SYNCHRONOUS CONFERENCING WITH AGGREGATION OF MESSAGES

• US 20140207883A1
• Filed: 01/07/2014
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: CASTELLUCCI, ANTONIO, MARSIGLIA, GERARDO
• Granted Patent: US 10,432,558 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads

Abstract

A method, system, and/or computer program product operates a synchronous conference on a computing system. A processor provides at least one sequence of original messages to be sent from a sender user to a corresponding at least one receiver user. The original messages of each sequence are aggregated into corresponding aggregated messages according to a time distance between each pair of consecutive original messages of the sequence. The aggregated messages are then sent to the corresponding receiver user.

Claims

1. A method for operating a synchronous conference on a computing system, the method comprising:

providing, by one or more processors, at least one sequence of original messages to be sent from a sender user to a corresponding at least one receiver user;

aggregating, by one or more processors, the original messages of each sequence into corresponding aggregated messages according to a time distance between each pair of consecutive original messages of said each sequence; and

sending, by one or more processors, the aggregated messages to the corresponding at least one receiver user.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said aggregating the original messages comprises:

adding, by one or more processors, each original message to a current aggregated message, the current aggregated message being sent to said at least one receiver user in response to no further original message being provided within an aggregation time.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

updating, by one or more processors, the aggregation time according to a measure of corresponding time distances.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said updating the aggregation time comprises:

calculating, by one or more processors, a running average of at least part of the corresponding time distances, and

updating, by one or more processors, the aggregation time according to the running average.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said calculating the running average comprises:

calculating, by one or more processors, the running average of at least part of the corresponding time distances lower than a threshold value.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the threshold value is based on the aggregation time.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein said calculating the running average comprises:

setting the running average to a mean of the corresponding time distances lower than a threshold value of a pre-defined number of most recent pairs of consecutive original messages.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein said updating the aggregation time comprises:

setting the aggregation time to a multiple of the measure of the corresponding time distances.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by one or more processors, each of the aggregated messages to the corresponding at least one receiver user in response to a size of said each of the aggregated messages reaching a further threshold value.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said providing at least one sequence of original messages comprises:

providing a plurality of overlapped sequences of original messages.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the synchronous conference is an instant-messaging session.

12. A computer program product for operating a synchronous conference on a computing system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code being readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

providing at least one sequence of original messages to be sent from a sender user to a corresponding at least one receiver user;

aggregating the original messages of each sequence into corresponding aggregated messages according to a time distance between each pair of consecutive original messages of said each sequence; and

sending the aggregated messages to the corresponding at least one receiver user.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein said aggregating the original messages comprises:

adding each original message to a current aggregated message, the current aggregated message being sent to said at least one receiver user in response to no further original message being provided within an aggregation time.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

updating the aggregation time according to a measure of corresponding time distances.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein said updating the aggregation time comprises:

calculating a running average of at least part of the corresponding time distances, and

updating the aggregation time according to the running average.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein said calculating the running average comprises:

calculating the running average of at least part of the corresponding time distances lower than a threshold value.

17. A computer system comprising:

a processor, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage medium;

first program instructions to provide at least one sequence of original messages to be sent from a sender user to a corresponding at least one receiver user;

second program instructions to aggregate the original messages of each sequence into corresponding aggregated messages according to a time distance between each pair of consecutive original messages of said each sequence; and

third program instructions to send the aggregated messages to the corresponding at least one receiver user; and

wherein

said first, second, and third program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium for execution by said processor via said computer readable memory.

18. The computer system of claim 17, further comprising:

fourth program instructions to add each original message to a current aggregated message, the current aggregated message being sent to said at least one receiver user in response to no further original message being provided within an aggregation time; and

wherein

said fourth program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium for execution by said processor via said computer readable memory.

19. The computer system of claim 18, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to update the aggregation time according to a measure of corresponding time distances; and

wherein

said fifth program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium for execution by said processor via said computer readable memory.

20. The computer system of claim 19, further comprising:

sixth program instructions to calculate a running average of at least part of the corresponding time distances, and

seventh program instructions to update the aggregation time according to the running average; and

wherein

said sixth and seventh program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium for execution by said processor via said computer readable memory.