Information access, collaboration and integration system and method
US007165060B2
(12)
(54)
United States Patent
(10) Patent N0.:
Foster et a].
(45) Date of Patent:
INFORMATION ACCESS, COLLABORATION
US 7,165,060 B2 Jan. 16, 2007
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
AND INTEGRATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
Computer Dictionary, Microsoft Press Third Edition, copyright 1997, pp. 257 and 430*
(75) Inventors: Douglas R. Foster, Parker, CO (US); Kurt A. Heddleston, Littleton, CO US ; Je?re
(Continued)
K. Moore, Aurora, CO
.
.
.
(US); Richalfd Pedersen, Littleton, CO
Prlrflary ExamliaeriTlm Vu
(US); Michael I. Schwartz, Denver,
Asslsmm ExammeriHung Pham
CO (Us)
(74) Attorney, Agent, or FirmiMarsh Fischmann &
_
Breyfogle LLP
(73) Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US) (*)
Notice:
(57)
ABSTRACT
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Pawnt is extended or adjusted under 35
The present invention provides a computer implemented
U'S'C' 154(1)) by 175 days‘
collaboration system and method for accessing multiple
_
domain data sources and allowing data from those sources to
(21) Appl' NO" 09/782,926 (22) Filed; Feb_ 13, 2001 (65)
be analyzed and manipulated Within a multi-user distributed environment Where all visualization, processing, and agent applications Work collaboratively. In one embodiment, the collaboration system (10) is organized into an N-tier infra
PI‘iOI‘ PllbliCatiOIl Data Jun 13, 2002
US 2002/0073059 A1
structure including a data management tier (50), an infor mation access tier (52), a services tier (54), and a user
Related U.S. Application Data
interface tier (56). The infrastructure of the collaboration
(60) Provisional application No. 60/182,398, ?led on Feb. 14 2000
a (51) Int. Cl. G06F 1 7/30 (52) (58)
System (10) ndes upon a CORBA commumcanons frame‘ Work. The data management t1er (50) lncludes data sources
(2006.01)
(112) and provides data management capabilities normally supplied by database management systems. The repository tier (52) is comprised of repository servers (12) and provides
U.S. Cl. ....................... .. 707/2; 707/10; 707/ 102.1; 707/ 104.1 Field of Classi?cation Search ................ .. 707/ 10,
adaptive services to make the data maintained Within the data sources (112) available to services in the services tier (54) and the client tools in the user interface tier (56). The
707/4, 2, 1, 100, 102.1, 104.1; 709/217,
services tier (54) is comprised of data channel servers (14),
709/224, 225, 203; 345/433, 582, 589 See application ?le for Complete Search hiSIOI'Y-
a library server (16), a participant server (24), a context server (26), and a document server (28). The services tier
(56)
References Cited
(54) maintains the majority of the business logic as applied
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
to a speci?c domain problem. The user interface tier (56) is comprised of thin client tools (18) that alloW the user to interact With the data in the data sources (112).
5,617,539 A
4/1997 Ludwig ct a1. ...... .. 395/20002
5,710,899 A
1/1998
Eick ......................... .. 395/339
10 Claims, 37 Drawing Sheets
(Continued) 10
"x
SERVICES BASED ARCHITECTURE 22
24
104 PARTICIPANT SERVER
14 56
JCS FOLDER SERVER
10 DATA CHANNEL SERVER
2B
12
USER INTERFACE TIER 14
20
1e
30 NAMING
32
SERVICE
11%’? SERVICE
LIBRARY SERVER
34 SVSTEM SERVICE ACTIVATION DAEMON
SIGNAL FILES 112
SIMPLE 12
112
US 7,165,060 B2 Page 2 NCSA Habanero Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrived
US. PATENT DOCUMENTS
From (3 Pages). 5,848,425 A 5,996,003 A *
12/1998 Lowry et al. ............. .. 707/503 11/1999 Namikata et a1. . 709/205
6,034,697 A
3/2000
6,100,901 A
8/2000 Mohda et al.
