Team Automata for groupware systems

Abstract

This paper introduces a mathematical model of groupware systems called Team Automata. We use this model at the architectural level, to describe components of a groupware system, and their interconnections. The multiple automata constituting the team interact via shared actions - transitions which multiple automata perform synchronously together. The paper concludes by illustrating the application of this model to the analysis of real time shared application groupware. The model suggests that there are design alternatives for shared application groupware which have mostly gone unexplored.