U.S. patent application number 11/601126 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-22 for method and apparatus for resource sharing over handset terminals.
Invention is credited to Nayeem Islam, Manuel Roman.
Application Number | 20070066282 11/601126 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33555589 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070066282 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Roman; Manuel ; et
al. |
March 22, 2007 |
Method and apparatus for resource sharing over handset
terminals
Abstract
A mechanism and supporting apparatus to enable resource sharing
among groups of users over mobile terminals. The system presented
leverages the carrier infrastructure to simplify the requirements
at the terminals, and describes a graphical user interface binding
mechanism that allows developing generic graphical users interfaces
that can be customized to heterogeneous devices at run-time.
Inventors: |
Roman; Manuel; (Sunnyvale,
CA) ; Islam; Nayeem; (Palo Alto, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN
12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD
SEVENTH FLOOR
LOS ANGELES
CA
90025-1030
US
|
Family ID: |
33555589 |
Appl. No.: |
11/601126 |
Filed: |
November 17, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10873825 |
Jun 21, 2004 |
|
|
|
11601126 |
Nov 17, 2006 |
|
|
|
60482669 |
Jun 25, 2003 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/412.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/1093 20130101;
H04L 67/1063 20130101; H04L 67/04 20130101; H04L 67/32 20130101;
H04L 67/104 20130101; H04L 69/329 20130101; H04L 67/1095
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/412.1 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving a first notification from a first
mobile device of a group of mobile devices, the first notification
including a resource identifier and indicating a resource to be
made available to the group that is hosted by the first mobile
device; sending a second notification to other mobile devices in
the group indicating that the resource is available, the second
notification including the resource identifier; receiving a request
for the resource from one of the other mobile devices; obtaining
the resource from the first mobile device; and providing the
resource to the one other mobile device.
2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the resource identifier
comprises a URL.
3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the second notification
includes the type and name of the channel.
Description
PRIORITY
[0001] This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/873,825,
filed on Jun. 21, 2004, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Resource
Sharing Over Handset Terminals," and assigned to the corporate
assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by
reference.
[0002] The present patent application claims priority to the
corresponding provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/482,669,
titled, "Method and Apparatus for Media Sharing Over Handset
Terminals" filed on Jun. 25, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates to the field of mobile
communication; more particularly, the present invention relates to
resource sharing over mobile devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The future success of the wireless web will be dominated by
the dissemination of personal content. Personal content refers to
herein content created in real-time by individuals and that is of
personal nature. A primitive form of personal content creation and
dissemination exists today based on cellular phones equipped with
cameras and carriers supporting multi-media messaging, or MMS. This
type of content dissemination is primitive because it only allows
point-to-point media distribution--i.e., the user takes a picture
and sends it directly to another user. However, the wired web has
created an ecosystem for content creation and dissemination that is
very sophisticated, but highly targeted towards corporations and
businesses. The wireless web will evolve to enable a similar
ecosystem for personal content creation. However, this vision
requires a supporting infrastructure capable of addressing the
associated challenges, including group management, media
distribution, and dynamic graphical user interface mapping for
heterogeneous devices.
[0005] The Internet has become the fastest adopted mass media
mechanism in history ahead of even radio and TV. One of the keys to
this success is the sharing model that allows any user to publish
information that can be accessed worldwide. Furthermore, the
grouping of data into pages and the use of hyperlinks to define
data connection graphs provide an elegant yet simple mechanism to
associate distributed sets of data. The Internet sharing model can
be divided into four processes: media generation, media
organization, media visibility, and media access. The first three
processes are related to the media publisher, while the last one is
related to the end user, or the media viewer. Media generation
involves gathering data that the publisher wants to export. This
data includes captured media such as audio, video and pictures, and
generated media including documents, annotations and records from
databases. Media organization is related to the logical structuring
of the media and how it will be presented to the users. Media
visibility defines policies to control the data accessible to
different users. Finally, media access is the process by which
users (media viewers) access the published data.
[0006] The four processes denoted in the paragraph above are
generic and can be mapped to different domains. With Wired Web, the
traditional World Wide Web model is characterized by servers
connected to the Internet via wired connections and hosting
commercial and personal websites. Wireless web denotes a sharing
model refers to Personalized Group Wide Web that assumes
collections of personal handheld devices wirelessly connected and
hosting personal information that can be shared directly from the
device with groups of users. Both models differ in terms of media
generation, organization, visibility, and access. In this paper, we
emphasize the differences, explain the challenges associated to the
Wireless Web model, and present a software infrastructure that
accommodates these challenges.
