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Abstract : |
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. I authorize the University of Waterloo to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize the University of Waterloo to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. ii The University of Waterloo requires the signatures of all persons using or photocopying this thesis. Please sign below, and give address and date. iii Many World-Wide Web clients today are connected to the Internet via low-speed computer links. Examples are home users accessing the Internet through telephone lines, and wireless computer users. This form of communication is characterized by a client being attached to a high-bandwidth network through a poor link. This thesis examines techniques that can help bring Web performance for such poorlyconnected clients more in line with others that are well-connected. A prefetching scheme that is realized at a proxy server one network hop away from the client is proposed. The client does not need to be aware that prefetching is being performed; it is only aware of a perceived reduction in latency. The prefetching scheme considered takes full advantage of characteristics unique to the World-Wide Web, and it adapts dynamically to changing user behavior. A wireless network is emulated and used to help validate the ideas presented. iv, |
