System and method of inter-widget communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9836189-B2
Application number	US-201213717300-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2012
Priority date	Sep 11, 2007
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

A method and apparatus enabling inter-widget communication and control uses a central server to receive selected widgets and settings associated with at least one widget, wherein the received settings are used to at least partly determine the settings of the other selected widgets according to a pre-defined relationship between or among the widgets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling when widgets are displayed, as a function of when their display is requested, said method comprising:
assigning a plurality of widgets to a widget group, wherein the widgets of the widget group have a functional relationship with one another, the functional relationship enables sharing of information between the widgets of the widget group, the shared information allows selection and control of content rendered in the respective widgets of the widget group,
wherein the functional relationship between the widgets is structured in a hierarchical fashion to manage and control inter-widget communication, the hierarchical structure enables sharing at least a portion of widget settings of one widget in the widget group with other widgets in the widget group, so as to affect content presented in the other widgets,
wherein the hierarchical structure defined by the functional relationship is configured to assign a second widget in the hierarchical structure to share the portion of the widget settings with the other widgets in the widget group, when the other widgets in the widget group do not have relevant content for rendering for the portion of the widget settings shared by the one widget, the assignment of the second widget causing adjustment to the portion of the widget settings that influence content presented by the other widgets on both sides of the hierarchical structure of the widget group;
defining a durational period to display the widgets from the widget group; and
determining whether the widgets from the widget group should be displayed in response to a display request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one widget sharing the portion of the widget settings is a master widget.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the durational period comprises a start date and an end date and wherein said determining checks whether a date associated with the display request is within the start date and end date.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the durational period further comprises a frequency value, the frequency value comprises a start time and an end time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sharing of information is enabled by implementing a two-way communication between the widgets of the widget group.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the widget group is displayed if the date associated with the display request is within the durational period and a time associated with the display request is within a range defined by the start time and the end time of the frequency value.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the widgets comprising the widget group share a common theme.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether to send information requests to widget servers based on the durational period.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the durational period comprises at least a start date and an end date;
wherein the information requests are sent if a date associated with the display request is within the durational period; and
wherein the information requests are not sent if the date associated with the display request is not within the durational period.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second widget is a master widget.

11. A system for controlling when widgets are displayed, as a function of when their display is requested, said system comprising:
at least one server configured to receive an assignment of a plurality of widgets to a widget group, wherein the widgets of the widget group have a functional relationship with one another, the functional relationship enables sharing of information between the widgets of the widget group, the shared information allows selection and control of content rendered in the respective widgets of the widget group,
wherein the functional relationship between the widgets is structured in a hierarchical fashion to manage and control inter-widget communication, the hierarchical structure enables sharing at least a portion of widget settings of one widget in the widget group with other widgets in the widget group, so as to affect content presented in the other widgets,
wherein the hierarchical structure defined by the functional relationship is configured to assign a second widget in the hierarchical structure to share the widget settings with the other widgets in the widget group, when the widgets in the widget group do not have relevant content for rendering for the portion of the widget settings shared by the one widget, the widget settings of the second widget affecting content presented by the other widgets on both sides of the hierarchical structure of the widget group;
wherein the at least one server is further configured to receive a durational period to display the widgets from the widget group; and
wherein the at least one server is further configured to determine whether the widgets from the widget group are to be displayed in response to a display request.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the durational period comprises a start date and an end date.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the at least one server checks whether a date associated with the display request is within the start date and end date.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the durational period further comprises a frequency value, the frequency value comprises a start time and an end time.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the widget group is displayed in response to the date associated with the display request being within the durational period and a time associated with the display request being within a range defined by the start time and the end time of the frequency value.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the widgets comprising the widget group share a common theme.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one server is further configured to determine whether to send a plurality of information requests to at least one widget server based on the durational period.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the durational period comprises at least a start date and an end date;
wherein the at least one server is configured to send the plurality of information requests in response to a date associated with the display request being within the durational period; and
wherein the at least one server is configured to not send the plurality of information requests in response to the date associated with the display request not being within the durational period.

19. A method of controlling when widgets are displayed, as a function of when their display is requested, said method comprising:
assigning a plurality of widgets to a widget group, the widgets in the widget group having a functional relationship with one another, the functional relationship enables sharing of information between the widgets of the widget group, the shared information allows selection and control of content rendered in the respective one of the plurality of widgets of the widget group, wherein the functional relationship between the widgets is structured in a hierarchical fashion to manage and control inter-widget communication and to allow content preferences to be shared amongst widgets in the widget group, wherein the structuring in the hierarchical fashion includes,
assigning one widget from among the plurality of widgets to be a master widget, the master widget sharing at least one widget setting with other widgets in the widget group, so as to affect content presented in the other widgets;
when the other widgets in the widget group do not have relevant content for rend

Assignees

• Excalibur Ip Llc

Inventors

• Clayton Gary
• Chen Victor
• Athsani Athellina
• Martinez Ronald G

Classifications

• G06F9/542 Primary

  Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications · CPC title

• G06F3/0484 Primary

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title

• G06F2209/545

  Gui · CPC title