Patent Application
20130067115
The A (Address) wildcard DNS record is a record in a DNS zone that will match requests for non-existent domain names. This invention relates generally to methods of accessing internet resources using URLs (Universal Resource Locators). In specific, it relates to a noble method of utilizing the non-existent domain names and uses the left-most label, identified as the “DOMAIN PREFIX”, for the purpose of managing output URLs that are specific to each domain. The invention makes it easy to map long and complex URLs to a more user friendly, meaningful, and descriptive non-existent domain name. The defined “DOMAIN PREFIX” values along with their associated keywords and re-direct output URLs will be stored in a centralized database to be accessed and utilized for the purpose of locating specific internet resources of the same or different protocol.
Requests and Responses are the methods of obtaining internet resources. The request is initiated by the client, normally by entering a URL address into a web browser or by a software application that generates the URL to be sent as a Request. Upon initiating a Request, the host server that will be receiving the requests, which stores contents such as HTML and other files, or processes various functions on behalf of the client, will return responses in the form of messages to the client.
The Response message that is sent back to the client by the host server can contain a task completion status about the Request that was initiated by the client or a content of a resource presented in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), which is the predominant language in building web pages' contents that can be rendered to the client. Generally, to be displayed on the client's browser
The Request-Response computing model, which is technically known as the client-server computing model, is made available through the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which is designed to permit intermediate network elements to improve and enable communications between the clients and the servers.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the networking protocol that ensures the unique identity of host servers on the internet. Each host server machine needs to be assigned a unique IP address. This protocol ensures that all qualified domain names are pointing to a unique host server machine.
The rules of forming a domain name are specified by the Internet Network Information Center which is known as InterNIC, articles RFC 1035, RFC 1123, and RFC 2181. The rules indicates that the characters a through z, A through Z, digits 0 through 9, and the hyphen “-” are the only characters that are allowed and the domain name can not start or end with the hyphen “-”. This rule is known as the LDH rule (letters, digits, hyphen). The domain name consists of one or more parts which are called labels. These labels are concatenated and delimited by dots “.”, such as MyBrandedName.com. The right-most label is known as the top-level domain (TLD). For example, the domain name MyBrandedName.com consists of MyBrandedName as the domain and com as the top level domain.
Once the domain name is registered, the website design is established by either the owner of the domain himself/herself or it is handed to a web design firm. Upon completion, the website is then deployed to a host server machine that is connected to the internet and identified by a unique IP address
Branding is the concept of obtaining an internet identity (DOMAIN NAME). It involves registering a domain name through a domain name registrar organization such as godaddy.com, networksolutions.com, and verio.com to name a few. It is always desired to obtain a domain name that reflects the service or the product being offered by the one seeking the domain name, which may or may not be available. Since the cost of registering a domain name has dropped significantly, it has been common for someone to register massive number of domains for the sake of auctioning them in the future. The contact information, such as the name, phone number, company name (optional), and address are required by ICANN (Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers) when registering a domain. The contact information can be public or private. Domain tools, such as whois.domaintools.com, provide a way to get the contact information for given domain if it is set to be public.
Another means of establishing an internet presence is by subscribing to popular domains, for example: ebay.com, facebook.com, and twitter.com. Where the URL address of the web page will take on the format of PopularDomain.comkRegistered-Name-WEB-PAGE> where the obtained <Registered-Name-WEB-PAGE> is unique to the hosting domain and subject to availability and it is obtained on a first come first served basis. It is a common practice for popular domains to require the user to enter contact information such as the name, phone number, and address.
Domain resources are accessed by Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Every URL consists of some of the following:
The scheme name (the protocol), followed by a colon “:”, then, depending on the scheme, a domain name, a port number, and the path of the resource
Some of the most commonly used protocols are:
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) takes on the following format: HTTP://<HOST NAME>[:PORT #][/ABSOLUTE PATH][?<QUERY STRING>][#<FRAGMENT>] (The bracketed parts are optional) The <HOST NAME> is mandatory and should be the qualified domain name or the IP address. For example, http://MyBrandedName.com will render the default page, as defined on the host machine's web server engine, to the browser which can be http://MyBrandedName.com/Default.aspx
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host machine to another over TCP-based network, such as the internet.
