Abstract:
A method and apparatus for distributing at least one of documents or data to their respective owners. The method comprising receiving at least one of the documents or the data from users, associating the at least one of the documents or the data with users&#39; login, wherein the users are owners of their respective at least one documents or data, and simultaneously scheduling the distribution of the at least one of the documents or the data to their respective owners.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for redistribution system. More specifically, a method and apparatus for distributing documents/data. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    The use of technology has expanded into the classroom. Many classes are taught online and/or utilize the internet for the submission and retrieval of homework. Many teachers utilize the internet to distribute class documents, homework and exams. In many instances, students also use the internet to submit their homework or exams. 
         [0005]    However, it is necessary for the receiver, such as, a teacher, to maintain a record identifying the source of such homework. The teacher usually has to redistribute the documents/data, to their respective owners, one at a time. In addition, if a document does not contain the owner&#39;s name, the teacher usually has to research the source of such document. 
         [0006]    In other words, teachers do not have a system through which documents can easily be collected electronically from a specific student and redistributed to the same student at a later time in a single action, without the need to redistribute the document/data to each student separately. 
         [0007]    Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for an enhanced such a distribution system. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for distributing at least one of documents or data to their respective owners. The method comprising receiving at least one of the documents or the data from users, associating the at least one of the documents or the data with users&#39; login, wherein the users are owners of their respective at least one documents or data, and simultaneously scheduling the distribution of the at least one of the documents or the data to their respective owners. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary embodiment of a distribution system utilizing a network in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of an distribution apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of an user apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a user method in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a distribution method in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary embodiment of a distribution system  100  utilizing a network in accordance with the present invention. One skilled in the art will appreciate that distribution system  100  may or may not contain all the components listed below. 
         [0016]    The distribution system  100  includes a communication network  102 , a distribution apparatus  104   1 ,  104   2  . . .  104   n  (hereon after referred to as  104 ) and user apparatus  106   1 ,  106   2  . . .  106   n  (hereon after referred to as  106 ). The communication network  102  may be any conventional network, such as, an Ethernet network, a fiber channel network, or a wide area network (WAN) that provides either a direct or indirect (e.g., Internet via a wired or wireless connection, or public switched telephone network (PSTN)) connection between the users  106  and the distribution system  100 . 
         [0017]    The distribution apparatus  104  communicates with the user apparatus  106  via the communication network  102 . The distribution apparatus  104  is described in detail in  FIG. 2 . The distribution apparatus  104  presented in  FIG. 1  is a stand-alone apparatus. Other embodiments of the present invention include incorporating distribution apparatus  104  into a larger system, such as, school system and/or a teacher network. The distribution apparatus  104  may be a handheld device, laptop, personal computer and the like. 
         [0018]    The user apparatus  106  communicate with the distribution apparatus  104  via the communication network  102 . The user apparatus  106  is described in detail in  FIG. 3 . The user apparatus  106  presented in  FIG. 1  is a stand-alone apparatus. Other embodiments of the present invention include incorporating user apparatus  106  into a larger system, such as, school system and/or a student network. The user apparatus  106  is preferably a handheld device; however, maybe a computer device, laptop, personal computer, calculator and/or the like. 
         [0019]    It should be noted that the distribution system  100  may include any number of communication network  102 , distribution apparatus  104  and users  106 . In addition, the distribution system  100  and all its components are not limited to a specific operating system, but may be adapted to run on multiple operating systems, such as, Linux and Microsoft Windows. 
         [0020]    The distribution system  100  facilitates the exchange of data and/or documents between the distribution apparatus  104  and the user apparatus  106 . The distribution apparatus  104  maybe utilized by a teacher to transmit and receive homework, exams and the like. The distribution system  100  assists a teacher, for example, in receiving data and/or documents and automatically redistributing the data and/or documents to the respective document/data owner in one step. The method of distribution is better described in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a distribution apparatus  104  of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with the present invention. The distribution apparatus  104  may function in a variety of computing environments; such as, a distributed computer system, a centralized computer system, a stand alone computer system, calculator, handheld device or the like. One skilled in the art will appreciate that distribution apparatus  104  may or may not contain all the components listed below. 
         [0022]    The distribution apparatus  104  includes a controller  202 , an input/output (I/O) device  204  and a distribution module  206 . The controller  202  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  208 , support circuit  210  and memory  212 . The CPU  208  may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The microprocessor may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The support circuits  210  are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the CPU  208 . Such circuits include, but are not limited to, a cache, power supplies, clock circuits, input/output (I/O) circuits and the like. 
