Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Master/slave computer controlling
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-17
2001-04-10
Rinehart, Mark H. (Department: 2756)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Master/slave computer controlling
C709S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216157
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a client-server technology and more particularly to a client-server system with the application delivered to the client being automatically modified based on the resources available.
A server computer may deliver applications to many different types of clients through many different types of media. For example, the server can be delivering a page to a printer through a cable, a note to a pager through radio waves, an audio message to a cellular phone through microwave, a web page to a Internet enabled computer or a palmtop through infrared radiation, a movie to a television through optical fibers, or an on-off command to the switch of a microwave oven or the central air-conditioning system of a house through twisted pairs.
Each of these clients or appliances have different capabilities. Some of them can have relatively powerful microprocessors and memory capacity, such as a palmtop. Others can be ultra-thin clients with minimal computation and memory power, such as a television. The delivery media can be very different. For example, some have large bandwidth, such as optical fibers; but others have low bandwidth, such as twisted pairs. Also, the applications can be quite diverse. For example, a movie requires large bandwidth, low latency, and is quite tolerant to error rates, but an on-off command to a switch has to be absolutely accurate, though the bandwidth requirement is low.
There is typically a specific approach to deliver each type of application through a specific medium to a specific client. For example, if you want to print a page, you will activate a specific printer driver to print that page; and if you want to send a web-page to your Internet enabled computer, your web-page is compressed by a certain pre-determined ratio and is transmitted following a specific network protocol. Different software programs are called by the server to accomplish such diverse tasks.
Whether an Internet enabled computer or a television requests for an interactive application, which is an application that you can interact with, such as a web-page, the server typically follows the same preset network protocol to deliver the interactive application. In other words, if, for example, the transmission medium is changed after the protocol is preset, the server does not have the intelligence to modify the protocol dynamically in view of the change. There is no intelligent adaptability on the part of the server. The server would not know or would not care that a user is sitting one foot away from the web-page on the Internet enabled computer, or is sitting six feet away from the web-page on the television.
Not only does the server lack adaptability, the server would not be able to respond to certain requests from certain clients. For example, the application is a push application, which is an application determined by a user based on her profile, such as quoting the stock price of XEROX at 1 PM everyday. A server would not be able to respond automatically to both a pager requesting for a stock quote, and a standard telephone requesting for a weather report. The way it is typically done nowadays is to have a separate server dedicated to handle each of these tasks.
It should be apparent from the foregoing that there is still a need for an apparatus and method to automatically handle such diverse applications, client capabilities and transmission media, such that different applications can be automatically modified based on the resources available from the transmission media and the clients.
SUMMARY
The present invention is on methods and apparatus that automatically modify an application in view of one or more of the following: the application, and the capability of the client requesting the application and the transmission medium delivering the application. The client can be a palmtop computer showing your new appointment of the day, a microwave oven automatically being turned on at 6 PM to cook your chicken, or a television showing your favorite James Bond movie. Each of these clients has different capabilities connected to different transmission media, and each application has its characteristics. Based on this invention, the server computer automatically modifies the specific application in view of the resources available so as to maximize the benefits of the resources.
In one embodiment, the application can be of an interactive type, such as a web-page, which a user can interact with. This embodiment includes a server apparatus in a server. The server apparatus includes an appliance-specific transducer and an adaptive transmission transducer. The appliance-specific transducer, in view of a client's request for an interactive application in the server, is configured to modify the application based on the client and the application to generate an appliance-specific output. This output is modified automatically depending on the client and the application itself. The adaptive transmission transducer, which is coupled to the appliance-specific transducer, is configured to modify the appliance-specific output. The modification is again based on the application and the corresponding medium of transmission. After the modification, an adapted output is generated, and is delivered through the medium to the client. Then, the client decodes the adapted output to produce a modified version of the interactive application that is adapted for the client.
In another embodiment, the application can be of a push type. A push application is an application that is pre-determined by a user, such as from the user's profile. Based on her preference, as shown in her profile, specific applications can be delivered to her. For example, during weekends, she prefers to wake up at 9 am, and she likes music by the Beetles. So at 9 am every Saturday and Sunday, the server selects a song by the Beetles, compresses it, and delivers it to her speaker next to her bed for fifteen minutes. This embodiment also includes a server apparatus, with its corresponding appliance-specific transducer and adaptive transmission transducer.
Yet another embodiment includes a client apparatus in a client. The client apparatus includes a decoder for generating the modified version of an application from an adapted output. The adapted output is generated by one of the above described appliance-specific transducer and adaptive transmission transducer
Based on the present invention, applications are automatically mapped onto various clients based on the resources available. In one embodiment, the resources include the bandwidth, acceptable error rates, and the latency of the transmission medium, and the processing power and memory capacity of a client.
With the present invention, different types of clients can be connected through the same transmission medium, such as a high speed Internet connectivity. The server can modify the applications based on the clients receiving them and based on the applications. Also, with the present invention, different types of clients can be connected through different media, such as wired and wireless, digital and analog; and the server can adapt the applications accordingly.
The client can be ultra-thin, with minimal computing power and memory capacity because the server has already adapted or modified the application for the client. In other words, the client can be a very low-cost device.
Moreover, since applications can be modified by the server to fit specific clients, the same content materials can be used for different clients. For example, the present invention can use the same Internet content for an Internet enabled computer and a television. And these contents can be delivered to different clients in real time.
With the present invention, development time to adapt different applications to a new type of client can be significantly reduced. Changes can be done through software modification based on the present invention. This, in turn, significantly enables widespread deployment of a new type of client into the market plac
Mendhekar Anurag
Vishwanath Mohan
Fliesler Dubb Meyer & Lovejoy LLP
Jaroenchonwanit Bunjob
Rinehart Mark H.
Yahoo! Inc.
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