Method and apparatus for collaborative system

• US 8,316,104 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Galvez, Philippe, Newman, Harvey B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Joo, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US11/559,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20070156813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,198 Days
• Field of Search: 709203-207, 709223-229, 709217-220, 709231-232
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 2039/505 comprising antibodies
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 1/00 Drugs for disorders of the alimentary tract or the digestive system
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 1/04 for ulcers, gastritis or reflux esophagitis, e.g. antacids, inhibitors of acid secretion, mucosal protectants
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 1/16 for liver or gallbladder disorders, e.g. hepatoprotective agents, cholagogues, litholytics
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 1/18 for pancreatic disorders, e.g. pancreatic enzymes
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/00 Drugs for disorders of the respiratory system
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/02 Nasal agents, e.g. decongestants
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/04 for throat disorders
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/06 Antiasthmatics
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/08 Bronchodilators
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 11/16 Central respiratory analeptics
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 13/02 of urine or of the urinary tract, e.g. urine acidifiers
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 13/08 of the prostate
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 15/00 Drugs for genital or sexual disorders for disorders of sex hormones A61P5/24; Contraceptives
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 15/02 for disorders of the vagina
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 17/02 for treating wounds, ulcers, burns, scars, keloids, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 19/02 for joint disorders, e.g. arthritis, arthrosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 19/08 for bone diseases, e.g. rachitism, Paget's disease
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 21/04 for myasthenia gravis
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 25/28 for treating neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system, e.g. nootropic agents, cognition enhancers, drugs for treating Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 29/00 : Non-central analgesic, antipyretic or antiinflammatory agents, e.g. antirheumatic agents; Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs [NSAID]
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 31/00 : Antiinfectives, i.e. antibiotics, antiseptics, chemotherapeutics
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 31/12 : Antivirals
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 31/18 : for HIV
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 33/00 : Antiparasitic agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 33/04 : Amoebicides
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 33/06 : Antimalarials
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 35/00 : Antineoplastic agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 37/02 : Immunomodulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 37/06 : Immunosuppressants, e.g. drugs for graft rejection
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 37/08 : Antiallergic agents antiasthmatic agents A61P11/06; ophthalmic antiallergics A61P27/14
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 43/00 : Drugs for specific purposes, not provided for in groups A61P1/00-A61P41/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 7/00 : Drugs for disorders of the blood or the extracellular fluid
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 9/00 : Drugs for disorders of the cardiovascular system
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 9/08 : Vasodilators for multiple indications
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 9/10 : for treating ischaemic or atherosclerotic diseases, e.g. antianginal drugs, coronary vasodilators, drugs for myocardial infarction, retinopathy, cerebrovascula insufficiency, renal arteriosclerosis
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 16/286 : against neuromediator receptors, e.g. serotonin receptor, dopamine receptor
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 2317/34 : Identification of a linear epitope shorter than 20 amino acid residues or of a conformational epitope defined by amino acid residues
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 2317/75 : Agonist effect on antigen
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 2317/76 : Antagonist effect on antigen, e.g. neutralization or inhibition of binding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 : for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 : Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/30 : Against vector-borne diseases, e.g. mosquito-borne, fly-borne, tick-borne or waterborne diseases whose impact is exacerbated by climate change

Abstract

A collaborative system that includes automatic monitoring and management of reflector/servers and clients. The reflectors are in a logical cluster although their physical locations may be anywhere in the world. Reflector to reflector performance and status is continuously monitored. If a reflector-to-reflector link goes down or is underperforming, the reflector cluster is rerouted to provide desired performance. Clients are monitored and provide information via the network to register/management servers. A best path for the client capabilities is calculated and established. If network performance deteriorates, there are a tiered selection of session modifications that are initiated to compensate. These include reducing video detail levels, reducing number of video streams, reducing size of video windows, adjusting frame rate, and other corrective measures. The client software includes the ability to accept plug-in applications and functionality for customizable operation.

Claims

1. A system for enabling collaborative sessions comprising:

a network of reflectors, each of the reflectors having a reflector monitoring agent which obtains status information comprising reflector to reflector communication performance and which provides the status information to a register/server;

a first client which is in communication with only one of the reflectors that is chosen by the first client from a plurality of suggested reflectors identified by the register/server and whose identity was provided to the first client, the first client including a first monitoring agent which obtains first status information concerning the first client and which provides the first status information to the register/server, and wherein said one of the reflectors chosen by the first client is chosen based on a set of criteria comprising at least the proximity of the reflector chosen by the first client to the first client, and the current load on the reflector chosen by the first client, and quality of a network link to the reflector chosen by the first client; and

a second client which is in communication with only one of the reflectors that is chosen by the second client from a plurality of suggested reflectors identified by the register/server and whose identity was provided to the second client, the second client having a second monitoring agent which obtains second status information concerning the second client and which provides the second status information to the register/server; and

wherein

the register/server is in communication with the network of reflectors and with the first and second client, and wherein the register/server receives status information from the first and second monitoring agents and from each of the reflector monitoring agents, and wherein the register/server controls operations of the clients and reflectors during a collaborative session based on the received status information; and

wherein

the register/server upon request from the first client identifies a plurality of reflectors with which the first client can communicate with and provides the identity of each of the identified reflectors to the first client; and

wherein

the register/server upon request from the second client identifies a plurality of reflectors with which the second client can communicate with and provides the identity of each of the identified reflectors to the second client.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the collaborative session comprises a videoconference session.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the register/server identifies three reflectors with which the first client can communicate with.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the register/server identifies three reflectors with which the second client can communicate with.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the first monitoring agent monitors local system performance of the first client and communication performance with said one of the reflectors that was chosen by the first client from the plurality of suggested reflectors identified by the register/server.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the first monitoring agent takes corrective action automatically when performance falls below desired parameters.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the first monitoring agent reduces video processing when performance falls below desired parameters.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the second monitoring agent monitors local system performance of the second client and communication performance with said one of the reflectors that was chosen by the second client from the plurality of suggested reflectors identified by the register/server.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the second monitoring agent takes corrective action automatically when performance falls below desired parameters.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the second monitoring agent reduces video processing when performance falls below desired parameters.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said one of the reflectors chosen by the second client from the plurality of suggested reflectors identified and provided by the register/server was chosen by the second client based on a set of criteria comprising at least the proximity of the reflector chosen by the second client to the second client, and the current load on the reflector chosen by the second client, and quality of a network link to the reflector chosen by the second client.