Group access management system
First Claim
1. A system for limiting group access, comprising:
- a group access management system operable to store a plurality of resource lists, the resource lists comprising resources whose network statuses are able to be monitored by respective users, such resources comprising individual contacts for other users, network applications, at least one group contact, and at least one group comprising a plurality of members, said at least one group further comprising a group class of service marker associated with said at least one group and at least one rule for indicating network presence of the group contact based upon a subset of the plurality of members being present on a network, a resource list of a user being a persistent list of resources that are authorized to be accessed by the user, where a non-persistent list of current network statuses for the resources in the resource list are provided to the user;
a service manager configured to keep track of presence information for the user and roster information for the resources contained in the resource list of the user and alert the user as to a change in state of presence and roster information; and
a network service router coupled to the group access management system and being operable to route a service request for adding a group contact to the resource list of the user, the service request being granted, if the service request includes an adequate class of service marker with respect to the group class of service marker so that the user can view the current network status of the group contact after the group contact is added to the resource list of the user, the network service router being further configured to route a request for presence or roster information to the service manager.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for limiting group access is provided. A representative system includes a group access management system operable to store a plurality of resource lists, the resource lists comprising at least one contact and at least one group comprising at least one member and further comprising a group class of service marker associated with the at least one group. The system further comprises a network service router coupled to the group access management system and being operable to route a service request, if the service request includes an adequate class of service marker with respect to the group class of service marker. Methods and other systems for limiting group access are also provided.
118 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A system for limiting group access, comprising:
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a group access management system operable to store a plurality of resource lists, the resource lists comprising resources whose network statuses are able to be monitored by respective users, such resources comprising individual contacts for other users, network applications, at least one group contact, and at least one group comprising a plurality of members, said at least one group further comprising a group class of service marker associated with said at least one group and at least one rule for indicating network presence of the group contact based upon a subset of the plurality of members being present on a network, a resource list of a user being a persistent list of resources that are authorized to be accessed by the user, where a non-persistent list of current network statuses for the resources in the resource list are provided to the user; a service manager configured to keep track of presence information for the user and roster information for the resources contained in the resource list of the user and alert the user as to a change in state of presence and roster information; and a network service router coupled to the group access management system and being operable to route a service request for adding a group contact to the resource list of the user, the service request being granted, if the service request includes an adequate class of service marker with respect to the group class of service marker so that the user can view the current network status of the group contact after the group contact is added to the resource list of the user, the network service router being further configured to route a request for presence or roster information to the service manager. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for managing group access, comprising:
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creating a group comprising a plurality of members; storing the group in a group access management system on a network; and assigning a class of service level to the group, wherein the group is allowed to be added to a profile of a user if the user has a class of service at, at least the class of service level for the group, the profile comprising resources whose network statuses are able to be monitored by the users, such resources comprising individual contacts for other users, network applications, and at least one group, an electronic chat client of the user being configured to communicate with members of the group after the group is added to the profile of the user, network presence for the group being determined based upon a subset of the plurality of members being present on the network, wherein a non-persistent list of current network statuses for resources in the profile are provided to the user and the non-persistent list includes the network status of the group after the group is added to the profile of the user such that the user can view the current network status of the group; tracking presence information for the user and roster information for the resources contained in the profile of the user via a service manager and alerting the user as to a change in state of presence and roster information; routing a service request for adding a group contact to the resource list of the user to the service manager, wherein the service is to be granted if the service request includes an adequate class of service marker with respect to the group class of service marker so that the user can view the current network status of the group contact after the group contact is added to the resource list of the user; and routing a request for presence or roster information to the service manager. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for adding a group to a resource list, comprising:
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sending a request over a network to add a group to a user resource list, the group comprising a plurality of members, a resource list of a user being a persistent list of resources that are authorized to be accessed by a user, where a non-persistent list of current network statuses for the resources in the resource list are provided to the user, wherein the resource list comprises resources whose network statuses are able to be monitored by the users, such resources comprising individual contacts for other users, network applications, and at least one group; providing a class of service marker associated with the user making the request; and adding the group to the user resource list if the class of service marker allows the group to be added so that the user can view the current network status of the group contact after the group contact is added to the resource list of the user, an electronic chat client of the user being configured to communicate with members of the group after the group is added to the user resource list of the user, network presence for the group being determined based upon a subset of the plurality of members being present on the network, wherein a service manager tracks presence information for the user and roster information for the resources contained in the resource list of the user;
alerts the user as to a change in state of presence and roster information and handles requests for presence or roster information. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification