JP2000099438A - Information processing apparatus, information prefetching method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To enable desired information to be browsed in a short time without increasing the load on a network. An information processing apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving WWW information via a network, downloads the WWW information in response to an input instruction,
A browser unit 12a for browsing the contents of the W information; an HTML information analysis unit 12c for analyzing the WWW information downloaded by the browser unit 12a to determine whether information to be prefetched is indicated; 12
an event analysis unit 12d for monitoring that there is no instruction for a certain period of time, and a browser according to the information determined by the HTML information analysis unit 12c when the event analysis unit 12d determines that there is no instruction for the browser unit 12a for a certain period of time. A read-ahead section 12b for causing the section 12a to pre-read WWW information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that prefetches useful information when browsing (World Wide Web) and an information prefetching method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a system for providing various information from a server to a client via a network,
WWW (World Wide Web) is widely used. This system comprises a WWW server and a WWW client, and a predetermined file transfer protocol HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is provided to the server and the client.
According to l), various information such as text, images, and voices are provided from the server to the client.

[0003] Usually, when a client obtains information from a server, it is performed by designating a required URL (uniform resource locator) address on the WWW through a browser. The client requests the server to transfer the information by specifying the URL address, downloads the information indicated by the URL address, and displays the information by the browser.

[0004]

Conventionally, a user specifies a URL address from which information is to be obtained, and
The information on the address is converted into its HTML (Hyper Text Ma
rkup Language) image information embedded in the file,
It was downloaded including video information and displayed on the browser.

[0005] Generally, in one HTML file,
In many cases, multimedia information such as image information and audio information having a relatively large data amount is embedded, and it takes a long time from when a user specifies a URL address to when download is completed and displayed on a browser. There was something.

On the other hand, in the prior art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 3935, a technique for pre-reading information to reduce the time required to display desired information on a browser has been considered. However, although the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-133935 allows information browsing without displaying unnecessary browsing data existing up to a target link destination, it does not take into account any load on the network. Not. That is, data is read regardless of the network usage status or the content of the data to be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an information processing apparatus and an information prefetching method capable of browsing desired information in a short time without increasing the load on a network. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

According to the present invention, WWW information of a link destination referred to from a page browsed by a browser is downloaded in advance, and when a user selects the information, the WWW information is displayed on a network. By displaying information locally instead of from you, you reduce the time to wait for information to be downloaded. In particular, by measuring the time interval of the user's input, and performing prefetch download when there is no input for a certain period of time,
When other WWW information is downloaded according to a user's command, there is no need to download further ahead, so that the load on the network is not increased.

When performing prefetching, the prefetching is performed in accordance with the priority set for the information to be prefetched. The priority settings are as follows: (1) In accordance with the size of the character of the information being referred to, information with high importance is raised in priority, and information with low importance is lowered in priority, so that priority is reduced in a short time. (2) Referring to the URL address of the WWW information of the reference source and the URL address of the information of the reference destination, if the file is the same server and a different file, the priority is increased, and the same server is used. If they are the same file and different servers, lower the priority.
(3) The type of information of the URL address being referred to is analyzed, and in the case of text, the priority is increased.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a WWW information processing apparatus) according to the present embodiment. WW in this embodiment
The W information processing apparatus is implemented by a computer that reads a program recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, and a magnetic disk, and whose operation is controlled by the program.

As shown in FIG. 1, a WWW information processing apparatus 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a control device 12, an input device 14, an output device 16, a communication device 18, a clock device 20, and an external storage device 22.

The control unit 12 controls the operation of the WWW information processing apparatus as a whole, and includes a browser unit 12a (browser unit), a prefetch unit 12b (prefetch unit), an HTML information analysis unit 12c (analysis unit), and an event analysis unit. A function of 12d (event analysis means) is provided. Each function is a CP
U realizes each program by executing a corresponding program.

