Process to graphically display travel information on a map in electronic form

• US 20020095256A1
• Filed: 01/12/2001
• Published: 07/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Travelocity.com LP (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Travelocity.com LP (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Terrell B., Gawronski, Christopher D., Browne, David C.
• Application Number:
  US09/758,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20020095256A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages

Abstract

A system and method for graphically displaying travel information on an electronic map within a network environment comprising: (i) providing a network for transmitting and receiving information among information providers; (ii) receiving an information request based on a flexible set of user-defined travel related criteria; (iii) processing the information request to initiate at least one inquiry based on the information request from a plurality of data tables developed from a database; (iv) receiving at least one response to at least one inquiry; (v) processing at least one response to determine a reply that is responsive to the information request, and (vi) providing a response including an electronic map overlay.

Claims

1. A method for graphically displaying travel information on an electronic map within a network environment, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an information request based on a flexible set of user-defined travel related criteria from a client;

processing the information request to initiate at least one inquiry based on the information request and receiving at least one information response to the at least one inquiry from a server; and

rendering the at least one information response unto an electronic map overlay for transmission to a client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information providers are servers or mainframe computer systems.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible set of user-defined travel related criteria is input by a human being on a client and pre-selected at least in part by topic by the client.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the information request includes parsing the information request into a plurality of inquiries for querying a plurality of data tables.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one inquiry is directed to a plurality of data tables generated from a database of information received from at least one of a plurality of information providers.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein processing the at least one information response to the at least one inquiry further comprises collecting a plurality of responses to determine a solution set to the information request.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the information response includes directing the response to the user that posed the information request.

8. A system for distributing travel information in a network, the system comprising:

means for providing a travel information request;

means for processing the travel information request to generate an inquiry;

means for receiving a response to the inquiry; and

means for processing the response to obtain a reply to the travel information request.

9. A travel information system, comprising:

a request manager for receiving information from information providers to store in a database;

an information request that is processed to initiate at least one inquiry related to the information from the database;

a plurality of data tables developed from the database for providing information responsive to the at least one inquiry and providing a solution set to the information request; and

an electronic map upon which the solution set is overlaid.

10. The travel information system of claim 9, wherein at least one inquiry is directed to a data table selected from a group of data tables containing airfare, airfare availability, weather conditions, event schedules, points of interest, and lodging information.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the information providers are servers or mainframe computer systems.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the information request is input by a human being on a client computer and is pre-selected at least in part by topic by the client.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein processing the information request includes parsing the information request into a plurality of inquiries for querying a plurality of data tables.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the information request is directed to a plurality of data tables generated from a database of information received from the information providers.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein processing information responsive to the information request further comprises collecting a plurality of responses to determine a solution set to the information request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of receiving the request includes specifying a location of interest and a distance range in proximity to the location of interest.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of receiving the request includes specifying a dollar limit.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of receiving the request includes specifying a number of travelers that will depart from the departure location.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating step includes accessing a database for a geocode corresponding to a destination of interest.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the generating step includes accessing a database for a plurality of city pairs and a lowest available fare associated with each of the plurality of city pairs.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the generating step includes querying the database with the geocode corresponding to a destination of interest to determine all airports and other locations within a specified range of the geocode.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating step includes retrieving information from information providers and storing the retrieved information in a searchable database.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of entering the request includes specifying a dollar limit.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the step of entering the request includes specifying a number of travelers that will depart from the departure location.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of entering the request includes specifying a location of interest and a specified distance range in proximity to the location of interest.

16. A method for providing travel information, comprising:

receiving a request including a departure location;

location generating a map including a set of points corresponding to the departure location and any airports having carrier service from the departure location to another location; and

transmitting the generated map.

24. A method for a user to obtain travel information, comprising:

entering a request including a departure location; and

receiving a map generated to include a set of points corresponding to the departure location and any airports having carrier service from the departure location to another location.