[0007] Yahoo Groups allows people to exchange messages, pictures,
and calendar and database entries. See Yahoo Groups,
http://groups.yahoo.com. However, this model is not customized for
handheld users that would be required to upload all the media from
their handsets to the central server. Instead, the PGWW model is
based on the assumption that media is exported directly from the
handsets and can be automatically migrated based on a number of
properties.
[0008] Blogging is a combination of a diary and guide site that
allows people to publish media and links in real-time to a website.
See Blogger.com, http://www.blogger.com. However, blogging has no
concept of group, once a person logs into the website, the media he
or she generates will be visible to everyone. Furthermore, blogging
assumes a connection to a central server that hosts the blog.
Handset users do not have tools that allow them to leverage their
devices by pre-processing some of the data. Furthermore, there is
no mechanism to notify users about new media posted in the blog. As
a result, users must periodically check for new additions.
[0009] Instant messaging allows users to exchange messages in
real-time and it is widely used worldwide. For more information,
see AOL Instant Messenger, http://www.aim.com/index.adp and
Microsoft Messenger, http://messenger.msn.com/. With the advent of
smart phones instant messaging programs have been ported to these
devices, therefore allowing users to exchange messages at anytime.
Although the middleware infrastructure for personalized group wide
web (i.e., sharing of personal content with groups of people) can
be extended to support instant messaging, the original approach is
intended to allow users to post media that can be accessed by
interested parties.
[0010] There are two standard mechanisms to share resources among
mobile terminals. One of them assumes a client-server approach
where all the functionality and the resources are at the server
side. Clients push and obtain resources to and from the server. The
second approach assumes that there is no server infrastructure. As
a result, the sharing infrastructure is partitioned among the
handsets following a peer-to-peer approach.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for enabling
resource sharing among groups of users over mobile terminals. In
one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a mobile device for use
with a network device of a carrier as one of the multiple mobile
devices. The mobile device includes a memory to store one or more
media resources and a resource manager to control the one or more
media resources stored in the memory by cooperating with a resource
coordinator of the carrier to dynamically determine whether a media
resource or a link to the media resource is to be provided to the
resource coordinator to enable distribution of the one or more
media resources to other mobile devices of the group of mobile
devices.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The present invention will be understood more fully from the
detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings
of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not
be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but
are for explanation and understanding only.
[0013] FIG. 1A illustrates the system components to perform the
efficient resource sharing.
[0014] FIG. 1B illustrates an overall view of the system
architecture.
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a data flow diagram illustrating the link
posting and link distribution mode between the handset and the
network server of a carrier
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a data flow design illustrating the
content posting and link distribution mode to add a resource to the
resources that are available to handsets in the group.
[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating one
embodiment of the link posting and content distribution mode to add
a resource to the resources available to handsets in the group.
[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of one embodiment of a
process illustrating the content posting and content distribution
mode for adding a resource to the set of resources that are
available to the group of handsets.
[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a retrieve resource protocol from the
content when the resource is distributed as content.
[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates the retrieve resource protocol for a
resource distributed as a link.
[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a UML diagram of one embodiment of a
group coordinator, including the interfaces for both objects.
[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a UML class diagram for one embodiment of
a notification coordinator, notification channel and notification
listener.
[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a UML class diagram of one embodiment of
a notification manager and a listener adapter.
[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates a UML class diagram for a resource
manager, a synchronization policy, and a caching policy.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0025] The techniques described herein are based on an intermediate
approach between the two standard mechanisms to share resources
among mobile devices (e.g., handsets, terminals, etc.). More
specifically, a server infrastructure coordinates the group and
assumes that mobile devices can participate in the group management
protocol, and resources are shared directly from the mobile
devices. According to this approach, the server coordinates group
management requests and implements a bi-directional protocol to
maintain the mobile devices up-to-date. This leverages the
client-server model. In one embodiment, mobile terminals
participate in the protocol and therefore do not require contacting
the server-side infrastructure for every single request; the
protocol allows them to keep up-to-date information in their own
memory. Unlike a pure client-server approach, this model relies on
sharing resources directly from the mobile devices. As a result,
mobile terminals provide a service to export local resources and
accept requests from remote devices.
