Group application for group formation and management

• US 20030008674A1
• Filed: 06/25/2002
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Taib, Ronnie Bernard Francis, Cudak, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,231,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

The invention relates to a group application for group formation and management, in particular in a wireless environment. The present invention provides a group application in which a membership list of a group is kept updated automatically by communications between the group applications of the group. The group application handles all the complexity involved in setting up a group and maintaining a membership list for the group, without user intervention. Advantageously, the group application is implemented as a software agent. The invention also relates to an electronic device having a group application or software agent of the invention loaded therein.

Claims

1. A group application, for providing communication between a user of the group application and members of a group of users each having a group application, comprising membership list management means for interacting directly with other group applications without user intervention to maintain an accurate local membership list of all group members at each member group application.

2. The group application as claimed in claim 1 further comprising group membership means for interacting with other group applications responsive to user selection.

3. The group application as claimed in claim 2 wherein the group membership means comprises a leave group element for sending an exit message to all group applications of the user group.

4. The group application as claimed in claim 2 wherein the group membership means comprises a join group element for sending a confirmation message in response to a user indication of a desire to join the group.

5. The group application as claimed in claim 4 wherein the confirmation message is sent to all others on the membership list.

6. The group application as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the confirmation message contains membership list information including information relating to the sending group application.

7. The group application as claimed in claim 2 wherein the group membership means comprises means for sending a new group application containing a membership list to a potential new member.

8. The group application as claimed in claim 7 wherein the membership list of the new group application contains membership list information relating to the sending group application.

9. The group application as claimed in claim 7 wherein the membership list of the new group application contains membership list information relating to the complete current group membership.

10. The group application as claimed in claim 1 wherein the membership list management means comprises a member exit element for updating the group seed application membership list to delete a member on receipt of an exit message from that member.

11. The group application as claimed in claim 1 wherein the membership list management means comprises a confirmation message element for receiving a confirmation message containing a membership list information from a second group application, wherein the confirmation message element compares the received membership list information with the group application membership list and sends a confirmation response message containing information relating to additional members to the second group application in the event of differences.

12. The group application as claimed in claim 11, further including the step of adding the sender of the confirmation message to the membership list held by the group seed application.

13. The group application as claimed in claim 11, wherein the information relating to additional members is a copy of the group seed application membership list.

14. The group application as claimed in claim 1 wherein the membership list management means comprises a confirmation response message element for updating the group application membership list to include additional members in response to membership information received in a confirmation response message and for sending a confirmation message containing additional membership list information to the additional members.

15. The group application as claimed in claim 1, wherein messages sent between group applications during set up of the membership list management means contain membership address list information

16. The group application as claimed in claim 1 wherein the group application comprises a software agent.

17. The group application as claimed in claim 16 when dependent on claim 2 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein user selection is provided by the software agent.

18. An electronic device having a group application as claimed in any preceding claim loaded therein.