Presence awareness in collaborative systems

A method for use in collaborative systems to effect presence awareness comprising the steps of:

• enabling a prescribed user to log on to a presence awareness system including presence awareness policies of said prescribed user and one or more other users;
• receiving an indication from said prescribed user that he/she wants to set up a new collaborative session including a set of one or more other users;
• determining whether said presence awareness policies of said set of one or more other users and said presence awareness system policies for the type of collaborative session to be set up allow said prescribed user to set up said new session,
• if so, enabling said prescribed user and said set of users to communicate via said session,
• otherwise, notifying said prescribed user that he/she cannot set up said new session;
• determining whether said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to or any time after joining said new session;
• if it is determined that said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies, further including the step of enabling said prescribed user to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to and after joining said new session;
• and
• employing a systematic state-space exploration tool to analyze substantially all possible concurrent behaviors of the system in order to verify substantially all possible specifiable presence awareness policies thereby establishing a relatively high degree of assurance that said presence awareness system can correctly implement substantially all of said specifiable presence awareness policies prior to use of the system application.

Apparatus for use in collaborative systems to effect presence awareness comprising:

• a user interface for enabling a prescribed user to log on to a presence awareness system including presence awareness policies of one or more users by a prescribed user and for indicating to said presence awareness system that said prescribed user wants to join an existing collaborative session including one or more current users;
• a controller for determining whether said presence awareness policies of said existing session and those of said current users in said session allow said prescribed user to join said existing session,
• if so, for enabling said prescribed user and said current users to communicate via said session,
• otherwise, for notifying said prescribed user that he/she cannot join said existing session,
• for determining whether said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies,
• if so, for enabling said prescribed user to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to and anytime after joining said existing session;
• and
• a state-space exploration tool to systematically analyze substantially all possible concurrent behaviors of the system in order to verify substantially all possible specifiable presence awareness policies thereby establishing a relatively high degree of assurance that said presence awareness system can correctly implement substantially all of said specifiable presence awareness policies prior to use of the system application.

Apparatus for use in collaborative systems to effect presence awareness comprising:

• a user interface for enabling a prescribed user to log on to a presence awareness system including presence awareness policies of one or more users by a prescribed user and for indicating to said presence awareness system that said prescribed user wants to set up a new collaborative session including a set of one or more other users;
• a controller for determining whether said presence awareness policies of said set of one or more other users and said presence awareness system policies for the type of collaborative session to be set up allow said prescribed user to set up said new session,
• if so, for enabling said prescribed user and said current users to communicate via said new session,
• otherwise, for supplying an output notifying said prescribed user that he/she cannot set up said new session,
• said controller being further equipped to determine whether said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to or any time after joining
• if so, for enabling said prescribed user to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to and after joining said new session;
• and
• a state-space exploration tool to systematically analyze substantially all possible concurrent behaviors of the system in order to verify substantially all possible specifiable presence awareness policies thereby establishing a relatively high degree of assurance that said presence awareness system can correctly implement substantially all of said specifiable presence awareness policies prior to use of the system application.

Apparatus for use in collaborative systems to effect presence awareness comprising:

• means for enabling a prescribed user to log on to a presence awareness system including complex presence awareness policies of said prescribed user and one or more other users;
• means for receiving an indication from said prescribed user that he/she wants to set up a collaborative session including a set of one or more other users;
• means for determining whether said complex presence awareness policies of said set of one or more other users and said presence awareness system policies for the type of new collaborative session to be set up allow said prescribed user to set up said new session;
• means responsive to the results of said determining for enabling said prescribed user and said set of users to communicate via said new session;
• means responsive to the results of said determining for otherwise notifying said prescribed user that he/she cannot set up said new session;
• means for determining whether said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to or any time after joining said new session;
• means responsive to a determination that said prescribed user wants to modify his/her presence awareness policies, further including means for enabling said prescribed user to modify his/her presence awareness policies, prior to and after joining said new session;
• and
• a state-space exploration tool to systematically analyze substantially all possible concurrent behaviors of the system in order to verify substantially all possible specifiable presence awareness policies thereby establishing a relatively high degree of assurance that said presence awareness system can correctly implement substantially all of said specifiable presence awareness policies prior to use of the system application.