Abstract:
A device service progress indication method and system reports the progress of a requested device service in the absence of feedback from the device providing the service to a client device. The method is adaptable and may be applied to a wide variety of open-loop progress indication situations.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to intelligent electronic devices and more specifically to methods for indicating the progress of services performed when such devices are in communication with one another.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Intelligent electronic devices such as personal computers, personal digital assistants, and digital cameras frequently interact locally or over a network with other devices such as peripherals or servers. For example, in the familiar client-server model, a client device may request a service such as printing from a second device. If the second device provides feedback regarding the intermediate progress of the requested device service, indicating that progress to the user of the client device is straightforward. If the second device provides no feedback until the requested device service is complete, however, indicating meaningful progress to the user of the client device becomes more difficult.  
           [0003]    It is thus apparent that there is a need in the art for an improved method and system for indicating the progress of device services when no feedback from the device providing the service is available.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    A method for indicating the progress of a device service is provided. Both a system and a computer-readable storage medium containing program code are provided for carrying out the method.  
           [0005]    Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an environment in which the invention may operate, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a device service progress dialog box in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is a method flowchart in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is an illustration of a system for carrying out the method of the invention in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an environment in which the invention may operate, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 1, client device  105  communicates with personal computer (PC)  110  over communication link  115 . PC  110 , in turn, may communicate with network  120  over communication link  125 . For example, client device  105  may be a digital camera, and personal computer (PC) may communicate with both a local area network (LAN) and the Internet. Client device  105  may request services such as printing, remote archiving of images on an Internet server, the burning of a CD-R on PC  110 , or other services via its connection to PC  110 . In other embodiments, client device  105  may communicate directly with, for example, the Internet without an intermediate device such as PC  110 .  
         [0011]    The environment depicted in FIG. 1 is merely one illustrative environment in which the invention may be applied. In general, the invention is applicable to any situation in which a first device requests a service (performance of a task) of a second device, and the second device provides no intermediate feedback indicating progress to the first device until the requested device service is complete. In such situations, the invention may be used to indicate the approximate progress of the requested device service to the user requesting the service. In other words, the invention is applicable to any situation requiring open-loop progress indication.  
         [0012]    One manner of indicating the progress of a device service in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, dialog box  200  contains progress bar  205  to indicate how far a requested device service has progressed. Since no intermediate feedback from the device performing the service is available to client device  105 , the reporting of progress may be facilitated as follows. First, a stored estimate of the time required to complete the requested service is recalled. Secondly, elapsed time is measured from when the device service was requested, and progress may be indicated as the elapsed time relative to the estimated completion time. For example, the elapsed time may be shown on progress bar  205  as a percentage of the estimated completion time. Thirdly, whenever the progress exceeds a predetermined threshold  210 , the estimate itself may be increased to allow for a longer than expected completion time. Threshold  210  may be set high (e.g., above 70 percent) if confidence in the estimate is high. If confidence in the estimate is low, threshold  210  may be set to a lower value (e.g., 30 percent). Threshold  210  essentially divides the growth of progress bar  205  into a linear region and a non-linear region. Finally, once client device  105  has been informed that the requested device service is complete, progress bar  205  may grow to 100 percent. To improve the estimated completion time for the next request, the actual completion time of the latest request and one or more previous estimates may be averaged in some fashion.  
         [0013]    After sufficient repetitions, the estimate converges to a good approximation. The very first time a particular device service is requested, a conservative estimate may be chosen to avoid disappointing the user.  
         [0014]    The approach just described has several advantages. First, it is adaptable to the time required for a particular device service. Secondly, progress bar  205  will always show an increasing amount of progress (will not back up) if the estimated completion time is incremented at a rate less than or equal to the rate at which elapsed time is incremented. Finally, incrementing the estimated completion time when progress exceeds threshold  210  allows indication of the progress to be stretched indefinitely.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a method flowchart in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention. The flowchart of FIG. 3 is entered in response to a request for a device service issued from client device  105 . At  305 , E is set to a stored previous estimated completion time for the applicable device service. At  310 , elapsed time counter CNTR is reset. At  315 , progress may be computed as CNTR divided by E converted to a percentage. If progress P exceeds threshold  210  at  320 , E may be incremented at  325 . In practice, a threshold of 70 percent has been found effective. Otherwise, control proceeds to  330 , where the progress P computed at  315  may be displayed as progress bar  205 . Elapsed time counter CNTR may then be incremented at  335 . If client device  105  has not yet received confirmation that the requested device service is complete at  340 , control returns to  315 . Otherwise, progress bar  205  may grow to 100 percent at  345 . At  350 , an updated estimate of completion time based on the actual completion time (the value contained in CNTR) is computed and saved. The process then terminates at  355 .  
         [0016]    Many possible techniques may be used to compute an updated estimate of completion time at  350 . Two examples will be offered in this description. First, the estimated and actual completion times may be averaged using a lossy integration process or so-called “exponential forgetting.” That is, the updated estimate E i  following the ith request for the device service may be computed as  
           E   i     =         N                   E     i   -   1         +     T   A         N   +   1         ,                         
 
         [0017]    where T A  is the actual elapsed time required to complete the ith request and N is an arbitrary positive integer. In practice, N=5 has been found to provide sufficient damping. Secondly, the updated estimate at  350  may be computed as a moving average of the actual completion time T A  and at least one previous estimate:  
           E   i     =           ∑     j   =   1       M   -   1                       E     i   -   j         +     T   A       M       ,                         
 
         [0018]    where M is the width of the sliding window over which the moving average is computed. M is a positive integer greater than or equal to two.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 illustrates a system for carrying out the method of the invention, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. FIG. 4 depicts a general purpose computer  400 . The method of the invention may be programmed to execute on such a general purpose computer  400  or in any other intelligent electronic device such as a digital camera, cellular telephone, notebook computer, palmtop computer, or personal digital assistant (PDA). The invention may be implemented in custom hardware, firmware, or in any combination of hardware or firmware and software. Program code implementing the invention may also be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Examples of computer-readable storage media include solid-state read-only memory, magnetic disks, and optical disks.  
         [0020]    The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art.