Community co-presence system

• US 5,864,874 A
• Filed: 11/12/1996
• Issued: 01/26/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ubique Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Shapiro, Ehud
• Primary Examiner(s): Von Buhr, Maria N.
• Application Number:
  US08/747,373
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/8, 707/10, 707/100, 707/102-104, 707/201-204
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

A data retrieval system includes a data server a co-presence server and at least two co-presence data retrieval clients. The data server retrieves at least one of a plurality of data objects from a data repository. The co-presence data-retrieval clients communicate at least with the data server and with the co-presence server. The co-presence server includes community means for at least maintaining a list of users associated with a community and at least one virtual place having a list of users from the community at the virtual place. Each of the co-presence data retrieval clients includes object association means and co-presence means. The object association means associate a data object received from the data server with one of the at least one virtual places in the co-presence server. The co-presence means is associated with the one virtual place and associates the client with the community and enables communication at least with other co-presence means also associated with the one virtual place.

Claims

1. A data retrieval system comprising:

a data server for retrieving at least one of a plurality of data objects from a data repository;

a co-presence server; and

at least two co-presence data-retrieval clients for communicating at least with said data server and with said co-presence server;

said co-presence server comprising;

community means for at least maintaining a list of co-presence data retrieval clients associated with a community; and

at least one virtual place having a list of co-presence data-retrieval clients from said community at said virtual place at least for enabling communication among said co-presence data-retrieval clients associated therewith,

each of said co-presence data retrieval clients comprising;

object association means for associating a data object received from said data server with one of said at least one virtual places in said co-presence server; and

co-presence means, associated with said one virtual place, for associating said client with said community and for enabling communication among said co-presence data-retrieval clients associated with said one virtual place.

2. A data retrieval system according to claim 1 and wherein said community means also comprises finding means for providing a first co-presence data retrieval client of a first virtual place with a second virtual place with which a second co-presence data retrieval client is associated and communication means for providing a communication channel between said first and second virtual places to enable communication between said first and second co-presence data retrieval clients.

3. A data retrieval system according to claim 1 and wherein said co-presence server comprises a changing plurality of place processes, one for each virtual place, and a managing process for providing communication from said co-presence data retrieval clients to said place processes.

4. A data retrieval system according to claim 1 and wherein said object association means comprises means for moving to a new virtual place.