United States Patent
`
`[19]
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`
`6,016,478
`
`Zhang et al.
`
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`Jan. 18, 2000
`
`US006016478A
`
`[54] SCHEDULING SYSTEM WITH METHODS
`FOR PEER-TO-PEER SCHEDULING OF
`REMOTE USERS
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Qili Zhang, Scotts Valley; Jin T. Teh,
`Fremont; Philippe Richard Kahn,
`Scotts Valley, all of Calif.
`
`[73] Assignee: Starfish Software, Inc., Scotts Valley,
`Calif.
`
`Kurkowski, C., “In sync; CrossWind’s Synchronize soft-
`ware coordinates users’ schedules and company resources
`for efficient project management. (CrossWind Technologies,
`Inc.’s project management software),” DG Review, v12, n7,
`Jan. 1992, Dialog file 275, Accession No. 01512963, p.
`20(3).
`Gunnerson, G., “Staying in Sync, at Home and on the
`Road,” Network Computing, n210, 104, Date 911001, 1991,
`Dialog file 647, Accession No. 00605915, 3 pages.
`
`Primary Exami/1er—Thomas R. Peeso
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—John A. Smart
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`An electronic Personal Information Manager (PIM) includ-
`ing a peer-to-peer group scheduling/calendar system is
`described. The group scheduling/calendar system provides
`methods for peer-to-peer group scheduling among users,
`including those users who only have simple e-mail support
`(i.e., do not have access to the group scheduling/calendar
`system itself). If a user is able to receive and respond to
`e-mail, he or she is able to participate in group scheduling
`in an automated fashion. Under user control, the system
`generates a scheduling invitation incorporating different
`formats. Each format includes, in order of increasing content
`richness, a simple text embedded scheduling invitation, an
`HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
`form embedded
`scheduling invitation, and a proprietary binary “MIME”
`(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) scheduling invita-
`tion. Each format is designed to transfer the highest degree
`of information content which a particular target client type
`can handle. A recipient of the scheduling message employs
`the messaging format best suited for his or her environment.
`Regardless of which format the recipient employs, the group
`scheduling system processes the reply message
`automatically, with the appropriate information automati-
`cally included in the user’s group scheduling calendar. The
`system supports different levels of participation of various
`individuals throughout various stages of group scheduling,
`despite the fact that some of the individuals who need to
`participate might use other proprietary software and reside
`in other time zones.
`
`36 Claims, 36 Drawing Sheets
`
`GROUP SCHEDULING
`SYSTEM
`M
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/693,677
`
`[22]
`
`Filed:
`
`Aug. 13, 1996
`
`Int. Cl.7 ...................................................... .. B42D 5/04
`[51]
`[52] U.S. Cl.
`............................. .. 705/9; 705/8; 395/200.32
`[58] Field of Search ..................... .. 705/9, 8; 395/200.32,
`395/200.33, 200.37, 200.47, 200.57, 200.61,
`200.68
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`9/1988 Levine .................................... .. 368/29
`4,769,796
`2/1989 Cree et al.
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`.
`9/1989 Cree et al.
`364/300
`4,866,611
`11/1989 Vincent
`.................. ..
`364/518
`4,881,179
`4,977,520 12/1990 McGaughey, III et al
`364/521
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`5/1992 Levine ......................... .. 368/10
`5,428,784
`6/1995 Cahi1l,Jr.
`.. 395/200.36
`5,493,692
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`.... .. 455/26.1
`5,519,606
`5/1996 Frid—Nielsen et al.
`................ .. 364/401
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`
`
`Mallett, M., “Sorting Out Schedules,” BYTE, Dec. 1991, pp.
`263, 264, 266, 268.
`Microsoft Windows User’s guide for the Windows Graphi-
`cal Environment-Version 3.0, Copyright 1985-1990, pp.
`50-53 and 370-382.