[0026] The hybrid model presented herein, can handle disconnections
and failures at the mobile terminal side easily. When the mobile
device detects it has been disconnected or it has crashed, it can
connect to the group coordinator of the server (described below)
and obtain the most up-to-date group information. This information
allows the mobile device to synchronize with the rest of the
members of the group.
[0027] The following description presents a mechanism and
supporting apparatus to enable dynamic media sharing among groups
of handsets. Techniques described herein also provide for dynamic
and adaptive resource posting and distribution, including a
mechanism for efficient handset resource hosting. In one
embodiment, the handset resource hosting performed is according to
a dynamic protocol by which handsets hand over resources to a
network server of a carrier whenever the condition, or threshold,
is reached. Such conditions of the handset may include, for
example, an excessive bandwidth consumption condition, a low
battery condition, or a storage quota condition. When in an
excessive bandwidth consumption condition, the handset may not want
to provide media resources to other handsets to avoid using too
much bandwidth. The low battery condition is one in which a handset
hosting a resource may wish to enter a low power state to conserve
battery power and not have to maintain power to continue to respond
to resource requests for resources it is hosting. The storage quota
condition refers to a condition in which the handset has a limited
capacity (in number or size) to host resources and, when reaching
its limit, the handset provides resources to the network to host on
its behalf.
[0028] In the following description, numerous details are set forth
to provide a more thorough explanation of the present invention. It
will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the
present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in
block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid
obscuring the present invention.
[0029] Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are
presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of
operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic
descriptions and representations are the means used by those
skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the
substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm
is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence
of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring
physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not
necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or
magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,
compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at
times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these
signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms,
numbers, or the like.
[0030] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and
similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical
quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these
quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from
the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the
description, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing" or
"computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or
the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system,
or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and
transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities
within the computer system's registers and memories into other data
similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer
system memories or registers or other such information storage,
transmission or display devices.
[0031] The present invention also relates to apparatus for
performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general
purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a
computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program
may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but
is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical
disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories
(ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or
optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic
instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
[0032] The algorithms and displays presented herein are not
inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus.
Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in
accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to
construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method
steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will
appear from the description below. In addition, the present
invention is not described with reference to any particular
programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of
programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the
invention as described herein.
[0033] A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing
or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g.,
a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes read
only memory ("ROM"); random access memory ("RAM"); magnetic disk
storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices;
electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals
(e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.);
etc.
[0034] FIG. 1A illustrates the system components to perform the
efficient resource sharing described herein. Referring to FIG. 1A,
handset 100 is shown communicably coupled to network server 110 of
a carrier. Handset 100 is part of a group of handsets that is
handled by the carrier. Handset 100 may be any mobile device (e.g.,
a cellular phone, computer system, etc.). Network server 110 of the
carrier may comprise one or more of these servers to coordinate the
resource sharing performed the carrier in cooperation with the
handsets in the group (and other groups of handsets). Note that the
network server 110 may coordinate resources for multiple groups of
handsets. A group is composed of one or more members and zero or
more resources, which are provided by the members. In one
embodiment, a group includes at least one member but it is possible
to have groups that do not contain resources. Each resource belongs
to exactly one member, and each member can export zero or more
resources to the group. A resource is defined herein as a base
class, a subclass of which is referred to herein as media. A member
is a base class, from which a person may be a subclass. New
subclasses for a resource and a member will allow extensions such
as the incorporation of new types of resources (e.g., services) and
members (e.g., ubiquitous computing environments).
[0035] In one embodiment, handset 100 includes a browser 101,
resource manager 102, local cache 103, and notification manager
104. Resource manager 102 serves resources to other handsets and
keeps track of resources added by other group member handsets.
Notification manager 104 receives external notifications regarding
resources and diverts them to the proper location for handling.
Browser 101 indicates requests to add resources to the set of
resources available tot eh handset group, retrieve resources, and
to have lists of resources provided by resource manager 102.
