FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
THE PATENTS RULES 2003
Complete Specification
[See section 10, rule 13]
TITLE OF THE INVENTION : "SYSTEM AND METHOD TO UNIFY CONTENT AND PLATFORM DELIVERY ON COMPUTER
NETWORKS"
APPLICANT (S : Coriolis Technologies Pvt. Ltd
33,/E Shriram Nagar, Off ITI Road, Aundh Pune-411007, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

BACKGROUND
E-learning is perhaps the only practical way to bridge the gap between the projected demand and corresponding supply of trained technical man power in rapidly growing economies like India and China. The choice of the electronic medium for educati
on and training is further driven by the sheer scale of distribution of our population across the country.
Typically, good course content, delivered on the web suffices for soft skills or other non-technical training. However for technical training, and especially so in computer technologies, the opportunity to experiment on a live system or on simulators dramatically improves the learning experience.
In higher education, it aids in bringing quality seminars and graduate courses to desktop.
The following lists existing systems/approaches that have been traditionally deployed to address similar or parts of the issues, along with their limitation as compared to solutions addressed by this invention:
Traditional e-learning systems are typically web based applications that deliver rich content to the end user. Sometimes this content is accompanied by live or demo software that the user can install locally and experiment with. Ensuring that the demo software can/will function correctly on the end users system is impractical given the variety of end user access point configurations. Further, logically linking the content one went througi, to specific states of a demo machine will have to be done manually.

Many products today come with their user guides or interactive help systems integrated into the product. While this would normally not be considered an e-learning system it is mentioned here solely for completeness.
Virtual machines provide a way to dynamically allocate and run trial/demo machines to end users and can potentially be used in conjunction with a learning management system for e-learning. While these solutions can effectively provide a way for the end user to work with a trial or demo machine, these systems are not designed to deliver rich content to the end user given that rendering woult need to occur twice.
Application virtualization is often used to delivers trial/demo functionality of particular applications to the end user but it cannot typically be used to teach or experiment with installation of a product. Neither can it deal with products that can kernel driver components.
Terminal services are often used to allow multiple students to access a single server, but this technology is unsuitable for classes where the student is expected to reboot the trial / demo machine or needs administrator privileges as part of the courseware or modifies any kernel level component in the Operating System.
The present solution is designed to deliver both rich content as course ware and virtual machines as a trial platform in a seamlessly integrated way.

SUMMARY
As will be described in greater detail below, the instant disclosure generally relates to systems and methods to unify content and platform delivery in computer networks. The present system recognizes that
1. a satisfying learning experience requires making available to students
both rich content as well as a trial platform to experiment on.
2. the user interface needs to be minimalistic to be cost effective and
environment friendly.
3. rich content delivery is best achieved by rendering once at the user end
The present system ensures that content delivery medium/protocol is separated from the
trial platform delivery, thus avoiding
1. the pitfalls inherent in using remote desktop protocols to deliver rich content over the network.
2. the need for operating systems and/or applications to be specialized to handle content delivery over RDP
The present system ensures that the trial environment is delivered as a virtual machine system, thus
1. making it private to each user
2. isolating users from each others actions within their trial environments

3. making it possible for the user to actually perform privileged actions if need be as part of the course
unifying the above points using a web based application thus
1. providing the user with a seamless experience moving between course ware and trial environment
2. ensuring that users can access the system using minimalistic end points that can run a web browser.
3. making the overall solution scalable
4. insulating the users from the intricacies of virtual machine management.
Industrial application
This convergent solution is eminently suited for situations where both rich content (like that used in e-learning systems) and unfettered access to a trial platform (like virtual machines to try out programs) need to be made available to end users in a scalable manner (like over the web). Example domains where this solution is applicable includes, but are not limited to.
1. the education sector, especially in engineering and software domains
2. work/sales force training in software product/services companies
3. administrative domain, where sharing with the least privileges is an
important aspect from the perspective of security of the information system
4. banking sector, where thin clients is preferred.

5. use of open-free software in a natural way.
[0012] Features from any of the above-mentioned embodiments may be used in combination with one another in accordance with the general principles described herein. These and other embodiments, features, and advantages will be more fully understood upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[00131 The accompanying drawing illustrate a number of exemplary embodiments and are a part of the specification. Together with the following description, this drawing demonstrate and explain various principles of the instant disclosure.
[0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram that depicts the main embodiment depicting the unification of content and delivery platform in a computer network system.
[0015]Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptions indicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While the exemplary embodiments described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the instant disclosure covers ail modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
As will be described in greater detail below, the instant disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for unifying the content and delivery platform in a computer networks. This is an integrated solution that can deliver rich content (courseware) by rendering the content only at the end point thereby preserving the real time performance characteristics of the content. It provides access to a virtual machine platform (trial environment) executing remotely to augment the learning experience. And it uses a client server model with little or no specialized foot print on the user interface device (client). The system is vendor agnostic when it comes to the operating syslem(s) required in the trial environment. Figure 1 depicts the main embodiment of the system and is described below:
1. A content delivery system - one implementation of which could be a web based.
2. A platform provisioning system - one implementation of which could be web based.
3. A user management system - one implementation of which could be LDAP based.
4. A business logic management system - one implementation of which could be LAMP stack based.
5. A set of one or more physical hosts - one implementation of which could be a rack of blade servers.
6. A storage system - one implementation of which could be SAN based.

7. An interface by which a user interacts with the system - one implementation of which could be a web browser.
8. Course ware - one implementation of which could be flashed based materia! embedded in html code.
9. Trial environments (platforms) - one implementation of which could be virtual machines.
10. A computer network - one implementation of which is a TCP/IP based
intranet.
The implementation of the present invention may be described using the figure in the following manner:
1. Representations of the course ware (8) and trial environments (9) are stored within the storage system(6). Not withstanding the depiction in the figure. it is expected that the storage system (6) for representations of course ware (8) and trial environments (9) are not necessarily co-located,
2. The provisioning system(2) creates the trial environments(9) from the representations using the physical hosts(5) on demand for a given user.
3. The provisioning system(2) can at the authenticated user's discretion, create and maintain snapshots of the trial environments(9)
4. The interface(7) renders the rich content that constitutes the course ware(8) for the user, one implementation of which could use a web browser with appropriate plug-ins for the rich content.
5. The interface(7) presents the test or trial environment(9) used, one implementation of which could be RDP (remote desktop protocol) based.

6. The interface(7) also presents the system itself to the user, one implementation of which could be as a web based application accessed through a browser.
7. The interface(7) transfers user inputs to the system.
8. The interface is connected to the system over a computer network(l 0)
9. A user authenticates itself via the interface(7) to the user management system(3).
10. An authenticated user is associated by the business logic management system(4) to specific course content(8) as well as associated trial or test environment(9). additional authentication may be required but is not mandatory.
1 1 .The content delivery system(l) delivers specific course ware(8) identified
by the business logic management system(4) to the authenticated user. 12. The authenticated user can peruse the course ware presented by the content
delivery system(l) via the interface(7) at a pace set by the user. 1 3. The authenticated user can, at will, from within the same solution suite,
access the test or trial environment(9) associated with the course ware(8)
by the business logic management system(4) to augment the learning
experience with practical exposure. 14. The authenticated user may, in conjunction with the business logic
management system(4) and the user management(3) system, preserve state
before logging out.

15.The Web Access Layer (7) and the Server Farm (5) will necessarily have to
be co-located (accessible over a Local Area Network with low latency and
high badnwidth). While typical embodiments will have the content delivery
engine (1) and representations of courseware (6) implemented remotely
(accessed over a Wide Area Network with relatively higher latency), it
could as well be co-located. The business logic system (4), the user
management system (3) and the platform provisioning system (2) can,
taken individually, be either co-located with the web access layer (7) or
implemented remotely. Storage for representations of virtual machines (9)
will typically be cached locally (for performance) and often sourced
remotely.
A system as described above may be extended to include other functionalities like test management, user performance evaluation, review mechanisms, CRMs, etc. integrated into one solution offering but should still be viewed as variations on the theme.
The system can decide on a transmission protocol, given the capabilities of the end points and the network connecting them to achieve required QOS. It can also support distributed image repositories, managed hosts and content servers.
A system as above can be extended to integrate fixed content and real-time content (as an example: a priori given slides of lecture and real-time audio synchronization).

While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments using specific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagram component, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/or illustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively, using a wide range of hardware. software, or firmware (or any combination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure of components contained within other components should be considered exemplary in nature since many other architectures can be implemented to achieve the same functionality.
[0021]The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/or illustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied as desired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or described herein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps do not necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated or discussed. The various exemplary methods described and/or illustrated herein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustrated herein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.
While various embodiments have been described and/or illustrated herein in the context of fully functional computing systems, one or more of these exemplary embodiments may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, regardless of the particular type of computer-readable media used to actually carry out the distribution.
The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize various aspects of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

This exemplary description is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the instant disclosure. The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. Reference should be made to the appended claims and their equivalents in determining the scope of the instant disclosure.
Unless otherwise noted, the terms "a" or "an," as used in the specification and claims, are to be construed as meaning "at least one of." In addition, for ease of use, the words "including" and "having," as used in the specification and claims, are interchangeable with and have the same meaning as the word "comprising."

We Claim:
1. A method to unify the delivery of content and platform, comprising the steps of:
authenticating the user and determining the relevant courseware (courseware refers to a collection of rich content, constituting the material to be taught, and trial platform comprising of one or more virtual computers potentially connected together over an arbitrary virtual network);
identifying the corresponding trial platform and the course content;
arranging for execution environment for trial platform (given the virtual nature of the trial platform, it is imperative that one chooses the appropriate physical machines, considering capabilities and loading considerations, enables the relevant simulators or hypervisors and sets up the pre-specified network connectivity between the virtual machines that constitute the trial platform as well their access to the external world); and
providing access to both the trial platform(user interaction with the virtual machine(s) is implemented by displaying the console/screen to the user and transmitting user inputs on the keyboard and/or mouse to the virtual machine) and the course content (typically accomplished using a web browser window), from the same user access point or terminal (switching between multiple windows allows the user to select between the course content or virtual machine console of interest), so as to provide the users with scalable learning environment.
2. A system that unifies the delivery of content and platform to provide the users with scalable learning environment, comprising

storage module that archives rich course content and virtual images for trial
platform;
a server farm that hosts virtual machines that constitutes the trial environment;
a platform provisioning engine that sets up and manages the mapping of virtual
images to physical hosts and of users to virtual consoles;
a content delivery engine that sets up and manages the customization of course
content to and for the users;
a user management module that sets up and maintains user profile information
connecting individual users to the corresponding courseware;
a business management module that controls the functioning of the content
delivery engine and platform delivery engine in concert with the user
management module: and
a web access module that provides individual users with access to the rest of the
system via web or related technologies