`
`Mefford, M., “Track your time and appointments with
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`schedule and schedule command),” PC Magazine, V9, n6,
`Mar. 27, 1990, Dialog file 47, Accession No. 03386823, p.
`303(7).
`
`910
`
`—\
`
`CALENDAR MODULE
`
`MAIN MODULE
`(SCHEDULING ENGINE)
`USER INTERFACE FOR
`E-MAIL TRANSPORT
`USER INPUT
`
`COMPOSER
`PARSER/INTERPRETER
`E-MAIL INTERFACE
`CALENDAR INTERFACE
`ACTIVITY VIEW
`
`
`
`950
`
`TO E-MAIL
`PROVIDERS
`
`
`
`GROUP
`SCHEDULING
`
`(EVENT
`DATABA E
`
`
`
`O01
`
`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
`
`Exhibit 1002
`
`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
`
`001
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
`
`Sheet 1 of 36
`
`6,016,478
`
`102
`
`104
`
`KEYBOARD
`
`DEVICE
`
`POINTING
`
`106
`
`107
`
`108
`
`SCREEN
`DISPLAY
`
`MASS
`STORAGE
`
`OUTPUT
`DEVICE
`
`I/O
`CONTROLLER
`
`MAIN
`MEMORY
`
`CENTRAL
`
`PROCESSOR
`110
`
`FIG. 1A
`
`002
`
`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
`
`Exhibit 1002
`
`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
`
`002
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
`
`Sheet 2 of 36
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Jan. 18, 2000
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
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`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Exhibit ‘I002
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18, 2000
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`Sheet 27 of 36
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`6,016,478
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`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
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`

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`U S Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Sheet 28 of 36
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18, 2000
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18, 2000
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Sheet 31 of 36
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
`
`Sheet 32 of 36
`
`6,016,478
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`RECEIVE EVENT
`
`METHOD
`Egg
`
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`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
`
`Exhibit 1002
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
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`033
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
`
`Sheet 33 of 36
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18, 2000
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`Sheet 34 of 36
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
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`

`U.S. Patent
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`Jan. 18,2000
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`Sheet 35 of 36
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 18,2000
`
`Sheet 36 of 36
`
`6,016,478
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`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
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`037
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`

`

`6,016,478
`
`1
`SCHEDULING SYSTEM WITH METHODS
`FOR PEER-TO-PEER SCHEDULING OF
`REMOTE USERS
`
`COPYRIGHT NOTICE
`
`A portion of the disclosure of this patent document
`contains material which is subject to copyright protection.
`The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile
`reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent
`disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office
`patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright
`rights whatsoever.
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates generally to the area of
`information processing and, more particularly, apparatus
`and methods for managing and scheduling time-based infor-
`mation for multiple individuals located at different locations.
`Successful management of one’s time is a goal that every
`successful professional must achieve. One’s business day
`may be swept away in a deluge of meetings and
`appointments, all of which must be somehow managed. An
`attempt to manage this task on paper, such as with a simple
`wall calendar,
`is unworkable for all but the simplest of
`schedules. More likely, such unsophisticated aids to man-
`aging one’s time will lead to scheduling conflicts, missed
`appointments, botched deadlines, and angry clients.
`Oftentimes, it is necessary to schedule a group of people
`for an event, such as a meeting. This is the problem of
`“group scheduling”—that is, notifying a group of people
`that a certain event is going to happen and receiving con-
`firmation from members of the group whether each can
`participate. Conventionally, “group scheduling” has been
`largely limited to scheduling events for users within a
`particular “work group.” Typically, a “work group” has
`comprised those users connected together through a local
`area network
`Alternatively, a “work group” can be
`extended to users who can receive messages.
`In this
`extended group, however, manual processing on the part of
`the user is typically required. For instance, for a user who
`connects from a remote location,
`the user is required to
`manually process messages received to manually update the
`calendaring product to update one’s scheduling status infor-
`mation. This leads to two disjointed activities for the user:
`(1) retrieving messages and (2) entering/processing sched-
`uling information.
`With the ever increasing importance of the Internet, work
`groups are no longer confined to local area networks, or even
`wide area networks
`Instead, people are connected
`together via electronic mail or “e-mail.” At the same time,
`however, users have become accustomed to the ease which
`automatic scheduling systems provide, such as those which
`operate within a proprietary environment (e.g., Novell
`Groupwise® operating on a Netware® local area network).
`If users are not connected to the same proprietary system
`(e.g., Novell Groupwise), then the users must resort to a
`manual scheduling process. Here, the job typically falls to a
`secretary or administrative assistant who must contact each
`proposed participant individually, for determining his or her
`availability. Typically, the person charges with scheduling
`the event must “negotiate” with the proposed participants for
`reaching a time when the meeting can finally happen. The
`process is still not complete, however. A confirmation mes-
`sage must be sent to all proposed participants for confirming
`the final time.
`
`What is really needed are system and methods which
`permit any user to schedule appointments with a group of
`
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`2
`other users in an automated fashion, but without requiring
`the users of the group to employ or be connected to a
`particular proprietary system. In particular, such a system
`should allow a user to initiate a message to invite a group of
`people to a meeting (i.e.,
`to schedule a meeting). Those
`individuals should, if they are able to receive electronic
`mail, be able to participate in the group scheduling. Here, the
`recipients need not have access to any particular proprietary
`software for participating in the group scheduling. Instead,
`each participant need only be able to receive and send e-mail
`(which can be done using a wide variety of products, from
`numerous vendors.) The present invention fulfills this and
`other needs.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention recognizes a user needs flexibility
`in choosing how appointments, events, and other time-based
`data are entered and managed, despite the fact that other
`individuals who need to participate might use other propri-
`etary software and reside in other time zones. According to
`the present
`invention,
`therefore, an electronic group
`scheduling/calendar system is provided with methods for
`peer-to-peer group scheduling among users, including those
`users who only have simple e-mail support (i.e., do not have
`access to the group scheduling/calendar system itself), or
`even have no e-mail support.
`According to the present invention, if a user is able to
`receive and respond to e-mail, he or she should be able to
`participate in group scheduling in an automated fashion. In
`particular, the present invention allows a user to undertake
`group scheduling with other “remote” users located at
`different
`locations (including those with different
`time
`zones), regardless of what particular platform or software
`applications each of the other users is employing. In contrast
`to prior art scheduling approaches which required all users
`to operate the same proprietary scheduling software, the
`present invention instead requires only one user of a work-
`group to have the group scheduling software which the
`present invention is embodied. Every other user need only
`be able to send and receive e-mail messages—using any one
`of the wide variety of e-mail packages which are available—
`in order to be automatically tracked by the system. Still
`further, the present invention includes facilities for accom-
`modating even those users who cannot receive e-mail.
`“E-mail” itself is a messaging-based approach which is
`exploited by the present invention for communicating with
`all users, regardless of which proprietary system a given user
`is employing. The present invention implements a messag-
`ing subsystem or exchange which provide scheduling primi-
`tives (e.g., “accept” and “decline” message types) for sup-
`porting the basic functionality of group scheduling, even for
`generic e-mail clients—that is, a client which does not share
`nor is even aware of the group scheduling software sub-
`system provided by the local client of the system of the
`present
`invention. This include “dumb” remote clients
`which simply have no knowledge or understanding of the
`scheduling format supported by the group scheduling local
`client.
`
`In typical operation, for instance, group scheduling begins
`with a user scheduling an event, that is, sending to desired
`participants an initial meeting message or “invitation” for
`scheduling the event. The event itself can be any type of
`event, including those with a duration (e.g., meetings and
`appointments); “resources” (e.g., conference rooms,
`projectors, and the like) can also be scheduled. The recipient
`user(s) can receive the message across a variety of different
`software platforms or e-mail solutions.