The browser section 12a obtains information from the WWW 11 (hereinafter, referred to as WWW information) and outputs the information to the output device 1.
6 for outputting (text and image display, audio output, etc.) for browsing, and controls input of various instructions from a user including designation of a URL address, browsing of received WWW information, and the like. The pre-reading unit 12b, when the operation (input of an instruction) on the browser unit 12a by the user by the event analyzing unit 12d has not been performed for a predetermined time or more, the HTML by the HTML information analyzing unit 12c.
According to the priority obtained by the analysis of the file, the file indicated by the other linked URL address is read ahead. The HTML information analysis unit 12c
The L file is analyzed to determine the other document linked to the original document, and to calculate the priority of the prefetch by the prefetch unit 12b for the other document. The event analysis unit 12d monitors an input from the user obtained through the input device 14, and performs an operation (input of an instruction) on the browser unit 12a.
However, if there is no predetermined time or more, the prefetch unit 12b is notified to execute prefetch.

The input device 14 is used by a user to input information and various instructions for each function of the control device 12, and is constituted by a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The output device 16 is for presenting data input to the control device 12 and necessary information to the user, and includes a display device for displaying texts and images, a speaker for outputting audio, and the like. It is included.

The communication device 18 is controlled by the control device 12 through a WWW via a network such as a telephone line or a LAN.
Connect to 11. The clock device 20 measures time, and is referred to when determining a time at which a user command is input to the browser unit 12a of the control device 12.

The external storage device 22 is constituted by a hard disk device for storing various data, and the like.
Pre-read information data 22a, cache data 22b, U
Various data including the RL address book data 22c is stored. The prefetch information data 22a is information for managing the prefetch operation of the WWW information by the prefetch unit 12b (the details will be described with reference to FIG. 7). The cache data 22b corresponds to the WWW downloaded earlier.
Information. The URL address book data 22c is a URL address arbitrarily specified by the user.

FIG. 2 shows the concept of WWW information. As shown in FIG. 2, the WWW information includes one URL.
Various information is referenced from the address. That is,
The original document indicated by (http://www.aaa.co.jp/index.htm) is (http://www.aaa.co.jp/1.htm) (http: // ww
w.aaa.co.jp/2.htm), and then (htt
The document indicated by p: //www.aaa.co.jp/1.htm is (http: // www.
aaa.co.jp/3.htm) (http://www.aaa.co.jp/4.htm). When the user browses such WWW information, the information referred to from the displayed information is read in advance,
The time required for display can be shortened, which is effective.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the HTML file of the original document shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows a display example corresponding to the contents of the HTML file shown in FIG. Next, the operation of the WWW information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the overall flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the control device 12 inputs designation of the depth of a link for prefetching from a user via the input device 14 in order to limit the range when prefetching WWW information (step A1). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the link depth is set to 1 when the document is directly referenced from the original document, and is set to 1 when the document is referenced from the document having the link depth of 1. Let the depth be 2. Hereafter,
The value indicating the depth of the link increases according to the number of times of reference from the original document.

Next, when the user instructs the activation of the browser via the input device 14, the control device 12 activates the browser section 12a. Here, the browser unit 12a inputs the URL address of the WWW information desired by the user or the designation of the desired URL address in the URL address book data 22c stored in the external storage device 22 (step A2).

The browser section 12a acquires the WWW information of the designated URL address via the communication device 18 including the image information and the audio information embedded in the HTML file, and outputs the WWW information in accordance with the HTML grammar. It is displayed on the device 16 (step A3).

At this time, the event analysis unit 12d measures the time from completely downloading the information of the specified URL address including supplementary information such as image information until the user performs the next operation. . Here, the user's operation is to follow a link in the page, specify another URL address, return to the previous page, etc.
The operation is limited to an operation of giving an instruction to a, and operations relating to other applications to be started at the same time are excluded.

In this embodiment, for example, when the user does not give an instruction to the browser unit 12a within 10 seconds, the prefetching unit 12b executes a prefetching process (step A4). The prefetch processing will be described next with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The prefetching unit 12b interrupts the prefetching when the user performs an operation related to the browser unit 12a during the prefetching process (step A6), or when the prefetching process is performed up to the designated link depth (step A6). Step A5). Further, the event analysis unit 12d measures the time until the user performs the next operation.

