Customer services and advertising based upon device attributes and associated distributed processing system

• US 6,963,897 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2000
• Issued: 11/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Byteweavr, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: United Devices, Inc. (Altair Engineering Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hubbard, Edward A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US09/602,983
• Time in Patent Office: 1,964 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709/224, 709/205, 709/218, 705/14
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/00 Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled logic circuits H03K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5044 considering hardware capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers

Abstract

A method for providing customer services and advertising based upon device attributes is disclosed for a distributed processing system. The distributed processing system identifies and utilizes the capabilities of distributed devices connected together through a wide variety of communication systems and networks and utilize those capabilities to organize, manage and distribute project workloads to the distributed devices.

Claims

1. A method of operating a distributed processing system having a network for coupling a multiplicity of Host distributed devices to process workloads for the distributed processing system, a plurality of Client systems requesting processing of the workloads, and a Server system for selectively distributing the workloads from the plurality of Client systems for processing by the distributed processing system comprising the steps of:

generating an offer to provide processing services as an incentive for a Host distributed device to couple to the network as one of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices, wherein the processing services are available only by a processing capability provided by the distributed processing system;

providing a first processing service selected from the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system; and

updating capabilities of the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system,

wherein the Server system makes an offer to sell application software to the first Host distributed device in response to the first Host distributed device having an assigned priority for sending Host workloads for processing on the distributed processing system,

the application software executes by processing workloads exclusively on the distributed processing system and the first Host distributed device is assigned a priority for sending Host workloads for processing on the distributed processing system as an incentive for coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system, and

wherein the application software launches enhanced functions in place of normal functions executed by the first Host distributed device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the enhanced function is a document edit function.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the enhanced function is a database search function described by a logic character string.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the database search function is processed by an internet search engine which returns to the first Host distributed device a selection of files in response to the database search function.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the application software parses the selection of files into N files and sends one or more of the N files to selected of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices as a workload with first software for executing an enhanced search of the workload, the enhanced search returning search data selected from the N files.

6. A method of operating a distributed processing system having a network for coupling a multiplicity of Host distributed devices to process workloads for the distributed processing system, a plurality of Client systems requesting processing of the workloads, and a Server system for selectively distributing the workloads from the plurality of Client systems for processing by the distributed processing system comprising the steps of:

generating an offer to provide processing services as an incentive for a Host distributed device to couple to the network as one of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices, wherein the processing services are available only by a processing capability provided by the distributed processing system;

providing a first processing service selected from the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system; and

updating capabilities of the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system, wherein

the first Host distributed device is assigned a priority for sending Host workloads for processing on the distributed processing system as an incentive for coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system;

the Server system makes an offer to sell application software to the first Host distributed device in response to the first Host distributed device having an assigned priority for sending Host workloads for processing on the distributed processing system, wherein the application software executes by processing workloads exclusively on the distributed processing system, and

wherein the application software generates first workloads for processing by the distributed processing system without a workload request from the user of the first Host distributed device, the first workloads processed to enhance completion of a task requested by the user of the first Host distributed device.

7. A computer program product operating within a Server system coupled to a network and managing a distributed processing system, the network configured to enable the Server system to selectively couple a multiplicity of Host distributed devices to perform workloads for the distributed processing system, the program product comprising a program of instructions for performing the program steps of:

generating an offer to provide processing services as an incentive for a Host distributed device to couple to the network as one of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices, wherein the processing services are available only by a processing capability provided by the distributed processing system;

sending a program providing a first processing service selected from the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system; and

updating capabilities of the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system, wherein

the Server system makes an offer to sell application software to the first Host distributed device in response to the first Host distributed device having an assigned priority for sending Host workloads for processing on the distributed processing system, wherein the application software executes by processing workloads exclusively on the distributed processing system, and

wherein the application software launches enhanced functions in place of normal functions executed by the first Host distributed device.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the enhanced function is a search function described by a logic character string.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the search function is processed by an internet search engine which returns to the first Host distributed device a selection of files in response to the search function.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the application software parses the selection of files into N files and sends one or more of the N files to selected of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices as a workload with first software for executing an enhanced search of the workload, the enhanced search returning search data selected from the N files as a result of the enhanced search.

11. A computer program product operating within a Server system coupled to a network and managing a distributed processing system, the network configured to enable the Server system to selectively couple a multiplicity of Host distributed devices to perform workloads for the distributed processing system, the program product comprising a program of instructions for performing the program steps of:

generating an offer to provide processing services as an incentive for a Host distributed device to couple to the network as one of the multiplicity of Host distributed devices wherein the processing services are available only by a processing capability provided by the distributed processing system;

sending a program providing a first processing service selected from the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system; and

updating capabilities of the processing services in response to the first Host distributed device coupling to the network to process workloads for the distributed processing system, wherein the application software generates first workloads for processing by the distributed processing system without a workload request from the user of the first Host distributed device, the first workloads processed to enhance completion of a task requested by the user of the first Host distributed device.