Communication navigation system which easily finds person who is interested in the same topic

• US 6,163,799 A
• Filed: 03/30/1998
• Issued: 12/19/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Toshiya, Kondo, Masafumi, Shimomura, Yasuhiko, Ida, Takashi, Ohmori, Yoshihiro, Kambayashi, Toru, Morishita, Akira, Tomoda, Ichiro, Ito, Satoshi, Muratani, Hirofumi, Tsujimoto, Shuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan, Daniel H.
• Application Number:
  US09/050,073
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/217, 709/203, 709/206, 370/265, 370/260, 370/262, 370/261, 712/33, 712/34, 705/39, 379/93.21, 379/158, 395/701, 348/15, 386/6, 386/33, 845/330, 845/334
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

A navigation communication system in which a plurality of clients access information stored in a server via a network, having a personal information control section provided in the server and controls the personal information of the users of the clients which access the same information and a personal information display section provided in the client and displays the personal information controlled by the personal information control section, a selector for selecting one of the personal information displayed, and a communication application section for communicating with a client corresponding to the selected personal information.

Claims

1. A communication navigation system comprising:

a server configured to store items of information;

a plurality of clients configured to access an item of the information stored in the server, in which

said server comprises,

means for acquiring items of user information of clients which access a specific item of the information accessed by one of said plurality of clients; and

means for supplying the items of the user information of clients acquired by said acquiring means to said one of said plurality of clients, and

said one of said plurality of clients comprises,

means for displaying the items of the user information supplied from said server,

means for selecting a desired item of the user information displayed, and

means for settling a communication with a client corresponding to the desired item of the user information selected,

wherein each of said items of the user information comprises a photograph of a user of the clients which access the specific item of the information.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said server comprises:

means for storing common data which are commonly shared by the clients which access the specific item of the information.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said one of said plurality of clients further comprises:

means for displaying the desired item of the user information selected.

4. A communication navigation system comprising:

a server configured to store items of information;

a plurality of clients configured to access an item of the information stored in the server, in which

said server comprises,

means for acquiring items of user information of clients which access a specific item of the information accessed by one of said plurality of clients; and

means for supplying the items of the user information of clients acquired by said acquiring means to said one of said plurality of clients, and

said one of said plurality of clients comprises,

means for displaying the items of the user information supplied from said server,

means for selecting a desired item of the user information displayed, and

means for settling a communication with a client corresponding to the desired item of the user information selected,

wherein the items of the information stored in said server is represented by a hypertext markup language.

5. A communication navigation system comprising:

a server configured to store items of information;

a plurality of clients configured to access an item of the information stored in the server, in which

said server comprises,

means for acquiring items of user information of clients which access a specific item of the information accessed by one of said plurality of clients; and

means for supplying the items of the user information of clients acquired by said acquiring means to said one of said plurality of clients, and

said one of said plurality of clients comprises,

means for displaying the items of the user information supplied from said server,

means for selecting a desired item of the user information displayed, and

means for settling a communication with a client corresponding to the desired item of the user information selected,

wherein said server further comprises;

means for forming a server system using the clients which access the specific item of the information and said one of said plurality of clients; and

means for forming a reproduction of the server system as a new server system based on the user information of the clients which access the specific item of the information.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the items of the information stored in said server is represented by a hypertext markup language.

7. A communication navigation system comprising:

a server configured to store items of information;

a plurality of clients configured to access an item of the information stored in the server, in which

said server comprises

means for acquiring items of user information of clients which access a specific item of the information accessed by one of said plurality of clients; and

means for supplying the items of the user information of clients acquired by said acquiring means to said one of said plurality of clients, and

said one of said plurality of clients comprises,

means for displaying the items of the user information supplied from said server,

means for selecting a desired item of the user information displayed, and

means for settling a communication with a client corresponding to the desired item of the user information selected,

wherein said server comprises;

means for forming a server system using the clients which access the specific item of the information and said one of said plurality of clients;

means for forming at least two reproductions of the server system as new server systems based on the user information of the clients which access the specific item of the information; and

means for merging said new server systems based on the user information of the clients which access the specific item of the information.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the items of the information stored in said server is represented by a hypertext markup language.

