Method and system for implementing an on-demand scheduler in a mobile device

• US 9,021,095 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2011
• Issued: 04/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Gutlapalli, Hari Krishna, Mehta, Suhas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Daftuar, Saket K
• Application Number:
  US13/118,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20120303817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,432 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 709/204, 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 709/226, 709/240, 375/358, 375/359, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 370/338, 370/389, 370/401, 707/769, 707/770, 707/771, 707/772, 707/773, 707/774, 707/775, 707/776, 707/779, 707/780, 707/791, 707/802, 707/803, 707/809
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Disclosed is an improved approach for implementing an on-demand scheduler in a mobile device and the structures to support realtime on-demand schedulers. A lightweight word-based structure is disclosed for storing scheduling-related data on the mobile device. Using this lightweight word-based structure enables on-demand and real-time scheduling. This type of lightweight structure also permits scheduling activities to be performed in a disconnected mode, which can then be later synchronized with the server to confirm the booking In addition to appointment scheduling, this technique can also be implemented for scheduling of any type of resource.

Claims

1. A method to implement scheduling that is performed with a processor, comprising:

loading, through the processor, scheduling data onto a mobile device, wherein the scheduling data comprises word-based data that permits real-time scheduling at the mobile device while disconnected from a server, wherein a word of the word-based data maps to scheduling-related attributes of a resource, the word consuming less memory space than the scheduling-related attributes of the resource it maps to, and wherein the word is configurable to comprise multiple sections, a first section being a compact representation of a first scheduling-related attribute from a first database record, and a second section being a compact representation of a second scheduling-related attribute from a second database record; and

scheduling a resource on the mobile device using the word-based data while the mobile device is disconnected from the server.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the scheduling data comprises a subset of a full data set.

3. The method of claim 2 in which the subset is determined using location data.

4. The method of claim 3 in which the location data is derived from GPS data.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the word-base data stores information about a resource, where a bit in the word-based data correspond to an attribute about the resource relevant for scheduling.

6. The method of claim 5 in which bit masks are used in conjunction with an XOR operation to analyze the word-based data.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the resource corresponds to personnel of an enterprise, and the scheduling is performed to make an appointment for the personnel.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the word-based data is a low memory dataset that can be loaded into a memory of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the word-based data provides data security because of the configuration of the word-based data.

10. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer usable medium, the computer usable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute a method to implement scheduling, the method comprising:

loading scheduling data onto a mobile device, wherein the scheduling data comprises word- based data that permits real-time scheduling at the mobile device while disconnected from a server wherein a word of the word-based data maps to scheduling-related attributes of a resource, the word consuming less memory space than the scheduling-related attributes of the resource it maps to, and wherein the word is configurable to comprise multiple sections, a first section being a compact representation of a first scheduling-related attribute from a first database record, and a second section being a compact representation of a second scheduling-related attribute from a second database record; and

scheduling a resource on the mobile device using the word-based data while the mobile device is disconnected from the server.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 in which the scheduling data comprises a subset of a full data set.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 in which the subset is determined using location data.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 in which the location data is derived from GPS data.

14. The computer program product of claim 10 in which the word-based data stores information about a resource, where a bit in the word-based data correspond to an attribute about the resource relevant for scheduling.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 in which bit masks are used in conjunction with an XOR operation to analyze the word-based data.

16. The computer program product of claim 10 in which the resource corresponds to personnel of an enterprise, and the scheduling is performed to make an appointment for the personnel.

17. The computer program product of claim 10 in which the word-based data is a low memory dataset that can be loaded into a memory of the mobile device.

18. The computer program product of claim 10 in which the word-based data provides data security because of the configuration of the word-based data.

19. A system to implement scheduling, comprising:

a computer processor to execute a set of program code instructions; and

a memory to hold the program code instructions, in which the program code instructions comprises program code to load scheduling data onto a mobile device, wherein the scheduling data comprises word-based data that permits real-time scheduling at the mobile device while disconnected from a server wherein a word of the word-based data maps to scheduling-related attributes of a resource, the word consuming less memory space than the scheduling-related attributes of the resource it maps to, and wherein the word is configurable to comprise multiple sections, a first section being a compact representation of a first scheduling-related attribute from a first database record, and a second section being a compact representation of a second scheduling-related attribute from a second database record, and to schedule a resource on the mobile device using the word-based data while the mobile device is disconnected from the server.

20. The system of claim 19 in which the scheduling data comprises a subset of a full data set.

21. The system of claim 20 in which the subset is determined using location data.

22. The system of claim 21 in which the location data is derived from GPS data.

23. The system of claim 19 in which the word-base data stores information about a resource, where a bit in the word-based data correspond to an attribute about the resource relevant for scheduling.

24. The system of claim 23 in which bit masks are used in conjunction with an XOR operation to analyze the word-based data.

25. The system of claim 19 in which the resource corresponds to personnel of an enterprise, and the scheduling is performed to make an appointment for the personnel.

26. The system of claim 19 in which the word-based data is a low memory dataset that can be loaded into a memory of the mobile device.

27. The system of claim 19 in which the word-based data provides data security because of the configuration of the word-based data.