JPH11265400A - Information processor, its method, network system, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to surely obtain an answer to a complicated question. SOLUTION: At the time of receiving the input of a question from a WWW browser 41, a question I/O device 31-1 in a question processor 3-1 outputs the received question to a question transfer device 32-1. The device 32-1 allows a question retrieving device 33-1 in the processor 3-1 itself to retrieve an answer to the question when the retrieval is possible, and when the retrieval is impossible, transfers the question to other question processors 3-2, 3-3. Each of the processors 3-2, 3-3 retrieves the answer to the question when its retrieval is possible in the processor itself and transfers the retrieved answer to the question processor 3-1 to be a question source. When the answer to the question can not be retrieved in the processor itself, each of the processors 3-2, 3-3 further transfers the question to another question processor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a network system, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a method for quickly and reliably using a network.
An information processing apparatus and method, a network system, and a method for obtaining an answer to a predetermined question
And a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has proposed, as Japanese Patent No. 2605828, an information processing system which analyzes and infers a large and complicated problem. In this proposal, for example, when a microcomputer outputs a question to a lower-level first fuzzy computer, the first fuzzy computer disassembles the question as necessary if it cannot answer the question, The disassembled question is added to the lower second
And a third fuzzy computer. Each of the second fuzzy computer and the third fuzzy computer searches for an answer to the input disassembled question, and outputs the answer to the upper first fuzzy computer when the answer is found. The first fuzzy computer creates an answer to the question from the microcomputer using the answers input from the second fuzzy computer and the third fuzzy computer, and outputs the created answer to the microcomputer.

[0003] By decomposing a question and causing a plurality of lower-level computers to search, it is possible to search for an answer to a complicated question in a short time.

On the other hand, Robin Burke, Kristian Hammond, J
ulia Kozlovsky's paper "Knowledge-based Informa
tion Retrieval from Semi-Structured Text ", Proceed
ingsof 1995 AAAI Fall Symposium on AI Application
Knowledge Navigation and Retribval, pp. 20-25, 1995 ''
Discloses a FAQ Finder system. In this FAQ finder system, for frequently asked questions (FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)), questions and answers are prepared in advance as files.
When a question is asked, the file is searched for the same question or not, and if there is the same question, the corresponding answer is output as an answer to the question.

[0005]

However, in the earlier proposal of the present applicant, when a question is sequentially transmitted to another computer, the answer is sequentially returned to the computer which transmitted the question. Therefore, for example, when an answer to a predetermined question is obtained using a relatively large-scale network such as the Internet that is rapidly spreading recently, it takes time to answer. There was a problem.

