Xerox Corporation

Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

Karen Marcelo

Trevor F Smith

Mark Webster Newman

Jana Zdislava Sedivy

Shahram Izadi

Jason I Hong

Warren Keith Edwards

W Keith Edwards

Ian E Smith

Victoria M E Bellotti

Mark A Howard

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates dynamic delivery of service profiles to a client. During operation, the system performs a discovery operation to allow the client to discover new services on a network. If a new service is discovered for which the client does not possess a service profile, the client to obtains the service profile from the new service and subsequently installs it, thereby enabling the client to interact with the new service.

Method and apparatus for dynamically delivering service profiles to clients

Methods, apparatus and program products for using historical contextual data in a ubiquitous computing environment. The historical contextual data can be dispersed among components in an environment or logging services as well as stored on a particular component or logging service. The historical contextual data can be used to help create or re-create component configurations within the relevant environment through the use of abstract applications and abstract components. Abstract applications can be specified to create connections with specific components. Abstract applications can also be generalized so that they need not create connections with specific components, but can create component connections that perform a desired function by determining which components to use from the available components, and how to connect the selected components to perform the function.

Methods, apparatus, and program products for abstract applications/components in a ubiquitous computing environment

A system for enabling components on arbitrary networks to communicate includes a plurality of arbitrary components, such as computers, servers, laptops, facsimile machines, copier machines and cellular telephones, including applications operating on those components, such as word processing or data base applications, connected together by one or more networks that may use the same or different protocols. A method includes a first component, such as a computer, obtaining aggregate objects from other components, such as a laptop or server. Each of the aggregate objects are associated with discovered component objects of the other components, such as the laptop or server. The first component selects at least one of the components associated with the aggregate objects, and invokes universal interfaces associated with the selected arbitrary components to communicate with other arbitrary components.

System and method for enabling components on arbitrary networks to communicate

Methods, systems, apparatus and program products for gathering contextual history from components in an environment and applying an operation on the gathered history to assist a user in selecting which components to use in the environment.

Methods, apparatus, and program products for configuring components in networked computing environments

Methods and systems for enabling arbitrary components to control communications, such as data transfers, without having or requiring prior knowledge of each other. The system includes a component that creates controller objects for a communication, such as a data transfer involving several components. Further, the component associates the controller objects with a communication session object of the data transfer, such as a data transfer session object. One or more of the components involved in the data transfer obtain the controller objects through the data transfer session object and execute source-specific instructions included in the obtained controller objects to generate user interfaces. The user interfaces enable the components to control aspects of the communication, such as the data transfer.

System and method for controlling communication

Handling data at one of a plurality of components, wherein the plurality of components includes at least a sink component and a source component. The source component transfers data to the sink component, and the sink component accesses an obtained data type handler object to invoke an interface implemented by the handler object. The invoked type handler interface includes source-specific instructions that are executed by the sink component regardless of whether the data is a format that the sink natively understands.

Method and system for handling data

A method, system, and article of manufacture for performing computation on an electronic message without the involvement of a user is provided. By including a command instruction in an electronic message which identifies an application provider for performing the computation and includes parameters and values to indicate what information is to be provided to the application provider, the message can be sent by a user and computation can be performed without the involvement of the user. The method, system, and article of manufacture is designed to intercept the message, control the computation, modify the message, and deliver it to the intended recipients.

Active electronic messaging system

A method and system for unifying component metadata includes components, such as computers, laptops or flat panel display devices and software entities, connected together by one or more networks. A method includes a first component, such as a laptop device, obtaining intrinsic metadata associated with one or more other components, such as a computer and a flat panel display device. The first component combines intrinsic metadata received from each component with extrinsic metadata of the first component, and provides the combined metadata to the other components, although the first component may also utilize the combined metadata. The components are able to obtain a consistent, unified view of the combined metadata without needing any prior programming and without requiring the use of centralized servers.

Growing community of inventors

San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Karen Marcelo