System and method for the co-ordination and control of information supply using a distributed multi-agent platform
First Claim
1. A distributed platform for co-ordinating user access to information provided by content service providers, the platform comprising:
- (a) a user interface;
(b) a first advertising board for advertising services of information brokers;
(c) a first searching agent for searching the first advertising board for services based on a request from the user;
(d) a second advertising board for advertising the services of at least two separate information content suppliers;
(e) a second searching agent for searching the second advertising board for available services based on results of the search of the first advertising board and the request from the user, and(f) means for providing the results of the search of the second advertising board from the second advertising board to the first advertising board, and transferring the results from the first advertising board to the user interface through the first searching agent.
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Abstract
A system and method for co-ordinating the supply of information from content service providers to a user, the system and method employing agents to search advertising boards for requested information or services. More specifically, a distributed platform is used for co-ordinating user access to information or services provided by content service providers. The platform comprises a user interface, a first advertising board for advertising services of information brokers and a first searching agent for searching the first advertising board for services that could be used by the user. The platform further comprises a second advertising board for advertising the services of information content suppliers, a second searching agent for searching the second advertising board for available services based on results of the search of the first advertising board and the request from the user.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A distributed platform for co-ordinating user access to information provided by content service providers, the platform comprising:
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(a) a user interface; (b) a first advertising board for advertising services of information brokers; (c) a first searching agent for searching the first advertising board for services based on a request from the user; (d) a second advertising board for advertising the services of at least two separate information content suppliers; (e) a second searching agent for searching the second advertising board for available services based on results of the search of the first advertising board and the request from the user, and (f) means for providing the results of the search of the second advertising board from the second advertising board to the first advertising board, and transferring the results from the first advertising board to the user interface through the first searching agent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A distributed platform for co-ordinating user access to information provided by content service providers, the platform comprising:
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(a) a user interface for receiving a request from a user; (b) a content service provider advertising board for advertising services of at least two separate content service providers; (c) a first searching agent for searching the content service provider advertising board for services, based on the request from the user; (d) means for providing the results of the search of the content service provider advertising board to the user; (e) a broker advertising board for advertising the services of brokers that act as intermediaries between the content service providers and the user; and (f) a second searching agent for searching the broker advertising board for available services based on the request from the user, wherein the second searching agent identifies a suitable broker based on the request from the user, and the first searching agent is associated with that identified broker so that the first searching agent searches the content service provider advertising board for services based on the identified broker as well as the request from the user.
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14. A distributed platform for processing a user request for information, the platform comprising:
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(a) a user interface for receiving a user request for information; (b) a service agent board for advertising services of a plurality of service agents; (c) a customer agent for searching the service agent board and selecting at least one of service agent from the plurality of service agents based on the received user request; and (d) a customer provider agent board for advertising the services of at least two separate information content providers; wherein the at least one selected service agent searches for and selects at least one information content provider from the customer provider agent board, and the at least one selected information content provider provides information based on the received user request to the at least one selected service agent which in turn provides the information to the customer agent. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A distributed platform for co-ordinating user access to information provided by content service providers, the platform comprising:
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(a) a user interface for receiving a request from a user; (b) a first advertising board for advertising services of information brokers; (c) a first searching agent for searching the first advertising board and selecting a particular information broker based on the request from the user; (d) a second advertising board for advertising the services of at least two separate information content suppliers; and (e) a second searching agent for searching the second advertising board based on the request from the user, the second searching agent being selected by the selected information broker; wherein the results of the search of the second advertising board are provided from the second searching agent to the first searching agent, and then transferred from the first searching agent to the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification