Method for locating a teleport target station in a virtual world

1. A method for locating a teleport target station for teleporting between at least one teleport source station and at least one teleport target station in a virtual world, comprising:

associating a specific teleport target station object with the at least one teleport target station;

associating a current location with the object; and

broadcasting the current location of the object into at least one communication channel in the virtual world;

wherein a script running inside the teleport target station object:

determines actual coordinates of the teleport target station object it is running in as first data;

gathers second data by listening to broadcasts of one or more other teleport target station objects;

builds a list of known teleport target stations from the first and second data gathered; and

broadcasts the known teleport target stations contained in the list to neighboring teleport target station objects.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a broadcast message broadcasted by the teleport target station object comprises at least a teleport target identification, target coordinates, a sequence number, and a sender identification of the teleport target station object.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the broadcast message broadcasted by the teleport target station object further comprises a sequence number for allowing an old location of the specific teleport target station object to be distinguished from a new location of the teleport target station object.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the sequence number is increased monotonically for each successive broadcast of the teleport target station object.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast is triggered by a timer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each known teleport target station entry in the list of the known teleport target stations is broadcasted one after another to neighboring teleport target station objects.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein broadcast messages received by the teleport target station, which are related to the same teleport target station object as the receiving teleport target station object, are ignored by the receiving teleport target station object.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein broadcast messages related to teleport target stations already known to the receiving teleport target station are verified with respect to their sequence numbers.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein broadcasting messages recognized as new or containing new target coordinates of a known teleport target station are incorporated in the list of known teleport target stations of the receiving teleport target station.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a teleport target station which is no longer in service is eliminated from the list of known teleport target stations by comparing an expiration timer of the actually monitored broadcasting message with a current time in the virtual world.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a teleport source station script of a specific teleport source station:

listens to the broadcasts emitted by the teleport target stations; and

identifies a broadcasted message which contains data relevant for a teleport function of the receiving teleport source station.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the teleport source station script configures itself by setting a target of its teleport function to actual coordinates of the teleport target station object if actual altered target data has been identified in the broadcast message.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the teleport source station script configures itself by setting a target of its teleport function to actual coordinates of the teleport target station object if actual altered target data has been identified in the broadcast message and the actual altered data are verified to be valid by checking a sequence number contained in the broadcast message.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein each broadcasted entry in the known teleport target locations list is monitored for such teleport target locations that are no longer in service by comparing an expiration timer of the actually monitored entry with a current time in the virtual world.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the entry is deleted from the list of known teleport target stations if the entry has timed out.

16. A program product comprising a computer useable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

associate a specific teleport target station object with the at least one teleport target station;

associate a current location with the object; and

broadcast the current location of the teleport target station object into at least one communication channel in the virtual world;

wherein a script running inside the teleport target station object:

determines actual coordinates of the teleport target station object it is running in as first data;

gathers second data by listening to broadcasts of one or more other teleport target station objects;

builds a list of known teleport target stations from the first and second data gathered; and

broadcasts the known teleport target stations contained in the list to neighboring teleport target station objects.

17. A data processing system for execution of a data processing program, stored on a computer readable storage medium, the data processing program comprising software code portions for:

associating a specific teleport target station object with the at least one teleport target station;

associating a current location with the object; and

broadcasting the current location of the teleport target station object into at least one communication channel in the virtual world;

wherein a script running inside the teleport target station object:

determines actual coordinates of the teleport target station object it is running in as first data;

gathers second data by listening to broadcasts of one or more other teleport target station objects;

builds a list of known teleport target stations from the first and second data gathered; and

broadcasts the known teleport target stations contained in the list to neighboring teleport target station objects.

18. A data processing program for execution in a data processing system comprising software code portions for performing a method when the program is run on a computer, the method comprising:

associating a specific teleport target station object with the at least one teleport target station;

associating a current location with the object; and

broadcasting the current location of the teleport target station object into at least one communication channel in the virtual world;

wherein a script running inside the teleport target station object:

determines actual coordinates of the teleport target station object it is running in as first data;

gathers second data by listening to broadcasts of one or more other teleport target station objects;

builds a list of known teleport target stations from the first and second data gathered; and

broadcasts the known teleport target stations contained in the list to neighboring teleport target station objects.