[0036] Network server 110 includes a group coordinator 111, a
resource coordinator 112, a group cache memory 113, and a
notification distributor 114. Group coordinator 111 handles handset
group coordination, including managing handset group membership.
Resource coordinator 102 coordinates resource distribution and
management for the handset group. Notification distributor 114
enables delivering of notifications regarding resources and their
distribution and availability.
[0037] Referring to FIG. 1A, browser 101 or another application
program of handset 100 sends requests to resource manager 102,
which services these requests. These requests may include an add
resource request, a retrieve resource request, and a list resources
request. In response to an add resource request, the resource
manager 102 requests the resource that handset 100 is hosting to be
added to the group of resources available to handset group numbers.
The request is made to resource coordinator 112, which store the
resource into cache memory 113 and/or sends the resource to other
handsets in the group. In response to a retrieve resource request,
resource manager 102 requests the resource from resource
coordinator 112, which provides the resource from group cache
memory 113 or requests the resource from another handset in the
group if the other handset is hosting the resource. Once the
resource has been obtained, resource manager 102 causes the
resource to be stored in local cache memory 103. In response to a
list resources request, resource manager 102 provides browser 101
or another application process with a list of resources stored in
local cache memory 103.
Overall Protocol
[0038] In one embodiment, the dynamic and adaptive media processing
and distribution provide for dynamically handing over resources
between handsets and carriers. In one embodiment, the dynamic and
adaptive media hosting and distribution utilizes a protocol that
switches between four media hosting and distribution techniques
based on a set of criteria. In one embodiment, the criteria
includes the popularity of the media as well as how much bandwidth
is consumed by the media. In one embodiment, a component monitors
network usage and the number of requests for the media. The
component may use an adaptive threshold to determine a level of
popularity.
[0039] In one embodiment, there are four media hosting and
distribution types. These are referred to as link posting/link
distribution, link posting/content distribution, content
posting/link distribution, content posting/content distribution. In
one embodiment, if the media popularity is high and the bandwidth
available is high, the dynamic and adaptive media posting
distribution model user content posting/content distribution made.
If the popularity is medium and the bandwidth available medium, the
dynamic and adaptive media posting distribution model switches to a
mode of content posting and link distribution. If the media
popularity is low and the bandwidth available is low, the dynamic
and adaptive media posting and distribution model is switched to a
link posting and link distribution mode. Lastly, if the media
popularity is low, but the bandwidth available is high, the dynamic
and adaptive media posting and distribution model switches to a
link posting and content distribution mode. Note that high and low
may be relative to each other. Each of the models will be disclosed
in more detail below.
[0040] The infrastructure discussed above enables media sharing
among handsets, by partitioning the middleware infrastructure
between the carriers' network and the handsets. The infrastructure
includes a number of protocols for group creation and deletion,
membership management, and notification, which are used to support
the sharing of resources. In one embodiment, the protocol for
dynamically handing over resources between the handsets and the
carriers is mainly coordinated by the resource manager of the
handset and the resource coordinator of the server device of the
carrier.
Add Resource Protocol
[0041] This protocol allows handset users to select local resources
and make them available to the rest of the group of handsets. The
exported resources are kept in the handsets instead of being
transferred to the central server. As a result, handsets are also
responsible for serving requests for the shared media.
[0042] In one embodiment, the protocol is initiated by a handset
user willing to share media from his or her handset. Using an
application running on the handset, the user selects a resource and
sends a request to share it with the group. The resource manager
running at the handset sends a request to the group object hosted
at the carrier and provides the URL of the resource being shared.
The group object uses the previously created notification channel
to send a notification to all registered handsets. In one
embodiment, the notification includes a message type
"ResourceAdded" and the URL of the resource. The notification
channel forwards the notification to the notification managers of
the registered handsets. The notification includes the original
parameters provided by the group, as well as two new fields: the
type and the name of the channel. The notification manager receives
the notification and forwards it to all listeners registered with
the specific channel and running on the handset.
[0043] FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram illustrating the link posting
and link distribution mode between the handset and the network
server of a carrier. Each of the operations will be described as
performed by processing logic in the handset and the network server
that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic,
etc.), software (such as is run on a general purpose computer
system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both.