FTP URL syntax is described in RFC1738 and it takes on the following form:
FTP://[<USER>[:<PASSWORD>]@]<HOST>[:<PORT>]/<URL-PATH> (The bracketed parts are optional) For example: ftp://ftp.uspto.gov/pub/forms/ProvisionalSB.pdf
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an internet standard for electronic mail (e-mail) transmission across the Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
The mailto URI scheme, as registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), defines the scheme for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) email addresses. Its format is defined as:
For example, mailto:emailaddress @MyBrandedName.com
Typing the above URL into a web browser or clicking on the link when embedded within an HTML document in the following form:
<a href=“mailto:emailaddress @MyBrandedName.com”>Send Mail<a>, will open a new message window of the user's client default email application program, such as Microsoft Office Outlook running on a desktop, with the email address emailaddress@MyBrandedName.com defined by the URL in the “To:” field. This is also generally the case in most smart devices and phones such as the popular IPHONE, BLACKBERRY, IPAD, and numerous other smart devices' manufacturers.
An application programming interface (API) is a particular set of rules (‘code’) and specifications that software programs can follow to communicate with each other. It serves as an interface between different software programs and facilitates their interaction, similar to the way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers. An API can be created for applications, libraries, operating systems, etc., as a way of defining their “vocabularies” and resources request conventions (example: function-calling conventions). It may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and protocols used to communicate between the consumer program and the implementer program of the API.
A Web service is a method of communication between two electronic devices over a network. Web Services were intended to solve three main problems, that is Firewall Traversal, Complexity, and Interoperability.
Web API is a development in Web applications. Web APIs allow the combination of multiple Web services into new applications. When used in the context of Web development, Web API is typically a defined set of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request messages along with a definition of the structure of response messages, usually expressed in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.
Web crawling is used by major search engines, for example: GOOGLE.COM, BING.COM, and YAHOO.COM. It is the process of scanning the content of web pages for later processing by the search engine that will index the visited pages to provide the user's search request on the search engine's main website. It analyzes and indexes the visited pages.
In computing, a user agent is a client application implementing a network protocol used in communications within a client-server distributed computing system. Web user agents range from Web browsers to search engine crawlers (spiders), as well as mobile phones, screen readers and Braille browsers used by people with disabilities. When a user agent operates, it typically identifies itself, its application type, operating system, software vendor, or software revision, by submitting a characteristic identification string to its operating peer. In the HTTP, SIP, and SMTP/NNTP protocols, this is transmitted in a header field User-Agent. Bots, such as Web crawlers, often also include a URL and/or e-mail address so that the Webmaster can contact the operator of the bot.
A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) that is based on the relational model. Most popular commercial and open source databases currently in use are based on the relational database model. It is a collection of tables for storing information in a restricted manner maintaining the integrity of the information and their relationship.
Regular expression, also referred to as REGEX or REGEXP, provides a concise and flexible means for matching strings of text, such as particular characters, words, or patterns of characters. A regular expression is written in a formal language that can be interpreted by a regular expression processor, a program that either serves as a parser generator or examines text and identifies parts that match the provided specification.
Accessing the internet is made available through Landline and wireless networks such as the 3G and 4G wireless networks
Internet carriers provide several internet access usage plans, known to be data plans. Pricing is also determined by the options. Examples, unlimited data plan versus limited amount of usage in which if it is exceeded, an over usage charge will be applied.
The Internet maintains two principal namespaces, the domain name hierarchy and the Internet Protocol (IP) address system. The Domain Name System maintains the domain namespace and provides translation services between these two namespaces. Internet name servers and a communication protocol implement the Domain Name System. A DNS name server is a server that stores the DNS records for a domain name, such as address (A) records, name server (NS) records, and mail exchanger (MX) records; a DNS name server responds with answers to queries against its database.
In general, the Domain Name System also stores other types of information, such as the list of mail servers that accept email for a given Internet domain. By providing a worldwide, distributed keyword-based redirection service, the Domain Name System is an essential component of the functionality of the Internet.
Domain Name System (DNS) translates IP addresses to their associated human qualified domain names. For example, after pointing MyBrandedName.com to the host server's IP address 152.25.26.34, the user needs not to remember the IP address and instead can use the domain name MyBrandedName.com to access the internet resource, which in this case, is the main website
Domain name registrar organizations provide a Domain Name System (DNS) management tool for setting up host records which is known as “DNS manager”. The tool provides the mean to edit the Zone file of the domain. The Zone file is a text file that describes a DNS zone and contains mapping between domain names and host servers' IP addresses and other resources. The A(Address) host records are mapped to IP addresses and the CNAME(Alias) records are mapped to qualified domains or one of the domain's defined A(Address) host records. The combined list of records within the zone file must be unique. The Domain Name System (DNS) zone file does not permit the use of fully qualified URLs. For example, it is not permitted to setup the CNAME (Alias) host record “contact” to point to MyBrandedName.com/contact.aspx. A wild card DNS record is permitted to be setup as an A (Address) host record. When a wild card record is present in a zone file of a domain, all the non-existing sub domains will be directed to the assigned host server's IP address. When a non-existing domain reaches the assigned host server, the default web site that is setup on the host server will be rendered to the client that originated the Request. Records within the zone file can point to the same or different host server IP address. Once an A (Address) host record of a domain is setup to point to an IP address, it is then considered to be a qualified domain, also known as a sub domain.
