System and method for information retrieval employing a preloading procedure
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A client computer operated by a user, where the client computer is programmed to be capable of carrying out the operations of:
- monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user;
receiving a search query as input to the client computer, where the search query is entered by the user using an input device associated with the client computer;
submitting the search query to a search engine, where the search engine uses the search query to identify a plurality of search documents that may be of interest to the user based on the search query, where the search engine identifies the plurality of search documents from among a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over a connection providing access to the large number of documents;
identifying a first document as a document that the user may wish to display on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the first document is one of the search documents found by the search engine;
retrieving information that can be used to display the first document on the display screen, where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved over the connection by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved after the operation of submitting the search query to the search engine and before the user inputs a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer, and where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved in anticipation of quickly displaying the first document if the user inputs a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen;
storing the information that can be used to display the first document in local storage associated with the client computer;
continuing to monitor input from the user operating the client computer;
detecting as input from the user a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer; and
upon detecting as input from the user a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer, displaying the first document on the display screen by accessing the information that can be used to display the first document stored in local storage associated with the client computer so that the first document is displayed for the user on the display screen associated with the client computer more quickly than if the entire first document was retrieved over the network following the user'"'"'s request for the first document to be displayed.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A document retrieval system having improved response time. During the time the user spends viewing the displayed information, other information that the user is likely to read or study later is preloaded into memory. If the user later requests the preloaded information, it can be written to the display very quickly. As a result, the user'"'"'s request to view new information can be serviced quickly.
118 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A client computer operated by a user, where the client computer is programmed to be capable of carrying out the operations of:
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monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user; receiving a search query as input to the client computer, where the search query is entered by the user using an input device associated with the client computer; submitting the search query to a search engine, where the search engine uses the search query to identify a plurality of search documents that may be of interest to the user based on the search query, where the search engine identifies the plurality of search documents from among a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over a connection providing access to the large number of documents; identifying a first document as a document that the user may wish to display on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the first document is one of the search documents found by the search engine; retrieving information that can be used to display the first document on the display screen, where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved over the connection by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved after the operation of submitting the search query to the search engine and before the user inputs a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer, and where the information that can be used to display the first document is retrieved in anticipation of quickly displaying the first document if the user inputs a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen; storing the information that can be used to display the first document in local storage associated with the client computer; continuing to monitor input from the user operating the client computer; detecting as input from the user a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer; and upon detecting as input from the user a request for the first document to be displayed on the display screen associated with the client computer, displaying the first document on the display screen by accessing the information that can be used to display the first document stored in local storage associated with the client computer so that the first document is displayed for the user on the display screen associated with the client computer more quickly than if the entire first document was retrieved over the network following the user'"'"'s request for the first document to be displayed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A data storage medium for use with a client computer that is operated by a user, where the data storage medium has computer program instructions stored on it, where the computer program instructions are executable on the client computer, and where the computer program instructions configure the client computer to be capable of carrying out operations comprising:
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monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user; receiving a search query as input to the client computer, where the search query is entered by the user using an input device associated with the client computer; submitting the search query to a search engine, where the search engine uses the search query to identify a plurality of search documents that may be of interest to the user based on the search query, where the search engine identifies the plurality of search documents from among a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over a network providing access to the large number of documents; in response to submitting the search query to the search engine, displaying a document on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the document includes a plurality of links to other documents, including a link to a first document and a link to a second document, and where the document is displayed in a viewing area on the display screen associated with the client computer, and where the viewing area is within a window on the display screen; identifying the first document as a document that the user wishes to later display on the display screen in the viewing area within the window, where the first document is identified through the user choosing the first document with a user action that includes using a pointing device associated with the client computer to interact with the document that includes the link to the first document; retrieving information from the first document, where the information from the first document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the first document is retrieved after the operation of identifying the first document, and before the user inputs a request to display the first document in the viewing area within the window on the display screen associated with the client computer, where the operation of retrieving information from the first document is carried out without yet removing the document that includes the link to the first document from the viewing area within the window on the display screen, and where the operation of retrieving information from the first document is carried out in anticipation of later responding to input from the user requesting to display the first document in the viewing area within the window on the display screen; storing the information from the first document in local storage associated with the client computer; continuing to monitor input from the user operating the client computer; detecting as input from the user a request to display the first document in the viewing area within the window on the display screen; and upon detecting as input from the user a request to display the first document in the viewing area within the window, displaying the first document in the viewing area within the window by accessing the information from the first document stored in local storage associated with the client computer so that the first document is quickly displayed in the viewing area within the window following the user'"'"'s request to display the first document in the viewing area within the window. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system comprising a client computer operated by a user and connected to a network, where the system is configured to be capable of carrying out operations including:
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monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user; receiving a user request as input to the client computer, where the user request includes text specifying information sought by the user, and where the user request is communicated to the client computer through the user using an input device associated with the client computer; submitting the text specifying information sought by the user over the network, where the network causes a remotely-located server to respond by transferring, over the network to the client computer, a document responsive to the user request, and where the document responsive to the user request is one of a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over the network; in response to submitting the user request over the network, displaying the document responsive to the user request, where the document is displayed for the user to read and interact with on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the document responsive to the user request includes a plurality of links to other documents, including a link to a first document, and a link to a second document; identifying the first document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the first document is identified in response to the user choosing the first document through an action that includes the use of a pointing device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the first document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the first document, where the information from the first document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the first document is retrieved after the operation of identifying the first document, and before the user inputs a request to make the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the first document and while the operation of retrieving information from the first document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the operation of retrieving information from the first document is performed in anticipation of later making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; storing the information from the first document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; identifying the second document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the second document is identified in response to the user choosing the second document through an action that includes the use of the pointing device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the second document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the second document, where the information from the second document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the second document is retrieved after the operation of identifying the second document, and before the user inputs a request to make the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the second document and while the operation of retrieving information from the second document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the operation of retrieving information from the second document is performed in anticipation of later making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; storing the information from the second document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; continuing to monitor input from the user operating the client computer while the document responsive to the user request continues to be displayed on the display screen; detecting as input from the user a request for a third document to be displayed on the display screen; and upon detecting as input from the user a request for the third document to be displayed on the display screen, displaying the third document on the display screen by retrieving the third document over the network from a remote location relative to the client computer and making the third document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer program product having computer program instructions encoded on a data storage medium, where the computer program instructions are executable on a client computer that is operated by a user and is connected to a network, and where the computer program instructions configure the client computer to be capable of carrying out operations comprising:
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monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user; receiving a user request as input to the client computer, where the user request is communicated to the client computer through the user using an input device associated with the client computer; submitting information representing the user request over the network, where a remotely-located server responds to the information by transferring, over the network to the client computer, a document responsive to the user request, and where the document responsive to the user request is one of a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over the network; in response to submitting the user request over the network, displaying the document responsive to the user request, where the document is displayed for the user to read and interact with on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the document responsive to the user request includes a plurality of links to other documents, including a link to a first document, and a link to a second document; identifying the first document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the first document is identified in response to the user choosing the first document through an action that includes the use of a pointing device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the first document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the first document, where the information from the first document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the first document is retrieved after the operation of identifying the first document, and before the user inputs a request to make the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the first document and while the operation of retrieving information from the first document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the operation of retrieving information from the first document is performed in anticipation of later making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; storing the information from the first document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; identifying the second document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the second document is identified in response to the user choosing the second document through an action that includes the use of the pointing device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the second document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the second document, where the information from the second document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the second document is retrieved after the operation of identifying the second document, and before the user inputs a request to make the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the second document and while the operation of retrieving information from the second document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the operation of retrieving information from the second document is performed in anticipation of later making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; and storing the information from the second document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of retrieving information over a network using a client computer, where the client computer is configured to be capable of communicating over the network, and where the client computer is operated by a user, the method comprising the acts of:
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monitoring input to the client computer that is operated by the user; receiving a user request as input to the client computer, where the user request is communicated to the client computer through the user using an input device associated with the client computer; submitting information representing the user request over the network so that a remotely-located server responds to the information by transferring, over the network to the client computer, a document responsive to the user request, where the document responsive to the user request is one of a large number of documents that may be available to the client computer over the network; in response to submitting the user request over the network, displaying the document responsive to the user request, where the document is displayed for the user to read and interact with on a display screen associated with the client computer, where the document responsive to the user request includes a plurality of links to other documents, including a link to a first document, and a link to a second document; identifying the first document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the first document is identified in response to the user choosing the first document through an action that includes the use of an input device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the first document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the first document, where the information from the first document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the first document is retrieved after the act of identifying the first document, and before the user inputs a request to make the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the first document and while the act of retrieving information from the first document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the act of retrieving information from the first document is performed in anticipation of later making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; storing the information from the first document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the first document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; identifying the second document as a document that the user wishes to retrieve in the background over the network, where the second document is identified in response to the user choosing the second document through an action that includes the use of an input device associated with the client computer to interact with the link to the second document included in the document responsive to the user request; retrieving information from the second document, where the information from the second document is retrieved over the network by the client computer from a remote location relative to the client computer, where the information from the second document is retrieved after the act of identifying the second document, and before the user inputs a request to make the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen, where the user is able, upon choosing the second document and while the act of retrieving information from the second document is performed, to continue to read and interact with the document responsive to the user request that is displayed on the display screen, and where the act of retrieving information from the second document is performed in anticipation of later making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen; and storing the information from the second document in local storage associated with the client computer in a manner that enables a later operation of quickly making the second document visible for the user to read and interact with on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification