Multi-Mode Location Based E-Directory Service Enabling Method, System, and Apparatus

• US 20090055353A1
• Filed: 04/15/2005
• Published: 02/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Poynt Corporation (Canada)
• Original Assignee: Poynt Corporation (Canada)
• Inventors: Meema, Karl E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,941,430 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting

Abstract

A method prepares a response when providing e-Directory services to a user making a user request for location-based supplier information. The method includes identifying from said user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information, identifying from the user request at least one informational element useful in querying a directory of suppliers, querying a primary directory of suppliers using said desired location and said informational element in order to generate primary supplier hits, querying the world wide web (www) using said desired location and said informational element in order to generate www supplier hits, merging said primary supplier hits with said www supplier hits to create a list of suppliers including a plurality of facts respecting each supplier in said list, sorting all supplier hits in said list by proximity to said desired location, purging any duplicate supplier hits, and formatting said list of suppliers to remove any facts extraneous to presentation over a viewing device to said user.

Claims

1. A method of preparing a response when providing e-Directory services to a user making a user request for location-based supplier information, said method comprising:

identifying from said user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information;

identifying from the user request at least one informational element useful in querying a directory of suppliers;

querying a primary directory of suppliers using said desired location and said informational element, in order to generate primary supplier hits;

querying a world wide web (www) using said desired location and said informational element, in order to generate www supplier hits;

merging said primary supplier hits with said www supplier hits to create a list of suppliers including a plurality of facts respecting each supplier in said list;

sorting all supplier hits in said list, by proximity to said desired location;

purging any duplicate supplier hits; and

formatting said list of suppliers to remove any facts extraneous to presentation over a viewing device to said user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising querying additional databases using the desired location and the informational element to generate additional supplier hits or to acquire additional facts respecting suppliers on said list.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the additional facts are in respect of current supplier promotions, additional supplier services, or supplier hours of operation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said viewing device is a cell phone, PDA, or mobile computer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein formatting supplier hits includes determining from the user request a desired viewing device and re-packaging the supplier hits into a format suited to said desired viewing device.

6. A method of preparing a response when providing e-Directory services to a user making a user request for supplier information, the method comprising:

identifying from the user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information;

identifying from the user request at least one informational element usable in querying candidate suppliers;

querying a first data source of suppliers using the desired location and the informational element, in order to generate first supplier hits;

querying a second data source using the desired location and the informational element, in order to generate second supplier hits;

merging the first supplier hits with the second supplier hits to create a list of suppliers and a plurality of facts associated with each supplier on the list; and

processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts includes at least one of:

sorting the suppliers on the list based on proximity to the desired location;

purging any duplicate suppliers on the list; and

formatting the list of suppliers to remove any facts extraneous to presentation on a client device of the user.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising querying a third data source using the desired location and the informational element, in order to generate third supplier hits or to acquire additional facts associated with the suppliers on the list.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the additional facts include information associated with supplier promotions, additional supplier services, or supplier hours of operation.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the user request is sent from a first device, the method further comprising determining from the user request a second device, different from the first device, to send the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first device is a wired device, and wherein the second device is a wireless device.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising comparing the first and data sources with historical reliability data, before querying the first and second data sources, to determine which of the first and second data sources is more relevant for the user request.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

additionally querying the first and data sources using more detailed data relative to the information element;

wherein processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts includes sorting the list and then resorting the list based on the more detailed data to rank the suppliers on the resorted list; and

charging each supplier on the resorted list with a fee to have such suppliers ranked on the list.

