Method and Apparatus for Maintaining User Sessions Across User Devices and Portals

• US 20090138609A1
• Filed: 11/27/2007
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Anderson, Steven E., Sun, Wendell
• Application Number:
  US11/945,675
• Publication Number:
  US 20090138609A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method and apparatus for maintaining user sessions across user devices and portals. One embodiment of a method for maintaining a user session across a group including a plurality of user devices includes altering, at a first device in the group, a state of the user session, such that a new session state results and transferring the new session state from the first device to at least one of the other devices in the group.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining a user session across a group comprising a plurality of user devices, the method comprising:

altering, at a first device in the group, a state of the user session, such that a new session state results; and

transferring the new session state from the first device to at least one of the plurality of user devices in the group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring comprises:

pushing the new session state from the first device to the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring comprises:

pulling the new session state from the first device to the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating, at the first device, a local copy of a group state database to reflect the new session state.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the group state database comprises current session state for the group.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of devices maintains a local copy of the group state database, each local copy being synchronized with other local copies.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the group state database comprises an entry for each of the plurality of devices, each entry comprising, for a given device, at least one of:

a group member ID associated with the given device, a device ID associated with given device, a user ID associated with the given device, an exception associated with the given device, a rule associated with the given device, a session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a current state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a time as of which a state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed went into effect, a state transition time as of which a state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed went into effect, a last one of the plurality of devices to change the state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a location of the given device, and a service that the given device can render.

8. A computer readable medium containing an executable program for maintaining a user session across a group comprising a plurality of user devices, where the program performs the steps of:

altering, at a first device in the group, a state of the user session, such that a new session state results; and

transferring the new session state from the first device to at least one of the plurality of user devices in the group.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transferring comprises:

pushing the new session state from the first device to the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transferring comprises:

pulling the new session state from the first device to the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

updating, at the first device, a local copy of a group state database to reflect the new session state.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the group state database comprises current session state for the group.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of devices maintains a local copy of the group state database, each local copy being synchronized with other local copies.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the group state database comprises an entry for each of the plurality of devices, each entry comprising, for a given device, at least one of:

a group member ID associated with the given device, a device ID associated with given device, a user ID associated with the given device, an exception associated with the given device, a rule associated with the given device, a session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a current state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a time as of which a state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed went into effect, a state transition time as of which a state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed went into effect, a last one of the plurality of devices to change the state of the session to which the plurality of devices is currently subscribed, a location of the given device, and a service that the given device can render.