Table-1 illustrates the use of the DNS Manager tool to setup the A (Address) host records of the domain MyBrandedName.com
Entry #1: Resolves the qualified domain MyBrandedName.com to point to the host server 24.199.12.218
Entry #2: A single label qualified domain, known as a sub domain; subdomain1.MyBrandedName.com that will point to the same host server of the main domain MyBrandedName.com it can also be setup to point to a different host server
Entry #3: A multiple labels qualified domain, known as a sub domain and it consists of 2 labels; subLabel1.subLabel2.MyBrandedName.com that points to a different host server than the main domain name MyBrandedName.com
Entry #4: A wild card record setting that will direct all the non-existing domains to the default website that is setup on the host server 24.199.12.218 machine. Examples of non-existent domain names: anythingOtherThanDnsRecords.MyBrandedName.com
Table-2 illustrates the use of a DNS Manager tool to setup the CNAME (Alias) host records for the domain MyBrandedName.com
Entry #5: Resolves the domain ftp.MyBrandedName.com to ftp.anotherFtpServer.com
Entry #6: Resolves the domain www.MyBrandedName.com to the host server 24.199.12.218
Entry #7: Resolves the qualified domain 6192990668.MyBrandedName.com to the host server 24.199.12.218 which is the same as MyBrandedName.com
Entry #8: Resolves the qualified domain search.MyBrandedName.com to google.com
Entry #9: Resolves the qualified domain value1.value2.MyBrandedName.com to MyBrandedName.com, which in terms is setup to point to the host server 24.199.12.218
Entry #10: Resolves the smtp.MyBrandedName.com to smtp.anotherMailserver.com
Entry #11: A wild card record setting that will direct all the non-existing domains to the default website that is setup on the host server machine of the domain urlisp.com. This option is not available through all ISP providers. However, it is relevant to the invention to mention that this setting can be used instead of the Entry#4 in Table-1 when it is available for a DNS Manager tool of an ISP provider. An example of an ISP provider that makes this option available is NetworkSolutions.com and an example of an ISP provider that does not offer it is Godaddy.com. However, both ISP providers allow for the setup of an A(Record) wild card as mentioned in Entry#4 in Table-1
If the user tries to setup an entry in Table-2 to point to a fully qualified URL address, for example: if the user tries to setup the entry “test” to point to somedomain.com/somepage.aspx, the user will be prompted with an error message indicating that a CNAME (Alias) record must point to a domain in the form of subdomain.domain.tld or a valid A (Host) record that is setup for the domain
The host servers that are being assigned in Table-1 and identified by their IP addresses must also perform some settings on the web server's engine before the URLs are resolved. For example: some of the major settings are:
The internet resources of a Domain are generally a collection of files residing on the host server's hard drive within a designated root folder known as the hosted website's directory. Host servers typically host multiple domains where the resources of each domain are contained in a separate root folder.
Content of the pages that are rendered by the host server's web rendering engine are known as web pages. These contents can be static, for example:
Content of the web pages can also be dynamic, and are rendered by the hosting web server's engine based on one or more key/value pairs in the query string part of the Http's protocol URL. For example: MyBrandedName.com/search.aspx?product=cars where the resource file search.aspx is a single file residing in the root folder but the content of the page is dynamically generated based on the key/value pair “product=cars” that is present to the right of “?” symbol
The dynamically generated contents are the most commonly used format and are generally very long and virtually impossible to remember. Dynamic pages are normally generated and accessed in response to a certain input or choice that is provided by the user. For example, when typing a physical address in the maps.google.com web page, the host server will response by rendering a page which will have a URL similar to the following:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&h1=en&geocode=&q=351+West+University+Avenue,+San+Diego,+CA&aq=1&s11=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=64.281297,111.269531&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=351+W+University+Ave,+San+Diego,+California+92103&z=17&iwloc=A
Dynamically generated web contents are also commonly used in major websites such as amazon.com, ebay.com where the URL is generated in response to the user clicking on menu options while navigating the website. For example, the following URL is generated once the user clicks on the “Kindle->Kindle DX” menu option off the main amazon.com website, the amazon.com host server will response by rendering a page with the following URL
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation/dp/B002GYWHSQ/ref=sa_menu_kdx23
It is very common for an establishment to include its phone number on the titles, footer, and as a part of the contact page. The phone number has been and still is a primary contact mean to a lot of businesses and individuals alike. It is published in phone books, business cards, flyers and all other means of advertisements. Phone numbers are globally unique by country code, area code and local number. In most cases, they are established and published prior to obtaining any internet presence. However, there is no way to associate the phone number to its internet resources such as the website, email address, or other internet URL links that are established with other domains. This is mainly due to the existing DNS current established rules of setting up the A (Address) and CNAME (Alias) host records. It is advantageous to be able to associate resources including URLs of individuals, institutions, organizations, and so forth to an existing unique defined entity such as the phone number. For example: it would be advantageous to have a service domain such as urlisp.com that can serve as the world wide extension of all phone numbers in the form of phoneNumber.urlisp.com that associates all the related internet resources of the owner of the phone number. Once the phoneNumber.urlisp.com domain is requested, typically by entering the URL http://phoneNumber.urlisp.com into a web browser, the list of all the defined associated resources can then be rendered by the hosting server as a response. Moreover, once the phone number is registered with the domain urlisp.com, it can then be used and associated with other domains making it possible to type the URL http://phoneNumber.maps.google.com or http://map.phoneNumber.urlisp.com to re-direct right to the map page without having to type the physical address or remember the very long URL.
Currently there is the need for a flexible, cost effective and global solution to the following problems that are associated to URLs:
The problems that currently exist are due to the existing rules that are defined by Domain Name Service (DNS) in setting up the A (Address) and CNAME (Alias) host records, these restrictions are:
FTP protocol type. For example, http://form1.MyBrandedName.com can not be setup to point to ftp://MyBrandedName.com/forms/form1.pdf
An attempt to address the existing problems has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,882,999 issued Apr. 19, 2005. The suggested solution does not demonstrate to be global and efficient due to the following disadvantages:
Short link services such as tinyUrl.com and goo.gl allow the public to submit URLs and the host server will generate a short URL in the format of goo.gl/<generated value> or tinyurl.comkgenerated value> where the “generated value” is a unique value computed by the host domain service. While this solution is workable to some extent, it has the following disadvantages:
The present invention provides methods, services, and systems for handling non-existent domains that are produced by the wild DNS A (Address) host record that is setup for a qualified domain. The invention allows qualified domains to setup an A (Address) host record to point to a published IP address of a central host server that hosts a Qualified Domain Prefixes Processing Engine for re-directing HTTP Requests to a qualified output URLs, where a plurality of non-existent domains of qualified domains will be setup by types and defined in a friendly, short and easy to remember format to be re-directed to fully qualified internal or external complex and hard to remember output URLs. Embodiments of the invention provide for the ability to store the values of a plurality of non-existent domains and classify them by a set of prefix types, which are unique to each qualified domain, in a global database or a plurality of databases in the form of Domain Prefix (DMNPFX) records, providing ways to map a plurality of values and patterns to a specific or a plurality of output internet URL resources of the same or different protocol, the defined output URLs are also classified by a set of re-direct types and will also be stored in the database.
Embodiments of the invention also provide methods of setting up wild card Domain Prefixes (DMNPFX) allowing the recognition of prefixes of a specific pattern or non-matched pattern to be utilized in producing dynamic re-direct output URLs. The hosting server will remove the Domain Prefix (DMNPFX), the left-most part of the non-existent domain name, if the value can not be matched against a defined value or pattern in the database. In terms, the hosting server will re-direct the URL to a fully qualified registered domain as the output URL preventing the “HTTP 404 error: File not found” result from occurring. Embodiments of the present invention provide extended methods to retrieve the mapped URL re-direct output from an external storage system simplifying the steps for domains with large amount of Domain Prefixes (DMNPFX) that are already defined internally within a qualified domain's host server to be retrieved and used as the output re-direct URL by allowing registered domains to expose a plurality of output re-direct URLs as a result of consuming a web service. Settings of the web service address and its input parameters will be used by the host server's Qualified Domain Prefixes Processing Engine. Embodiments of the present invention provides methods to track the processed HTTP requests re-directs by storing the incoming HTTP Requests and their resolved output re-direct for analyses and administration requirements that might be needed by the registered qualified domains. Embodiments of the present invention also provides methods allowing a registered qualified domain to restrict other registered qualified domains from setting up defined prefixes with output re-direct URLs that re-direct to their qualified domain. In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide methods to identify all the prefixes of other registered domains that have setup and defined a plurality of prefixes with output re-direct URLs that are mapped to be re-directed to their domain.
Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention provides flexible methods to store uniquely identified entities such as phone numbers, in which a plurality of phone numbers that are globally unique by their country, area, and local number; can be used as the prefix of the service domain for the purpose of mapping them to a single or multiple fully qualified domains and internet resources output re-direct URL links and associating them to a plurality of searchable keywords. Individuals and organizations can register their phone number to be used as the prefix (PFX) of the service domain where the service domain will implement administrative methods and approaches to validate and authenticate the association of the phone number to the individual or the organization registering the phone number to ensure that the phone number truly belongs to the individual or the organization who is requesting to register a phone number. A phone number prefix (PFX) can also be mapped to a single qualified domain or a plurality of qualified domains of a registered individual or organization where further authentication will take place to verify the ownership relationship between qualified domains and a phone number.
In addition, embodiments of the present invention conveniently provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) methods utilizing plurality of prefixes that are identified as phone numbers and their associated output re-direct URLs to be used in new contact information system software applications and to be integrated in virtually all contact software applications that are currently used within a variety of devices such as desktops, smart devices, cellular phones, and navigation systems. Additionally, the domain service of phone number prefixes provides a “DOMAIN SERVICE JOIN TYPE” which enables other legitimate domains to service the re-direct output URLs of prefixes that are identified as the type of “phone number domain prefixes” and perform URL output re-direct to internet resources that are specific to the owner of the phone number for the purpose of communication between a registered service qualified domain and an owner of a phone number where the registered service qualified domain will be able to prepare and associate a specific internet resource to be rendered specifically for an owner of a phone number and is retrieved only by him/her. Mapping of phone numbers also provide security measures which are controlled by a registered owner of a phone number preventing the setup of “domain prefixes”, of a phone number type, to be mapped to an unwanted output re-direct URL. It also provides security measures where the associated URL output of a phone number is only revealed, processed and re-directed only when a registered owner of a phone number approves the output re-direct URL that is setup by a registered qualified domain. Further security methods are implemented to protect private output re-direct URLs that are associated to plurality of prefixes of a phone number type to be processed and re-directed to their mapped URL as recommended by a registered owner of a phone number.
Additionally, embodiments of the present invention provide simple administrated methods and approaches, identified as “DOMAIN TO DOMAIN JOIN TYPE” methods, allowing two registered qualified domains to process the same “domain prefixes” which in terms produce the same output re-direct URLs of the same or different protocol. It also provides flexible administrated methods and approaches identified as “DOMAIN PREFIX TO DOMAIN JOIN TYPE” allowing a “domain prefix” of a qualified domain to impersonate another registered qualified domain and allows the processing of all the “domain prefix” values appearing to the left-most part of a qualified domain and a “domain prefix” of another qualified domain to perform the same output re-direct URLs.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to providing methods and systems to associate a plurality of defined domain prefixes to a plurality of keywords for use in an internet resource search engine and the use of this association for existing search engines, making it easy and flexible to a web site operator and a web site owner to setup a plurality of keywords for indexing static and dynamically generated internet resources such as web page contents or files residing on plurality of host servers. Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.
The present invention, in accordance with one or more various embodiments, is described in detail with reference to the following figures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict typical or example embodiments of the invention. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the invention and shall not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.
Some of the figures included herein illustrate various embodiments of the invention from different viewing angles. Although the accompanying descriptive text may refer to such views as “top,” “bottom” or “side” views, such references are merely descriptive and do not imply or require that the invention be implemented or used in a particular spatial orientation unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with modification and alteration, and that the invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
From time-to-time, the present invention is described herein in terms of example environments. Description in terms of these environments is provided to allow the various features and embodiments of the invention to be portrayed in the context of an exemplary application. After reading this description, it will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art how the invention can be implemented in different and alternative environments.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All patents, applications, published applications and other publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in applications, published applications and other publications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in this document prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein by reference.
In the described embodiment, Host Servers 14 consists of a plurality of host servers 140 connected to the internet. Clients 12 consists of a plurality of client 1201 connected to the internet. Host server 140 is connected to the internet and identified by a unique IP address. Host server 140 hosts the website of a qualified domain 1401, or multiple websites for a plurality of qualified domains 1401. The hosted qualified domain 1401 sets the wild card “*” A (Address) host record to point to the IP address of server 11, where all the non-existent domain names of qualified domain 1401 will be re-directed to defined output re-direct URLs after the qualified domain 1401 registers with server 11. In addition, individuals and organizations can use web site 1151 for the purpose of registering phone numbers to be processed as a prefix of the service domain urlisp.com 1503, which is a qualified domain that can be hosted on server 11 or a host server 140, with an existing wild card “*” A (Address) host record pointing to the IP address of server 11.
A central prefixes processing engine 1122 executes on server 11. Central prefixes processing engine 1122 consists of a Setup Class 1123 which processes and validates data and performs the storage of data into Data Storage 119 where the information about qualified domains, domain prefixes, phone numbers, and additional data is stored.
