Method and apparatus for accessing a remote location by sensing a machine-resolvable code

• US 6,701,369 B1
• Filed: 03/29/2000
• Issued: 03/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Jack A. Turpin, RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: LV Partners LP (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Philyaw, Jeffry Jovan
• Primary Examiner(s): Coulter, Kenneth R.
• Application Number:
  US09/537,530
• Time in Patent Office: 1,434 Days
• Field of Search: 709/229, 709/217, 709/219, 707/10, 707/1
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/301 Name conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A method for controlling a computer wherein one or more remote locations disposed on a network are accessed in response to sensing a machine-resolvable code. A computer disposed on a network is operably connected to an input device for sensing a machine-resolvable code. A software application which includes a software identification code runs on the computer. In response to sensing a machine-resolvable code with the input device, the computer accesses at least one remote location corresponding to the software identification code. The one or more remote locations accessed may then return remote information to the computer for presentation.

Claims

1. A method of accessing one or more remote locations on a network by sensing a machine-resolvable code, comprising the steps of:

providing a first computer disposed on the network, the first computer being connected to an input device for sensing a machine-resolvable code present at a first location, the first computer running a software application which includes a software identification code unrelated to the machine resolvable code having associated therewith at least one of the one or more remote locations, and which software identification code can be accessed from the software application after installation of the software application on the first computer;

accessing with the first computer a second computer disposed on the network in accordance with routing information provided by the first computer and in response to sensing by the input device the machine-resolvable code present at the first location with the input device;

transferring to the second computer from the first computer at least the software identification code;

storing in an associative database at the second computer associations between software identification codes and ones of the one or more remote locations and operable to have routine information associated with each of the one or more remote locations,

performing a lookup operation at the second computer to match the software identification code with the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations in accordance with the stored associations to obtain associated remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations;

returning to the first computer from the second computer the remote routing information of the at least one of the one or more remote locations determined at the second computer to correspond to the software identification code that was transferred from the first computer to the second computer; and

accessing with the first computer the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations according to the returned remote routing information to retrieve remote information from the one of the one or more remote locations associated with the returned remote routing information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accessing with the first computer further comprises the steps of:

returning information from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations to the first computer; and

presenting at least a portion of the information so returned on the display of the first computer for presentation to the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to the sensing of a machine-resolvable code using the input device, the software application running on the first computer converts the software identification code and generates routing information for transmission to the second computer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the routing information includes the software identification code and the address of the second computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-resolvable code is an optical code and the input device is an optical code scanner.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the optical code is a bar code and the optical code scanner is a bar code scanner.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the bar code is a universal product code (UPC) bar code.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the optical code is alphanumeric text and the optical code scanner is an optical character recognition (OCR) scanner.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the optical code is a portion of a display screen displaying a pattern of modulated brightness and the optical code scanner comprises a light sensor.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-resolvable code is an audio tone and the input device comprises a microphone.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-resolvable code is a magnetic pattern in a strip of magnetic material and the input device is a magnetic strip reader.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-resolvable code is a pattern of electromagnetic signals transmitted from an induction-coupled transceiver device and the input device is an electromagnetic signal receiver.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the machine-resolvable code is associated with at least a second of the one or more remote locations;

the step of transferring is operable to also transfer the sensed machine-resolvable code to the second computer;

the step of storing associations comprises storing an association between ones of machine resolvable codes and ones of the one or more remote locations; and

the step of performing a lookup operation at the second computer further comprises matching the received machine-resolvable code with the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations to obtain remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of returning the remote routing information further comprises returning the remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations from the second computer to the first computer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of accessing with the first computer further comprises the steps of,

returning information from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations to the first computer;

returning information from the associated second of the one or more remote locations to the first computer; and

framing at least a portion of the information from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations and at least a portion of the information from the associated second of the one or more remote locations in a browser window of the first computer for presentation to the user.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a global communication network.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a remote location is accessible corresponding to each one of the group consisting of the machine-resolvable code, the software identification code and the input device ID.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of performing a lookup operation includes obtaining routing information for a remote location corresponding respectively to each one of the machine resolvable code, the software identification code and the input device ID.

19. A system for accessing one or more remote locations on a network by sensing a machine-resolvable code, comprising:

a first computer disposed on the network, the first computer being connected to an input device for sensing a machine-resolvable code present at a first location, wherein the machine-resolvable code contains no routing information, the first computer running a software application which includes a software identification code unrelated to the machine resolvable code having associated therewith at least one of the one or more remote locations, and which software identification code can be accessed from the software application after installation of the software application on the first computer;

a second computer disposed on the network, and accessed in accordance with routing information provided by said first computer and in response to the input device sensing the machine-resolvable code present at the first location;

the first computer operable to transfer to the second computer from the first computer at least the software identification code;

an associative database disposed at the second computer for storing associations between software identification codes and ones of the one or more remote locations and operable to have routing information associated with each of the one or more remote locations;

wherein a lookup operation is performed at the second computer to match the software identification code with the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations to obtain associated remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations;

wherein the remote routing information of the at least one of the one or more remote locations determined at the second computer to correspond to the software identification code that was transferred from the first computer to the second computer; and

wherein the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations are accessed by the first computer according to the returned remote routing information to retrieve remote information from the one of the one or more remote locations associated with the returned remote routing information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein at least a portion of the information returned from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations to the first computer is presented on the display of the first computer.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the software application running on the first computer converts the software identification code and generates routing information for transmission to the second computer in response to the sensing of a machine-resolvable code by the input device.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the routing information includes the software identification code and the address of the second computer.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the machine-resolvable code is an optical code and the input device is an optical code scanner.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the optical code is a bar code and the optical code scanner is a bar code scanner.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the bar code is a universal product code (UPC) bar code.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the optical code is alphanumeric text and the optical code scanner is an optical character recognition (OCR) scanner.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the optical code is a portion of a display screen displaying a pattern of modulated brightness and the optical code scanner comprises a light sensor.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein the machine-resolvable code is an audio tone and the input device comprises a microphone.

29. The system of claim 19, wherein the machine-resolvable code is a magnetic pattern in a strip of magnetic material and the input device is a magnetic strip reader.

30. The system of claim 19, wherein the machine-resolvable code is a pattern of electromagnetic signals transmitted from an induction-coupled transceiver device and the input device is an electromagnetic signal receiver.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein:

the machine-resolvable code is associated with at least a second of the one or more remote locations;

the first computer is operable to also transfer the sensed machine-resolvable code to the second computer;

said associative database operable to store an association between ones of machine resolvable codes and ones of the one or more remote locations; and

wherein the second computer performs a lookup operation matching the received machine-resolvable code with the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations to obtain remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the second computer returns the remote routing information corresponding to the associated at least a second of the one or more remote locations to the first computer.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein information from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations is returned to the first computer;

wherein information from the associated second of the one or more remote locations is returned to the first computer; and

wherein at least a portion of the information from the associated at least one of the one or more remote locations and at least a portion of the information from the associated second of the one or more remote locations are framed in a browser window of the first computer for presentation to the user.

34. The system of claim 19, wherein the network is a global communication network.

35. The system of claim 19, wherein a remote location is accessible corresponding to each one of the group consisting of said machine-resolvable code, said software identification code and said input device ID.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein performing said lookup operation includes obtaining routing information for said remote location corresponding respectively to each one of said machine-resolvable code, said software identification code and said input device ID.