As described above, when there is no command to the browser unit 12a for a fixed time (for example, 10 seconds), that is, when there is no request to download WWW information by the browser unit 12a and the network is not used, the prefetch operation is performed. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the time required for displaying information by the browser unit 12a while reducing the load on the network.

Next, the pre-reading operation by the pre-reading section 12b (step A4) will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, the description will be given with reference to the example of the WWW information link structure shown in FIG. 2 and the example of the prefetch information data storage shown in FIG.

First, the pre-reading unit 12b is connected to the external storage device 2
2 is initialized (step B1). As shown in FIG. 7, the look-ahead information data includes an ID item for storing an ID number, a URL address item for storing a URL address, and a U of a link source of the information.
A link source URL item for storing an ID number corresponding to RL address information, a link destination URL item for storing an ID number corresponding to information of a link destination formed from the information, and a priority point for storing the priority of the information An item, a link depth item in which the link depth from the information as the starting point is counted with the starting point as 0, and information indicating whether the information is stored in the local disk (the external storage device 22 of the own device) are stored. Local items are associated with each ID number.

The pre-reading unit 12b stores an ID as an initial setting.
An integer is stored in ascending order from 1 in the number item, and 0 is stored in the priority point. The operation of the user to give an instruction to the browser is constantly monitored by the event analysis unit 12d, and when the instruction is given within a certain time, the operation is notified by the prefetch unit 12b. If no command is given by the user within a predetermined time, the prefetch unit 12b stores the URL address information input by the user in the prefetch information data 22a as follows.

First, corresponding to ID number item 1, the input URL address is the URL address item, "NULL" indicating that there is no link source is the link source URL item, and "10" is the priority point item. , "0" is stored in the link depth item.

The prefetch unit 12b causes the browser unit 12a to download data corresponding to the input URL address or to obtain data from a cache location (cache data 22b) designated by the browser. The prefetch unit 12b stores the acquired data in the cache data 22b.
Is stored in the external storage device 22 as “1” indicating that the data corresponding to the URL address has been stored in the local disk (external storage device 22) in the local item of the prefetch information data 22a.

The prefetching unit 12b causes the HTML information analysis unit 12c to analyze the HTML file (original document) obtained by the URL address specified by the user (step B3), and to analyze the file with another file (document). The determination of the link relationship and the calculation of the priority of the prefetching for other files are executed, and the result is stored in the prefetching information data 22a (step B4). (For details of the analysis process by the HTML information analysis unit 12c, see FIG. Will be described below).

When the original document has the link relationship shown in FIG. 2, the prefetching unit 12b refers to two URL addresses (http://www.aaa.co.jp/1.htm) referenced from the original document. htt
p: //www.aaa.co.jp/2.htm) are stored in the URL address items of the ID numbers 2 and 3 of the pre-read information data 22a, respectively.

The prefetching unit 12b stores the ID numbers 2 and 3 in the link destination URL item of ID number 1 as the link source. Then, a numerical value obtained by adding “1” to the numerical value of the link depth item of the link source URL address is stored in the link depth item of the ID number 2 or 3.

At this time, the prefetching unit 12b uses the URL address of the same server as the link source URL address indicating the file to which the prefetching should be prioritized, the URL address displayed in large characters on the link source page, and the text information. A priority point is added to the data of a certain URL address and stored (the setting of the priority point will be described in detail in the description of the analysis processing by the HTML information analysis unit 12c). However, even if the URL address of the same server specifies a different location on the same page as the page being displayed, it is excluded. “0” is stored in the local item because the local item has not yet been stored on the local disk. Thus, the pre-read information data 22a for the HTML file having the link depth "1" is created.

Here, the look-ahead section 12b stores the link depth designated by the user and the look-ahead information data 22a.
Is compared with the link depth "1" for which the creation of the link is completed, and if the link depth of the prefetch information data 22a exceeds the designated link depth, the prefetching process is terminated; (Step B5).

