Systems and methods for device-dependent image transformations

Techniques to allow for optimizing an image based on an operational context. An operational context including at least one attribute of a client associated with a user of a social networking system is determined. An optimized image is created based on the operational context for provision to the user. The determining the operational context may comprise receiving a client identifier and determining the at least one attribute of the client based on the client identifier. The determining the operational context may comprise receiving location coordinates and determining quality of a data connection based on the location coordinates. The determining the operational context may comprise determining at least one usage trend in at least one geographic locality. The optimized image is provided to an image repository associated with the at least one geographic locality. The operational context may comprise at least one user-defined setting.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of social networking. More particularly, the present invention provides a technique for providing images to a user of a social networking system.

BACKGROUND

Internet social networks have become a significant phenomenon. Social networks allow an internet user to create an account and a user profile, often for free, and interact with other users of the social network. A social network user can gain access to the profile of another user by requesting to add him or her as a friend. Once approved, the “friendship” typically gives both users access to each other's profiles and the content posted on them. Friends' posts may appear as news stories in each other's news feeds, and friends can usually comment on each other's news stories. Social network users typically seek to assemble a group of friends or followers with whom they interact. Information on a user's profile is often only accessible to the user's friends.

Social networks are providing users with increasingly sophisticated functionality. Early social networks offered little more than a simple interface for users to communicate and post messages. Now, on many social networks, users may share numerous different types of content and interact with each other's content in a variety of ways. Content shared on a social network may include digital media such as images. Users may assemble albums that include photographs and other content and share their albums with their friends.

Because of their collaborative nature, social networks have now become a popular means by which many people share photos and other media content. Users of a social network may view images stored within the social network on a desktop computer. Similarly, the users of the social network may view images stored within the social network on a mobile device. Each platform on which the users of a social network view images may have its own capabilities and shortcomings.

SUMMARY

To allow for providing images to users of a social networking system, embodiments of the invention include systems, methods, and computer readable media for optimizing an image based on an operational context. An operational context including at least one attribute of a client associated with a user of a social networking system is determined. An optimized image is created based on the operational context for provision to the user.

In an embodiment, the determining the operational context comprises receiving a client identifier and determining the at least one attribute of the client based on the client identifier. In an embodiment, the operational context comprises a resolution value associated with a display of the client. In an embodiment, the operational context comprises a viewing interface of the client. In an embodiment, at least one URL, including an operational context identifier, and an image type identifier associated with the operational context are generated and the at least one URL is embedded within a webpage.

In an embodiment, the determining the operational context comprises receiving location coordinates and determining quality of a data connection based on the location coordinates. In an embodiment, the determining the operational context comprises receiving an IP address and determining quality of a data connection based on the IP address. In an embodiment, the determining the operational context comprises determining a time duration of a handshake to initiate communication between the client and the social networking system and determining quality of a data connection based on the time duration.

In an embodiment, the determining the operational context comprises determining at least one usage trend in at least one geographic locality. In an embodiment, the optimized image is provided to an image repository associated with the at least one geographic locality.

In an embodiment, the operational context comprises at least one user-defined setting. In an embodiment, the at least one user-defined setting is overriding. In an embodiment, the creating the optimized image comprises determining a file format based on the operational context and encoding the optimized image based on the file format. In an embodiment, the creating the optimized image comprises determining a compression value based on the operational context and compressing the optimized image based on the compression value.

In an embodiment, a request is received from the client for an original image associated with the optimized image. In an embodiment, the optimized image is provided to the client. In an embodiment, the client includes at least one of a computing device, an application, and a browser. In an embodiment, the optimized image is provided to an image repository.