[0044] Referring to FIG. 2, processing logic of resource manager
102 receives a request to add a resource to the pool of resources
that are available to the handsets in the group coordinated by the
carrier. The request may come from browser 101 or another
application of handset 100. In response to the add resource
request, the processing logic of resource manager 102 sends a link
to resource coordinator 112 of network server 110. Processing logic
of resource handler 112 receives the link and stores the link in
group cache memory 113. Processing logic of resource handler 112
also sends a notification to notification coordinator 114. In
response to receiving notification, processing logic of
notification coordinator 114 sends the link to other handsets that
are members of the group. Processing logic of notification managers
in the handsets, such as notification manager 104, receive and
store the link.
[0045] FIG. 3 is a data flow design illustrating the content
posting and link distribution mode to add a resource to the
resources that are available to handsets in the group. The
operations are performed by processing logic in the handset and the
network server that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry,
dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general
purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination
of both.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 3, the processing logic of resource
manager 102 receives an add resource request. This add resource
request may come from browser 101 or another application of handset
100. In response thereto, processing logic of resource manager 102
sends the content to resource handler 112. Processing logic of
resource handler 112 receives the content from handset 100 and
stores the content in group cache memory 1113. Processing logic of
resource handler 112 also sends a notification to notification
coordinator 114. Processing logic of notification coordinator 114
receives the notification and sends a link to handsets in the
group. Processing logic of the notification managers in the
handsets, such as notification manager 104, receive the link from
notification coordinator 114.
[0047] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of the
link posting and content distribution mode to add a resource to the
resources available to handsets in the group. The operations in the
link posting and content distribution mode are performed by
processing logic in the handset and the network server of the
carrier and comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic,
etc.), software (such as is run on a general purpose computer
system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 4, processing logic of resource manager
102 receives an add resource request. The add resource request may
be received from browser 101 or another application of handset 100.
In response to receiving the add resource request, processing logic
of resource manager 102 sends a link for the resource to resource
handler 112. Processing logic of resource handler 112 receives the
link and retrieves the content from resource manager 102. After
receiving the content, processing logic of resource handler 112
stores the content in group cache memory 113. Processing logic of
resource handler 112 also sends a notification to notification
coordinator 114 indicating that a resource has been added to the
resources that are available to the group of handsets. In response
to the notification, processing logic of notification coordinator
114 receives these notifications and sends the content to handsets
in the group. Processing logic of notification managers in the
handsets, such as notification manager 104, receives the content
and stores the content in the cache memory in the handset, such as
cache memory 103.
[0049] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process
illustrating the content posting and content distribution mode for
adding the resource to the set of resources that are available to
the group of handsets. Operations in FIG. 5 are performed by
processing logic of handset 100 and network server 110 of the
carrier and may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated
logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general purpose
computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of
both.
[0050] Referring to FIG. 5, the process begins by processing logic
of resource manager 102 receiving an add resource request. The add
resource request may come from browser 101 or another application
of handset 100. In response to the add resource request, processing
logic of resource manager 102 sends the content to network server
110. Processing logic in resource handler 112 in network server 110
receives the content and stores the content in group cache memory
113. Processing logic in resource handler 112 also sends a
notification to notification coordinator 114. Processing logic of
notification coordinator 114 receives the notification and sends
the content to handsets in the group. Processing logic of
notification managers of the group of handsets, such as
notification manager 104, receives the content and stores the
content in memory, such as cache memory 103.
Resource Protocol for Obtaining Resources
[0051] The retrieve resource protocol implements efficient handset
resource hosting and allows handset users to obtain resources added
to the group. The difference is on the type of message sent by the
group, and the method invoked by the listener adapter. The group
object sends a message of type retrieve resource instead of
resource added, and the listener adapter invokes ResourceRemoved
instead of ResourceAdded, as is described in further detail
below.
[0052] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate data flow diagrams of two
embodiments of retrieve resource protocols. FIG. 6 illustrates a
retrieve resource protocol from the content when the resource is
distributed as content, while FIG. 7 illustrates the retrieve
resource protocol when the resource is distributed as a link.