If the depth of the link to be prefetched is equal to or less than the specified link depth, the prefetch unit 12
b performs prefetching on the information of the link depth "1" based on the prefetching information data 22a. However, the prefetching unit 12b ends the prefetching process when the event analysis unit 12d notifies that the user has input a command to the browser unit 12a (step B).
6).

While there is no notification from the event analysis unit 12d, the prefetching unit 12b, based on the prefetching information data 22a, uses the browser unit 12a to communicate with the communication device 18 by the browser unit 12a in descending order of the link depth “1”. Via the browser or obtained from the cache location (cache data 22b) specified by the browser (step B).
8). The prefetch unit 12b stores “1” in the local item corresponding to the URL address from which the data was acquired.

When the download of the data having the link depth "1" is completed, the prefetching unit 12b reads the HTML file which has just been downloaded or obtained from the cache location (cache data 22b) specified by the browser. The file is analyzed by the HTML information analysis unit 12c (step B9), the link relationship with another file (document) is determined, and the priority of the pre-reading for the other file is calculated. Updated and stored in the prefetch information data 22a (step B1
0).

When the original document has the link relationship shown in FIG. 2, the prefetching unit 12b transmits the HTML file (ID number is 2 and URL address is (http: //www.a
aa.co.jp/1.htm) and two URL addresses (http://www.aaa.co.jp/3.htm) (htt
p: //www.aaa.co.jp/4.htm) are stored in the URL address items corresponding to the ID numbers 4 and 5 of the prefetch information data 22a, respectively.

The prefetching unit 12b stores the ID numbers 4 and 5 in the link destination URL item of ID number 2 as the link source. Then, a value obtained by adding “1” to the link depth numerical value of the link source URL address is stored in the link depth item of the ID number 4 or 5.

At this time, the prefetching unit 12b uses the URL address of the same server as the link source URL address indicating the file to which the prefetching should be prioritized, the URL address displayed in large characters on the link source page, and the text information. A priority point is added to the data of a certain URL address and stored (the setting of the priority point will be described in detail in the description of the analysis processing by the HTML information analysis unit 12c). However, even if the URL address of the same server specifies a different location on the same page as the page being displayed, it is excluded. In the local item, "0" is stored because the local item has not been stored yet. Thus, the prefetch information data 22a for the file having the link depth of "1" is created. Thus, the look-ahead information data 2 for the HTML file having the link depth "2"
2a is created.

Here, the look-ahead section 12b stores the link depth designated by the user and the look-ahead information data 22a.
Is compared with the link depth "1" for which the creation of the link is completed, and if the link depth of the prefetch information data 22a exceeds the designated link depth, the prefetching process is terminated; (Step B5).

If the depth of the link to be prefetched is equal to or less than the specified link depth, the prefetch unit 12
b performs prefetching of information of the link depth "2" based on the prefetching information data 22a. However, the prefetching unit 12b ends the prefetching process when the event analysis unit 12d notifies that the user has input a command to the browser unit 12a (step B).
6).

While there is no notification from the event analysis unit 12d, the prefetching unit 12b uses the browser unit 12a to start communication with the communication device 18 based on the prefetching information data 22a in descending order of priority at the link depth "2". Via the browser or obtained from the cache location (cache data 22b) specified by the browser (step B).
8). The prefetch unit 12b stores “1” in the local item corresponding to the URL address from which the data was acquired.

The pre-reading unit 12b performs the above operation in the HTM
The process is performed until the link depth of the L file exceeds the value specified by the user or the user operates the browser unit 12a.

Next, the detailed operation of the analysis processing by the HTML information analysis unit 12c will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, the HT shown in FIG.
A description will be given of an ML file example. The character string search performed below does not distinguish between uppercase letters and lowercase letters.