Many other features and embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detailed description.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like reference numerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated in the figures may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Social Networking System—General Introduction

FIG. 1is a network diagram of a system100for providing an image to a user of a social network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The system100includes one or more user devices110, one or more external systems120, the social networking system130, and a network150. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system100, shown byFIG. 1, includes a single external system120and a single user device110. However, in other embodiments, the system100may include more user devices110and/or more external systems120. In certain embodiments, the social networking system130is operated by a social network provider, whereas the external systems120are separate from the social networking system130in that they may be operated by different entities. In various embodiments, however, the social networking system130and the external systems120operate in conjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members) of the social networking system130. In this sense, the social networking system130provides a platform or backbone, which other systems, such as external systems120, may use to provide social networking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device110comprises one or more computing devices that can receive input from a user and transmit and receive data via the network150. In one embodiment, the user device110is a conventional computer system executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatible operating system (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. In another embodiment, the user device110can be a device having computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, etc. The user device110is configured to communicate via the network150. The user device110can execute an application, for example, a browser application that allows a user of the user device110to interact with the social networking system130. In another embodiment, the user device110interacts with the social networking system130through an application programming interface (API) provided by the native operating system of the user device110, such as iOS and ANDROID. The user device110is configured to communicate with the external system120and the social networking system130via the network150, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems.

In one embodiment, the user device110may display content from the external system120and/or from the social networking system130by processing a markup language document114received from the external system120and from the social networking system130using a browser application112. The markup language document114identifies content and one or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of the content. By executing the instructions included in the markup language document114, the browser application112displays the identified content using the format or presentation described by the markup language document114. For example, the markup language document114includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page having multiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from the external system120and the social networking system130. In various embodiments, the markup language document114comprises a data file including extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data. Additionally, the markup language document114may include JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScript data to facilitate data-interchange between the external system120and the user device110. The browser application112on the user device110may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document114.

The markup language document114may also include, or link to, applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™ applications, the SilverLight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device110also includes one or more cookies116including data indicating whether a user of the user device110is logged into the social networking system130, which may enable modification of the data communicated from the social networking system130to the user device110.

The external system120includes one or more web servers that include one or more web pages122a,122b, which are communicated to the user device110using the network150. The external system120is separate from the social networking system130. For example, the external system120is associated with a first domain, while the social networking system130is associated with a separate social networking domain. Web pages122a,122b, included in the external system120, comprise markup language documents114identifying content and including instructions specifying formatting or presentation of the identified content.

Users may join the social networking system130and then add connections to any number of other users of the social networking system130to whom they desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers to any other user of the social networking system130to whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship via the social networking system130. For example, in an embodiment, if users in the social networking system130are represented as nodes in the social graph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between and directly connecting two user nodes.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between users and allowing interactions between users, the social networking system130provides users with the ability to take actions on various types of items supported by the social networking system130. These items may include groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities, and concepts) to which users of the social networking system130may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested, computer-based applications that a user may use via the social networking system130, transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via services provided by or through the social networking system130, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on or off the social networking system130. These are just a few examples of the items upon which a user may act on the social networking system130, and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that is capable of being represented in the social networking system130or in the external system120, separate from the social networking system130, or coupled to the social networking system130via the network150.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend, an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representing the first user and a second node representing the second user. As various nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networking system130modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect the relationships and interactions.

The social networking system130also includes user-generated content, which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system130. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to the social networking system130. For example, a user communicates posts to the social networking system130from a user device110. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual data, location information, images such as photos, videos, links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also be added to the social networking system130by a third-party. Content “items” are represented as objects in the social networking system130. In this way, users of the social networking system130are encouraged to communicate with each other by posting text and content items of various types of media through various communication channels. Such communication increases the interaction of users with each other and increases the frequency with which users interact with the social networking system130.

The social networking system130includes a web server132, an API request server134, a user profile store136, a connection store138, an action logger140, an activity log142, an authorization server144, an image processing module146, and an optimization context module148. In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system130may include additional, fewer, or different components for various applications. Other components, such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and network operations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure the details of the system.

The user profile store136maintains information about user accounts, including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users or inferred by the social networking system130. This information is stored in the user profile store136such that each user is uniquely identified. The social networking system130also stores data describing one or more connections between different users in the connection store138. The connection information may indicate users who have similar or common work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educational history. Additionally, the social networking system130includes user-defined connections between different users, allowing users to specify their relationships with other users. For example, user-defined connections allow users to generate relationships with other users that parallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends, co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefined types of connections, or define their own connection types as needed. Connections with other nodes in the social networking system130, such as non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests, pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in the connection store138.

