Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-09
2002-02-26
Nguyen, Cao H. (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06351271
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to group communication systems, and more particularly to electronic group communications systems for remotely linking two or more geographically separated spaces for social interaction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic communication systems technology provides an incredible number of ways for people to communicate with each other. Everyday examples of such communication systems include telephones, answering machines, and pagers. Communication systems that are adapted for the workplace include computer network file-sharing, electronic mail (“email”), fax machines, electronic whiteboards, and telephone and video conferencing. Important classes of these systems include asynchronous document-management systems and synchronous conferencing systems.
Asynchronous document-management systems enable users to exchange email and access shared databases to create, read, and revise documents. Because these systems manage documents that persist over time, users of these systems can work independently from one another; for example, one can send an email message at any time of day, without having to take into consideration the recipients' accessibility at the time of sending. Synchronous conferencing systems typically connect together sets of users at the same time in order to have a joint verbal discussion using shared audio and/or video channels. Often these systems provide a shared “whiteboard” channel as well, on which users can draw using “digital ink” and move a shared pointer to refer to portions of these drawings during the conversation.
FIG. 1
is a diagram of a conventional asynchronous document-management system
10
of the prior art. The system
10
includes a server
12
and a plurality of clients
16
coupled together by a network cable
18
. The server
12
is typically a computer with substantial processing power and storage capacity. The server
12
stores and maintains a large number of documents
14
that are made available to the clients
16
over the network cable
18
. Each individual client
16
is usually a terminal that can be operated by a single user such as a personal computer or a workstation.
The server
12
and the set of clients
16
are able to transfer and copy the documents
14
between them. The documents
14
may be any form of information or data such a word-processing documents, programs, and graphics. The network cable
18
is a communication line that is configured to transfer the documents
14
electronically between the server
12
and the clients
14
such as a phone line or an Ethernet cable.
The document-management system
10
has been very successful at providing a high-speed means for sharing information. In addition, software known as groupware increases flexibility of the shared information within the system
10
. One of the most successful groupware applications is Lotus Notes, which allows a workgroup to share documents jointly and to add notes commenting upon these documents in a structured way. However, these systems are optimized for handling large quantities of typewritten textual information and thus can be cumbersome to maintain and use.
FIG. 2
is a diagram of a conventional synchronous conferencing system
20
of the prior art. Microsoft Net Meeting is one example of a conferencing system
20
that includes clients
22
that are connected by a network cable
24
. For ease of illustration, only two clients
22
a
and
22
b
are shown, however, as is well known in the art, many more clients
22
can be connected to the cable
24
to allow more users to join the conference. Users of the conferencing system
20
are able to communicate directly with each other to view and modify a shared “whiteboard” document
26
at the same time through the clients
22
.
FIG. 3
is a flow diagram of a synchronous conferencing system
30
of the prior art. The conferencing system includes a server
32
that is connected to a number of clients
34
. For ease of illustration, only two clients
34
a
and
34
b
are shown, however, as is well known in the art, many more clients
34
can be connected to the server
32
. The server
32
maintains an updated-shared document
36
that is available to the clients
34
. When the users “hang up” and disconnect from the conference the updated-shared document
36
is not automatically saved.
While synchronous conferencing systems enable users to jointly view and modify documents at the same time many lack a quality known as persistence which is inherent in all asynchronous systems. For example, when an email message is received, the content of the communication must be persistent because it is generally not read immediately. Because the message is saved on the receiving computer the recipient can then read, print, or respond to the message at her leisure.
In contrast, because synchronous communication focuses upon real-time coordinated interaction, the content of the shared whiteboard document in most synchronous conferencing systems is ephemeral. Generally, when all of the users disconnect from a synchronous system, the content of the shared document is lost. There are electronic communication systems that allow for the preservation of the shared document, however the prior art methods for doing so are not very flexible and generally require an explicit request from the user.
In summary, prior art asynchronous document-management systems allow users at their leisure to exchange messages at their leisure and jointly add to, read, and revise a persistent shared database, but require users to follow formal and cumbersome procedures designed to enable large text-based databases. Prior art synchronous conferencing systems allow sets of users to converse in real-time and provide easy, flexible access to a shared digital-ink-based whiteboard document. However, they require the conversing users to use the system all at the same time, and are not easily configured to save the content of the shared document. In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to have a method and apparatus of social interaction that provides for an easy-to-use means of communication combining aspects of both asynchronous document-management systems and synchronous conferencing systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention fills these needs by providing an efficient and easy to use method and apparatus of semi-synchronous communication. It should be appreciated that the present invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device or a method. This method and apparatus of social interaction allows users to communicate at their leisure (asynchronously or “semi-synchronously”) by providing simple, flexible access to a persistent, shared space. Several embodiments of the present invention are described below.
A first embodiment of the present invention takes the form of an electronic communication system that provides a shared persistent data space to a plurality of clients. This system comprises a server and at least two input/display units (IDUs) which clients use to access shared persistent data in the form of group boards. The group boards store discrete notes in a group database made accessible to all members of the group. The server may be centrally located separate from the IDUs or, alternatively, the server may be a virtual server distributed across the IDUs. In any event, the server maintains at least one group board database thereby creating a shared persistent space accessible by the IDUs.
In order to allow clients to select a desired group, each IDU includes an input detection space operable to receive user input indicative of a request to access a specific group. The input detection space can take on a wide variety of forms such as an array of electromechanical buttons, a touch or pressure sensitive device, a digital inking device, a token input device (tokens each have some identification in the form of circuitry or such), or a voice command device.
In order to allow clients to e
Burns Colin
Hindus Debby
Mainwaring Scott D.
Mogensen Christian
Interval Research Corporation
Nguyen Cao H.
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
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