Dynamic generation of a networked information resource

• US 7,370,077 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2001
• Issued: 05/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Macer, Peter J., Pradhan, Salil V., Brassil, John T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANIWANG, JOSEPH R
• Application Number:
  US09/989,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20030097419A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,358 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-206, 709/212, 709/217, 709/227, 370/338, 455/416
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/00 Network topologies

Abstract

A networked information resource generation system includes a wireless network (10), a transceiver (12) and mobile devices (14a-c). The mobile devices (14a-e) share information over the network (10) via the transceiver (12). The information shared over the network (10) is displayed on the mobile devices (14a-e) web-page (71) which is dynamically updated with information from the mobile devices (14a-e).

Claims

1. A method of generating and distributing a dynamically updated web page through use of first and second network elements communicating over a short range wireless network, comprising the steps of:

(i) passing a first data set from the first network element to the second network element over the short range wireless network via a short range wireless network connection;

(ii) passing a second data set from the second network element to the first network element over the short range wireless network via a short range wireless network connection;

(iii) aggregating the first and second data sets; and

(iv) forming a dynamically updated web page to represent the information included in both the first and second data sets by responding to the aggregated first and second data sets as passed over the short range data network via the short range wireless network connections, the short range wireless network connections having a range that is shorter than cellular data transfer protocols and a higher data transfer rate than cellular data transfer protocols;

the method being performed while a meeting is conducted among plural participants, the meeting being conducted with the aid of the short range wireless network including a plurality of the short range wireless network elements, the elements having a memory, each of the participants being associated with one of the network elements, the network element associated with each participant storing in the memory thereof personal information about the associated participant, the method further comprising;

(v) in response to a first participant entering the meeting, causing a first of the network elements to transmit via the short range wireless network the personal information about the first participant to a device of the network, the device including a memory storing the web page,

(vi) storing the personal information about the first participant that was transmitted via the network from the first element to the device in the device memory so the personal information about the first participant is on the web page;

(vii) in response to a second participant entering the meeting, causing a second of the network elements to transmit via the short range wireless network the personal information about the second participant to the device of the network,

(viii) storing the personal information about the second participant that was transmitted via the network from the first element to the device so the personal information about the second participant is on the web page and so that the device memory stores and the web page includes the personal information of the first and second participants; and

(ix) causing the device memory to distribute at least some of the personal information of the first and second participants on the web page to network elements of participants of the meeting via a link including the short range wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of polling by at least the first network element;

ascertaining that there is a network element within the short range wireless network connection range by responding to the polling; and

causing said ascertained network element (a) to connect to the short range wireless network and (b) contribute information to the networked information resource as it connects to the short range wireless network.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of routing the passage of data between the first and second network elements through a third network element of the short range wireless network.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising accessing the networked information resource via the third network element, which forms an access point between the short range wireless network and another network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising restricting access to some or all of the data stored on any one of the network elements of the short range wireless network to receipt thereof by another of the network elements of the short range wireless network, the access being restricted based on the nature of the restricted data vis-à

-vis a security rating of the another network element.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of repeatedly broadcasting a network address associated with the web page from a beacon at a first location, the beacon having a range that is shorter than that of cellular data transfer protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of repeatedly broadcasting the network address via a second beacon at a second location, the second location being an access point connected to the network address and to a network different from the short range wireless network, the second location access point transferring information between the network address and the different network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second network elements is in the form of a mobile telecommunications device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second network elements includes a long-range cellular transceiver that communicates the dynamically updated web page to a cellular network.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of accessing the networked information resource via a cellular transceiver associated with another network element.

11. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the first element sending a sign out signal via the short range wireless network to the device memory in response to the first participant leaving the meeting.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second network elements are mobile devices that can be carried by one hand of the first and second participants, and the transmitting steps for the personal information about the first and second participants are performed by transmissions from the mobile devices in response to the first and second participants entering an area where the meeting is being held as a result of the mobile devices of the first and second network elements being carried by the first and second participants into the meeting area.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the device is one of the network elements.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the device is a network server that differs from a network element of a participant.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the participants alters the information stored in the device memory and on the web page by activating the network element associated with said one participant, transmitting the alteration from the network element associated with said one participant to the device memory via a link including the short range wireless network, and causing (a) the device memory to store the transmitted alteration and (b) the transmitted alteration to modify the web page.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of the participants after the information stored in the device memory and on the web page by activating the network element associated with said one participant, transmitting the alteration from the network element associated with said one participant to the device memory via a link including the short range wireless network, and causing (a) the device memory to store the transmitted alteration and (b) the transmitted alteration to modify the web page.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the network includes more than two of said elements that transmit the personal information about the participants directly to each other.