[0053] Referring to FIG. 6, the operations in retrieving the
resource are performed by processing logic in handouts and the
network server and may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry,
dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general
purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination
of both.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 6, processing logic of resource manager
102 receives a retrieve resource request from a browser 101 or
another application of handset 100. In response to the request,
resource manager 102 checks cache memory 103 to determine whether
handset 100 has the resource cached locally. If it does, processing
logic of resource manager 102 supplies the resource requested. If
not, processing logic of resource manager 102 sends a retrieve
resource request to network server 110 of the carrier. Processing
logic of resource handler 112 receives the retrieve resource
request and accesses cache memory 113 to retrieve the resource. In
response, processing logic of resource handler 112 receives the
resource and sends it to handset 100. Processing logic of the
resource manager 102 receives the content from resource handler 112
and stores the content in cache memory 103. Processing logic of
resource manager 102 also provides the resource to the requesting
application.
[0055] FIG. 7 performs the resource retrieval similarly to that
described in conjunction with FIG. 6. However, in response to
processing logic of resource handler 112 receiving the retrieval
request and determining that the local cache memory 113 does not
contain the resource, processing logic of resource handler 112
sends a retrieve resource request to the handset posting the
resource, to handset 200 in this case. Processing logic of resource
manager 202 receives the request and accesses cache memory 203.
Processing logic of the resource manager receives the content and
sends the content to resource handler 112. Processing logic of
resource handler 112 receives the content, stores the copy of the
resource in cache memory 113 and forwards the content to handset
110. Processing logic of resource manager 102 receives the content
and stores it in cache memory 103. Processing logic of resource
manager 102 also provides the content to the application that
requested the resource in the first place, such as browser 101 of
handset 110
An Exemplary Implementation
[0056] FIG. 1B illustrates an overall view of the system
architecture. This approach enables group media sharing based on an
asymmetric client-server middleware infrastructure partitioned
between the network and the handset. The middleware at the network
provides functionality for group coordination, membership
coordination, media coordination, notification coordination, and
dynamic user interface (UI) binding coordination. The middleware
infrastructure at the handset provides functionality to add and
remove media to and from the group, functionality to receive
notifications and route them to the appropriate services registered
in the handset, and functionality to generate user interfaces
customized for the device. Notifications inform handsets about
group, membership, and media changes in the group.
[0057] In one embodiment, the group coordinator is a remotely
accessible object responsible for overall group coordination,
including group creation, deletion, suspension, and resumption. The
group coordinator also manages group membership, but delegates the
functionality to a remotely accessible object of class group. FIG.
8 is a UML diagram of one embodiment of a group coordinator,
including the interfaces for both objects.
[0058] In one embodiment, every group defines a security domain
that implicitly specifies who can publish and access media. The
specifics of the security behavior of each group are encapsulated
in a policy (access policy), which can be customized to different
groups and contexts. Groups are also remote objects, which are
registered with the group server instantiated by the group
coordinator. In one embodiment, every group has an associated
remote reference that allows peers (handsets) to communicate with
it. A group object provides basic functionality to add, remove,
list, and get members and resource. Furthermore, in one embodiment,
group objects interact with two other specific objects:
notification channel and resource handler. The media-sharing model
sends notifications to clients, to keep them updated as the state
of their group changes. Each time a method in the group object is
invoked, the object automatically uses the notification channel to
notify all members. The second object, the resource handler, is
registered with the group object and receives notifications each
time members and resources are added and removed to and from the
group. A goal of the resource handler is to provide a reliable
centralized service with access to the overall group activity. The
resource handler can store the notifications sent in the group,
which can be used by clients (handsets) to synchronize their state
after periods of disconnection. Since resource handlers can be used
for a large number of group specific tasks, an abstract class is
provided that can be subclassed to provide specific functionality.
For example, it is possible to create a DigestMediaHandler that
generates a summary of all the media exported to the group in the
form of a WEB/WAP/cHTML/XML page. This page contains links to the
media added to the group, and stored in the client devices. This
DigestMediaHandler allows clients not willing to participate in the
notification mechanism to easily access all media exported to the
group. Furthermore, different companies can customize the layout of
the digest using existing company templates and authoring tools, to
provide groups a customized visual aspect. Another resource handler
example could automatically cache the media locally in the network,
therefore allowing access to it, even when the handset exporting
the media is not available. The default behavior of group sharing
is to leave the media in the handsets. The generality of resource
handlers provides a processing element with access to the overall
state of the group. It is comparable to CGI in the traditional
World Wide Web model.