The social networking system130maintains data about objects with which a user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store136and the connection store138store instances of the corresponding type of objects maintained by the social networking system130. Each object type has information fields that are suitable for storing information appropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store136contains data structures with fields suitable for describing a user's account and information related to a user's account. When a new object of a particular type is created, the social networking system130initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns a unique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object as needed. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of the social networking system130, the social networking system130generates a new instance of a user profile in the user profile store136, assigns a unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate the fields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store138includes data structures suitable for describing a user's connections to other users, connections to external systems120or connections to other entities. The connection store138may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, which may be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulate access to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention, the user profile store136and the connection store138may be implemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store138, the user profile store136, and the activity log142enables the social networking system130to generate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objects and edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between different objects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with a second user in the social networking system130, user accounts of the first user and the second user from the user profile store136may act as nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user and the second user stored by the connection store138is an edge between the nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuing this example, the second user may then send the first user a message within the social networking system130. The action of sending the message, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes in the social graph representing the first user and the second user. Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in the social graph as another node connected to the nodes representing the first user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image that is maintained by the social networking system130(or, alternatively, in an image maintained by another system outside of the social networking system130). The image may itself be represented as a node in the social networking system130. This tagging action may create edges between the first user and the second user as well as create an edge between each of the users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. In yet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user and the event are nodes obtained from the user profile store136, where the attendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may be retrieved from the activity log142. By generating and maintaining the social graph, the social networking system130includes data describing many different types of objects and the interactions and connections among those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevant information.

The web server132links the social networking system130to one or more user devices110and/or one or more external systems120via the network150. The web server132serves web pages, as well as other web-related content, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The web server132may include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receiving and routing messages between the social networking system130and one or more user devices110. The messages can be instant messages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or any other suitable messaging format.

The API request server134allows one or more external systems120and user devices110to call access information from the social networking system130by calling one or more API functions. The API request server134may also allow external systems120to send information to the social networking system130by calling APIs. The external system120, in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system130via the network150, and the API request server134receives the API request. The API request server134processes the request by calling an API associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response, which the API request server134communicates to the external system120via the network150. For example, responsive to an API request, the API request server134collects data associated with a user, such as the user's connections that have logged into the external system120, and communicates the collected data to the external system120. In another embodiment, the user device110communicates with the social networking system130via APIs in the same manner as external systems120.

The action logger140is capable of receiving communications from the web server132about user actions on and/or off the social networking system130. The action logger140populates the activity log142with information about user actions, enabling the social networking system130to discover various actions taken by its users within the social networking system130and outside of the social networking system130. Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node on the social networking system130may be associated with each user's account, through information maintained in the activity log142or in a similar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken by a user within the social networking system130that are identified and stored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user, sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user, viewing content associated with another user, attending an event posted by another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or other actions interacting with another user or another object. When a user takes an action within the social networking system130, the action is recorded in the activity log142. In one embodiment, the social networking system130maintains the activity log142as a database of entries. When an action is taken within the social networking system130, an entry for the action is added to the activity log142. The activity log142may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actions that occur within an entity outside of the social networking system130, such as an external system120that is separate from the social networking system130. For example, the action logger140may receive data describing a user's interaction with an external system120from the web server132. In this example, the external system120reports a user's interaction according to structured actions and objects in the social graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system120include a user expressing an interest in an external system120or another entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system130that discusses an external system120or a web page122awithin the external system120, a user posting to the social networking system130a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with an external system120, a user attending an event associated with an external system120, or any other action by a user that is related to an external system120. Thus, the activity log142may include actions describing interactions between a user of the social networking system130and an external system120that is separate from the social networking system130.

The authorization server144contains logic to determine if certain information associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends, external systems120, and/or other applications and entities. The external system120may need authorization from the authorization server144to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such as the user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, the authorization server144determines if another user, the external system120, an application, or another entity is allowed to access information associated with the user, including information about actions taken by the user.

