Data processing: artificial intelligence – Knowledge processing system – Knowledge representation and reasoning technique
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-12
2003-04-29
Davis, George B. (Department: 2121)
Data processing: artificial intelligence
Knowledge processing system
Knowledge representation and reasoning technique
C706S011000, C706S020000, C706S021000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06556983
ABSTRACT:
§1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
§1.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns techniques for enhancing the interaction between people and computers. In particular, the present invention concerns techniques for representing, filtering, classifying, and linking semantic data, as well as techniques for rendering semantic data in an intuitive way. Thus, the present invention basically concerns techniques for enhancing the way people find and access stored data.
§1.2 Related Art
§1.2.1 Migration from Data Creation and Processing, to Data and Information Access
The way in which people use computing machines has evolved over the last 50 or so years. Initially, these machines were typically used as information processors, and in particular, for performing mathematical operations on numbers. People interacted with such early computing machines by punching and ordering cards to effect a sequence of commands, then by setting switches and viewing light emitting diodes to enter commands, later by entering lines of commands, and finally by using a keyboard and mouse to manipulate icon metaphors of the real world.
To reiterate, early personal computers were typically used to perform mathematical operations, from engineering applications to accounting applications (e.g., spreadsheets). In addition, such early personal computers were used to enter, store, and manipulate information, such as with word processing applications for example, and to effectively access stored information, such as with relational database applications for example. However, in addition to using computers for data entry, storage, and manipulation, people are using computers to access information to an ever increasing degree.
In recent decades, and in the past five (5) to ten (10) years in particular, computers have become interconnected by networks by an ever increasing extent; initially, via local area networks (or “LANs”), and more recently via LANs, private wide area networks (or “WANs”) and the Internet. The proliferation of networks, in conjunction with the increased availability of inexpensive data storage means, has afforded computer users unprecedented access to a wealth of content. Such content may be presented to a user (or “rendered”) in the form of text, images, audio, video, etc.
The Internet is one means of inter-networking local area networks and individual computers. The popularity of the Internet has exploded in recent years. Many feel that this explosive growth was fueled by the ability to link (e.g., via Hyper-text links) resources (e.g., World Wide Web pages) so that users could seamlessly transition from various resources, even when such resources were stored at geographically remote resource servers. More specifically, the Hyper-text markup language (or “HTML”) permits documents to include hyper-text links. These hyper-text links, which are typically rendered in a text file as text in a different font or color, include network address information to related resources. More specifically, the hyper-text link has an associated uniform resource locator (or “URL”) which is an Internet address at which the linked resource is located. When a user activates a hyper-text link, for example by clicking a mouse when a displayed cursor coincides with the text associated with the hyper-text link, the related resource is accessed, downloaded, and rendered to the user. The related resource may be accessed by the same resource server that provided the previously rendered resource, or may be accessed by a geographically remote resource server. Such transiting from resource to resource, by activating hyper-text links for example, is commonly referred to as “surfing”.
Thus, although people continue to use computers to enter information, manipulate information, and store information, in view of the foregoing developments people are using computers to access information to an ever increasing extent. Although the information people want to access might have been created by them (which would typically reside on the person's desktop computer), it is often information that was not created by them, or even by a company or group to which that person belongs (which would typically reside on a storage server, accessible via a local area network). Rather, given the world wide breadth of the Internet, the information people want to access may likely be created by unrelated third parties (or content providers).
New user interfaces should therefore help people find information that they want, or that they might want. Unfortunately, the very vastness of available data can overwhelm a user; desired data can become difficult to find and search heuristics employed to locate desired data often return unwanted data (also referred to as “noise”).
Various concepts have been employed to help users locate desired data. In the context of the Internet for example, some services have organized content based on a rigid hierarchy of categories. A user may then navigate through a series of hierarchical menus to find content that may be of interest to them. An example of such a service is the YAHOO™ World Wide Web site on the Internet. Unfortunately, content, in the form of Internet “web sites” for example, must be organized by the service and users must navigate through a predetermined hierarchy of menus. If a user mistakenly believes that a category will be of interest or include what they were looking for, but the category turns out to be irrelevant, the user must backtrack through one (1) or more hierarchical levels of categories. In the context of personal computers, people often store and retrieve data using a fixed hierarchy of directories or “folders”. While a person who created their own hierarchy is less likely to mis-navigate through it, changes to the hierarchy to reflect refinements or new data or insights are not automatic—the person must manually edit the hierarchy of directories or folders. Further, if a particular file should be classified into more than one (1) of the directories or folders, the person must manually copy the file into each of the desired directories or folders. This copying must be done each time the file is changed.
Again in the context of the Internet for example, some services provide “search engines” which search databased content or “web sites” pursuant to a user query. In response to a user's query, a rank ordered list, which includes brief descriptions of the uncovered content, as well as a hypertext links (text, having associated Internet address information (also referred to as a “uniform resource locator” or “URL”), which, when activated, commands a computer to retrieve content from the associated Internet address) to the uncovered content is returned. The rank ordering of the list is typically based on a match between words appearing in the query and words appearing in the content. Unfortunately, however, present limitations of search heuristics often cause irrelevant content (or “noise”) to be returned in response to a query. Again, unfortunately, the very wealth of available content impairs the efficacy of these search engines since it is difficult to separate irrelevant content from relevant content. In the context of files stored on a personal computer, computer programs such as Tracker Pro from Enfish, Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., Alta Vista Discovery from Compaq, Inc. of Houston, Tex., and Sherlock, from Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. permit people to organize, filter, and search files on their personal computer. Unfortunately, it is believed that these programs merely group (or organize) and cross-reference files based on a word or phrase (or “tracker”) in the files. Thus, the name (or “tracker”) “John Smith” might group word processing files (e.g., letters, memos, etc.) having the name “John Smith”, e-mail files to, from, or having a message containing “John Smith”, etc. These programs are believed to be too unsophisticated to derive a higher meaning (e.g., what was the purpose of the e-mail to John Smith) from the computer files. These programs can filter files based on s
Altschuler Steven
Ingerman David V.
Wu Lani
Zhao Lei
Davis George B.
Lee & Hayes PLLC
Microsoft Corporation
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