Information method and apparatus using simplex and duplex communications
First Claim
1. An information delivery system comprisingmeans for receiving and storing information at a central data base site,means for transmitting data stored in said storing means over a broadcast simplex communications system,local terminal means for locally receiving said broadcast data, said local terminal comprisingmeans for locally storing a selected subset of said received broadcast data,means responsive to a user inquiry for searching said locally stored data for displaying that locally stored data responsive to said user inquiry, andmeans for automatically communicating said user inquiry over a duplex communications channel to said central data base site storage when said local terminal means cannot fully respond to said user inquiry, andmeans, at said central data base site, responsive to said user inquiry communicated from said local terminal means over said duplex communications system, for responding to said local terminal means by sending to said terminal means over said duplex channel information responsive to said user inquiry.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An information delivery method and apparatus uses a simplex channel from a central data base site for transmitting data stored at the site to a plurality of remote local terminals. The local terminals receive the broadcast data and selectively store a subset of the data. The local terminals can process user initiated queries directed to the stored data, and determine whether the data is available at the local terminal or at the central data base site. The local terminal can automatically access data not available in its data base. The remote local terminal has a facility for selectively storing only that information of particular interest to the local user and provides for listing desired information in a prioritized fashion and allocating memory to each category. A predicate data base model is developed for advantageously storing the information.
313 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An information delivery system comprising
means for receiving and storing information at a central data base site, means for transmitting data stored in said storing means over a broadcast simplex communications system, local terminal means for locally receiving said broadcast data, said local terminal comprising means for locally storing a selected subset of said received broadcast data, means responsive to a user inquiry for searching said locally stored data for displaying that locally stored data responsive to said user inquiry, and means for automatically communicating said user inquiry over a duplex communications channel to said central data base site storage when said local terminal means cannot fully respond to said user inquiry, and means, at said central data base site, responsive to said user inquiry communicated from said local terminal means over said duplex communications system, for responding to said local terminal means by sending to said terminal means over said duplex channel information responsive to said user inquiry.
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21. An information delivery method comprising the steps of
storing information at a central data base site, transmitting data stored at said central site over a broadcast simplex communications system, locally receiving said broadcast data and storing a selected subset of said received broadcast data at a remote local receiver terminal, searching said locally stored data in response to a user inquiry for displaying locally stored data responsive to said user inquiry, automatically communicating said user inquiry over a duplex communications channel to said central data base site when said locally stored data cannot fully respond to said user inquiry, and responding, at said central data base site, to said locally generated user inquiry over said duplex communications channel, by sending over said duplex channel information stored at said central data base site which is responsive to said user inquiry.
Specification