[0059] The notification coordinator (NC) provides functionality to
enable the delivery of notifications among distributed objects. In
one embodiment, the NC delegates the delivery functionality to an
object referred to herein as a notification channel, and provides
an interface to create, delete, list, and obtain notification
channels. In one embodiment, groups are composed of members with
different network connections, and therefore, different
communication properties. The notification channel class can be
subclassed to provide an implementation capable of providing
different delivery semantics to ensure consistency regardless of
the type of link the client is using. In one embodiment, every
notification channel is characterized by a type and a name, and has
a list of listeners. Furthermore, notification channels are
implemented as remote objects. In on embodiment, there are three
basic methods a notification channel implements: add listener,
remove listener, and send notification. The default implementation
of SendNotification iterates over the list of listeners and sends
an asynchronous message to each listener that includes the type and
name of the channel, and the parameter specified by the caller of
the method. In one embodiment, all listeners implement the
interface depicted in FIG. 9, which defines a method called Notify
that is invoked by the notification channel. Listeners are also
implemented as remote objects so they can be remotely invoked by
the notification channel.
[0060] The goal of the Dynamic UI Binding Coordinator (DUIBC) is to
assist the mobile device during the generation of the user
interface. The DUIBC provides functionality to register specific UI
Library Implementation, functionality to query for UI Library
Implementations based on device capabilities, and functionality to
upload the library implementation to the target device's dynamic UI
binding manager. Furthermore, for devices with limited resources,
the DUIBC can implement the UI binding process and send the
customized interface to the mobile device. Note that for
non-resource limited devices, the actual binding happens at the
device.
[0061] The notification manager is responsible for receiving
external notifications and redirecting them to the appropriate
objects running in the local device. In one embodiment, one goal of
the notification manager is twofold: (i) reduces, and potentially
minimizes, the bandwidth utilization for event distribution, (ii)
transforms notifications into high-level method calls meaningful to
the registered objects.
[0062] Bandwidth minimization preserves the life of the battery of
the mobile devices, by reducing the amount of time the radio (or
wireless communication) equipment is active. When dealing with
notifications, one implementation has different objects in the
mobile device registering with remote channels. However, if more
than one local object is registered with the same channel, the
remote channel sends the information multiple times to the device.
Instead, the notification manager receives the notification from
the remote channel once, and redistributes the notification locally
in the mobile device using local inter-process communication
mechanisms, therefore effectively reducing the amount of data
received by the device. The second goal of the notification
manager, notification transformation, avoids high level objects
from having to deal with the raw-data contained in the
notification. The notification manager uses an adapter (listener
adapter) that transforms the notifications into standard method
invocations, and therefore allows existing objects to be registered
with the notification manager without any changes in their
implementation.
[0063] The notification manager receives the notification and
forwards it to all listeners registered with the specific channel
and running on the handset. There are two types of listeners:
listener adapters, and generic listeners. Listener adapters receive
the notification and transform it into a method request. Resource
managers are registered with a listener adapter, and therefore,
upon receiving a notification, the listener adapter invokes the
"ResourceAdded" method on the resource manager with three
parameters: channel type, channel name, and URL of the resource.
Listeners who are not registered with a listener adapter are
responsible for processing the original request.
[0064] In one embodiment, the notification manager provides an
interface to add and remove listeners, add and remove listener
adapters, and inherits the "notify" method from the notification
listener class. The listener adapter receives a "notify" request
and based on the contents of the notification and transforms it
into a specific method request. In one embodiment, every listener
adapter is assigned to a class of objects, and registers itself
with the notification manager. When the notification manager
receives a request to add a listener, it obtains the class, looks
for an appropriate listener adapter, and registers the listener
with it. If no listener adapter is found, the notification manager
stores the object in its own list of listeners and invokes the
object's notify method when the type and name of the channel
matches. For those objects registered with a listener adapter, the
listener adapter gets the "notify" invocation, parses the
notification and invokes the appropriate method on the registered
listeners. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a
notification manager and listener adapter.
[0065] The resource manager provides functionality to export local
resources to groups, and keeps also global information about
resources added by other members to the group. In one embodiment,
the resource manager is registered with the notification manager,
which invokes the AddResource and RemoveResource as resources are
added and removed to and from the group. Maintaining information
about the overall group's resources is optional, but it is useful
to avoid frequent requests to the group coordinator running at the
network side.