6,178,382 B1
1/2001 Roederer et al.
702/21
6,195,653 B1
2/2001 Bleizelfer et al.
. 707/2
6,236,996 B1 *
Becker ........ ..
5/2001 Bapat et al.
6,301,579 B1*
10/2001
6,308,178 B1*
Becker ..... ..
345/433
. 345/440
707/9 707/102
10/2001 Chang et al. ..
707/100
6,317,777 B1* 11/2001 Skarbo et al. 6,430,556 B1 * 8/2002 Goldberg et al.
709/204 707/4
6,463,460 B1*
709/203
10/2002
SimonofI" ........ ..
1/2003
Framework for Integrated Synchronous And Asynchronous Col laboration Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From
(5 Pages). Intelligence Resource Program Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 30, 2001] Retrieved from (4 Pages). The NCSA Software development Division (SDD) Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page).
345/433
SDSC Mice Molecular Interactive Collaborative Environment Web
Land et a1. ............... .. 709/224
Page [Retrieved on Jul. 30, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page). OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Shelly Vermaat, Microsoft O?ice 97 Introductory Concepts and Techniques, copyright 1998 Course Technology, pp. A 2.4-A 218* Mark S. Ackerman Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001.]
Retrieved From (3 Pages). Mark S. Ackerman Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001.] Retrieved From (6 Pages). Answer Garden: A Tool for Growing Organizational Memory Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrived From (9 Pages). Answer Garden 2: merging Organizational Memory with Collabo rative Help Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] (9 Pages).
Collaboration Web Page [Retrieved On Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page).
2001] Retrived From (4 Pages). Group Systems.com Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Pages)
TeamWave Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From
Interoperability Sun Forum Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (3 Pages).
* cited by examiner
(1 Page). Joint Collaboration Services Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001]
U.S. Patent
Jan. 16, 2007
Sheet 1 6137
US 7,165,060 B2
202.
mQ
(12)
(54)
United States Patent
(10) Patent N0.:
Foster et a].
(45) Date of Patent:
INFORMATION ACCESS, COLLABORATION
US 7,165,060 B2 Jan. 16, 2007
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
AND INTEGRATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
Computer Dictionary, Microsoft Press Third Edition, copyright 1997, pp. 257 and 430*
(75) Inventors: Douglas R. Foster, Parker, CO (US); Kurt A. Heddleston, Littleton, CO US ; Je?re
(Continued)
K. Moore, Aurora, CO
.
.
.
(US); Richalfd Pedersen, Littleton, CO
Prlrflary ExamliaeriTlm Vu
(US); Michael I. Schwartz, Denver,
Asslsmm ExammeriHung Pham
CO (Us)
(74) Attorney, Agent, or FirmiMarsh Fischmann &
_
Breyfogle LLP
(73) Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US) (*)
Notice:
(57)
ABSTRACT
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Pawnt is extended or adjusted under 35
The present invention provides a computer implemented
U'S'C' 154(1)) by 175 days‘
collaboration system and method for accessing multiple
_
domain data sources and allowing data from those sources to
(21) Appl' NO" 09/782,926 (22) Filed; Feb_ 13, 2001 (65)
be analyzed and manipulated Within a multi-user distributed environment Where all visualization, processing, and agent applications Work collaboratively. In one embodiment, the collaboration system (10) is organized into an N-tier infra
PI‘iOI‘ PllbliCatiOIl Data Jun 13, 2002
US 2002/0073059 A1
structure including a data management tier (50), an infor mation access tier (52), a services tier (54), and a user
Related U.S. Application Data
interface tier (56). The infrastructure of the collaboration
(60) Provisional application No. 60/182,398, ?led on Feb. 14 2000
a (51) Int. Cl. G06F 1 7/30 (52) (58)
System (10) ndes upon a CORBA commumcanons frame‘ Work. The data management t1er (50) lncludes data sources
(2006.01)
(112) and provides data management capabilities normally supplied by database management systems. The repository tier (52) is comprised of repository servers (12) and provides
U.S. Cl. ....................... .. 707/2; 707/10; 707/ 102.1; 707/ 104.1 Field of Classi?cation Search ................ .. 707/ 10,
adaptive services to make the data maintained Within the data sources (112) available to services in the services tier (54) and the client tools in the user interface tier (56). The
707/4, 2, 1, 100, 102.1, 104.1; 709/217,
services tier (54) is comprised of data channel servers (14),
709/224, 225, 203; 345/433, 582, 589 See application ?le for Complete Search hiSIOI'Y-
a library server (16), a participant server (24), a context server (26), and a document server (28). The services tier
(56)
References Cited
(54) maintains the majority of the business logic as applied
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
to a speci?c domain problem. The user interface tier (56) is comprised of thin client tools (18) that alloW the user to interact With the data in the data sources (112).