Data storage 119 is a relational database engine serving as the preferred method of storing data. Data is stored in the form of prefix records (PFX) a prefix record consists of the prefix value, prefix type, re-direct output URL, and the Output re-direct type. The combined total of prefix records is unlimited and the uniqueness of the prefix (PFX) records is established by the prefix value within each registered qualified domain and registered service domain prefix. This rule is enforced by Setup Class 1123.
Setup Class 1123 executes on server 11 and performs the following functional and procedural tasks:
Prefixes processing engine 1122 represents the only means for accessing that data that is stored in the data storage 119 for the purpose of retrieving related output URLs that are associated to a given qualified domain 1401.
An outbound processing Class 1124 also executes as a part of the prefixes processing engine 1122. It performs all the necessary validation and operations to retrieve the output URL from data storage 119. Outbound Processing Class 1124 also performs the following functional and procedural tasks:
HTTP Requests Handler Engine 1121 executes on server 11 and is set as the HTTP Module of the default website 1151. HTTP Requests Handler Engine 1121 is implemented as a Class Library with the extension “.d11”. HTTP Requests Handler Engine 1121 performs the parsing of URLs that are received by server 11 to extract the qualified domain name 1401 and the domain prefix value which is the left-most label of a non-existent domain. The parsed information is sent to the Prefixes Processing Engine 1122 for the retrieval of the output URL(s) that is produced by the Outbound processing Class 1124. HTTP Requests Handler Engine 1121 returns the output URL(s) information to the HTTP Requests Handler Engine 1121 for the final re-direct URL to be returned by server 11.
Prefixes Processing Engine 1122 is implemented as a Class Library with the extension “.d11”. It contains the two main classes; Setup Class 1123 and the Outbound Processing Class 1124.
Website 1151 contains setup web form which allow a registered qualified domain 1401 to setup the desired handling of the non-existing domain names where domain prefixes, which can be associated to search keywords, can them be mapped to a single output URL or a plurality of output URLs of an HTTP protocol or different internet protocol.
Website 1151 contains web search engine web page(s) where users can search specific URL contents by a set of keywords, prefixes and variety of search options that are setup through Administration Web Forms which are also a part of website 1151.
Domain Prefixes APIs 1125 executes on server 11 and provide the necessarily interfaces for software vendors to process requests with input parameters defined by server 11. Domain Prefixes APIs 1125 exposes the majority of tasks that are performed by the Setup Class 1123 and the Outbound Processing Class 1124 that are used by website 1151. This exposure of APIs makes it flexible for software application vendors and website designers to integrate the various functionalities of the invention for use in their existing and new software and web applications.The use of Domain Prefixes APIs 1125 provide a great deal of flexibility for processing the same tasks that are performed by website 1151. The APIs are exposed in the form of the following web services:
Each of the above web services will expose the necessary functional methods requiring and input object and will return a result object that can be parsed by clients. For example XML or JSON object.
Client downloadable domain prefixes applications 1131 reside on server 11 and are downloadable by client 140 for accessing domain prefixes mapped output re-direct URLs. Applications 1131 access output re-direct URLs through APIs 1125 executing on server 11.
Website 1151 also contains web pages that will be rendered by the web server 115 rendering engine when a domain prefix of a qualified domain 1401 is searched against the data storage 119 and the Output Processing Class 1124 matches a result of multiple mapped outputs re-direct URLs against a single Domain Prefix (DMNPFX). Generally, when using a web browser. For example: urls.sample.com when received by server 11 can be matched with a plurality of defined output re-direct URLs that were setup by the qualified domain sample.com. In this case, website rendering engine 115 will render a result page from website 1151 instead of performing a re-direct.
The GEO-MASTER 111 label is the geographical label of Server 11. This labeling allows for Server 11 to be replicated across multiple geographical regions where each server 11 will consist of the same components and will be identified with a different unique IP address 110 and a unique geographical label. This distribution of servers 11 will allow qualified domains 1401 to choose the IP address that is closer to their geographical region in the web form 1102 at the time of registration to process non-existent domain names
Components of
As a preliminary matter, the discussion will use the following domain names and abbreviations below: “urlisp.com” 1501 is the domain name that is used and designated for the handling and the output re-directs URLs of qualified domains registration and their non-existent domain names.
Table-3 illustrates the use of the DNS Manager tool to setup the A (Address) host records of the domain dmnpfx.com
“DMN” qualified domain name
“PFX” prefix value: the left-most part of the non-existent domain name
“PFXREC” Prefix record
“DMNPFX” domain prefix
“SVDMNPFX” service domain prefix
“WS” web service
The root folder “wwwDefaultSite” 401 is the root folder for website 1151. Root folder 401 contains the default page 4011, a registration form 4010 enabling qualified domains and phone owners to register, a setup page 4012 allowing registered qualified domains and phone numbers' owners to setup prefixes and map them to output URLs, a login page 4013 for authenticating users, a search page 4013 for searching domain prefixes and keywords mapped to output URLs, and an Administration page 4015 for users to administer the various settings.