The social networking system130may also include an image processing module146and an operational context module148. The operational context module148may determine image parameters based on attributes of the operational context of a user. The image processing module146may receive images from the user device110, provide images to the user device110, create optimized images based on original images and the image parameters received from the operational context module148, and apply any of the techniques for processing images described herein.

Device-Dependent Image Transformations

Users may take advantage of the collaborative features and functionality of the social networking system130to upload and share digital images. A user of the social networking system130may upload a profile picture that features prominently on her profile and identifies her to friends and other users. A user may also upload a cover image that may be displayed as a banner across the top of the user's profile. In addition to a profile picture and a cover image, a user may also upload images to share with other users, such as photographs of an event, artwork, professional photography portfolios, photographs from nature, or any other type of digital images.

FIGS. 2A-2Cillustrate online image sharing functionality of the social networking system130in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 2Aillustrates an image202captured by a user (e.g., “Brady Carr”) with the built-in camera of a mobile device201. The mobile device201may be a smartphone, a tablet device, a laptop computer with a built-in camera, or other user device110. Alternatively, the image202may be taken with a standalone camera (not pictured) and transferred to a user device such as a laptop computer or a desktop computer.FIG. 2Billustrates a user interface204for uploading the image202to the social networking system130. An “upload” option205within the user interface204may be selected that prompts the user to browse to the location of the image202, indicated by the thumbnail203, on the local storage of the mobile device201. An “OK” option206may be selected when the image202is located. In an embodiment, the image202may be automatically uploaded to the social networking system130.FIG. 2Cillustrates the image202within an image viewing pane207of the user interface204after the image202has been uploaded to the social networking system130.

Images may be provided, viewed, and edited using a client. A client may refer to a device, an application, an image editing tool, or any hardware or software component used to access or otherwise handle an image. Clients may include publishing clients and consuming clients. A publishing client may refer to a client used to create, edit, or provide an image. InFIGS. 2A-2C, the mobile device201whose built-in camera was used to capture the image202may be a publishing client. A consuming client may refer to a client used to view an image. InFIGS. 2A-2C, an application or device used to view the image202may be a consuming client. Clients send data to and receive data from the social networking system130via a data connection. The data connection may be a wired connection, a WiFi wireless connection, a cellular wireless data connection, a satellite connection, or any other connection for sending and receiving data.

The social networking system130may have hundreds of millions of users in numerous geographic localities sharing potentially billions of images via the social networking system130. The capabilities and quality of the clients and data connections, respectively, used to share images may vary greatly. For example, the capabilities of a consuming client and the quality of a data connection used to request an image from the social networking system130may be significantly different from the capabilities of a publishing client and the quality of a data connection used to provide the image to the social networking system130, respectively. Consequently, it may not be efficient or economical for the social networking system130to provide to the consuming client an identical copy of an original image that was provided to the social networking system130by the publishing client. In addition, the user may prefer to receive images of a certain file format, resolution, size, or other characteristic. The user's geographic locality, the capabilities of a consuming client, the quality of the data connection of the consuming client, the preferences of the user, and any other factor affecting the transmission or display of an image may be collectively referred to as the operational context of the user. The embodiments disclosed herein provide techniques for optimizing an original image to account for an operational context of a requesting user.

FIG. 3Aillustrates an example environment300within which some embodiments of the invention may be implemented. The environment300may include a publishing client301, a consuming client303, an image storage module304, and an image cache305. The publishing client301may correspond to a user device110from which a user uploads an original image. The publishing client301may provide an original image307to the image storage module304, where the original image307may be stored. The image storage module304may create an optimized image308based on the original image307. The optimized image308may be stored in the image storage module304or the image cache305. The optimized image308may be provided to the consuming client303by the image storage module304or the image cache305. The optimized image308may be created in response to a request for an image corresponding to the original image307from the consuming client303. The optimized image308may be created at regular intervals and stored in the image cache305. The consuming client303may correspond to a user device110that receives, via a data connection, the optimized image308. According to an embodiment, the image processing module146of the social networking system130may be implemented to include the image storage module304and the image cache305.

