Mapping an internet document to be accessed over a telephone system

• US 7,116,765 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2001
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intellisync Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wesemann, Darren L., Xu, Chimiao, Morton, David L., Summers, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoosain, Allan
• Application Number:
  US09/854,308
• Publication Number:
  US 20010032234A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,971 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.12, 379/88.13, 379/88.07, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/900, 379/902, 379/908, 379/67.1, 379/88.11, 379/88.14, 379/88.16, 379/201.01, 379/265.01, 379/265.09, 370/400, 370/410, 370/420, 370/426, 704/270, 704/271, 704/275
• US Class Current: 379/88.17
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/42 Graphical user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

Methods and systems for enabling a user to create a user-defined map of an Internet document to control how text and links of the Internet document are presented to the user. A user selects and names regions of text or links of an Internet document to create a user-defined map. A user accesses a voice browser which provides an audio representation of the Internet document based on the user-defined map. Prompts assist a user in creating and navigating through the user-defined map. User requests cause an audio representation of the text or links associated with the user-defined map to be played to the user. When selected content associated with the user-defined map is modified then the updated content is provided to the user.

Claims

1. In a network that includes a server system connected to the Internet, and a computer system and a telephone system that communicate with the server system, a method for creating a user-defined map of an Internet document to control how text and links of the Internet document will be presented to the user over the telephone system, the method comprising:

in response to a request received from a user of the computer system, receiving an Internet document from a content source without modifying the Internet document at the content source;

graphically displaying the Internet document to a user;

receiving input from the user selecting a region of the Internet document, the region including at least one of text and links;

receiving a name from a user that associates the selected region of the Internet document with a category in the user-defined map;

mapping the selected region to the user-defined map as the category in a menu of categories, the category corresponding to the selected region; and

without modifying the Internet document at the content source, storing the user-defined map such that the user can later access the Internet document from the content source using an audio interface in which the user-defined map defines the portions of the Internet document that are to be presented to the user over the audio interface by comparing the user-defined map with the Internet document.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising generating an audio representation of any text and any links contained in the Internet document that correspond to a particular category of the user-defined map in response to a user request for the particular category entered at the telephone system.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, transmitting said audio representation to the user over the telephone system in response to a user request entered at the telephone system.

4. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein prior to generating an audio representation of any text and any links, parsing the Internet document to identify any text and any links included in selected regions of the Internet document that correspond to categories in the user-defined map.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein said Internet document comprises HTML content.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one of text and links comprises a Uniform Resource Locator.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising displaying the Internet document on a user interface associated with the computer system.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising prompting the user for the name and for the selected region.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein receiving input from the user selecting the region of the Internet document further comprises highlighting the selected region of the Internet document.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, wherein the selected region includes links to be mapped and wherein at least one link of the links to be mapped is associated with at least one other Internet document.

11. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising presenting the user with a prompt at the telephone system to select the at least one link.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, further comprising selecting the at least one link in response to the prompt at the telephone system to select the at least one link.

13. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising transmitting an audio representation of text of the at least one other Internet document to the user over the telephone system.

14. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a second region of the Internet document to be mapped;

mapping at least one of text and links in the second region to the user-defined map; and

receiving a second name that identifies a second category in the user-defined map, the second category associated with the second region.

15. A method as defined in claim 14, wherein the second region comprises a region of at least one other Internet document.

16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the at least one other Internet document corresponds to at least one link associated with the second region.

17. In a network that includes a server system connected to the Internet, and a computer system and a telephone system that communicate with the server system, a method performed at the server system for enabling a user to access an Internet document with the telephone system, such that content of the Internet document is presented to the user according to a user-defined map of the Internet document, the method comprising:

receiving an access request for the Internet document from a user using a telephone system;

accessing a user-defined map that controls which regions of the Internet document are presented to the user without modifying the Internet document, the user-defined map comprising;

one or more categories, each category associated with a particular region of the Internet document; and

at least one of links and text in each category, the at least one of links and text in each category corresponding to selection regions of the Internet document;

prompting the user over the telephone system to select a particular category of the user-defined map;

retrieving the Internet document and comparing the Internet document to the user-defined map to identify the portions of the Internet document that are to be presented to the user;

generating an audio representation of the portions of the Internet document that are to be presented to the user; and

transmitting said audio representation to the user over the telephone system.

18. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising generating the audio representation using a text to speech module at the server system.

19. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein the Internet document comprises HTML content.

20. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein the Internet document comprises Voice eXtensible Markup Language content.

21. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein one of text and links of the at least one region has been modified after the user-defined map was created.

22. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the audio representation includes said one of text and links of the at least one region that has been modified after the user-defined map was created.

23. A method as defined in claim 17, further comprising transmitting the user-defined map to the server system.

24. In the mapping module of a server system that communicates with a telephone system and a computer system, a method for enabling a user to a map an Internet document to identify which text and links of the Internet document will be presented to the user over the telephone system, the method comprising:

retrieving an Internet document in response to a first user input received from the computer system, wherein the Internet document comprises at least one of text and links;

creating a user-defined map that identifies which regions of the Internet document are presented to a user over a telephone system without modifying of the Internet document by performing;

receiving a second user input from the computer system, the second user input selecting a region of the Internet document to be mapped;

receiving a third user input from the computer system, the third user input causing the mapping module to map one of either text and links of the selected region to a category of the user-defined map; and

receiving a fourth user input from the computer system, the fourth user input causing the mapping module to associate a name with the selected region of the Internet document and the category in the user-defined map; and

storing a copy of the user-defined map at a database that is associated with the server system, wherein a comparison of the user-defined map and the Internet document determines the content of the Internet document that is to be presented to the user over the telephone system.

25. A method as defined by claim 24, wherein the Internet document comprises HTML content.

26. A method as defined by claim 24, further comprising, prior to creating the user-defined map, transmitting the Internet document to the computer system, wherein the Internet document is displayed on a user interface.

27. A method as defined in claim 24, further comprising generating an audio representation of only those text and links contained in the Internet document that are defined in the user-defined map in response to a user input entered at the telephone system.

28. A method as defined in claim 27, further comprising transmitting said audio representation to the user over the telephone system in response to a second user input entered at the telephone system.

29. A method as defined in claim 24, further comprising prompting the user for the first user input, second user input, third user input, and fourth user input.

30. A method as defined in claim 27, wherein prior to generating an audio representation of said text and links, parsing the Internet document to identify said text and links included in the Internet document that are defined in the user-defined map.

31. A computer program product for implementing, in a computer system that communicates with an Internet-connected server system, the server system communicating with a telephone system, a method mapping an Internet document to control how text and links of the Internet document will be presented to the user over the telephone system, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium carrying computer-executable instructions for implementing the method, the computer-executable instructions comprising;

program code means for receiving an Internet document in response to a first user input received from the computer system, wherein the Internet document comprises at least one of text and links;

program code means for creating a user-defined map that controls which portions of the Internet document are presented to user over a telephone system without modifying of the Internet document, wherein creating a user-defined map comprises program code means for;

receiving a second user input that selects a region of the Internet document to be mapped to the user-defined map as a category, wherein unselected regions of the Internet document are omitted from the user-defined map;

receiving a third user input that causes one of either text and links of the selected region to be mapped into the category of the user-defined map; and

receiving a fourth user input that associates a name with the selected region and the category; and

program code means for transmitting a copy of a user-defined map to the server system, wherein unselected regions of the Internet document are omitted and only those text and links defined in the user-defined map based on a comparison between the user-defined map and the Internet document are included when transmitting an audio representation of the Internet document to a user over the telephone system.

32. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, where in the computer-readable medium further comprises program code means for prompting the user for first user input, second user input, third user input, and forth user input.

33. A computer program product as defined in claim 31, where in the computer-readable medium further comprises program code means for displaying the Internet document on a user interface.