TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the subject matter described herein relate generally to client-server communications techniques established on the client side. More particularly, embodiments of the subject matter relate to a browser-based, client-side mechanism for enabling more than one presentation interface to communicate with a server using a single communication session.

BACKGROUND

During a web-browsing session, a user may navigate various websites using more than one browser application window and/or browser application tab. Users may wish to open certain webpages or sections of webpages and to keep them open, while continuing to browse other websites or sections using other open tabs or windows. In circumstances wherein a user has opened and is currently using a plurality of windows or tabs, servers communicating with the user's browser application are generally required to maintain a separate communication session for each open tab or window, thus requiring multi-threaded communications between the server and the client device. A server may not have the resources to maintain these multi-threaded communication sessions.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide client-server communications solutions that are less resource-intensive on the server-side. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for communicating with a server system, by a client device comprising a computer system configured to store, maintain, execute, and support a browser application. The method establishes a single communication session with a server system, by the client device, wherein the single communication session comprises one individual client-side, browser-based communication session; presents a plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces comprising at least one of browser-based tabs and browser-based windows, by the client device, wherein the browser-based presentation interfaces are associated with the browser application; enables communication between the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces and the server system via the single communication session, wherein the communication comprises server system data transmissions received by the client device via the single communication session and client device data transmissions transmitted by the client device; and dynamically updates each of the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces in real-time, by the client device, based on the server system data transmissions and the client device data transmissions.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a client device configured to communicate with a server system, the client device configured to store, maintain, execute, and support a browser application. The client device includes a system memory element; a communication device, configured to establish communication connections to a server system and to transmit and receive data via the communication connections; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the system memory element and the communication device, the at least one processor configured to: establish a single communication session with the server system, wherein the single communication session comprises one individual client-side, browser-based communication session; present a plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces comprising at least one of browser-based tabs and browser-based windows, wherein the browser-based presentation interfaces are associated with the browser application; enabling communication between the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces and the server system via the single communication session, wherein the communication comprises server system data transmissions received by the client device via the single communication session and client device data transmissions transmitted by the client device; and dynamically updating each of the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces in real-time, based on the server system data transmissions and the client device data transmissions.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, are capable of performing a method for communicating with a server system, by a client device comprising a computer system configured to store, maintain, execute, and support a browser application. The method receives a user input request to execute the browser application, via a user interface of the client device; and, in response to the user input request, executes the browser application; presents a first one of a plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces; and establishes a single communication session between the first one and the server system, by the client device, wherein the single communication session comprises one individual client-side, browser-based communication session; receives one or more additional user input requests to open additional browser-based presentation interfaces, via the user interface of the client device, wherein the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces comprise the first one and the additional browser-based presentation interfaces; presents the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces comprising at least one of browser-based tabs and browser-based windows, by the client device, wherein the browser-based presentation interfaces are associated with the browser application; enables communication between the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces and the server system via the single communication session, wherein the communication comprises server system data transmissions received by the client device via the single communication session and client device data transmissions transmitted by the client device; and dynamically updates each of the plurality of browser-based presentation interfaces in real-time, by the client device, based on the server system data transmissions and the client device data transmissions.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