List page 4014 is the web page that will be rendered by the web server 115
The “bin” folder 402 is also a part of website 1151
The web page 4017 is the unauthorized web page that will be rendered by web server 115
The resource file web.config 4016 is essential to website 1151
The above setting instructs web server 115
The “Domain Prefix to Domain” join type 502 allows for a prefix of one domain to impersonate a fully registered qualified domain 1401
The “Domain to Prefix Service Domain” join type 503 allows for a plurality of qualified registered domains 1401
The “Service Domain Prefix to Service Domain Prefix” join type 504 allows for a plurality of registered Domain Prefixes of a service domain to share the same level 2 and higher defined prefixes to result in the same defined URL output re-direct. For example: the registered phone number 6195551212 with the phone service of the domain urlisp.com can be joined to 6195551313 where the second phone number is owned by the same or different owner allowing all the defined subsequent levels to be resolved to produce the same output re-direct results; such as http://directions.6195551212.urlisp.com and http://directions.6195551313urlisp.com. The use of this setting allows for a flexible way to associate multiple phone numbers that belongs to the same person or organization without having to setup the prefixes for each phone number.
The “Regular Expression” prefix type 506 indicates a pattern matching prefix setup, to be matched if Output Processing Class 1124
Order.[0-9].MyOrder.com and the re-direct output URL is http://www.MyOrder.com/Orderes.aspx?orderNumber={*1}
This pattern instructs Output Processing Class 1124
Order.123.myorder.com will be redirected to
http://www.MyOrder.com/Orderes.aspx?orderNumber=123
Order.5464.myorder.com will be redirected to
http://www.MyOrder.com/Orderes.aspx?orderNumber=5464 and so forth. However he following will not be evaluated in the same manner
Order.1a2x3.myorder.com will not be re-directed because level 1 contains non numeric values
The “Wild Card” prefix type 507 indicates a wild card matching prefix setup, to be matched if Output Processing Class 1124
The “Standard” output re-direct type 508 indicates that the output re-direct URL that is associated to a domain prefix, is of the “standard” type and requires no special handling. For example: qualified domain myDomain.com defines a standard prefix type 505 with the “test” value to be re-directed to the following “standard” output re-direct 508 type URL myOtherDomain.com/test.aspx.
The “Query String” output re-direct type 509 indicates that the output re-direct URL that is associated to a domain prefix, is of the “Query String” type and it does require special handling where the output re-direct URL will include special tokens of the format “{*n}” for the Output Processing Class 1124
Output Processing Class 1124
The prefix mike.smith is a 2 levels prefix where “mike” is the second level and is used to replace the token {*2} as it appears in the above defined output re-direct URL and “smith” is the first level and is used to replace the {*1} in the above defined output re-direct URL.
The “Search Engine” output re-direct type 510 indicates that the output re-direct URL that is associated to a domain prefix, is of the “Search Engine” type and it does require special handling where the output re-direct URL will include a SINGLE {*} token for the Output Processing Class 1124
Output Processing Class 1124
The “Web Service Result” output re-direct type 511 indicates that the output re-direct URL that is associated to a domain prefix, is of the “Web Service Result” type and it does require special handling where the output re-direct URL will not be entered by the user. Instead, the user will enter the web service information that needs to be consumed by the Output Processing Class 1124
6195551212.facebook.com will be re-directed to http://www.facebook.com/MyFaceBookPage
6195551212.stores.ebay.com will be re-directed to http://www.stores,ebay.com/MyEbayStorePage
6195551212.maps.google.com will be re-directed to http:/,% maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&h1=en&geocode=&q=351+West+Univesity+Avenue,+San+Diego,+CA&aq=1&s11=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=64.281297.111:269531&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=351+W+University+Ave,+San+Diego,+California+92103&z=17&iwloc=A
It should be apparent that the same will apply to all domains joining the urlisp.com service domain by the “Domain to Prefix Service Domain” join type and setting up a “wild card” prefix type that is mapped to a “Web Service Result” output re-direct type will become a flexible task to accomplish. Especially due to the fact that most service domains require users to supply a phone number and other contact information.