In the analysis processing in this embodiment, the URL address of the same server as the link source URL address indicating the file to which the prefetching should be prioritized, the URL address displayed in large characters on the link source page, and text information. It is assumed that a URL address is retrieved from the HTML file and priority score addition is performed.

First, the HTML information analysis unit 12c checks the URL address (http: // w) of the displayed HTML file.
ww.aaa.co.jp/index.htm) is acquired as the current URL address, stored in the URL address item corresponding to the ID number 1 of the pre-read information data 22a, and 10 (priority point Upper limit) is stored. And H
The TML information analysis unit 12c acquires, as the current server, a character string between the character string “/” that appears first after the character string “//” that appears first in the character string representing the URL address ( Step C1).

Next, the HTML information analysis unit 12c reads the contents of the currently displayed HTML file from the beginning, searches for a character string “<A HREF =” representing the description of the link destination, and The character string until "" first appears later is stored in the URL address item corresponding to ID number 2 as a link destination address linked from the page (step C2).

Then, the HTML information analysis unit 12c converts the character string between the character "/" appearing after the character string "//" appearing first in the character string of the link destination address into the link destination. It is acquired as a character string representing the server (step C3).

Here, the HTML information analyzer 12c compares the current server character string acquired in step C1 with the respective linked server character strings acquired in step C3. If the current server character string matches the link destination server character string, the HTML information analysis unit 12c compares the current URL address with the link destination address, and appears later than the first character “/”. It is determined whether the characters up to the character before the character “#” indicating the link destination in the same page match. If they match, they indicate the same page, so the numerical value of the priority point item of the link destination address corresponding to the ID number is added by 0 (step C6).

For example, if the current URL address is (http: // ww
w.aaa.co.jp/index.html) and if the link destination address is (http://www.aaa.co.jp/index.html#owari), Judge as a link. That is, in the case of a link within the same page, this page indicates that the page has already been downloaded, so that it is not necessary to perform pre-reading, so that the priority addition value is set to 0.

On the other hand, when the link is not a link to the same page, two points are added to the numerical value of the priority point item of the link destination address corresponding to the ID number (step C7). In other words, if the current server and the linked server match, it is likely that the file is more relevant than the files held by other servers, so the priority points are added. To make it easier to read ahead.

Subsequently, the HTML information analysis unit 12c analyzes the character string of the URL address item corresponding to the ID number and determines whether the file type is text (step C8). The HTML information analysis unit 12c searches backward from the end of the character string and extends the character string until the first “.” Appears (eg, htm, html, gif, jpg, class, etc.).
To get as

The HTML information analysis unit 12c outputs “htm”, “html”, “shtml”, and “shtm” whose extension indicates text.
Match any of the character strings in
8) Then, the numerical value of the priority point item of the link destination address corresponding to the ID number is added by 3 points (step C9), and otherwise, 0 point is added.

In other words, the text has a very small data amount compared to image information and audio information, and a short time for downloading, but contains information useful for the user to grasp the contents of the file. In addition, a high priority point is added as data that is valid as a target of pre-reading.

Subsequently, the HTML information analysis unit 12c acquires the 15 characters before the character string “<AHREF =” retrieved in step C2, and defines the character “<H” that defines the size of the character to be displayed. Search for a column. If there is this character string, a number indicating the character size following “<H” is obtained. If the number is 1, two points are added. If the number is 2, one point is added to the priority point of the link destination address. Otherwise, zero is added (step C10). If not, the process ends. In other words, characters that are to be displayed in a large size often represent the main points (headings, etc.) of the entire content. Can be performed.

In the above description, if the score of the priority point matches the current server and the linked server, the file matches, the test file, the test file, or the test file is set in advance according to the character size. It is described that the given predetermined score is added, but the priority may be set for other contents, and the point to be added may be arbitrarily changed. In this case, a function capable of designating the setting contents of the priority and the number of points to be added to the information to be read ahead is provided, and this function is set in advance in accordance with an instruction from the user.