5,617,539 A
4/1997 Ludwig ct a1. ...... .. 395/20002
5,710,899 A
1/1998
Eick ......................... .. 395/339
10 Claims, 37 Drawing Sheets
(Continued) 10
"x
SERVICES BASED ARCHITECTURE 22
24
104 PARTICIPANT SERVER
14 56
JCS FOLDER SERVER
10 DATA CHANNEL SERVER
2B
12
USER INTERFACE TIER 14
20
1e
30 NAMING
32
SERVICE
11%’? SERVICE
LIBRARY SERVER
34 SVSTEM SERVICE ACTIVATION DAEMON
SIGNAL FILES 112
SIMPLE 12
112
US 7,165,060 B2 Page 2 NCSA Habanero Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrived
US. PATENT DOCUMENTS
From (3 Pages). 5,848,425 A 5,996,003 A *
12/1998 Lowry et al. ............. .. 707/503 11/1999 Namikata et a1. . 709/205
6,034,697 A
3/2000
6,100,901 A
8/2000 Mohda et al.
6,178,382 B1
1/2001 Roederer et al.
702/21
6,195,653 B1
2/2001 Bleizelfer et al.
. 707/2
6,236,996 B1 *
Becker ........ ..
5/2001 Bapat et al.
6,301,579 B1*
10/2001
6,308,178 B1*
Becker ..... ..
345/433
. 345/440
707/9 707/102
10/2001 Chang et al. ..
707/100
6,317,777 B1* 11/2001 Skarbo et al. 6,430,556 B1 * 8/2002 Goldberg et al.
709/204 707/4
6,463,460 B1*
709/203
10/2002
SimonofI" ........ ..
1/2003
Framework for Integrated Synchronous And Asynchronous Col laboration Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From
(5 Pages). Intelligence Resource Program Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 30, 2001] Retrieved from (4 Pages). The NCSA Software development Division (SDD) Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page).
345/433
SDSC Mice Molecular Interactive Collaborative Environment Web
Land et a1. ............... .. 709/224
Page [Retrieved on Jul. 30, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page). OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Shelly Vermaat, Microsoft O?ice 97 Introductory Concepts and Techniques, copyright 1998 Course Technology, pp. A 2.4-A 218* Mark S. Ackerman Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001.]
Retrieved From (3 Pages). Mark S. Ackerman Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001.] Retrieved From (6 Pages). Answer Garden: A Tool for Growing Organizational Memory Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrived From (9 Pages). Answer Garden 2: merging Organizational Memory with Collabo rative Help Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] (9 Pages).
Collaboration Web Page [Retrieved On Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Page).
2001] Retrived From (4 Pages). Group Systems.com Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (1 Pages)
TeamWave Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From
Interoperability Sun Forum Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001] Retrieved From (3 Pages).
* cited by examiner
(1 Page). Joint Collaboration Services Web Page [Retrieved on Jul. 26, 2001]
U.S. Patent
Jan. 16, 2007
Sheet 1 6137
US 7,165,060 B2
202.
mQ
