Electronic document reading system and method

• US 20040268221A1
• Filed: 08/19/2004
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Wang, Shengjin
• Granted Patent: US 7,458,015 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2350/00 Solving problems of bandwidth in display systems

Abstract

A document is divided into a plurality of regions so that each page has a meaning and, for each of the regions, there is generated a similarity table indicating a similarity degree and a data amount corresponding to the multiplexed resolution level data. By referencing this similarity table, each page of the electronic document in the region specified by the user is represented by a predetermined similarity (resolution) and at the reading speed specified by the user. Moreover, by referencing the similarity table, each page of the electronic document is represented at the maximum speed while guaranteeing the predetermined similarity.

Claims

1. A terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the terminal apparatus comprising:

means for selecting a resolution level of the electronic document based on, at least, a transmission speed of the communication network; and

means for giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution level.

2. The terminal apparatus for the electronic-document viewing system according to claim 1, wherein the server stores the electronic document at a plurality of resolution levels.

3. A terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the terminal apparatus comprising:

means for selecting a resolution level of the electronic document based on, at least, a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document; and

means for giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution level.

4. The terminal apparatus for the electronic-document viewing system according to claim 3, wherein the server stores the electronic document at a plurality of resolution levels.

5. A terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the server analyzes a layout structure of the electronic document to divide the electronic document into a plurality of areas and stores the plurality of areas, the terminal apparatus comprising:

means for selecting resolution levels of the divided areas based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

means for giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution levels; and

means for synthesizing the electronic document input based on the viewing request.

6. The terminal apparatus for the electronic-document viewing system according to claim 5, further comprising:

means for setting an area of interest in which the user has an interest out of the divided areas,

wherein a resolution level required by the user is selected for the area set as the area of interest.

7. A terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the server analyzes a layout structure of the electronic document to divide the electronic document into a plurality of areas and stores each divided area at a plurality of resolution levels, the terminal apparatus comprising:

means for selecting resolution levels of the divided areas based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

means for giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution levels; and

means for synthesizing the electronic document input based on the viewing request.

8. The terminal apparatus for the electronic-document viewing system according to claim 7, further comprising:

means for setting an area of interest in which the user has an interest out of the divided areas,

wherein a resolution level required by the user is selected for the area set as the area of interest.

9. A program for a terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the program comprising:

a first step of selecting a resolution level of the electronic document based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document; and

a second step of giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the resolution level selected in the first step.

10. A program for a terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the server analyzes a layout structure of the electronic document to divide the electronic document into a plurality of areas and stores the plurality of areas, the program comprising:

a first step of selecting resolution levels of the divided areas based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

a second step of giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution levels; and

a third step of synthesizing the electronic document input based on the viewing request.

11. A program for a terminal apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the server analyzes a layout structure of the electronic document to divide the electronic document into a plurality of areas and stores each divided area at a plurality of resolution levels, the program comprising:

a first step of selecting resolution levels of the divided areas based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a users viewing speed of the electronic document;

a second step of giving the viewing request for the electronic document at the resolution levels selected in the first step; and

a third step of synthesizing the electronic document input based on the viewing request.

12. A server apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the server apparatus comprising:

means for receiving the viewing request for the electronic document from the terminal, a resolution level of the electronic document being selected based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

means for generating an image of the electronic document based on the viewing request, the image satisfying the resolution level; and

means for transmitting the generated image to the terminal.

13. A server apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the server apparatus comprising:

means for storing the electronic document at a plurality of resolution levels;

means for receiving a viewing request for the electronic document from the terminal, the resolution levels of the electronic document being selected based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

means for selecting the electronic document stored at the plurality of resolution levels, based on the viewing request; and

means for transmitting the selected electronic document to the terminal.

14. A server apparatus for an electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network, the server apparatus comprising:

means for analyzing a layout structure of the electronic document to divide the electronic document into a plurality of areas and for storing the plurality of areas;

means for receiving the viewing request for the electronic document, resolution levels of the divided areas of the electronic document being selected based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document;

means for generating images of the areas of the electronic document based on the viewing request, the images satisfying the selected resolution levels; and

means for transmitting the generated images to the terminal.

15. An electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the terminal selects a resolution level of the electronic document based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document and gives the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution level to the server, and

wherein the server transmits an image that satisfies the resolution level of the electronic document in accordance with the viewing request.

16. An electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored on a server in response to a viewing request from a terminal through a communication network,

wherein the server divides the electronic document into a plurality of areas based on a layout structure and stores the plurality of areas,

wherein the terminal selects resolution levels of the divided areas based on at least one of a transmission speed of the communication network and a user'"'"'s viewing speed of the electronic document and gives the viewing request for the electronic document at the selected resolution levels to the server,

wherein the server transmits images of the areas of the electronic document to the terminal in accordance with the viewing request, the images satisfying the resolution levels of the electronic document, and

wherein the terminal synthesizes the images of the areas which are input based on the viewing request.

