Importance

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Abstract

A technique that, through continual computation, harnesses available computer resources during periods of low processing activity and low network activity, such as idle time, for prefetching, e.g., web pages, or pre-selected portions thereof, into local cache of a client computer. This technique utilizes, e.g., a probabilistic user model, which specifies, at any one time, those pages or portions of pages that are likely to be prefetched given, e.g., a web page currently being rendered to a user; these pages being those which promise to provide the largest benefit (expected utility) to the user. Advantageously, this technique prematurely terminates or retards a current information download for a user in favor of prefetching a web page of future interest to that user whenever the latter page exhibits greater current incremental benefit to that user, in terms of a discounted expected rate of refinement in value with time for the future page, than a current incremental benefit being obtained for that user by continuing the current download.

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First Claim