Enhanced Search System and Method for Providing Search Results With Selectivity or Prioritization of Search and Display Operations

• US 20080208834A1
• Filed: 02/28/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Haitani, Robert, Finkelstein, Jeffrey, Boyer, Monty, Roux, Alexandre, Stewart, William (Kam)
• Granted Patent: US 9,298,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/148 File search processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1734 Details of monitoring file system events, e.g. by the use of hooks, filter drivers, logs

Abstract

Application usage in a computing environment is monitored to record information that is indicative of what applications are most extensively or recently used, or otherwise preferred by the user. Applications (or data items of a data type of the application) are selected or prioritized over other applications (or data items) when a search operation is performed.

Claims

1. A method for performing a search of data items, the method comprising steps of:

monitoring a usage of individual applications in a group of applications provided in a designated computing environment to generate data that is indicative of the usage of at least one or more of the applications in the group;

receiving one or more search criteria from a user of the computing environment;

performing one or more search operations on a collection of data items to identify a set of data items that satisfy the criteria, wherein each data item in the collection is usable by a corresponding one or more of applications in the group; and

displaying a search result comprising one or more entries, wherein each of the one or more entries corresponds to at least one of the data items in the set;

wherein at least one of (i) performing one or more search operations or (ii) displaying the search result is configured by using the data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of (i) performing one or more search operations, or (ii) displaying the search result, is configured to select or prioritize one or more data items in the collection over other data items in the collection.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring a usage of individual applications includes making a determination as to at least a set of one or more applications that are most pertinent for performing the search, wherein the data generated from monitoring the usage of individual applications is indicative of the determination, and wherein at least one of (i) performing one or more search operations, or (ii) displaying the search result includes using the data generated from monitoring the usage to select or prioritize a set of data items of a data type corresponding to each of the applications in the set of one or more applications.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein making a determination as to at least a set of one or more applications includes identifying at least one of the most extensively, commonly, or recently used application in the group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing one or more search operations is configured by one or more of (i) selecting a set of data items from the collection to the exclusion of other data items in the collection, wherein selecting the set of data items is based on data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group, or (ii) prioritizing one or more sets of data items from the collection over other data items in the collection, wherein prioritizing the set of data items is based on data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the search result is configured by one or more of (i) selecting a set of data items from the collection to the exclusion of other data items in the collection, wherein selecting the set of data items is based on data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group, or (ii) prioritizing one or more sets of data items from the collection over other data items in the collection, wherein prioritizing the set of data items is based on data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein prioritizing one or more sets of data items is configured by determining a ranking of a set of data items of a particular data type over another set of data items of another data type, and wherein displaying the search result includes ordering entries that comprise at least a portion of the search result based on the determined ranking.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring a usage of individual applications includes recording which application in the group was most recently used or opened for use in the computing environment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing environment corresponds to a portable computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing environment corresponds to a designated set of interconnected computing devices.

11. A system for enabling search operations to be performed in a computing environment, wherein the system includes:

a monitoring module configured to record information about a usage of individual applications in a group of applications that are operable in the computing environment;

a source selection and analysis module that is configured to use the recorded information to perform at least one operation of (i) indicating a priority of one or more applications in the group over other applications, or (ii) indicating a selection of at least one application in the group to the exclusion of one or more other applications in the group, wherein the source selection and analysis module generates data that corresponds to the priority and/or the selection; and

a search module that is configured to use one or more search criteria in performing one or more search operations, where the search module is further configured to generate a search result from performing the one or more search operations;

wherein the search module is coupled to receive the data from the source selection and analysis module, and

wherein the search module is configured by the data when performing the one or more search operations and/or generating the search result.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the source selection and analysis module indicates the priority or the selection of a set one or more applications in the group, and wherein the search module is configured by the data to select or prioritize a set of data items in the collection that are each of a data type that corresponds to one of the applications in the identified set of applications,

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the search module is configured by the data to perform one or more search operations using the set of data items, so that the search operations are performed on the set of data items (i) at an exclusion of other data items in the collection, and/or (ii) as a priority over the other data items in the collection.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the monitoring module counts each instance that an application in the group is opened, and wherein the recorded information corresponds to a count of one or more applications in the group being opened.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the monitoring module determines which of the applications in the group were most recently used, and wherein the recorded information identifies one or more applications in the group that were determined to be most recently used.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the monitoring module determines which of the applications in the group were most extensively used, and wherein the recorded information identifies one or more applications in the group that were determined to be most extensively used.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the search module is configured to perform the one or more search operations by communicating the search criteria to individual applications in the group to cause each of the communicated applications to perform an internal search for data items of that application that satisfy the search criteria, and wherein the source selection and analysis module indicates the selection of a set of applications in the group, and wherein the search module is configured to communicate the search criteria to only the applications in the set of applications, at the exclusion of other applications in the group.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the search module is further configured to use an application-specific search result returned by each of the applications in the set when generating the search result.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the search module is configured to perform the one or more search operations by communicating the search criteria to individual applications in the group to cause each of the communicated applications to perform an internal search for data items of that application that satisfy the search criteria, and wherein the source selection and analysis module indicates the priority of one or more applications in the group over other applications in the group, and wherein the search module is configured to communicate the search criteria to the one or more applications in the group based on the priority.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the search module is configured to communicate the search criteria to the one or more applications in a sequence that is based on the priority.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the search module is configured to communicate the search criteria to one or more applications of a first set to receive a first application-specific search result, and to one or more applications of a second set only if the first application-specific search result does not identify a sufficient number of data items.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the computing environment corresponds to a portable computer.

23. The method of claim 11, wherein the computing environment corresponds to a designated set of interconnected computing devices.

24. A computer readable medium carrying instructions for performing a search of data items, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:

monitoring a usage of individual applications in a group of applications provided in a designated computing environment to generate data that is indicative of at least one or more of the applications in the group;

receiving one or more search criteria from a user of the computing environment;

performing one or more search operations on a collection of data items to identify a set of data items that satisfy the criteria, wherein each data item in the collection is usable by a corresponding one or more of applications in the group; and

displaying a search result comprising one or more entries, wherein each of the one or more entries corresponds to at least one of the data items in the set;

wherein at least one step of (i) performing one or more search operations or (ii) displaying the search result is configured using the data generated from monitoring the usage of the individual applications in the group.

25. A method for performing a search of data items, the method comprising:

recording a user'"'"'s selection of an entry contained in a search result, wherein the search result is provided in response the user initiating one or more search operations;

identifying an application or a data type of a data item identified by the entry of the user'"'"'s selection; and

responsive to receiving a subsequent search request from the user, performing a search of a collection of data items, wherein the search is configured to select or prioritize data items from the collection based on the recorded information.

26. The method claim 25, further comprising recording each selection of the user for multiple entries in the search result.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein performing a search of a collection of data items includes communicating a criterion of the search request to one or more applications that operate in the computing environment, wherein the one or more applications are selected based on the recorded information.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein performing a search of a collection of data items includes communicating a criterion of the search request to one or more applications that operate in the computing environment according to a priority that is established at least in part by the recorded information.