US 6,763,371 B1Granted

Method and apparatus for collaborative communication in a communication network

AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

InventorMagnus Jändel

Life of this patent

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Abstract

The real-time performance in communications networks is improved, especially between a large number of participants, by a server unit having a device for receiving information from at least a client unit, the information including at least part of the state information about a distributed interactive application. The server unit includes a device for storing application state information received from at least one client unit, and a device for forwarding the state information received from the client to at least one other node in the network and for transmitting at least part of the information stored in the state information storing device to the at least one client. In this way, the whole state of the application can be kept in one or more units in the network, which removes the need for each client to store the entire state, thereby reducing memory and bandwidth requirements for each client.

Claims17

Dependent claims

An application-independent access server for providing enhanced real-time collaborative communication between multiple clients in a network, utilizing a common application that is resident on each of said multiple clients, comprising, for each one of said multiple clients:

an input buffer for receiving client application object packets for updating application objects that are controlled by each one of said multiple clients;
an application object packet pipeline for directing application state data derived from said application object packets to each client priority list associated with each one of said multiple clients;
an application state record for receiving and maintaining all said application state data and urgency-of-application data for relevant objects for each one of said multiple clients;
an application priority control message pipeline for directing priorities derived from said application object packets to said client priority list stored by said application-independent access server, said priorities being set and also sent to said access server by each one of said multiple clients;
a control unit for processing control data, wherein said control data is non-real-time data including information on added or removed application objects;
and
an output pipeline for transmitting information retrieved from an application state record of one of said multiple clients to another of said multiple clients.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/307,712Filed 10 May 1999
Granted: 13 Jul 2004
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G06F 9/542
Interprogram communication: event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
H04L 9/40
Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols: network security protocols
H04L 67/10
Protocols: in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
H04L 67/1055
With pre-configuration of logical or physical connections with a determined number of other peers: involving connection limits