`
`038
`
`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
`
`Exhibit 1002
`
`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
`
`038
`
`

`

`6,016,478
`
`3
`The message itself comprises an identifier, such as <ISK>
`(or other unique), together with a scheduling invitation in
`different formats. The different formats include, in order of
`increasing content richness, a simple text embedded sched-
`uling invitation, an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
`form embedded scheduling invitation, and a proprietary
`binary “MIME” (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
`scheduling invitation. Each format is designed to transfer the
`highest degree of information content which a particular
`target client type can handle. A remote client having the
`scheduling system of the present invention can recognizes
`from the identifier that the message is from another propri-
`etary client. Accordingly, the client can process the binary
`“MIME” scheduling invitation natively. This message is a
`vendor-specific message, allowing direct, proprietary com-
`munication between proprietary clients with the richest
`possible information content.
`Since other clients have no knowledge of the scheduling
`system,
`they simply ignore the identifier and the binary
`attachment. To allow the local client to communicate with
`
`these recipient, non-proprietary interclient communication
`formats are employed. For instance, a remote client with
`browser capability can employ the HTML form embedded
`scheduling invitation, which can be appropriately processed
`by its Web browser (e.g., Microsoft Explorer or Netscape
`Navigator); this represents the richest content that this client
`type can handle. The embedded HTML form (i.e., Web
`page) can easily be viewed by the Web browser as an input
`form having input fields corresponding to the information
`requested for scheduling the event. For instance, the form
`may include text or input fields for subject, time, event, and
`the like. Additionally, the form can include screen buttons
`for allowing the recipient user to “accept” or “decline” the
`invitation. At the conclusion of completing the input form,
`the recipient user can select “submit” for returning the input
`information back to the initiator. Here, the browser of the
`recipient generates a reply message, in a manner similar to
`that done today for on-line Internet registration. Upon
`receipt of the reply,
`the originating client can identify,
`decode, and process the reply appropriately.
`In the event that the recipient client is a simple e-mail
`client, the recipient client employs the simple messaging
`format incorporated into the scheduling message. Here, the
`recipient client can view a plain text e-mail message to
`which the user can respond (e.g., “accept” or “decline”). In
`the recipient client’s reply, the client includes the “body” of
`the initial
`invitation message. As is common in e-mail
`communication, the reply message can itself easily incor-
`porate the contents of the original message. By simply
`including the initiator’s original message when a non-SK
`client replies, the non-SK client is incorporating information
`which facilitates processing of the reply by the SK local
`client. For instance, the reply includes the “ISK” signature
`which is embedded within the subject line. Other informa-
`tion includes the e-mail address of the recipient as well as
`the recipient’s response (e.g., “accept”) using delimited key
`words. Upon receiving the reply, the initiator can recognize
`that the response (e.g., an “accept” message or a “decline”
`message) corresponds to a particular invitation send out,
`thus facilitating decoding and processing of the message. In
`this manner,
`the response includes sufficient scheduling
`information embedded within it to allow the initiator client
`
`to appropriately decode the response, despite the fact that the
`responding recipient
`is a simple e-mail client without
`browser capability.
`Regardless of which format the recipient employs, the
`group scheduling system of the present invention can pro-
`
`4
`cess the reply message automatically, including entering the
`appropriate information in the user’s group scheduling cal-
`endar. In this manner, the system of the present invention
`can support different levels of participation of various users
`(none of which is required to have the system), throughout
`various stages of group scheduling.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`10
`
`15
`
`FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a computer system in which
`the present invention may be embodied.
`FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a software system of the
`present invention for controlling the operation of the system
`of FIG. 1A.
`
`FIG. 2 is a bitmap screenshot illustrating a user interface
`of a Personal Information Manager which embodies the
`present invention.
`FIGS. 3A—C illustrate interclient communication which
`
`20
`
`employs a message incorporating multi-format information
`embedded within.