17. An electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored in a file in response to a viewing request from a user through a communication network, the system comprising:

document analyzing means for digitizing a document to be viewed and for analyzing the structure of a layout of the electronic document for each page thereof;

table generating means for generating a table including, at least, different resolution levels and amounts of data corresponding to the respective resolution levels, so as to correspond to images of each area included in the layout for each page and;

calculating means for calculating, in response to the viewing request including a specified speed-priority mode in which a viewing speed is specified, an amount of data and transmission time per page based on a transmission speed of the communication network and the viewing speed; and

controlling means for determining resolution levels corresponding to the determined amount of data by referring to the table and for presenting an image page to the user during the transmission time, the image page corresponding to the determined resolution levels.

18. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 17, wherein, in response to ending of display per page, the controlling means gives a next page to the user in the same controlling manner as the previous page.

19. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 17, wherein, in response to a stopping instruction, with respect to a current page, the controlling means sequentially gives image data with a current resolution level to image data with a maximum resolution level to the user.

20. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 17, wherein the viewing request specifies an area of interest in which the user has an interest, the table includes similarities relative to the original image of the images with the resolution levels, and the controlling means refers to the table to give an image page to the user, the image page corresponding to a resolution level that satisfies a preset specific similarity with respect to the area of interest.

21. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 20, wherein, with respect to areas other than the area of interest, the controlling means distributes an amount of data to the areas, the amount of data being obtained by subtracting an amount of data of the area of interest from the determined amount of data.

22. An electronic-document viewing system that allows viewing of an electronic document stored in a file in response to a viewing request from a user through a communication network, the system comprising:

document analyzing means for digitizing a document to be viewed and for analyzing the structure of a layout of the electronic document for each page thereof;

table generating means for generating a table including different resolution levels, similarities relative to the original image of images with the resolution levels, and amounts of data, so as to correspond to the images of each area included in the layout for each page; and

controlling means for determining, in response to the viewing request including a specified similarity-priority mode in which a specific similarity for a page to be viewed is ensured, each area'"'"'s resolution level corresponding to a resolution that is equal to or larger than the specific similarity and that is closest to the specific similarly by referring to the table and for giving an image page corresponding to the determined resolution level to the user during the transmission time.

23. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 22, wherein, in response to ending of display per page, the controlling means gives a next page to the user in the same controlling manner as the previous page.

24. The electronic-document viewing system according to claim 22, wherein, in response to a stopping instruction, with respect to a current page, the controlling means sequentially gives image data with a current resolution level to image data with a maximum resolution level to the user.

25. An electronic-document viewing method that allows viewing of an electronic document stored in a file in response to a viewing request from a user through a communication network, the method comprising:

a step of digitizing a document to be viewed and of analyzing the structure of a layout of the electronic document for each page thereof;

a step of generating a table including, at least, different resolution levels and amounts of data corresponding to the respective resolution levels, so as to correspond to images of each area included in the layout for each page;

a step of calculating, in response to the viewing request including a specified speed-priority mode in which a viewing speed is specified, an amount of data and transmission time per page based on a transmission speed of the communication network and the viewing speed; and

a controlling step of determining a resolution level corresponding to the determined amount of data by referring to the table and of giving an image page corresponding to the determined resolution level to the user during the transmission time.

26. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 25, wherein, in the controlling step, a next page is given to the user in the same controlling manner as the previous page, in response to ending of display per page.

27. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 25, wherein, in the controlling step, in response to a stopping instruction, with respect to a current page, image data with a current resolution level to image data with a maximum resolution level are sequentially given to the user.

28. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 25, wherein the viewing request specifies an area of interest in which the user has an interest, and the table includes similarities relative to the original image of the images with the resolution levels, and

wherein, in the controlling step, with respect to the area of interest, the table is referred to so that an image page corresponding to a resolution level that satisfies a pre-set specific similarity is given to the user.

29. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 28, wherein, in the controlling steps, with respect to areas other than the area of interest, an amount of data, obtained by subtracting an amount of data of the area of interest from the determined amount of data, is distributed to the areas.

30. An electronic-document viewing method that allows viewing of an electronic document stored in a file in response to a viewing request from a user through a communication network, the method comprising:

a step of digitizing a document to be viewed and of analyzing the structure of a layout of the electronic document for each page thereof;

a step of generating a table including different resolution levels, similarities relative to the original image of images with the resolution levels, and amounts of data, so as to correspond to the images of each area included in the layout for each page; and

a controlling step of determining, in response to the viewing request including a specified similarity-priority mode in which a specific similarity for a page to be viewed is ensured, each area'"'"'s resolution level corresponding to a resolution that is equal to or larger than the specific similarity and that is closest to the specific similarly by referring to the table and of giving an image page corresponding to the determined resolution level to the user during the transmission time.

31. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 30, wherein, in the controlling step, in response to ending of display per page, a next page is given to the user in the same controlling manner as the previous page.

32. The electronic-document viewing method according to claim 30, wherein, in the controlling step, in response to a stopping instruction, with respect to a current page, image data with a current resolution level to image data with a maximum resolution level are sequentially given to the user.