According to an embodiment of the invention, an optimized image may be created from an original image based on an operational context of a consuming client associated with a user who requests the image. The operational context may include the features and capabilities of the consuming client, the quality of the data connection of the consuming client, trends within the locality of the consuming client, preferences of the user, and other attributes. For example, the operational context may include the dots per inch (DPI) that a screen on the consuming client is capable of displaying. As another example, the operational context may include the bandwidth of the data connection. As yet another example, the operational context may include the prevalence of certain types of consuming clients within a geographic locality. As yet another example, the operational context may include a user preference to receive images in a particular file format, resolution, size, or other characteristic. The operational context may be determined when an image is requested or at designated intervals.

FIG. 3Billustrates an example operational context module148for assessing an operational context of a user in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The social networking system130may receive and maintain an image from the publishing client301. When the image is requested by a user of the consuming client303, the operational context module148may receive inputs such as the capabilities of the consuming client, the quality of the user's data connection, the preferences of the user, the user's geographic location, or any other attributes of the operational context of the user. Based on the inputs, the operational context module148may determine image parameters for optimizing the image for provision to the consuming client303. These image parameters may then be applied by the image processing module146to optimize the image.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the operational context may include the capabilities of the consuming client. The capabilities of the consuming client may include, for example, the display of the client device, the graphics processing unit (GPU) of the client device, the features of the client application that requests the image, and the limitations of the interface within which the user is viewing the image. In an embodiment, the capabilities of the consuming client may be determined based on a request received from a consuming client. The request may comprise a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies information about the consuming client. The information may be appended to or otherwise included with the URL of a requested page or image. The information may be included in the HTTP headers associated with the request. In an embodiment, the information may include a consuming client identifier. The social networking system130may determine the capabilities of the consuming client based on the consuming client identifier. Based on the capabilities of the consuming client, the social networking system130accordingly may create the optimized image. According to an embodiment, the social networking system130may maintain a record of the various consuming client identifiers and the capabilities associated with their corresponding clients within a storage module of the social networking system130. Upon receiving the consuming client identifier, the social networking system130may access the record and determine the capabilities of the consuming client.

The social networking system130may optimize the image to remove features that the consuming client lacks the capability to display. For example the social networking system130may be able to determine, using the consuming client identifier, that the consuming client has a grayscale display. Thus, the social networking system130may create the optimized image as a grayscale image. In another embodiment, the social networking system130may determine that rendering images whose resolution exceeds a certain level would be too computationally demanding for a particular consuming client. The social networking system130may create the optimized image by reducing the resolution of the original image.

FIG. 4illustrates a process400for optimizing an image based on a client identifier. At block401, the social networking system130receives a request from a consuming client for an image corresponding to an original image. The request may include a consuming client identifier. At block402, the social networking system130accesses a record of consuming client identifiers. At block403, the social networking system130determines, based on the record and the consuming client identifier, capabilities of the consuming client. The capabilities of the consuming client may correspond to the capabilities of the device, portal, or application used to access the social networking system130. At block404, the social networking system130creates an optimized image based on the original image and the capabilities of the consuming client. At block405, the social networking system130provides the optimized image to the consuming client.

The process400may require the social networking system130to keep track of numerous consuming clients that request images from the social networking system130. Consuming clients may include numerous different devices, platforms, browsers, and image-related applications. Keeping track of numerous different clients may potentially be cumbersome and difficult, particularly since many devices, platforms, browsers, and image-related applications may be provided by third parties without the direct knowledge or participation of the social networking system130. To address this concern, according to an embodiment, the consuming client may provide specific information about its operational context. In this embodiment, the social networking system130may not be required to determine the capabilities of the consuming client to create an optimized image. Rather, the consuming client may request a particular type of optimized image from the social networking system130based on its capabilities. Accordingly, the social networking system130may not be required to determine which type of image is best suited to the capabilities of the consuming client. In an embodiment, a web browser or other application on the consuming client may determine the capabilities of the device using a Javascript procedure or other functionality and append information describing the consuming client, operational context, or requested image type to URLs provided to the social networking system130.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system130may determine the capabilities of the consuming client based on information provided by the consuming client in a URL. The social networking system130may use the information to format subsequent URLs of images provided to the consuming client. For example, a consuming client may request a page by including a client identifier in the URL for the page. The social networking system130may receive the client identifier and determine that the client identifier corresponds to an operational context in which the consuming client has a maximum display resolution of 2048×1024. Based on this information, the social networking system130may format the image URLs included in the page to include values that specify exactly which type of image should be requested by the consuming client. For example, the social networking system130may append a string “?size=2048×1024” to an image URL “http://www.socialnetworkingsystem.com/myimage.jpg” embedded within the page. When a user selects an image URL within the page, the consuming client may request from the social networking system130an image whose size is 2048×1024.

