ON-SITE SEARCH ENGINE FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB

• US 20100287156A1
• Filed: 07/20/2010
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Richardson, Matthew, Dakka, Wisam
• Application Number:
  US12/839,916
• Publication Number:
  US 20100287156A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Providing updates to a computing device having a search engine capable of searching a local data store having an index with data related to a plurality of sites located on a wide area network. A first index builder capable of accessing sites on a wide area network is provided. The first index builder retrieves and analyzes data from the sites to create index data related to the sites. The method further includes communicating index data to the locally stored database for incrementally updating the index. A computing device capable of accessing a local data storage device is also provided. The device includes an index stored on the storage device including information related to data stored on the wide area network, a search engine capable of searching the index to retrieve information in response to a query, and a display.

Claims

1. A method of searching for information about a wide area network, comprising:

providing a locally stored index containing index data related to information stored at a plurality of sites on the wide area network, the locally stored index being generated from first index data generated from a first index builder that analyzes and indexes data stored on a first plurality of remote sites over a wide area network and from second index data generated from a second index builder that analyzes and indexes data stored on a second plurality of remote sites, different from the first plurality of remote sites, over the wide area network, wherein the first index data and second index data are received from at least two different data distribution networks;

querying the locally stored index for index data including the at least one search term; and

displaying a result received from the query.

2. A system for providing index information to a computing device having a search engine capable of searching a local data store, that is local to the computing device, comprising:

a first index builder, that is remote from the computing device, the first index builder accessing a first set of remote sites, remote from the computing device, over a wide area network to retrieve and analyze data from the first set of remote sites, and creating a first index of data stored on the first set of remote sites;

a first data distribution network that receives the first index from the first index builder, the first data distribution network being separate from the first index builder and remote from the computing device and from the first set of remote sites, the first data distribution network sending the first index to the local data store on the computing device so the first index is searchable by the search engine on the computing device;

a second index builder separate from the first index builder and remote from the computing device, accessing a second set of remote sites over the wide area network, wherein the second index builder accesses sites not accessed by the first index builder, to retrieve and analyze data from the second set of remote sites, and creating second index data that indexes information on the second set of remote sites and wherein the second index builder communicates the index data to the local data store on the computing device to update the first index;

wherein the first and second index builders intermittently access the first and second sets of remote sites respectively, and generate updated index data indicative of incremental updates to the first index;

a second data distribution network separate from the first data distribution network, receiving the updated index data, and sending the updated index data to the local data store on the computing device, to update the first index, with the updated index data, to obtain an updated first index on the computing device.