Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Distributed data processing – Client/server
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-30
2003-09-02
Barot, Bharat (Department: 2154)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Distributed data processing
Client/server
C709S200000, C709S217000, C709S219000, C707S793000, C715S252000, C715S252000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06615238
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of the Internet and, more specifically, to a system and method for communicating information over the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
To facilitate understanding of the background and preferred embodiments of the invention, the following terms and acronyms are used through this specification:
Client-Server. A model of interaction in a distributed computer system in which a program at one site sends a request to a program at another site and waits for a response. The requesting program is called the “client,” and the program which responds to the request is called the “server.” In the context of the World Wide Web (discussed below), the client is a “Web browser” (or simply “browser”) which runs on a computer of a user; the program which responds to browser requests by serving Web pages is commonly referred to as a “Web server.”
Dialog Box. A window or box that appears on a display screen to present information and request user input or user data.
Hyperlink. A navigational link from one document to another, or from one portion (or component) of a document to another. Typically, a hyperlink is displayed as a highlighted word or phrase that can be selected by clicking on it using a mouse to jump to the associated document or documented portion.
Hypertext System. A computer-based informational system in which documents (and possibly other types of data entities) are linked together via hyperlinks to form a user-navigable “Web.”
Internet. A collection of interconnected (public and/or private) networks that are linked together by a set of standard protocols(such as TCP/IP and HTTP) to form a global, distributed network. (While this term is intended to refer to what is now commonly known as the Internet, it is also intended to encompass variations which may be made in the future, including changes and additions to existing standard protocols.)
World Wide Web (“Web”). Used herein to refer generally to both (i) a distributed collection of interlinked, user-viewable hypertext documents (commonly referred to as Web documents or Web pages) that are accessible via the Internet, and (ii) the client and server software components which provide user access to such documents using standardized Internet protocols. Currently, the primary standard protocol for allowing applications to locate and acquire Web documents is HTTP, and the Web pages are encoded using HTML. However, the terms “Web” and “World Wide Web” are intended to encompass future markup languages and transport protocols which may be used in place of (or in addition to) HTML and HTTP.
Web Site. A computer system that serves informational content over a network using the standard protocols of the World Wide Web. Typically, a Web site corresponds to a particular Internet domain name, such as “ASKFORFREE.COM®,” and includes the content associated with a particular organization. As used herein, the term is generally intended to encompass both (i) the hardware/software server components that serve the informational content over the network, and (ii) the “back end” hardware/software components, including any non-standard or specialized components, that interact with the server components to perform services for Web site users.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language). A standard coding convention and set of codes for attaching presentation and linking attributes to informational content within documents. (HTML 2.0 is currently the primary standard used for generating Web documents.) During a document authoring stage, the HTML codes (referred to as “tags”) are embedded within the informational content of the document. When the Web document (or HTML document) is subsequently transferred from a Web server to a browser, the codes are interpreted by the browser and used to parse and display the document. Additionally in specifying how the Web browser is to display the document, HTML tags can be used to create links to other Web documents (commonly referred to as “hyperlinks”). For more information on HTML, see Ian S. Graham, The HTML Source Book, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1995 (ISBN 0471-11894-4).
HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol). The standard World Wide Web client-server protocol used for the exchange of information (such as HTML documents, and client requests for such documents) between a browser and a Web server. HTTP includes a number of different types of messages which can be sent from the client to the server to request different types of server actions. For example, a “GET” message, which has the format GET , causes the server to return the document or file located at the specified URL (see below).
URL (Uniform Resource Locator). A unique address which fully specifies the location of a file or other resource on the Internet. The general format of a URL is protocol://machine address:port/path/filename. The port specification is optional, and if none is entered by the user, the browser defaults to the standard port for whatever service is specified as the protocol. For example, if HTTP is specified as the protocol, the browser will use the HTTP default port of
80
.
The Internet allows users access to a tremendous amount of information and also provides the ability to conduct remote transactions (e.g., E-commerce) via their computers. However, there is a constant challenge to more easily allow users to locate and obtain specific information of interest to them and to conduct electronic transactions.
As is well known, Internet Web pages often include embedded hyperlinks to uniform resource locators (URLs) for other Internet Web pages. When an Internet user viewing a particular Web page “clicks on” or selects a hyperlink, the user's Web browser is directed away from the Web page that the user is currently viewing, and a linked-to Web page is loaded into the Web browser. Accordingly, one technique for an Internet user to locate and obtain information of interest is to navigate from Web page to Web page by clicking embedded hyperlinks.
However, simple navigation from Web page to Web page is typically a very inefficient way for an Internet user to locate and obtain information of interest. Therefore, tools have been developed to facilitate the process.
One tool to help Internet users locate and obtain information of interest is an Internet search engine. An Internet user may access an Internet search engine through a Web site hosting the Internet search engine (e.g., www.yahoo.com). Alternatively, a hyperlink to the Internet search engine may be embedded within any other Web page, (e.g., www.netscape.com). Typically, an Internet search engine includes a search terms entry box into which an Internet user types search terms or keywords via his or her computer. The Web site hosting the Internet search engine then transmits a new Web page to be displayed by a user's computer display screen containing the results of the Internet search, which it is hoped will assist the user to find the information of interest.
However, there are several problems in these conventional methods of accessing information via the Internet.
One problem is that when a user clicks on a hyperlink, or enters data into a search terms entry box of a host Web page which the user is viewing, the user's view of the host Web page is altered. Typically, the user's Web browser is pointed away from the host Web page which the user is viewing, and a new, linked-to, Web page is loaded into the user's Web browser in place of the host Web page. Alternatively, the user's computer may open a second Web browser window containing the linked-to Web page, covering the host Web page on the user's computer display screen. Or, in some cases, a “pop-up box” opens on the user's computer display screen, covering all or part of the host Web page.
In many cases, the provider of the host Web page does not want to have its host Web page disappear or be covered on the user's computer display screen, or even to have the user's attention turned away from the
Melet Stone J.
Melet Todd B.
Barot Bharat
Kettera Software, Inc.
McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
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