`
`FIG. 4 is a bitmap screenshot illustrating a “Deskpad”
`interface provided by the system.
`FIGS. 5A—I are bitmap screenshots illustrating a Sched-
`uling Wizard interface provided by the system for schedul-
`ing events.
`FIGS. 6A—C are bitmap screenshots illustrating a pre-
`ferred interface provided by the system for processing
`incoming event invitations.
`FIGS. 7A—C are bitmap screenshots illustrating a pre-
`ferred interface provided by the system for processing
`incoming replies.
`FIGS. 8A—G are bitmap screenshots illustrating a pre-
`ferred interface provided by the system for scheduling use of
`resources.
`
`FIG. 9 is a block diagram providing an overview of the
`internal architecture of a group scheduling system of the
`present invention.
`FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the general process
`of sending an event.
`FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the general process
`of receiving messages.
`FIGS. 12A—C are bitmap screenshots illustrating receipt
`of an e-mail scheduling invitation by a recipient whose
`system represents a non-SK client without browser support.
`FIG. 13 is a screenshot illustrating receipt of an e-mail
`scheduling invitation by a recipient whose system represents
`a non-SK client with browser support.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`The following description will focus on the presently
`preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is
`operative in an end-user application running under the
`Microsoft® Windows environment. The present invention,
`however, is not limited to any particular one application or
`any particular environment. Instead, those skilled in the art
`will find that the system and methods of the present inven-
`tion may be advantageously applied to a variety of system
`and application software, including database management
`systems, wordprocessors, spreadsheets, and the like.
`Moreover,
`the present invention may be embodied on a
`variety of different platforms, including Macintosh, UNIX,
`NextStep, and the like. Therefore,
`the description of the
`exemplary embodiments which follows is for purposes of
`illustration and not limitation.
`
`25
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`039
`
`Facebook Inc. — 2014-00093
`
`Exhibit 1002
`
`Facebook Inc. - 2014-00093
`Exhibit 1002
`
`039
`
`

`

`6,016,478
`
`5
`
`System Hardware
`The invention may be embodied on a computer system
`such as the system 100 FIG. 1A, which comprises a central
`processor 101, a main memory 102, an input/output con-
`troller 103, a keyboard 104, a pointing device 105 (e.g.,
`mouse, track ball, pen device, or the like), a display or screen
`device 106, and a mass storage 107 (e.g., hard or fixed disk,
`removable floppy disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or
`flash memory). Although not shown separately, a real-time
`system clock is included with the system 100, in a conven-
`tional manner. Processor 101 includes or is coupled to a
`cache memory 109 for storing frequently accessed informa-
`tion; memory 109 may be an on-chip cache or external cache
`(as shown). One or more input/output device(s) 108, such as
`a printing device or slide output device, are included in the
`system 100, as desired. As shown, the various components
`of the system 100 communicate through a system bus 110 or
`similar architecture. In a preferred embodiment, the system
`100 includes an IBM PC-compatible personal computer,
`available from a variety of vendors (including IBM of
`Armonk,
`I/O device 108 may include a laser printer,
`such as an HP Laserjet printer, which is available from
`Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, Calif.
`System Software
`A. Overview
`
`Illustrated in FIG. 1B, a computer software system 120 is
`provided for directing the operation of the computer system
`100. Software system 120, which is stored in system
`memory 102 and on storage (e.g., disk memory) 107,
`includes a kernel or operating system (OS) 140 and a
`windows shell 150. One or more application programs, such
`as client application software or “programs” 145 may be
`“loaded” (i.e., transferred from storage 107 into memory
`102) for execution by the system 100.
`System 120 includes a user interface (UI) 160, preferably
`a Graphical User Interface (GUI), for receiving user com-
`mands and data. These inputs, in turn, may be acted upon by
`the system 100 in accordance with instructions from oper-
`ating module 140, windows 150, and/or client application
`module(s) 145. The UI 160 also serves to display the results
`of operation from the OS 1