The combined values of the defined prefixes must be unique per each registered qualified domain 1401
In the described embodiment of the invention, Prefix (PFX) records consist of 4 fields:
Filed 1: [Prefix] presented as column 512
Field 2: [Prefix Type] presented as column 513
Field 3: [Re-direct output URL] presented as column 514
Field 4: [Output re-direct type], presented as column 515
Prefix records are independently associated to each registered domain (DMN) and “domain service prefix” (DSPFX). The value in column 512 is unique to each registered domain (DMN) and “domain service prefix” (SVDMNPFX) and can not be present more than once.
For the purpose of illustration, the presented list of Prefix records can be defined by the registered domain sample.com and a service domain prefix 6195551212.urlisp.com
When a URL is received by Server 11 (
Samples of methods of the class are exposed by the Domain Prefix APIs 1125 (
Samples of methods of the class are exposed by the Domain Prefix APIs 1125 (
It is advantageous to be able to access specific resources for the following reasons: 1) An organization can spend a fortune on building and designing a website which includes navigation features such as menus and embedded links to navigate among pages. A website can consist of server drilled down levels that lead to specific information. After launching a website to the public, a website owner has no easy and friendly mean to communicate about the location of the drilled down resources. The owner of a website is left with few options to communicate about drilled resources within the website, few of which are:
2) Trying to group several resources that relate to a specific point that might be related to a certain business transaction or topic of interest within a website is also not possible. In general, once the website is published the task of accessing specific resources in the form of URLs is a difficult and cumbersome task.
3) A website owner can sign up with dmnpfx.com and setup the wild card address to point to the invented server where this task can be easily handled and additional features can also be accomplished
Urlisp.com allows one to group and sub-group URLs in the form of non-existent domains. With this feature, one can index the website in many flexible ways making the task of communicating about specific resources extremely simple without requiring additional attention by the webmaster. Additionally, one can setup external URLs that are related and associated to the service provided by business through other websites. For example: a toy store owner can have an established website “toystore.com” which is made of several pages listing all the products, contacts, links and other pages that relate to the business. Later on the owner posts a video on how to assemble a certain toy to the popular domain youtube.com. The URL to the video can take on the form of youtube.com/somevideolink. Currently, the owner of the toy store will have to communicate the URL to his/her clients and ask the webmaster to embed the link into one of the pages of his/her website. Both resolutions will need to be communicated to clients in a rather difficult and lengthy fashion. The invention will allow the owner of the domain toystore.com to setup a YouTube prefix pointing to the URL that is assigned by youtube.com. The owner can simply communicate about the link in the form of youtube.toystore.com and the invented server will re-direct the request to youtube.com/somevideolink. Moreover, the owner of the toystore.com domain can publish several videos to youtube.com each of with will have its own hard to remember URL. The invention provides the owner a mean to associate the prefix YouTube to multiple URLs each of which can have a friendly label. The list can be presented to the client to choose from in the form of youtube.toystore.com and because the prefix YouTube is mapped to multiple URLs, the list will be presented on a list page for the user to select from. Each link on the list will be presented by the short and friendly description that was assigned by the owner. Further more, each link can be presented in its own level 2 prefix such as v1.youtube.toystore.com, v2.youtube.toystore.com and so on. One can clearly appreciate the flexibility of the approach. As described by one embodiment of the invention, toystore.com can associated the company's phone number 8001254242 to the domain when registering the phone number with phone number prefix service of domain urlisp.com making it possible to access the same resources by typing youtube.8001254242.urlisp.com and the YouTube links of the toy store to appear in virtually all contact books. The same steps can be used to setup prefixes to re-direct to web pages that are related to the toystore.com domain; internally within the same domain and externally with any other domain the owner is using to promote services and products. Another gratefully appreciated prefix would be a map prefix where the map URL of the business will be rendered by the invention server to a client by simply typing map.toystore.com or by typing map.8001254242.urlisp.com where the later non-existent domain can easily be displayed and accessed on a mobile device as a child item off the contact book that already exists on the cellular phone or any other client device with any type of contact book software application. By establishing a join between the domain and the phone number, accessing internet resources can be simplified on mobile devices especially with the ability to be able to prefix the phone number with friendly values that are mapped to complex and hard to remember URLs. An added advantage is the fact that establishing a join between the domain and the phone number allows using the same prefixes whether they were setup as a prefix of the phone number or the domain seamlessly making Internet resources of individuals and organizations as simple as a missed call where devices can convert a received or missed call to aid in finding its related internet resources in the form of <phone number>.urlisp.com
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the invention, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that can be included in the invention. The invention is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations can be implemented to implement the desired features of the present invention. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein can be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.
Although the invention is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the invention, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.
A group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.
The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of the term “module” does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all configured in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in a single package or separately maintained and can further be distributed across multiple locations.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.
The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/533,271 filed on Sep. 12, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61533271 | Sep 2011 | US |
