System and method for enabling online collaboration amongst a plurality of terminals using a web server

• US 8,280,948 B1
• Filed: 10/09/2009
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Persony, Inc. (Avaya Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chen, Shenchang Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Hussain, Imad
• Application Number:
  US12/576,433
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/204, 709/205
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1089 by adding media; by removing media
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1093 by adding participants; by removing participants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4061 Push-to services, e.g. push-to-talk or push-to-video
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP

Abstract

Data may be made available to one or more participants of an online collaboration session through use of a client system that generates or otherwise captures the data to be shared, and then formats that data for use by general-purpose server resources. In one embodiment, data from the operation of an application on the client system is captured. A formatted data set that is suitable for the client-server communications is prepared from the captured data. The formatted data set may be configured with characteristics to enable the server to respond to requests from one or more participant terminals of the online collaboration session. During the session, the formatted data set may be transmitted to the server in one or more discrete and independent communications.

Claims

1. A method for making data available to one or more participants of a live online collaboration session, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

on a terminal;

capturing continuous data from operation of an application on the terminal;

preparing a formatted continuous data set from the captured continuous data, wherein the formatted continuous data is suitable for client-server communications, and wherein the formatted continuous data set is configured with characteristics to enable a server to respond to requests from one or more terminals operated by any of the one or more participants by transmitting data from the formatted continuous data set to those terminals; and

during the live online collaboration session, causing transmission of the formatted continuous data set to the server in one or more discrete and independent communications, wherein multiple data frames from the formatted continuous data set are each transmitted to the server in a single discrete and independent communication, wherein the server does not require the terminal or any of the one or more terminals operated by any of the one or more participants to be connected to the server concurrently to share the formatted continuous data set with the one or more terminals operated by any of the one or more participants during the live online collaboration session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the continuous data comprises multiple frames of at least one of audio and video data captured in a given duration of time and wherein preparing a formatted continuous data set includes preparing the formatted continuous data set so the server can transmit the data from the formatted continuous data set to the one or more terminals using communications that are discrete and independent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing the continuous data includes copying continuous data generated by one or more applications executing on the terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the continuous data comprises video data, the method further comprising capturing a data set that includes data corresponding to content displayed on the terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing the continuous data includes capturing a plurality of data frames, wherein each data frame corresponds to data continuously generated on the terminal for a given duration of time, wherein each data frame is sequenced with respect to the other data frames in the plurality of data frames, and wherein a plurality of the data frames are transmitted in a discrete and independent communication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set includes providing a sequence identifier for each of the data frames in the plurality of data frames, wherein each sequence identifier corresponds to a sequence of that data frame with respect to other data frames in the plurality of data frames.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set includes preparing each data set as a data frame having a sequence identifier that corresponds to a sequence in which data contained in that data frame was generated, and wherein the method further comprises providing the server with a programmatic mechanism to enable the server to respond to requests from a recipient request that includes a given sequence identifier by rejecting the request when (i) the data frame with the given sequence identifier has not been received by the server, or (ii) when the programmatic mechanism specifies that recipient making the given request is not to receive the data frame with the given sequence identifier even when that data frame has been received by the server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set from the captured data includes generating the formatted continuous data set to be suitable for transport using one or more of an HTTP or FTP transport protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set from the captured continuous data includes configuring the formatted continuous data set with characteristics to enable the formatted continuous data set to be stored and retrieved from the server in response to the requests from the one or more terminals of the one or more participants.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein configuring the formatted continuous data set with characteristics includes configuring the formatted continuous data set with an identifier that can be used by the server in responding to the requests from the one or more terminals of the one or more participants that include the identifier.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein configuring the formatted continuous data set with characteristics includes packaging the data to be stored as file with the identifier on the server.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein configuring the formatted continuous data set with characteristics includes packaging the data to be stored as a database entry with the identifier on the server.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set includes making the formatted continuous data set renderable from the server to a browser of a given one of the terminals when a corresponding request is made from that terminal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein making the formatted continuous data set renderable from the server to a browser includes providing the server with a script that is to be transmitted to the browser of the given terminal when the corresponding request is made.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein making the formatted continuous data set renderable from the server to a browser includes using a markup language for the browser.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, specifying, on the terminal, a network location for the server to retrieve data from the formatted continuous data set when responding to the requests from the one or more terminals.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein specifying a network location includes generating a resource locator that is to be used by the one or more terminals in making the requests for data from the formatted continuous data set.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of communicating the resource locator to the one or more participants.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein causing transmission of the formatted continuous data set includes transmitting the formatted continuous data set so as to enable the server to receive the formatted continuous data set without the server having to maintain continuous operation of a process to receive the formatted continuous data set throughout a duration of the online collaboration session.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing the formatted continuous data set from the captured continuous data includes converting the continuous data set from the native format to a second format suitable for client-server communications, so that the server'"'"'s receiving and transmitting the formatted continuous data is performed without the server executing any continuous process to maintain communications with the terminal or the one or more participants.

21. A client terminal configured to be operated by a first participant, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions including;

a data capture module configured to capture at least one of continuous audio and video data during a live collaboration session;

a data preparation module configured to format the continuous data captured by the data capture module into formatted data that is suitable for client-server communications, wherein the formatted data is configured with characteristics to enable a server to respond to requests from one or more terminals operated by other participants by transmitting portions of the formatted data to those terminals; and

a transmission module configured to transmit the formatted data to the server in one or more discrete and independent communications during the live collaboration session between the client terminal and the one or more terminals operated by other participants, wherein the formatted data transmitted in a discrete and independent communication comprises multiple data frames captured in a given duration of time, and wherein the server does not require the client terminal or any of the one or more terminals operated by any of the one or more participants to be connected to the server concurrently to share the formatted data with the one or more terminals operated by any of the one or more participant during the live collaboration session; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions stored on the computer-readable medium.

22. A web server configured to facilitate a live collaboration session between a first client terminal operated by a first participant and at least one other client terminal operated by at least one other participant, the web server configured to receive a formatted data set from the first client terminal during the live collaboration session and store the formatted data set in a data store until at least a portion of the formatted data set is requested by the at least one other client terminal, wherein the formatted data set received by the web server comprises a plurality of frames of continuous data received in a discrete and independent communication during the live collaboration session, wherein the web server does not require the first client terminal or the at least one other client terminal to be connected to the web server concurrently to share the formatted data set with the at least one other client terminal during the live collaboration session.