Method and apparatus for data communication
First Claim
1. A data acquisition and delivery system that acquires source data having a first format from a selected data source, comprising:
- a target computer;
a data target coupled in communication with the target computer;
a plurality of logical modules available for execution by the target computer in response to a plurality of predefined parameters which one of identify, and characterize an element of, particular logical modules in the plurality of logical modules to establish a data delivery task, to acquire the source data, to obtain delivered data from the source data and to provide to the data target the delivered data in a second format;
a notation data structure accessible by the target computer that includes the plurality of predefined parameters.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data acquisition and delivery system for performing data delivery tasks is disclosed. This system uses a computer running software to acquire source data from a selected data source, to process (e.g. filter, format convert) the data, if desired, and to deliver the resulting delivered data to a data target. The system is designed to access remote and/or local data sources and to deliver data to remote and/or local data targets. The data target might be an application program that delivers the data to a file or the data target may simply be a file, for example. To obtain the delivered data, the software performs processing of the source data as appropriate for the particular type of data being retrieved, for the particular data target and as specified by a user, for example. The system can communicate directly with a target application program, telling the target application to place the delivered data in a particular location in a particular file. The system provides an external interface to an external context. If the external context is a human, the external interface may be a graphical user interface, for example. If the external context is another software application, the external interface may be an OLE interface, for example. Using the external interface, the external context is able to vary a variety of parameters to define data delivery tasks as desired. The system uses a unique notation that includes a plurality of predefined parameters to define the data delivery tasks and to communicate them to the software.
409 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A data acquisition and delivery system that acquires source data having a first format from a selected data source, comprising:
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a target computer; a data target coupled in communication with the target computer; a plurality of logical modules available for execution by the target computer in response to a plurality of predefined parameters which one of identify, and characterize an element of, particular logical modules in the plurality of logical modules to establish a data delivery task, to acquire the source data, to obtain delivered data from the source data and to provide to the data target the delivered data in a second format; a notation data structure accessible by the target computer that includes the plurality of predefined parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A data acquisition and delivery system that acquires source data in a first format from a selected data source, comprising:
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a target computer including a user interface; a data target coupled in communication with the target computer; a plurality of logical modules available for execution on the target computer in response to a plurality of predefined parameters which identify and characterize elements of logical modules in the plurality of logical modules to establish a data delivery task, wherein one of the plurality of modules comprises a process to acquire the source data from the selected data source using a network protocol driver, another of the plurality of logical modules comprises a process to obtain delivered data from the source data, and another of the plurality of logical modules comprises a process to provide the delivered data to the data target in a second format; and a notation data structure, coupled with the user interface, that stores the plurality of predefined parameters in response to input from the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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Specification