METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR FEDERATING CONTACT LISTS TO FACILITATE SHARING OF MEDIA AND OTHER CONTENT THROUGH A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

• US 20090300139A1
• Filed: 06/24/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cooliris Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shoemaker, Austin, Schwarzapel, Josh, Weil, Kevin, Bhumkar, Soujanya
• Granted Patent: US 8,533,284 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

Multiple contact lists of a user, which individual lists are maintained in varying formats associated with varying internet-based services or computer-based applications, are federated through the use of an intermediate schema used by a federating messenger application. The federating messenger application may be instantiated as a client resident at a computer system and/or as a server-based application accessible via a Web browser or dedicated client application. In one instance, the federated messenger application includes both client-based and server-based components, and on the client-side may be resident as a browser extension or similar application.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

mapping disparate schemas of a number of distinct internet services to a common schema, wherein each schema defines references to individual content elements hosted by various ones of the internet services; and

communicating, using a computer-based application conversant in the common schema, a first content element from a first one of the internet services to a second one of the internet services by translating a reference to the first content element from the common schema into a first schema associated with the first content element, accessing the first content element at the first internet service using a version of the reference compatible with the first schema, and providing the first content element to the second internet service with a content reference compatible with a second schema compatible with the second internet service.

2. A system, comprising an intermediate aggregation layer communicatively coupled between multiple instances of a messaging application, each such instance associated with an individual computer system, and multiple internet-based services, each associated with a unique application programming interface (API) and data layer, the aggregation layer providing a common schema for references to content objects with which the messaging applications are conversant and translations between the common schema and disparate schemas for references to content objects hosted in the data layers of the different internet-based services.

3. A system, comprising a contact list accessible by a messaging application associated with an individual computer system, said contact list federating multiple distinct identities of one or more users of different internet-based services, wherein the federated identities of each such user incorporate contact information for each of the respective user'"'"'s individual identities.

4. A communications system, comprising a number of communication portals, each having an instance of a messenger client installed thereon, communicatively coupled to be served by a remote server thereby permitting users utilizing said messenger clients installed on said portals to directly communicate with one another, the communications being facilitated through a user interface that includes windows displayed within the instances of messenger client, the windows representative of communication channels between the various users.