[0066] The resource manager is responsible for serving resources to
remote peers, and delegate such functionality to an object of class
ResourceServer. The resource manager can optionally provide
synchronization functionality to maintain its local information
about the state of the group. Different types of mobile devices and
network connections require different synchronization mechanisms;
we encapsulate such functionality in an external object that must
conform to a synchronization policy interface. Finally, the
resource manager can also implement caching mechanisms in
coordination with the group coordinator's resource handler. Caching
allows the mobile device to push resources to the network size and
redirect all incoming traffic to the resource handler, therefore
reducing the number of incoming requests. Caching may also be
implemented by external objects, which implement a caching policy
interface.
[0067] A resource is a base class that can be specialized as
required by the types of groups and application. Media is defined
as a subclass of resource, but envision other types of resources
such as services in future instances of the current system. The
resource manager can be specialized to address the specific
requirements of different types of resources. FIG. 11 illustrates
the UML class diagram for the resource manager, a synchronization
policy, and a caching policy.
Dynamic UI Binding Manager (DUIBM)
[0068] The DUIBM provides functionality to generate a user
interface customized for a specific device dynamically. In one
embodiment, the DUIBM uses a mechanism similar to JSP custom tags,
but instead of embedding the code of the tags with the interface,
it obtains the appropriate code dynamically from the DUIBC. In one
embodiment, the DUIBM defines two key components: a UI Library
Interface and a UI Library Implementation.
[0069] A UI Library Interface defines UI rendering or manipulation
semantics for a particular UI component (e.g., widgets), such as
for example, a component for presenting a list on a device. UI
Library Interfaces are collections of related UI Interface
Components. A UI Library Interface is defined using a Java
Interface that defines the lifecycle callbacks, and an interface
specification defining the components and its attributes. The Java
interface is exactly like the JSP custom tag interface, and the
interface specification is similar to the TLD (Tag Library
Specification) used for specifying JSP custom tags, but with no
concrete implementation details like class names.
[0070] A UI Library Implementation implements a Library Interface.
A typical UI Library package contains UI Library Interfaces
including the interface specification, implementation of the
interface and a capability specification. The library interface
definition has the implementation class specified in its TLD file.
The Capability Specification lists the capabilities using
name-value pairs. The DUIBM interacts with the DUIBC to obtain the
appropriate UI Library Implementation, which it caches locally for
any further reference.
[0071] At the development stage, UI Interface developers agree on a
UI library interface and provide these interfaces to application
developers and UI Library implementers. Application developers code
their User Interface against these interfaces, and UI Library
Implementers provide concrete implementations. At the deployment
stage, just like the JSP and Custom tags, MSP has to be
pre-compiled, potentially, during the deployment stage. However,
unlike JSP, the generated code is not bound to a concrete UI
Library implementation, but instead, it is bound to a proxy
implementation (DUIBC). Finally, at run-time, when the generated
interface needs to call a UI component, it calls the DUIBC with the
UI library interface name, UI component and the capability of the
device. The DUIBC asks the Discovery service in the UI controller
to provide an implementation for the specified library interface
that is suitable for the device capabilities.
Dynamic On-Device UI Binding
[0072] This protocol describes the steps required to generate a UI
at the mobile device dynamically. The protocol is illustrated in
FIG. 13. When an application running at the handset requires a UI,
it sends a request to the Dynamic UI Binding Manager (DUIBM)
running at the handset, and provides it with a UI Template, which
uses a collection of UI library interfaces. The DUIBM parses the UI
template and based on the UI library interfaces, it looks for UI
library implementations appropriate for the current device. The
DUIBM start looking in its internal cache, and if no matches are
found, it contacts the Dynamic UI Binding Coordinator (DUIBC) and
provides a description of the properties of the mobile device, and
the specific UI library interface. The DUIBC uses the provided
parameters to locate the appropriate UI library implementation, and
returns it to the DUIBM. With all the UI library implementations,
the DUIBM generates the UI and returns it to the application.
[0073] Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present
invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary
skill in the art after having read the foregoing description, it is
to be understood that any particular embodiment shown and described
by way of illustration is in no way intended to be considered
limiting. Therefore, references to details of various embodiments
are not intended to limit the scope of the claims which in
themselves recite only those features regarded as essential to the
invention.
* * * * *
References