Information aggregation and synthesization system

• US 6,208,975 B1
• Filed: 06/19/1997
• Issued: 03/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TVL LP (Sabre Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sabre Incorporated (Sabre Corp.)
• Inventors: Bull, David Stanley, Carr, Robert Neal Jr., Offutt, Joseph Robert Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tkacs, Stephen R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KALINOWSKI, ALEXANDER G
• Application Number:
  US08/878,668
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/26, 705/10, 395/200.31, 395/200.33, 395/200.47, 395/200.54, 709/202, 709/203, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 707/3, 707/6
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An information aggregation and synthesization system and process. The present invention provides aggregation and packaging of structured or unstructured information from disparate sources such as those available on a network such as the Internet. A network compatible/addressable interface device is operated by a user. The network interface device communicates with local datastores or network accessible datastores via an addressing scheme such as Uniform Resource Locator addresses (URLs) utilized by the Internet. Data passing between the network interface device and the datastores is accessed, polled, and retrieved through an intermediary gateway system. Such aggregated information is then synthesized, customized, personalized and localized to meet the information resource requests specified by the user via the network interface device.

Claims

1. A method for notifying a third party of a demand for information by users of a network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a user request to locate particular information on a network accessible datastore;

determining whether the particular information is present on the datastore;

collecting data reflecting a number of requests for the particular information when the particular information is determined to be absent from the datastore; and

forwarding the collected data to the third party to notify the third party of a demand for the particular information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting step further includes the substep of:

collecting data reflecting search patterns of the users.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding step further includes the substep of:

forwarding the collected data to the third party based upon a threshold matching of a predetermined criteria and the collected data.

4. A computer for notifying a third party of a demand for information by users of a network, the computer comprising:

a memory having program instructions; and

a processor, responsive to the program instructions, configured to;

receive a user request to locate particular information on a network accessible datastore;

determine whether the particular information is present on the datastore;

collect data reflecting a number of requests for the particular information when the particular information is determined to be absent from the datastore; and

forward the collected data to the third party to notify the third party of a demand for the particular information.

5. The computer of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to collect data reflecting search patterns of the users.

6. The computer of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to forward the collected data to the third party based upon a threshold matching of a predetermined criteria and the collected data.

7. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a data processing system to perform a method for notifying a third party of a demand for information by users of a network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a user request to locate particular information on a network accessible datastore;

determining whether the particular information is present on the datastore;

collecting data reflecting a number of requests for the particular information when the particular information is determined to be absent from the datastore; and

forwarding the collected data to the third party to notify the third party of a demand for the particular information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the collecting step further includes the substep of:

collecting data reflecting search patterns of the users.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the forwarding step further includes the substep of:

forwarding the collected data to the third party based upon a threshold matching of a predetermined criteria and the collected data.

10. An apparatus for notifying a third party of a demand for information by users of a network, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a user request to locate particular information on a network accessible datastore;

means for determining whether the particular information is present on the datastore;

means for collecting data reflecting a number of requests for the particular information when the particular information is determined to be absent from the datastore; and

means for forwarding the collected data to the third party to notify the third party of a demand for the particular information.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for collecting further includes:

means for collecting data reflecting search patterns of the users.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the means for forwarding further includes:

means for forwarding the collected data to the third party based upon a threshold matching of a predetermined criteria and the collected data.