Patent ID: 6195091
Filing Date: 2001-02-27
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04N

Abstract:
A collaborative computing system for a computer network comprising:an application module at a workstation for providing a network independent computing function;a conference engine at the workstation for processing data and event task requests from the application module, distributing data and events over the network, receiving data and events from the network, providing data and event information to the application module, and maintaining a collaborative computing state, wherein the conference engine is coupled to the application module;means for connecting the conference engine to the network;wherein the conference engine coordinates and negotiates with other conference engines to form a distributed conference session;wherein each conference engine within said session tracks the status of every participant in said session;wherein each conference engine maintains a distributed state machine that is dynamically updated to reflect the current state of every distributed conference session that the conference engine is monitoring; andwherein a centralized server is not needed to create a conference session.