indexed against 2005 prices. High energy costs contribute to unemployment and lost manufacturing jobs.
In California, where coal is essentially left out of the energy equation, electricity prices are among the highest in the nation. The state has a negative net worth of $127 billion.
These are lessons, not models for U.S. energy policy.
California's electricity rates are 40% higher than the U.S. average. The state has lost 700,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000.
Beyond the issues with poor policy, there is an important legal question about the agency's actions: The EPA seeks a rule that will mandate carbon capture and storage technology for all new coal plants. While this technology is promising for the future, it is not commercially available, and certainly not able to satisfy the nation's need for low-cost power.
Many believe the agency is acting outside its authority under the Clean Air Act by attempting to rewrite energy policy and force a standard that is impossible to achieve. Congress never intended the Clean Air Act to be used this way.
The EPA withdrew the first carbon proposal it made last year. Its second attempt will likely be overturned in court. Click here to listen to a podcast about EPA's overreach with nationally recognized environmental attorney Peter Glaser, who is based in Washington, D.C.
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