Method and system for processing queries initiated by users of mobile devices

• US 8,805,345 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ling, Benjamin C., Wu, Jie J., Deng, Jian Gong, Feng, Hanping
• Primary Examiner(s): MEHRA, INDER P
• Application Number:
  US13/619,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20130013636A1
• Time in Patent Office: 697 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/412.2, 455/414.1, 455/414.3, 455/418, 455/419, 455/420, 455/466, 455/414.2, 455/556.2, 455/456.1, 707/3, 707/4, 707/7, 707/E17.109, 707/706, 707/769, 707/692, 707/999.001, 707/999.002, 707/999.003, 707/999.004, 707/710, 707/723, 707/732, 707/779, 707/748, 705/14.54, 705/14.55, 705/14.73
• US Class Current: 455/414.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90335 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9038 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method for processing queries initiated by users of mobile devices includes receiving an incoming message containing a query initiated by a user of a mobile device, and extracting the query from the received message. The message further includes obtaining a result of the query and creating an outgoing message with the result of the query for delivery to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device, an input including a query, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search;

extracting the query from the input;

determining, based at least in part on semantics of the query, a type of the query, wherein the type of the query identifies at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword;

selecting, based at least in part on the type of the query, a search engine from a plurality of search engines, wherein the search engine provides responses for queries having a query type that is the same as the type of the query;

forwarding the query to the search engine;

obtaining a result of a search from the search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the search engine for the user-specified keyword;

determining that the result of the search exceeds an allowed size of an outgoing message; and

in response to determining that the result of the search exceeds the allowed size of an outgoing message, outputting the result of the search by splitting the result of the search into multiple outgoing messages using boundaries of the result of the search.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input comprises an audio input, and wherein the query comprises a voice query.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein extracting the voice query from the audio input comprises processing the audio input using a speech recognition module.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the type of the query comprises:

determining, based at least in part on the semantics of the voice query, a query type indicator; and

determining, based at least in part on the query type indicator, the type of the query.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the content is stored at the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one search engine from the plurality of search engines is operable by the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the query comprises sending the query to one or more servers via a wireless network.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the query further includes a query type indication, and wherein determining, based at least in part on the semantics of the query, the type of the query comprises:

extracting the query type indicator from the query; and

determining, based at least in part on the query type indicator, the type of the query.

8. A mobile device comprising:

at least one processor;

an input module operable by the at least one processor to receive an input including a query specifying a query type indicator, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, and the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword;

a query parser module operable by the at least one processor to extract the query from the input, to determine a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator, to select a search engine form a plurality of search engines based at least in part on the type of the query, wherein the search engine is associated with the type of the query, and to forward the query to the search engine;

a query result receiver module operable by the at least one processor to obtain a result of a search from the search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the search engine for the user-specified keyword; and

an output module operable by the at least one processor to determine that the result of the search exceeds an allowed size of an outgoing message and in response to determining that the result of the search exceeds the allowed size of an outgoing message, output the result of the search by splitting the result of the search into multiple outgoing messages using boundaries of the result of the search.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the query parser module comprises a voice query parser module, wherein the input comprises an audio input, and wherein the query comprises a voice query.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the voice query parser module is operable by the at least one processor to extract the voice query from the audio input by at least processing the audio input using a speech recognition module.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the voice query parser module is operable by the at least one processor to determine the query type indicator based at least on the semantics of the voice query.

12. The device of claim 8, further comprising a search module operable by the at least one processor to perform the search, wherein the search module includes one or more of the plurality of search engines.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the search module is operable by the at least one processor to perform the search by searching content stored at the mobile device.

14. The device of claim 8, wherein the user-specified keyword includes a destination, and the output module is operable by the at least one processor to output navigation directions to the destination.

15. A system comprising:

a server device,

wherein the server device is configured to receive a message from a mobile device, wherein the message includes a query specifying a query type indicator, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword, extract the query from the message, determine a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator, select a search engine from a plurality of search engines based at least in part on the type of the query, the search engine being associated with the type of the query, forward the query to the search engine, obtain a result of a search from the search engine, the result of the search being based at least in part on a search of content by the search engine for the user-specified keyword, determine that the result of the search exceeds an allowed size of an outgoing message and in response to determining that the result of the search exceeds the allowed size of an outgoing message, create an outgoing message including the result of the search for delivery to the mobile device by splitting the result of the search into multiple outgoing messages using boundaries of the result of the search.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the input comprises an audio input, and wherein the query comprises a voice query.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the server device is configured to determine the query type indicator specified by the voice query based at least on the semantics of the voice query.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the server device comprises a distributed computing system, and wherein the distributed computing system includes at least one of the plurality of search engines.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more programmable processors of a computing device to:

receive, by an input device operatively coupled to the computing device, an input including a query, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search;

extract the query from the input;

determine, base at least in part on semantics of the query, a type of the query, wherein the type of the query identifies at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword;

select, based at least in part on the type of the query, a search engine from a plurality of search engines, wherein the search engine provides responses for queries having a query type that is the same as the type of the query forward the query to the search engine;

obtain a result of a search from the search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the search engine for the user-specified keyword;

determine that the result of the search exceeds an allowed size of an outgoing message; and

in response to determining that the result of the search exceeds the allowed size of an outgoing message, output the result of the search by splitting the result of the search into multiple outgoing messages using boundaries of the result of the search.