18. A web page generation and distribution system for use in connection with a meeting in a meeting space, the meeting being conducted among plural participants, comprising a short range wireless network, a first network element, and a second network element, the first and second network elements being adapted to be coupled to the short range wireless network via short range wireless network couplings such that at least the first network element has a short range wireless transmitter for short range wirelessly broadcasting a signal including a first data set, the second network element having a short range transceiver for short range wirelessly transmitting to the first network element another signal including a second data set and for wirelessly receiving the signal including the first data set only in response to the first network element being within short range wireless network coupling range, and a processor programmed to request information from the first network element and for aggregating the first and second data sets, as transmitted via the short range wireless network, to form a web page that is dynamically updated to represent the information included in both the first and second data sets, the short range wireless network couplings having (a) a range sufficient to cover the meeting space and that is shorter than cellular data transfer protocols and (b) a higher data transfer rate than cellular data transfer protocols;

each of the elements having a memory, each of the participants being associated with one of the network elements, the network element associated with each participant being arranged for storing in the memory thereof personal information about the associated participant the system being arranged so that (a) in response to a first participant entering the meeting, a first of the network elements is arranged to transmit via the short range wireless network the personal information about the first participant to a device of the network, the device including a memory for storing the web page, the device being arranged for storing, in the device memory, the personal information about the first participant that was transmitted via the network from the first element to the device so the personal information about the first participant is on the web page;

(b) in response to a second participant entering the meeting, a second of the network elements is arranged to transmit via the short range wireless network the personal information about the second participant to the device of the network, the device being arranged for storing, in the device memory, the personal information about the second participant that was transmitted via the network from the first element to the device for causing (i) the personal information about the second participant to be on the web page and (ii) the device memory to store the web page to include the personal information of the first and second participants;

(c) causing the device memory to distribute at least some of the personal information of the first and second participants on the web page to network elements of participants of the meeting via a link including the short range wireless network.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least first network element is arranged to provide information to the processor via at least one of the wireless network couplings.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the information is provided in response to a request from the at least second network element.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein at feast one of the first and second network elements is a mobile telecommunications device.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein further including a third network element including a transceiver.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the third network element is arranged to mediate the passage of the information between the first and second network elements.

24. The system of claim 18, further including a server arranged for storing script for the web page.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein at least one of the network elements acts as the server.

26. The system of claim 18, further including a beacon for repeatedly broadcasting a network address associated with the networked information resource at a first location.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein a second beacon is arranged to repeatedly broadcast the network address at a second location, and a second access point is arranged to couple a signal including the dynamically updated web page data to the network address corresponding to the networked information resource.

28. The system of claim 18, further including an access point from which the networked information resource can be accessed.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the system comprises a server and wherein the access point is arranged to couple a signal including web page data to the server.

30. The system of claim 18, further including an access filter for restricting access to data stored on any one of the network elements by any other of the short range network elements.

31. A method of generating and distributing a dynamically updated web page by using plural network elements communicating over a short range wireless network having (a) connections between the plural network elements with a range that is shorter than cellular data transfer protocols and (b) a higher data transfer rate between the plural network elements than cellular data transfer protocols, the method comprising the steps of:

passing, via the short range wireless network, a first data set with information about something associated with a first network element of the plural network elements, the first data set being passed from the first network element to other network elements of the plural network elements;

passing, via the short range wireless network, a second data set with information about something associated with a second network element of the plural network elements, the second data set being passed from the second network element to further network elements of the plural network elements, one of the further network elements being the first network element and one of the other network elements being the second network element;

aggregating the first and second data sets;

forming a dynamically updated web page having information about something associated with the first network element and something associated with the second network element included in both the first and second data sets by responding to the aggregated first and second data sets as passed over the short range data network; and

distributing, via the short range wireless network, the updated web page to network elements of the short range wireless network.

32. A system for generating and distributing a dynamically updated web page comprising:

a short range wireless network including plural network elements and (a) connections between the plural network elements with a range that is shorter than cellular data transfer protocols and (b) a higher data transfer rate between the plural network elements than cellular data transfer protocols;

the system, in operation;

(a) passing, via the short range wireless network, a first data set with information about something associated with a first network element of the plural network elements, and causing the first data set to be passed from the first network element to other network elements of the plural network elements;

(b) passing, via the short range wireless network, a second data set with information about something associated with a second network element of the plural network elements, and causing the second data set to be passed from the second network element to further network elements of the plural network elements, one of the further network elements being the first network element and one of the other network elements being the second network element;

(c) aggregating the first and second data sets;

(d) forming a dynamically updated web page having the information about something associated with the first network element and something associated with the second network element included in both the first and second data sets by responding to the aggregated first and second data sets as passed over the short range data network; and

(e) distributing, via the short range wireless network, the updated web page to network elements of the short range wireless network.