Server, information providing method and recording medium for distributing a terminal with information containing menu and link arranged on image

• US 7,664,827 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2003
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kamata, Atsushi, Sakurai, Shintaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu; Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Musa; Abdelnabi O
• Application Number:
  US10/504,188
• Publication Number:
  US 20050120076A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,555 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/203, 709/220, 709/238, 709/224, 709/250, 907/217
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/86 Mapping to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations

Abstract

A server for distributing information provided by an information provider as an information element group consisting of one or more information elements connected, to a user terminal. The server includes means for creating a hierarchical structure between the information elements via an image, means for receiving an access to an image related to the first information element, means for searching a second information element constituting a hierarchical structure with the first information element via the image, and means for arranging the second information element on the image and distributing it to the user terminal.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus for providing a terminal in a network with element information containing menu information for displaying an item displayed and selected as a menu and link information for specifying a link destination to be displayed upon selection of the menu by image specifying information and a second element information to be arranged on the image, comprising:

means for accepting an acquisition request of a first element information from the terminal;

means for searching for a link destination subsequent to the second element information to be arranged on a non-menu image based on the image specifying information of a link information contained in the first element information upon acceptance of the acquisition request of the first element information and for defining a spatial relationship between the non-menu image and the first element information based on the first element information, thereby collecting multiples of the element information linked within a range of a predetermined hierarchy having a low-order from the first element information;

means for adding (a) the menu information of said multiples of the element information linked within the predetermined range from the first element information to (b) the menu information of the element information of a link source having the link information for each of said multiples of the element information, thereby building up a hierarchical structure including low-order element information; and

means for downloading and transmitting the multiples of the element information batchwise to be built up with the hierarchical structure to the terminal,

wherein the element information and the menu information are realized as data with the element information being located to the menu information.

2. An information providing method in which a terminal in a network with element information containing menu information for displaying an item displayed and selected as a menu and link information for specifying a link destination to be displayed upon selection of the menu by image specifying information and a second element information to be arranged on the image, comprising:

accepting an acquisition request of a first element information from the terminal;

searching for a link destination subsequent to the second element information to be arranged on a non-menu image based on the image specifying information of a link information contained in the first element information upon acceptance of the acquisition request of the first element information and for defining a spatial relationship between the non-menu image and the first element information based on the first element information, thereby collecting multiples of the element information linked within a range of a predetermined hierarchy having a low-order from the first element information;

adding (a) the menu information of said multiples of the element information linked within the predetermined range from the first element information to (b) the menu information of the element information of a link source having the link information to each of said multiples of the element information, thereby building up a hierarchical structure including low-order element information; and

downloading and transmitting the multiples of the element information batchwise to be built up with the hierarchical structure to the terminal,

wherein the element information and the menu information are realized as data with the element information being located to the menu information.

3. A program and the method executed by a processor stored on a computer-readable medium that terminal in a network with element information containing menu information for displaying an item displayed and selected as a menu and link information for specifying a link destination to be displayed upon selection of the menu by image specifying information and a second element information to be arranged on the image, comprising:

accepting an acquisition request of a first element information from the terminal;

searching for a link destination subsequent to the second element information to be arranged on a non-menu image based on the image specifying information of a link information contained in the first element information upon acceptance of the acquisition request of the first element information and for defining a spatial relationship between the non-menu image and the first element information based on the first element information, thereby collecting multiples of the element information linked within a range of a predetermined hierarchy having a low-order from the first element information;

adding (a) the menu information of said multiples of the element information linked within the predetermined range from the first element information to (b) the menu information of the element information of a link source having the link information to each of said multiples of the element information, thereby building up a hierarchical structure including low-order element information; and

downloading and transmitting the multiples of the element information batchwise to be built up with the hierarchical structure to the terminal,

wherein the element information and the menu information are realized as data with the element information being located to the menu information.