According to an embodiment, the capabilities of the consuming client may include an interface within which a user is viewing content of the social networking system130on the consuming client. For example, the user may be using a consuming client with a large display and a powerful graphics processing unit, but may be accessing the social networking system130from within a web browser window that only occupies a small portion of the display. The contents of the web browser window may be downsized to fit within the smaller interface, and the social networking system130accordingly may provide a downscaled image that fits within the smaller interface. As another example, the size of the browser window may be adjusted such that portions of the web page may not be visible within the web browser window. The social networking system130may provide only the portion of the image that is visible.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the capabilities of the consuming client may include the ability of the consuming client to interpret certain metadata. An original image may have associated metadata specifying time, data, location, color profile, or other information about the original image. Many consuming clients may lack the capability to interpret metadata. Providing the metadata to such a consuming client would result in an inefficient use of resources by the social networking system130or the consuming client. The social networking system130may create an optimized image by omitting metadata associated with an original image if the consuming client lacks the ability to interpret the metadata. For example, many consuming clients may lack the capability to process color profile information. A consuming client that cannot process color profile information may render images according to its own default color specification without reference to a color profile received with an image. Thus, upon receiving a request for an original image from a consuming client that cannot process color profile information, the social networking system130may create an optimized image based on the original image by omitting color profile information from the original image.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the capabilities of the consuming client may include the suitability of the consuming client for certain file formats and compression techniques. Different file formats may be ideally suited for images of different sizes. For example, a consuming client device may have a screen with a very high DPI. The social networking system130may create the optimized image by encoding the original image in a file format that most efficiently takes advantage of the high quality screen on the consuming client device and avoids the appearance of pixilation in the optimized original image. Different file formats may also be supported by different consuming clients. For example, a consuming client may not support progressive JPEG images. Progressive JPEG is a file format in which image data is compressed in multiple passes of progressively higher detail. If the original file is encoded in the progressive JPEG format and the consuming client does not support progressive JPEG images, the social networking system130may create the optimized image by encoding the original image in a non-progressive JPEG format.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system130may create an optimized image by adjusting a compression value associated with an original image. Some image file formats may support varying levels of compression. For example, an original image may be encoded in the JPEG format with a compression value of 500. If the image is requested by a consuming client that cannot display JPEG images with an associated compression value of less than 1000, the social networking system130may create an optimized image by increasing the compression value of the original image from 500 to 1000.