         [0023]    The memory  212  may comprise random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory. The memory  212  is a computer readable medium, which is sometimes referred to main memory and may, in part, be used as cache memory or buffer memory. The memory  212  may store an operating system (OS), database software, various forms of application software, and the like. 
         [0024]    The I/O device  204  may be placed any where in the distribution system  100  ( FIG. 1 ) or the distribution apparatus  104 . As such, the I/O device  204  may be a separate device coupled, remotely communicating with or attached to the distribution apparatus  104 . The I/O device  204  may be an audio, video, graphical, printer, touch screen, a keypad, LCD, and/or LED display. 
         [0025]    The I/O device  204  may be used for data/document entry, retrieval and/or inputting. The distribution apparatus  104  may include any number of I/O devices  102 . For example, the distribution apparatus  104  may allow multiple individuals, such as, teachers, to simultaneously utilize the same distribution apparatus  104 . The individuals using the distribution apparatus  104  may be in the same location or different locations. 
         [0026]    Distribution module allows the teacher, for example, to collect an assignment from the user of the distribution apparatus  104 , such as, a student. At a later time, the teacher may redistribute the student&#39;s document/data in one action. In other words, the teacher would not have to send each file to each student separately. The method utilized in the distribution module  104  is described in detail in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a user apparatus  106  of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with the present invention. The user apparatus  106  may function in a variety of computing environments; such as, a distributed computer system, a centralized computer system, a stand alone computer system, calculator, handheld device or the like. One skilled in the art will appreciate that user apparatus  106  may or may not contain all the components listed below. 
         [0028]    The user apparatus  106  includes a controller  302 , input/output (I/O) device  304  and user module  306 . The controller  302  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  308 , support circuit  310  and memory  312 . The CPU  308  may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. The microprocessor may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The support circuits  310  are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the CPU  308 . Such circuits include, but are not limited to, a cache, power supplies, clock circuits, input/output (I/O) circuits and the like. 
         [0029]    The memory  312  may comprise random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory. The memory  312  is a computer readable medium, which is sometimes referred to main memory and may, in part, be used as cache memory or buffer memory. The memory  312  may store an operating system (OS), database software, various forms of application software, and the like. 
         [0030]    The I/O device  304  may be placed any where in the distribution system  100  ( FIG. 1 ) or the user apparatus  106 . As such, the I/O device  304  may be a separate device coupled, remotely communicating with or attached to the user apparatus  106 . The I/O device  304  may be an audio, video, graphical, printer, touch screen, a keypad, LCD, and/or LED display. 
         [0031]    The I/O device  304  may be used for data/document entry, retrieval and/or inputting. The user apparatus  106  may include any number of I/O devices  102 . For example, the user apparatus  106  may allow multiple users, such as, students, to simultaneously utilize the same user apparatus  106 ; the users may be in the same location or different locations. 
         [0032]    User module  306  is any application that allows a user to submit or create data/documents. The user method is better described in  FIG. 4 . The user module  306  communicates with the distribution apparatus  104  ( FIG. 1 ). The user module  306  may be able to directly communicate with the network communication  102  ( FIG. 1 ) and/or the distribution apparatus  104 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a user method  400  in accordance with the present invention. The user method  400  starts at step  402  at proceeds to step  404 . At step  404 , a user of a user apparatus  106  ( FIG. 1 ) logs-in to a session. The user may find a request from the distribution apparatus requesting documents and/or data. The request may specify different documents/data from different students. At step  406 , the user submits document/data. The document/data are identified by the log-in of the user, such as, IP number, login name, login email and the like. The user method  400  ends at step  408 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of an education method  500  in accordance with the present invention. The education method  500  starts at step  502  and proceeds to step  504 . In this example, an distribution apparatus  104  ( FIG. 1 ) is being used by a teacher. At step  504 , the teacher receives documents/data from the users of the user apparatus  106  ( FIG. 1 ), such as, students. The teacher may have submitted requests to students logged into a session requesting specific filed be submitted. The teacher received files may appear at the teacher&#39;s distribution apparatus. At step  506 , the received documents are identified by the log-in of the user of the user apparatus  106 , such as, IP number, login name, login email and the like. At step  508 , if the teacher decides to redistribute the documents/data to their respective owner, the education method  500  proceeds to step  510 . Otherwise, the education method  500  returns to step  508 . At step  510 , the documents/data are distributed to their respective owners simultaneously. The owners are identified by the login attached to the documents/data. It should be understood that teacher is able to redistribute the documents/data in one step. However, the system may distribute such documents/data simultaneously or at different times. It should also be understood that the teacher may receive more documents/data throughout the method. If there are more documents/data the teacher wishes to receive or distribute, the education method  500  returns to step  504 . Otherwise, the education method  500  ends at step  514 . 
         [0035]    While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.