System and method for synchronous peer-to-peer appointment scheduling facilitation
First Claim
1. A method for scheduling an appointment between a first computing device and a second computing device without the use of a server, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) determining a time interval for the appointment;
b) sending the time interval from the first computing device to the second computing device;
c) sending from the second computing device a response containing a time schedule of the second computing device within the time interval to the first computing device;
d) comparing the time schedule of the second computing device to a time schedule of the first computing device;
e) determining with the first computing device a time for the appointment based upon the comparison of the time schedules between the first computing device and the second computing device; and
f) agreeing between the first computing device and the second computing device the time for the appointment.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for serverless calendar sharing that allows free/busy time to be exchanged, viewed and new appointments scheduled between computing devices sharing a common calendar format without the use of a server and using a peer-to-peer network. An interval for the meeting/appointment is selected by an initiating device, and a request is sent out to participant devices in the peer-to-peer network for a set of free and busy time slots. A time slot for a meeting is considered free if it is correspondingly free in all participating responses, otherwise it is busy. The aggregate busy time is resolved using an efficient algorithm that is easily computed on low-compute-power devices such as handhelds.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method for scheduling an appointment between a first computing device and a second computing device without the use of a server, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) determining a time interval for the appointment;
b) sending the time interval from the first computing device to the second computing device;
c) sending from the second computing device a response containing a time schedule of the second computing device within the time interval to the first computing device;
d) comparing the time schedule of the second computing device to a time schedule of the first computing device;
e) determining with the first computing device a time for the appointment based upon the comparison of the time schedules between the first computing device and the second computing device; and
f) agreeing between the first computing device and the second computing device the time for the appointment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for scheduling an appointment between a plurality of handheld computing devices without the use of a server wherein one of the devices is designated an initiator of the scheduling, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) determining a time interval for the appointment with the initiator;
b) sending the time interval from the initiator to the other devices;
c) sending a response from the devices to the initiator, each of the responses containing a time schedule of a respective device within the time interval determined by the initiator;
d) comparing with the initiator the time schedules from the devices;
e) determining with the initiator a time for the appointment based upon the comparison of the time schedules of the devices; and
f) agreeing between the initiator and the other devices the time for the appointment. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for scheduling appointments between participants wherein one of the participants is designated an initiator of the appointment, the system comprising:
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a plurality of computing devices for each participant and in communication with one another without the use of a server; and
collaborative networking software installed on each of the computing devices, the software being configured to;
a) determine with the initiator a time interval for the appointment;
b) send the time interval from the initiator to the devices of the other participants;
c) send a response from the devices to the initiator, each of the responses containing a time schedule of a respective device within the time interval determined by the initiator;
d) compare with the initiator the time schedules from the devices;
e) determine with the initiator a time for the appointment based upon the comparison of the time schedules of the devices; and
f) agree between the initiator and the other devices the time for the appointment. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A collaborative scheduling software resident on each of a plurality of computing devices in communication with one another, the software being operative to schedule an appointment between the devices wherein one of the devices is designated an initiator of the appointment, the software being configured to perform the steps of:
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a) determine a time interval for the appointment with the initiator;
b) send the time interval from the initiator to the devices of the other participants;
c) send a response from the devices to the initiator, each of the responses containing a time schedule of a respective device within the time interval determined by the initiator;
d) compare with the initiator the time schedules from the devices;
e) determine with the initiator a time for the appointment based upon the comparison of the time schedules of the devices; and
f) agree between the initiator and the other devices the time for the appointment. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification