Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-11
2003-11-04
Alam, Shahid Al (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000, C709S230000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06643655
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-123193 filed on May 6, 1998, another Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-370637 filed on Dec. 25, 1998, and another Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-107209 filed on Apr. 14, 1999, including specification, claims, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital data communication systems, more specifically to communications of self-descriptive data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, a communication method using the internet is known as two-way data communications among computers. The principle of the method will be briefly described hereunder. A plurality of hyper text markup language (hereinafter referred to as HTML) files linked with one another are stored into a world wide web (hereinafter referred to as WWW) server which is connected to the internet. A demand for transmitting the HTML files stored in the WWW server is sent thereto from a gathering information computer which is connected to the internet. The WWW server transmits whole or a part of the HTML files to the gathering computer in response to the demand. As a result, data linked with one another and stored in the WWW server can be transferred.
Data communication services using satellite broadcasting, on the other hand, are known as one-way data communications. In satellite broadcasting, data are transmitted through a moving picture experts group 2 (hereinafter referred to as MPEG 2) system standard used for data transmission which has a relatively higher flexibility than the other two standards in the MPEG 2, such as MPEG 2 video standard used for video data and MPEG 2 audio standard used for audio data, out of these three MPEG 2 standards.
In order to transmit HTML files to the receivers by using satellite broadcasting, a demand for transmitting desired HTML file(s) need to be sent to the transmitter.
To avoid sending the demand, methods described hereunder are employed in actual data communications protocols such as BITCAST and ADAMS (TV-Asahi data and multimedia service). A plurality of files linked with one another are transmitted as one unitized file by the transmitter. In the receiver, all the files are stored in a storage device like a hard disk by sequentially storing each of the files therein. Further, the specified file(s) is displayed in response to operation of the user by browser software installed in the receiver. The browser software performs reference operations by specifying the name of a file(s) stored in a hard disk when there is HTML tag(s) requiring reference of other file(s) in the specified file(s) (details of the technology is disclosed in an article entitled “Special Report from state-of-the-art technology; The Whole Aspect of the Next Generation Digital Television”, published by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.)
In this method, however, all the files must be stored in the hard disk as well as storing information needed to manage the directory. In this way, a certain capability for storing this information is required in the receiver, and the receiver can not display a desired file(s) until its retrieval is completed. Further, a number of processing steps need to be performed by the receiving computer's central processing unit (CPU) for retrieving the desired file(s) from the stored files.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks on the data communication method, and to provide a data communication system and a method thereof capable of selectively receiving selected data out of data consisting of a plurality of files related one another at a high speed with less data storing capacities.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a data communication system and a method thereof capable of selectively extracting desired data out of data related with one another even when the receiver has a small data storing capability.
In accordance with characteristics of the present invention, there is provided a digital data communication system comprising a transmitter and a receiver,
A) the transmitter including:
a1) file storing means for storing a plurality of files, and
a2) transmission means for repeatedly transmitting the files packetized thereby in accordance with a transmission protocol, the packetized files uniquely assigned identifiers;
B) the receiver including:
b1) selective receiving means for selectively receiving the packetized files having predetermined identifiers in accordance with a selecting condition set therein and outputting data contained in the packetized files,
b2) display data generating means for generating display data according to the outputted data, and
b3) selecting condition varying means for varying the selecting condition; and
C) wherein c1) the file storing means stores files formed of self-descriptive data which includes a reference command for referring another file, and wherein the identifier of each file includes characters directly selected by the selecting condition varying means,
c2) the display data generating means generates display data according to the self-descriptive data outputted by the selective receiving means, and
c3) the selecting condition varying means provides an identifier assigned to a file so as to obtain the file specified by the reference command in the self-descriptive data to the selective receiving means.
Also, in accordance with characteristics of the present invention, there is provided a method of communicating digital data, comprising the steps of:
repeatedly transmitting a plurality of files after packetizing the files according to a transmission protocol with identifiers uniquely assigned thereto in a transmitting station, each of the files comprising self-descriptive data which include a reference command for referring another file, the identifier of the each file consisting of characters directly selected by a receiving station, and
performing the following steps in a receiving station, selectively receiving the packetized files having predetermined identifiers in accordance with a selecting condition set therein, generating display data in accordance with the self-descriptive data contained in the packetized files, outputting the generated data, and varying an identifier of a file as the selecting condition so as to obtain the file specified by the reference command in the self-descriptive data.
Further, in accordance with characteristics of the present invention, there is provided a digital data communication system comprising a transmitter and a receiver,
A) the transmitter including:
a1) file storing means for storing a plurality of files, and
a2) transmission means for repeatedly transmitting the files packetized thereby in accordance with a transmission protocol, the packetized files uniquely assigned identifiers;
B) the receiver including:
b1) selective receiving means for selectively receiving the packetized files having predetermined identifiers in accordance with a selecting condition set therein and outputting data contained in the packetized files,
b2) received data storing means for storing data contained in the packetized files each having same identifier in one independent file basis,
b3) display data generating means for generating display data according to the outputted data, and
b4) selecting condition varying means for varying the selecting condition; and
C) wherein: c1) the file storing means stores files formed of self-descriptive data which includes a reference command for referring another file,
c2) the transmission means assigns one module identifier including characters capable of being read directly with the selective receiving means to both a reference file which refers other files and a referred file which is referred by the reference file, and transmits the reference file and the referred file, and
c3) the display data generating means generates display data according to the self-descri
Oashi Masahiro
Shimoji Tatsuya
Sonoda Yasuyuki
Yamamuro Keisei
Al Alam Shahid
Bednarek Michael D.
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
ShawPittman LLP
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