As shown inFIG. 3B, according to an embodiment of the invention, operational context may include the quality of the data connection of the user. The quality of the data connection of the user may include, for example, the bandwidth of the data connection, the average data transfer rates of the data connection, or the extent and frequency with which the data transfer rates fluctuate. The optimized image may be created based on the quality of the user's data connection. For example, a consuming client may have advanced technical capabilities but may be accessing the social networking system130using a low-speed data connection. The social networking system130may detect the low-speed data connection and create the optimized image so that its data size is reduced to accommodate the low-speed data connection. In an embodiment, the quality of the user's data connection may be determined based on the frequency and extent to which the speed of the user's data connection fluctuates. For example, the user's data connection may sporadically achieve high data transfer rates, but may be unable to sustain these rates for significant lengths of time. The data transfer rates may rapidly diminish due to interference from other wireless signals, high network traffic, or other reasons. The data connection may be determined to be of low quality even if the peak data transfer rates achieved over the data connection are relatively high. In an embodiment, the consuming client may detect the low-quality data connection and request the optimized image accordingly.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the quality of the data connection may be determined by the social networking system130based on an IP address from which a consuming client has accessed the social networking system130. The social networking system130may maintain a record of IP addresses and a rating of the quality of the data connection associated with each IP address. The record may have been developed by the social networking system130based on an analysis of historical traffic and usage data. In an embodiment, the record may have been acquired from an external source. From the record, the social networking system130may determine the quality of the data connection associated with the IP address and create an optimized image based on the quality of the data connection.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the quality of the data connection may be determined based on the location of the consuming client device. Many devices may include Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities, which allow the geographic location of the device to be determined using navigation satellites. The location of the consuming client device may be determined and expressed as location coordinates. The social networking system130or the consuming client may cross-reference the location coordinates against maps that include information about the quality of data connections in an area. For example, the social networking system130or the consuming client may determine that the consuming client has accessed the social networking system130from an area in which the average bandwidth of data connections is low. As another example, the social networking system130may determine, based on the location coordinates, that the consuming client has accessed the social networking system130from within a tunnel, parking garage, or other structure in which wireless signals may be relatively weak and data transfer rates may be impaired. The social networking system130may create an optimized image based on the quality of the data connection as impacted by the location coordinates of the consuming client.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the quality of the data connection may be determined based on the amount of time required for the consuming client to connect to the social networking system130. The amount of time required for the consuming client to connect to the social networking system130may be determined based on the handshake between the consuming client and the social networking system130. Handshaking refers to the procedure of establishing a wireless or wired communication link between two distinct computing entities. In a handshake, a first computing entity initiates communication with a second computing entity, and the entities exchange messages and acknowledgements until parameters of communication are determined and a connection is established. The social networking system130may initialize a timer when a handshake is initiated and stop the timer when the handshake is completed and a connection has been established. The social networking system130may correlate the handshake time as measured by the timer with a data connection quality and create an optimized image accordingly.

According to an embodiment of the invention, operational context may include preferences specified by the user. The preferences of the user may include, for example, file format and image resolution. In one embodiment, the type of image requested by a consuming client may be influenced by settings specified by the user of the consuming client. For example, the user may be using a consuming client with a large display, a powerful graphics processing unit, or a high-bandwidth data connection, but nonetheless may wish to receive lower-quality images than the consuming client is capable of rendering. For example, the user's vision may be limited such that he cannot perceive the differences between high quality and low quality images. As another example, the user's data connection may be subject to usage constraints or per-kilobyte charges imposed by his wireless carrier or internet service provider (ISP). As yet another example, the user may perform numerous tasks simultaneously on the consuming client and thus may wish to minimize the computing time or resources devoted to rendering images from the social networking system130. Due to these or other factors, the user may specify criteria that restrict the size of the images he receives. The criteria may be overriding criteria that supersede other factors included in the operational context in the determination of a suitable optimized image. The criteria may bias the determination by the social networking system130of the type of image to be provided to the consuming client based on the operational context.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the operational context may include the geographic location of the user. Based on the geographic location of the user, the social networking system130may determine, for example, that an image requested by the user should be provided from a particular storage module. Images may be cached in one or more storage modules. The images may be cached based on, for example, usage trends within a geographic locality. The social networking system130may observe, based on usage data from within a particular locality, that some aspects of the operational contexts are common across users who may access the social networking system130from within the locality. Upon receiving an original image, the social networking system130may optimize the original image based on these aspects and store the optimized image in a storage module for provision to users within the particular locality. The optimized images may be generated upon receipt of the original images by the social networking system130or at periodic intervals. Generating an optimized image upon receipt of the original image or at periodic intervals avoids the need to dynamically generate an optimized image each time the image is requested by a user of the social networking system130.