As described above, the HTML downloaded by the URL address specified by the user
A file, for example, information indicated by a URL address referred to (linked) from a homepage displayed by the output device 16 is read ahead while the user does not operate the browser unit 12a for a certain period of time or more and the load on the network is not applied. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the time required for output by the browser unit 12a when the corresponding information is requested, without increasing the load on the network.

When the user gives an instruction to display another page to the browser unit 12a, the prefetching is interrupted to prevent an excessive load on the network. Since priority is assigned to each piece of information and prefetching is performed in this priority order, effective information is acquired first, and effective prefetching can be realized.

In the above description, the priority of the information to be prefetched is given a point difference based on the character size, the URL address (link destination), etc. However, the contents of the HTML file are analyzed and included in the text. Points may be given based on the similarity (or related phrase) or the frequency of occurrence of the matched word, or the access history of the user.

When the priority is set based on the frequency of appearance of a word, the HTML information analysis unit 12c compares a word included in the original document (HTML file) with a file having a higher frequency of appearance of similar or matching words. Are added so that the priority becomes higher.

When setting the priority based on the access history of the user, the HTML information analysis unit 12c stores the past access history, that is, the specified URL address and the number of times of access, and refers to the original document. If an existing HTML file is registered in the access history, the points are added so that the higher the number of accesses, the higher the priority.

Note that the method described in the above-described embodiment includes, for example, a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM,
DVD and the like, and can be written to a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory and provided to various devices. Further, it is also possible to transmit the data via a communication medium and provide it to various devices. A computer that implements the present apparatus reads the program recorded on a recording medium or receives the program via a communication medium, and executes the above-described processing by controlling the operation of the program.

[0065]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the information referred to from the downloaded information (such as a homepage) according to the instruction from the user is read in advance, so that the user can read the page. Is designated, the information is displayed at a high speed, the waiting time until the information is downloaded is reduced, and appropriate information can be provided to the user. In particular, the network load and the machine load can be reduced by performing prefetching during a time period when there is no command from the user and performing prefetching with a difference in priority.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus (WWW information processing apparatus) according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing the concept of WWW information used for explanation in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of an HTML file of the original document shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing a display example according to the contents of the HTML file shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the entire operation of the WWW information processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a prefetch operation performed by a prefetch unit 12b.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of prefetch information data storage according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a detailed operation of an analysis process by an HTML information analysis unit 12c.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... WWW information processing device 12 ... Control device 12a ... Browser part 12b ... Prefetch part 12c ... HTML information analysis part 12d ... Event analysis part 14 ... Input device 16 ... Output device 18 ... Communication device 20 ... Clock device 22 ... External storage device 22a: pre-read information data 22b: cache data 22c: URL address book data

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. WWW (World) via a network
In an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving Wide Web information, a browser means for downloading WWW information in accordance with an input instruction and browsing the contents of the WWW information, and WWW information downloaded by the browser means Analyzing means for analyzing whether or not the information to be prefetched is indicated; an event analyzing means for monitoring that there is no instruction to the browser means for a predetermined time; and the browser means by the event analyzing means. An information processing apparatus comprising: a prefetch unit that prefetches WWW information to the browser unit according to information determined by the analysis unit when it is determined that there is no instruction for a predetermined time. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing unit includes a priority setting unit that sets a priority for the information to be prefetched, and the prefetching unit sets the priority according to the priority set by the priority setting unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is read ahead. 3. The information according to claim 2, wherein the priority setting means sets a priority according to a size of a character representing information to be prefetched, wherein the WWW information is text. Processing equipment. 4. The priority setting means sets the priority based on whether the information to be prefetched is on the same server as the original WWW information and whether the information is a different file. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the priority setting means sets the priority based on whether or not the information to be prefetched is text. 6. WWW (World) via a network
Wide Web) In an information processing device capable of transmitting and receiving information, WWW information downloaded according to an instruction input to a browser is analyzed to determine whether information to be prefetched is indicated. An information prefetching method, comprising, when it is determined that there is no instruction to the browser for a predetermined time, causing the browser to prefetch WWW information in accordance with information to be prefetched.