14. An article of manufacture usable with e-Directory services, the article of manufacture comprising:

a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to allow the processor to prepare a response to a user that is making a user request for supplier information, by;

identifying from said user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information;

identifying from the user request at least one informational element usable in querying candidate suppliers;

querying a first data source of suppliers using said desired location and said informational element, in order to generate first supplier hits;

querying a second data source using said desired location and said informational element, in order to generate second supplier hits;

merging said first supplier hits with said second supplier hits to create a list of suppliers including a plurality of facts associated with each supplier in said list; and

processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the instructions to process the list of suppliers and their associated facts include instructions for:

sorting at least some of the suppliers in said list, based on proximity to said desired location;

purging duplicate supplier hits;

formatting said list to remove any extraneous facts; and

formatting said list to a format that can be presented by a viewing device of said user.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the machine-readable medium further includes instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor the response, by determining from the user request a second device, different from the first device, to send the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the machine-readable medium further includes instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor the response, by comparing the first and data sources with historical reliability data, before querying the first and second data sources, to determine which of the first and second data sources is more relevant for the user request.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the machine-readable medium further includes instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor the response, by:

additionally querying the first and data sources using more detailed data relative to the information element;

as part of the processing, sorting the list and then resorting the list based on the more detailed data to rank the suppliers on the resorted list; and

charging each supplier on the resorted list with a fee to have such suppliers ranked on the list.

19. A system for preparing a response when providing e-Directory services to a user making a user request for supplier information, the system comprising:

means for identifying from the user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information;

means for identifying from the user request at least one informational element usable in querying candidate suppliers;

means for querying a first data source of suppliers using the desired location and the informational element, in order to generate first supplier hits;

means for querying a second data source using the desired location and the informational element, in order to generate second supplier hits;

means for merging the first supplier hits with the second supplier hits to create a list of suppliers and a plurality of facts associated with each supplier on the list;

means for processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts; and

means for delivering the processed list of suppliers and their associated facts to a client device of the user.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the means for processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts includes at least one of:

means for sorting the suppliers on the list based on proximity to the desired location;

means for purging any duplicate suppliers on the list; and

means for formatting the list of suppliers to remove any facts extraneous to presentation on the client device of the user.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein the user request is sent from a first device, the system further comprising means for determining from the user request a second device, different from the first device, to send the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for comparing the first and data sources with historical reliability data, before querying the first and second data sources, to determine which of the first and second data sources is more relevant for the user request;

means for additionally querying the first and data sources using more detailed data relative to the information element;

the means for processing the list of suppliers and their associated facts including means for sorting the list and then for resorting the list based on the more detailed data to rank the suppliers on the resorted list; and

means for charging each supplier on the resorted list with a fee to have such suppliers ranked on the list.

23. An e-Directory service apparatus to prepare a response to a user making a user request for supplier information, the apparatus comprising:

a data request service module to receive the user request;

a request query service module operatively associated with the data request service to identify from the received user request a desired location for which the user is requesting supplier information and to identify from the received user request at least one informational element usable in querying candidate suppliers, the request query service module being capable to query a first data source of suppliers using the desired location and the informational element in order to generate first supplier hits and to query a second data source using the desired location and the informational element in order to generate second supplier hits;

a data merging service module operatively associated with the request query service module to merge the first supplier hits with the second supplier hits to create a list of suppliers and a plurality of facts associated with each supplier on the list; and

at least one module operatively associated with the data merging service module to process the list of suppliers and their associated facts.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the at least one module includes:

a duplicate elimination service module to purge any duplicate suppliers on the list;

a user customization service module to customize the list of suppliers and their associated facts based on user preferences;

a prioritize weighting service module to weigh the suppliers on the list based on criteria;

a list sorting module to sort the list of suppliers and their associated facts based at least in part on the weighting by the prioritize weighting service; and

at least one formatting service modules to format the sorted list into a form suitable for a client device of the user.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

a memory location to store at least some data used by or generated by one or more of the modules; and

a data transmission service module to send the sorted list, which has been formatted into the suitable form by the at least one formatting device, to the client device of the user.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the prioritize weighting service module is capable to weigh the suppliers on the list based on at least one of proximity to the desired location, historical reliability data, and detailed data associated with each supplier usable to rank each supplier on the list.

27. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the user customization service module is also capable to determine from the user request a receiving device, different from a sending device that sent the user request, to receive the list of suppliers and their associated facts.