Portlet related question

Hi,
I was reading the portlets documentation on the jahia website and it tells
how easily can one covert a standalone web application as a portlet in
jahia.
Now, lets say, I want to implement search (I know its already implemented,
lets say my own custom search portlet). I would like to place the search box
below the left side navigation in a portlet. Whenever I search thru that
box, I would like the search results to appear on the center in a portlet (I
think it is how jahia search is implemented as well).

How should I implement it?
Also, is there anyways one can achieve inter-portlet communication in jahia?

Thanks in advance
Sanjay Goel
http://sanjaygoel.blogspot.com