Patent ID: 8825767

Claim:
A secure spontaneous collaboration system comprising: i) two or more users; each possessing a handheld mobile communication and computing device and each handheld device having software and hardware capabilities allowing users to spontaneously collaborate with each other; ii) a centralised server possessing software and hardware capabilities to store user-specific information and applications and services enabling spontaneous collaboration among two more users with their handheld devices; and, iii) an infra-structure-based communication network allowing the said handheld device to maintain necessary communication with the said centralised server via a communication interface of second type; the said secure spontaneous collaboration system characterised in that: each handheld device supports a communication interface of a first type to spontaneously collaborate with each other in a peer-to-peer manner without relying on any infra-structure- based network; each handheld device supporting the said communication interface of a second type for the purpose of communicating with the said centralised server and such communication with a centralised server can happen prior to or simultaneously during any spontaneous collaboration; each user specifying user preference in terms of whether any communication with a centralised server is preferred using the communication interface of the second type; wherein the said secure spontaneous collaboration system enables each handheld device to employ an operating mode selection procedure to choose the appropriate operating mode out of three different modes, taking into consideration the said user preference in terms of centralised server connectivity and congestion on the communication interface of the first type and the three different operating modes including: a) Fully distributed operating mode, where all handheld devices communicate with each other using the communication interface of the first type without requiring each handheld device to have any interaction with the said centralised server using the communication interface of the second type; b) Semi-distributed operating mode, where each of said handheld devices spontaneously collaborate with each other using the said communication interface of the first type while requiring each handheld device to have any interaction with the said centralised server using the communication interface of the second type mainly prior to any spontaneous collaboration; and c) Centralised operating mode, where each of said handheld devices spontaneously collaborate with each other using the said communication interface of the first type while requiring each handheld device to have any interaction with the said centralised server using the communication interface of the second type mainly during any spontaneous collaboration.