System and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources
A computerized method of presenting information from a variety of sources on a display device. Specifically the present invention describes a graphical user interface for organizing the simultaneous display of information from a multitude of information sources. In particular, the present invention comprises a graphical user interface which organizes content from a variety of information sources into a grid of tiles, each of which can refresh its content independently of the others. The grid functionality manages the refresh rates of the multiple information sources. The present invention is intended to operate in a platform independent manner.
1. An electronic readable memory to direct an electronic device to function in a specified manner, the memory comprising:
a first set of instructions to partition at least a portion of a visual display of a client device into an array of tiles, a first tile in the array of tiles being associated with a first information source, the first information source being located on a first server device;
a second set of instructions for the client device to assign a first update rate to the first tile;
a third set of instructions to, at a first update time in accordance with the first update rate, send a conditional request from the client device to the first server device for an update of information in the first tile if the information from the first information source currently displayed in the first tile has not changed since a last update;
a fourth set of instructions for the client device to receive a response to the conditional request from the first server device; and
a fifth set of instructions for determining whether the client device updates the first tile in accordance with the response from the first server device.
2. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for the client device to associate the first information source with the first tile.
3. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for the client device to partition the at least a portion of the visual display under control of a user of the client device.
4. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , further comprising:
instructions for the client device to update the first tile with information received in response to the conditional request if the response to the conditional request includes updated information.
5. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , wherein no update of the first tile is performed if the response to the conditional request indicates that the information in the first tile has not changed since a previous update of the first tile.
6. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , further comprising:
instructions for the client device to assign a second update rate to a second tile in the array of tiles;
instructions for, at a second update time in accordance with the second update rate, the client device to send a conditional request from a second server device for an update of information in the second tile if the information from the second information source currently displayed in the second tile has not changed since a last update;
instructions for the client device to receive a response to the conditional request from the second server device; and
instructions for determining whether the client device updates the second tile in accordance with the response from the second server device.
7. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , wherein information from the first information source contains an identifier that is used in the assigning of the first update rate to the first tile.
8. The electronic readable memory of claim 1 , wherein the array comprises more than one row and more than one column.
9. An electronic readable memory to direct an electronic device to function in a specified manner, the memory comprising:
a first set of instructions to partition by a first device at least a portion of a visual display into an array of tiles, a first information source being associated with a first tile in the array of tiles, the first information source being located on a second device, wherein the visual display is rendered according to instructions executed on the first device;
a second set of instructions for the second device to assign first update rate for updating information from the first information source;
a third set of instructions for the second device to, at a time for updating the information from the first information source in accordance with the first update rate, determine whether the information from the first information source has changed since the last update time and to send to the first device an update message including the updated information in accordance with the determination;
a fourth set of instructions for the first device to receive an update message from the second device including updated information for updating the first tile; and
a fifth set of instructions for the first device to update the first tile in accordance with the updated information.
10. The electronic readable memory of claim 9 , further including instructions for the first device to assign the first information source to the first tile.
11. The electronic readable memory of claim 9 , further including instructions for the first device to partition the at least a portion of the visual display under control of a user of the first device.
12. The electronic readable memory of claim 9 , wherein information from the first information source contains an identifier that is used to assign the first update rate.
13. The electronic readable memory of claim 9 , wherein the array comprises more than one row and more than one column.