Reservation system and method therefor

• US 10,235,641 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2015
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sita Information Networking Computing Ireland Limited (Société Internationale de Télécom Aeronautiques (Switzerland))
• Original Assignee: Sita Information Networking Computing Ireland Limited (Société Internationale de Télécom Aeronautiques (Switzerland))
• Inventors: Godber, Daniel Tomos
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Walsh, Emmett K.
• Application Number:
  US14/624,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20150235147A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,491 Days
• Field of Search: 705 5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A reservation system is disclosed. The system comprises a communication means for receiving, from a remote device, an availability request for a product or service; sending, to the device, a first ordered list element data representing a distribution of a plurality of different products or services within a map in response to receiving the request; and for receiving, from the remote device, a reservation request for one of the plurality of different products or services.

Claims

1. A reservation system comprising:

a communication means for;

receiving, from a remote device, an availability request for a product or service;

sending, to the remote device, at least a first ordered list element data representing a distribution of a plurality of different products or services within a seat map in response to receiving the request; and

receiving, from the remote device, a reservation request for one of the plurality of different products or services;

wherein the communication means is further arranged to receive a styling request associated with the display of the products or services on a display and in particular wherein the communication means is arranged to send the styling data only if a styling request has been received;

wherein the communication means is further configured to send style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display, wherein the style sheet data comprises a plurality of different style data associated with different viewing area pixel sizes, and in particular wherein the style sheet data floats each product or service so that each row of the distribution of the plurality of different products or services within the seat map occupies a full display width of the display and wherein the style data sets the display width of each product or service as a percentage value of the display width; and

wherein the communication means is further configured to send descriptor data associated with the product or service, wherein each product or service is associated with a plurality of descriptors for selection and formatting based on a determined viewing area pixel size.

2. The reservation system of claim 1, wherein the communication means is further arranged to send a unique identifier associated with the ordered list element data.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processing means configured to associate each product or service with status element information indicative of the availability of each product or service, and in particular wherein the communication means is arranged to send the status element information to the remote device and wherein each status element is associated with the ordered list element.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processing means is configured to represent a distribution of seats within the seat map by associating the first ordered list element with a plurality of different seats distributed within the seat map and wherein the communication means is further arranged to send styling data associated with each ordered list and to send a media query data for determining a viewing area pixel size.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processing means is further configured to associate the first ordered list element data with a first row of products or services and in particular in which the processing means is further configured to associate a plurality of ordered list elements with a plurality of rows of products or services.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processing means is further configured to associate each list element with a unique identifier and wherein each product or service is associated with at least one descriptor of the product or service.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication means is further configured to send style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display and in particular wherein the style sheet data hides bullet points or hides a numbered list.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication means is further configured to send style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display and in particular wherein the style sheet data styles an anchor tag by removing an underline, including a border, rounding the edges and changing a background colour.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication means is further configured to send style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering the product or service as a representation of a seat within the seat map.

10. A portable reservation system comprising:

a remote reservation system; and

a communication means for sending an availability request for a product or service and for receiving from the remote reservation system a first ordered list element data associated with a plurality of different products or services and for sending a unique identifier associated with the list element data in response to receiving the request;

wherein the communication means is arranged to send, to the remote reservation system, a reservation request for one of the plurality of different products or services and a styling request associated with the display of the products or services on a display;

wherein the communication means is arranged to receive style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display wherein the style sheet data comprises a plurality of different style data associated with different viewing area pixel sizes and wherein the style sheet data floats each product or service so that each row of the distribution of the plurality of different products or services within a seat map occupies a full display width of the display and wherein the style data sets the display width of each product or service as a percentage value of the display width; and

wherein the communication means is further arranged to receive descriptor data associated with the product or service, wherein each product or service is associated with a plurality of descriptors and wherein one of the descriptors is selected and formatted based on a determined viewing area pixel size.

11. The portable reservation system of claim 10, further comprising a processing means for determining a current viewing area pixel size and selecting a style based on the determined viewing area pixel size.

12. A reservation method comprising:

receiving, from a remote device, an availability request for a product or service;

sending, to the remote device, a first ordered list element data representing a distribution of a plurality of different products or services within a seat map in response to receiving the request; and

receiving, from the remote device, a reservation request for one of the plurality of different products or services;

receiving a styling request associated with the display of the products or services on a display and in particular further comprising sending the styling data only if a styling request has been received;

sending style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display, wherein the style sheet data comprises a plurality of different style data associated with different viewing area pixel sizes, and in particular wherein the style sheet data floats each product or service so that each row of the distribution of the plurality of different products or services within the seat map occupies a full display width of the display and wherein the style data sets the display width of each product or service as a percentage value of the display width; and

sending descriptor data associated with the product or service, wherein each product or service is associated with a plurality of descriptors for selection and formatting based on a determined viewing area pixel size.

13. The reservation method of claim 12, further comprising sending a unique identifier associated with the ordered list element data.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising associating each product or service with a status element information indicative of the availability of each product or service and in particular further comprising sending the status element information to the remote device, wherein each status element is associated with a list element.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising representing a distribution of seats within the seat map by associating the first ordered list element with a plurality of different seats distributed within the seat map and further comprising sending styling data associated with each ordered list and to send a media query data for determining a viewing area pixel size.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising associating the first ordered list element data with a row of products or services and in particular further comprising associating a plurality of ordered list elements with a plurality of rows of products or services.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising associating a list element with each product or service associated with each ordered list element, wherein each list element comprises a class indicative of the availability status of the product or service and in particular in which each list element comprises a unique identifier.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising associating each list element with a unique identifier, wherein each product or service is associated with at least one descriptor of the product or service.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising sending style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display and in particular wherein the style sheet data hides bullet points or hides a numbered list.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising sending style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display and in particular wherein the style sheet data styles an anchor tag by removing an underline, including a border, rounding the edges and changing a background colour.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising sending style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering the product or service as a representation of a seat within the seat map.

22. A portable reservation method comprising:

sending, using a communication means, an availability request for a product or service and for receiving from a remote reservation system, a first ordered list element data associated with a plurality of different products or services and for sending a unique identifier associated with the list element data in response to receiving the request; and

sending, to the remote reservation system, a reservation request for one of the plurality of different products or services and a styling request associated with the display of the products or services on a display;

receiving, at the communication means, style sheet data for each ordered list element for rendering on a display wherein the style sheet data comprises a plurality of different style data associated with a plurality of different viewing area pixel sizes and wherein the style sheet data causes each product or service to float so that each row of the distribution of the plurality of different products or services within a seat map occupies a full display width of the display and wherein the style data sets the display width of each product or service as a percentage value of the display width; and

receiving, at the communication means, descriptor data associated with the product or service, wherein each product or service is associated with a plurality of descriptors and wherein one of the descriptors is selected and formatted based on a determined viewing area pixel size.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising determining a current viewing area pixel size of the plurality of different viewing area pixel sizes and selecting a style based on the determined viewing area pixel size.