Method for Distributing Content to a User Station

• US 20070220106A1
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TMI Solutions LLC (Strategic Intellectual Solutions, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Twintech E.U.
• Inventors: REISMAN, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,321,499 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/123 Tax preparation or submission
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 8/18 Address timing or clocking circuits; Address control signal generation or management, e.g. for row address strobe [RAS] or column address strobe [CAS] signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method for controlling a user station configured for communications with a multiplicity of independently-operated data sources via a non-proprietary network includes steps for providing a user interface to enable a user at the user station to select multiple ones of the multiplicity of independently-operated data object sources to be polled; automatically polling each of the selected data object sources in order to determine availability of desired data at each of the selected data object sources; and automatically transporting desired data determined to be available from each of the selected data object sources to the user station. Software and a user station for implementing the method are also described.

Claims

1-151. -151. (canceled)

152. A method of distributing software to a client computer over the Internet via a server-based update distribution service, comprising:

providing on a first portable storage medium a first computer executable software application that can be executed on the client computer; and

providing on the first portable storage medium computer executable software that can be transferred to the client computer to (i) enable the client computer to obtain over the Internet via the server-based update distribution service an update for the first computer executable software application, the update for the first computer executable software application being selected at the client computer, and (ii) enable the client computer to obtain over the Internet via the server-based update distribution service an update for a second computer executable software application on the client computer, the second computer executable software application being different from the first computer executable software application, and the update for the second computer executable software application being selected at the client computer.

153. The method of claim 152, wherein the second computer executable software application is transferred to the client computer from a second portable storage medium.

154. The method of claim 152, wherein the computer executable software is invoked through the one of the first and second computer executable software applications to be updated.

155. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications in response to a user action.

156. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications according to a schedule.

157. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications according to a user-defined schedule.

158. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications according to a schedule determined by the server-based update distribution service.

159. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications according to a user-modifiable schedule.

160. The method of claim 152, wherein the computer executable software utilizes an API when communicating with the update distribution service.

161. The method of claim 152, wherein the computer executable software can be integrated with at least one of the first and second computer executable software applications.

162. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer communicates with the update distribution service using a viewer that is capable of displaying HTML objects.

163. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer obtains the at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications in response to a user action, and wherein the user action includes the user selecting the at least one of the updates from a listing of updates supplied with the respective computer executable software application.

164. The method of claim 152, wherein the client computer checks for updates for the first and second computer executable software applications according to a schedule and allows the user to defer obtaining the updates until a specified later time.

165. The method of claim 152, wherein the computer-generated list includes, for the at least one of the updates, at least one of a file size and a date.

166. The method of claim 152, wherein the computer executable software enables the client computer to obtain updates for the computer executable software.

167. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is selected from a computer-generated list displayed at the client computer and created based on information stored at the client computer indicating an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application.

168. The method of claim 167, wherein the information stored at the client computer includes a product identification for the respective computer executable software application, wherein the product identification is sent to the update distribution service without requiring the user to input the product identification into the client computer, and wherein the computer-generated list is generated by the update distribution service upon receiving the information from the client computer.

169. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is selected from a computer-generated list displayed at the client computer and created based on an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application.

170. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is selected from a computer-generated list displayed at the client computer and created based on an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application, the update status being determined without requiring any user input regarding the update status.

171. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is selected from a computer-generated list displayed at the client computer and created based on an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application, the update status being determined automatically.

172. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is obtained responsive to information stored at the client computer indicating an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application.

173. The method of claim 172, wherein the information stored at the client computer includes a product identification for the respective computer executable software application, wherein the product identification is sent to the update distribution service without requiring the user to input the product identification into the client computer.

174. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is obtained based on an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application, the update status being determined without requiring any user input regarding the update status.

175. The method of claim 152, wherein at least one of the updates for the first and second computer executable software applications is obtained based on an update status for the client computer with respect to the respective computer executable software application, the update status being determined automatically.