For example, the social networking system130may observe that most of the users who access the social networking system130from North America use a particular type of consuming client device, whereas most of the users who access the social networking system130from Southeast Asia use a different type of consuming client device. The social networking system130may create a first optimized image based on the consuming client device commonly used in North America and a second optimized image based on the consuming client commonly used in Southeast Asia. The first and second optimized images may be stored within separate storage modules designated for providing images to users in North America and Southeast Asia, respectively.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a storage module, such as a cache, may include reserved space for optimized images that are consistently requested within the social networking system130. The reserved space may allow for storage of images that are requested at a consistent rate to prevent allocation of the entire capacity of the storage module to other images when there is a temporary spike in the popularity of the other images. For example, profile pictures of users of the social networking system130are consistently accessed during the normal use of the social networking system130. In contrast, requests for images of a particular celebrity may increase suddenly if the celebrity is in the news. If there is no space reserved within the storage module for users' profile pictures, then capacity within the storage module that normally would be allocated to profile pictures could instead be allocated to images of the celebrity. Such memory space allocation for high volume, yet ephemeral, requests for images may cause a delay and inconvenience in the provision of profile pictures to users. By reserving memory space for images that are consistently requested, the social networking system130may avoid delay and inconvenience to users who request profile pictures.

According to an embodiment of the invention, optimized images may be pre-loaded on a consuming client before they are accessed by the user. For example, a user may be browsing images in a photo album on the social networking system130. The optimized images may be created based on the operational context as determined at any one of various times during which the user may access the photo album. In an embodiment, if the consuming client or the social networking system130detects that the operational context of the user has changed, a new optimized image may be generated based on the new operational context and displayed in lieu of the pre-loaded optimized image. Alternatively, in an embodiment, the consuming client may disregard the new operational context and display the pre-loaded optimized image.

FIG. 5illustrates a process500for providing an image that is optimized based on an operational context. At block501, the social networking system130receives an original image from a publishing client. The original image may be provided to the social networking system130by a publishing client. At block502, the social networking system130determines an operational context. The operational context may include the features and capabilities of the consuming client. The operational context may include the quality of the data connection by which the consuming client communicates with the social networking system130. The operational context may include the preferences of the user. The operational context may include the geographic locality of the user. Any factors may be included in the operational context. At block503, the social networking system130determines image parameters based on the operational context. The image parameters may specify that the original image should be re-sized, compressed, blurred, or be subject to any other operation or transformation. At block504, the social networking system130creates an optimized image by optimizing the original image in accordance with the image parameters. At block505, the social networking system130provides the optimized image. The optimized image may be provided to a consuming client in response to a request or may be provided to an image cache that stores images to be delivered to consuming clients at later times.

Hardware Implementation

The computer system600includes a processor602, a cache604, and one or more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readable medium, directed to the processes and features described herein. Additionally, the computer system600includes a high performance input/output (I/O) bus606and a standard I/O bus608. A host bridge610couples processor602to high performance I/O bus606, whereas I/O bus bridge612couples the two buses606and608to each other. A system memory614and one or more network interfaces616couple to high performance I/O bus606. The computer system600may further include video memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (not shown). Mass storage618and I/O ports620couple to the standard I/O bus608. The computer system600may optionally include a keyboard and pointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (not shown) coupled to the standard I/O bus608. Collectively, these elements are intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems, including but not limited to computer systems based on the x86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as any other suitable processor.

The elements of the computer system600are described in greater detail below. In particular, the network interface616provides communication between the computer system600and any of a wide range of networks, such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. The mass storage618provides permanent storage for the data and programming instructions to perform the above-described processes and features implemented by the respective computing systems identified above, whereas the system memory614(e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storage for the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor602. The I/O ports620may be one or more serial and/or parallel communication ports that provide communication between additional peripheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system600.

The computer system600may include a variety of system architectures, and various components of the computer system600may be rearranged. For example, the cache604may be on-chip with processor602. Alternatively, the cache604and the processor602may be packed together as a “processor module”, with processor602being referred to as the “processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention may neither require nor include all of the above components. For example, peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus608may couple to the high performance I/O bus606. In addition, in some embodiments, only a single bus may exist, with the components of the computer system600being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore, the computer system600may include additional components, such as additional processors, storage devices, or memories.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein are implemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system600, individually or collectively in a distributed computing environment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware, executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (or machine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, the modules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to be executed by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor602. Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device, such as the mass storage618. However, the series of instructions can be stored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore, the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could be received from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network, via the network interface616. The instructions are copied from the storage device, such as the mass storage618, into the system memory614and then accessed and executed by the processor602.