PROVIDING SEARCH RESULTS FOR MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES

• US 20090281991A1
• Filed: 05/08/2008
• Published: 11/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Huynh, Tuan, Sawada, Hirokazu, Kagoshima, Tsutomu, Tanaka, Takeshi, Kobayashi, Hiromi
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,404 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for providing search results for mobile computing devices. Search results are retrieved based on a search term. Each of the search results is assigned to one or more categories. The categories and the assigned search results are provided to the mobile computing device. The mobile computing device is adapted to display each of the categories and a partial list of the search results for each of the categories.

Claims

1. A method for providing search results to a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

retrieving search results based on a search term;

assigning each of the search results to one or more categories; and

providing the one or more categories and the search results to the mobile computing device, the mobile computing device being adapted to display each of the one or more categories and a partial list of the search results for each of the one or more categories.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the search term from a search interface on the mobile computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving search results based on a search term comprises retrieving the search results from a local database based on the search term.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving search results based on a search term comprises retrieving the search results from a remote database based on the search term.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving search results based on a search term comprises transmitting a standard query language (SQL) query based on the search term to a database.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more categories comprise one or more predefined categories created and managed by a search engine.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device is adapted to display three search results for each of the one or more categories.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device is further adapted to display a link for each of the one or more categories, the link being selectable to display a full list of search results for each of the one or more categories.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the search results comprise documents stored on an intranet-accessible server, and wherein the one or more categories comprise document types associated with the documents.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more categories comprise a word processing document file type, a spreadsheet document file type, and a presentation document file type.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the search results comprise contact information, and wherein the one or more categories comprise a name, a phone number, and an address associated with each type of the contact information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more categories comprise a separate external database from which the search results are retrieved.

13. A system for providing search results to a mobile computing device, comprising:

a web server application enabling communication with the mobile computing device over a network; and

a search engine adapted to receive a search term from the mobile computing device via the web server application, retrieve search results from a database based on the search term, assign each of the search results to one or more predefined categories, and transmit the predefined categories and the assigned search results to the mobile computing device via the web server application, the mobile computing device being adapted to display the one or more predefined categories and a partial list of the search results for each of the one or more predefined categories.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the web server application comprises an intranet web server application.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the database comprises a local database coupled to the search engine.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the database comprises a remote database coupled to the search engine via the web server application.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the database comprises a plurality of remote databases coupled to the search engine via the web server application.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more predefined categories comprises a separate predefined category associated with each of the plurality of remote databases.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the mobile computing device comprises one of a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

20. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, over a network a search term from a search interface provided on a mobile computing device;

retrieve search results by querying one or more databases based on the search term;

assign each of the search results to one of a plurality of predefined categories;

transmit, over the network, the plurality of predefined categories and the assigned search results to the mobile computing device, the mobile computing device being adapted to display the plurality of predefined categories, a partial list of the assigned search results for each of the plurality of predefined categories, and a link for each of the predefined categories, the link being selectable to display a full list of the assigned search results for each of the predefined categories.