9. A communication system comprising:

plurality of terminal stations; and

a center station, in which each of said terminal stations comprises;

means for supplying an attribute thereof to said center station;

call relation candidate-storing means for storing call relation candidates supplied from said center station; and

call control means for controlling communication with another terminal station indicated by one of the call relation candidates, and said center station comprises,

storing means for storing the attribute of each of said terminal stations supplied from each of the terminal stations;

call relation candidate-determining means for determining call relation candidates upon request from one of the terminal stations based on the attribute thereof; and

call relation candidate-determining means for informing the call relation candidates determined by said candidate-determining means to said one of the terminal stations.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said center station further comprises means for supplying a virtual market scene image to the terminal stations, the virtual market being formed of plural terminal stations acting as shoppers, and said call control means of one of said plural terminal stations comprises means for inhibiting communication with other terminal stations acting as the shoppers.

11. A system according to claim 9, wherein said center station further comprises means for supplying a virtual market scene image to the terminal stations, the virtual market being formed of first terminal stations acting as shoppers and a second terminal station acting as a salesclerk, and said call control means of said second terminal station comprises means for supplying a commercial message to the first terminal stations in accordance with the attribute of the first terminal stations, the attribute representing an importance level of shoppers.

12. A virtual office system comprising:

a server for providing a virtual office scene image;

a plurality of terminals connected to said server, configured to display the virtual office scene image including images of said plurality of terminals, each of said plurality of terminals has attribute data indicating a position of a user thereof and comprising means for designating another terminal in the virtual office scene image and means for communicating with the another terminal designated;

means for detecting the attribute data of each of said plurality of terminals; and

means for updating the virtual office scene image in accordance with a change in the attribute data of each of said plurality of terminals,

wherein said attribute data comprises data indicating a viewing direction of the user and data indicating a log-in time and log-out time of the virtual office system.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said detecting means and said updating means are provided in said server.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein said detecting means and said updating means are provided in each of said plurality of terminals.

15. A virtual office system comprising:

a server for providing a virtual office scene image;

a plurality of terminals connected to said server, configured to display the virtual office scene image including images of said plurality of terminals, each of said plurality of terminals has attribute data indicating a position of a user thereof and comprising means for designating another terminal in the virtual office scene image and means for communicating with the another terminal designated;

means for detecting the attribute data of each of said plurality of terminals; and

means for updating the virtual office scene image in accordance with a change in the attribute data of each of said plurality of terminals,

wherein said attribute data comprises data indicating whether or not communication with others is desired and which further comprises means for controlling communication based on the attribute data.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said detecting means and said updating means are provided in said server.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein said detecting means and said updating means are provided in each of said plurality of terminals.

18. A communication system having terminals, comprising:

call relation detecting means for detecting a communication status of each of the terminals;

call relation storing means for storing a graph having at least two nodes representing at least two terminals which communicate with each other and at least one segment connecting said at least two nodes, the graph formed based on a detected communication status; and

call relation displaying means for displaying the graph stored in said call relation storing means by said at least two terminals,

wherein said call relation detecting means comprises means for detecting a call relation attribute indicating a frequency band of communication and a security level, said call relation storing means stores the graph with the call relation attribute, and said call relation informing means informs said at least two terminals of the graph and the call relation attribute stored in said call relation storing means.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein each of the terminals comprises means for outputting a status of a terminal which represents materialization or cancellation of call relation with other terminals.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein each of the terminals further comprises means for outputting a call relation attribute indicating a frequency band of communication and a security level.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein each of the terminals comprises means for outputting a status of a terminal which represents materialization or cancellation of call relation with other terminals.

22. The system according to claim 20, further comprising:

call relation input means for inputting the communication status of each of the terminals.

23. The system according to claim 18, further comprising:

call relation input means for inputting the communication status of each of the terminals.

24. A method for establishing communications from a first user to a second user with common interests, comprising steps of:

storing client accessible information on a server;

storing user identification information on said server;

displaying a specific client accessible information from said server on a first client terminal of said first user;

displaying said specific client accessible information from said server on a second client terminal of said second user;

displaying said user identification information corresponding to said second user on said first client terminal of said first user;

displaying said user identification information corresponding to said first user on said second client terminal of said second user;

selecting said user identification information corresponding to said second user on said first client terminal of said first user;

establishing communication from said first user to said second user in response to the selecting.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said establishing step comprises activating telephone communication from said first user to said second user.

26. A system for establishing communications from a first user to a second user with common interests, comprising:

means for storing client accessible information on a server;

means for storing user identification information on said server;

means for displaying a specific client accessible information from said server on a first client terminal of said first user;

means for displaying said specific client accessible information from said server on a second client terminal of said second user;

means for displaying said user identification information corresponding to said second user on said first client terminal of said first user;

means for displaying said user identification information corresponding to said first user on said second client terminal of said second user;

means for selecting said user identification information corresponding to said second user on said first client terminal of said first user;

means for establishing communication from said first user to said second user in response to the selecting.