[0006] In the FAQ finder system described in the above-mentioned article, it is only possible to answer only the same question as a previously prepared question, and it is difficult to obtain an accurate answer to a free question. There was an issue.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to quickly and reliably obtain an answer to a question using a network.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving a question when specified by a network address; The answer generation means for generating the answer, the answer to the question received by the receiving means, determine whether the answer generation means can generate, if unable to answer, the question from the answer request destination list If the network address can be specified and transferred to another searched information processing apparatus and the answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated by the answer generating means, and the generated answer is received from the terminal. Is sent to the terminal, the question is accepted from another information processing device, and the other information The location, and transfer means for transferring to the network address, characterized in that it comprises a storage means for storing the reply processing component list of network addresses of the transfer destination the transfer means transfers the question.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method comprising: a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address; and an answer generating step of generating an answer to the question received by the receiving step having knowledge for answering. And whether the answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and if the answer cannot be answered, the other information processing searched for the question from the answer request destination list If the device can specify the network address and transfer it, if it can be answered, it will generate an answer to the question in the answer generation step, and when the generated answer is received from the terminal, When the question is received from another information processing device and transmitted, other information as a question source Sense device, characterized by comprising a transfer step of transferring to the network address, and a storage step of storing the reply processing component list of network addresses of the transfer destination to transfer question transfer step.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium, comprising: a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address; and an answer generating step of generating answer to the question received by the receiving step having answering knowledge. It is determined whether an answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step, and if the answer cannot be answered, the other information processing apparatus searched for the question from the answer request destination list If the answer can be generated by specifying the network address and answering the question, the answer generation step generates an answer to the question, and sends the generated answer to the terminal when the question is accepted from the terminal. If the question is received from another information processing device, the other information processing Computer-readable program for executing a process including a transfer step of specifying a network address and transferring the same, and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred in the transfer step Is recorded.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address; and answer generating means having answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means. And, the answer to the question accepted by the accepting means, it is determined whether the answer generating means can be generated, if it can be generated, the answer generating means to generate an answer to the question, the generated answer, When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, it is transferred to another information processing device as a query source by designating a network address. If the question cannot be answered, the accepting means reads the number of times the question cannot be self-answered and the upper limit of the question and accepts the question. If the number of self-responses has not reached the upper limit, the question is transferred together with the number of self-responses that have incremented the value to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying the network address. When the number of times the self-reply cannot be reached reaches the upper limit, the transfer means transfers the question to another information processing apparatus as a query source by designating a network address, and the transfer means transfers the question. Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, and an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step. And, it is determined whether or not the answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and if it can be generated, the answer to the question is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, it is transferred to another information processing device as a query source by designating a network address. If the answer is not answered, the number of times the question was accepted If the number of self-replies that cannot be answered has not reached the upper limit yet, the question is sent to the other information processing device searched from the answer request destination list together with the number of self-replies that cannot be answered by incrementing the value. A transfer step of specifying the address and transferring the question to the other information processing apparatus as a question source when the number of self-response impossible times reaches the upper limit, specifying the network address; And a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred in the transfer step.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium, comprising: a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address; an answer generating step of having answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step. The answer to the question received in the receiving step is determined whether or not it can be generated in the answer generating step, and if it can be generated, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, it is transferred to another information processing device as a question source by designating a network address, If the question cannot be answered, the number of times the question cannot be answered When the limit value is read and the number of times the self-response cannot be reached has not yet reached the upper limit, the question and the number of times the self-response is not possible with the incremented value are sent to the other information processing apparatus searched from the answer request destination list with the network address. A transfer step of transferring the question to another information processing apparatus as a question source by specifying a network address when the number of times the self-answer cannot be reached reaches the upper limit value; And a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred in the step.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address; and answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means. Determines whether the answer generation means can generate an answer to the question accepted by the accepting means, and specifies the network address searched for the question from the answer request destination list when the answer cannot be answered. When the answer can be transferred to another information processing apparatus and the answer can be answered, the answer generation means generates an answer to the question, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal. When the question is received from another information processing device, the other information processing device as A transfer means for designating the address and a reply request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the transfer means transfers the question, and a question transfer destination corresponding to the answer status from another information processing apparatus. And a determination means for determining

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, and an answer generating step of generating answer to the question received in the receiving step having knowledge for answering And whether the answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and if the answer cannot be answered, specify the network address searched for the question from the answer request destination list When the answer can be transferred to another information processing apparatus and the answer can be answered, the answer is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal. When the question is received from another information processing device, the other information In the device, a transfer step of designating a network address and transferring, and a reply request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which a question is transferred in the transfer step are stored, and corresponding to a response status from another information processing device. And a determining step of determining a transfer destination of the question.

A recording medium according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention includes a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, an answer generating step of having answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step. It is determined whether or not an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and when the answer cannot be answered, the question is
When the network address searched from the answer request destination list is designated and transferred to another information processing device and the answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated in an answer generating step, and the generated answer is A transfer step of transmitting to the terminal when the request is received from the terminal, and specifying a network address to another information processing apparatus as a question source when the question is received from another information processing apparatus; and And storing a reply request destination list of a network address of a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step, and determining a transfer destination of the question in accordance with a response status from another information processing apparatus. A program readable by a computer to be executed is recorded.

[0017] The information processing apparatus according to the present invention, when specified by a network address, accepting means for accepting a question, and answer generating means having answering knowledge and generating an answer to the question accepted by the accepting means. When,
A transition list of an answer request in which the answer generating means judges whether or not the answer to the question accepted by the accepting means can be generated, and if the answer cannot be answered, the question is filled in with its own network address. At the same time, when the network address searched from the answer request destination list is designated and transferred to another information processing device and the answer can be made, the answer generating means generates an answer to the question, and the generated answer is When the question is received from the terminal together with the request transition list, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is sent to the other information processing device as the question source. Transfer means for designating a transfer destination and an answer of a network address of a transfer destination to which the transfer means transfers a question. Characterized in that it comprises a storage means for storing previous list.

An information processing method according to claim 17, wherein, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, and an answer generating step of generating answer to the question received in the receiving step, having answer knowledge. And whether the answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and if the answer cannot be answered, the question is sent to the answer request Along with the transition list, the network address searched from the answer request destination list is designated and transferred to another information processing device, and when an answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated in an answer generating step, and the generated answer is , Along with the change list of the answer request, When the question is received from another information processing device and transmitted to the terminal, a transfer step of specifying a network address and transferring to another information processing device as a query source, and Storing an answer request destination list of network addresses of transfer destinations to be transferred.

The recording medium according to the present invention has a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, an answer generating step of generating answer to the question received in the receiving step, having answer knowledge. It is determined whether or not an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and when the answer cannot be answered, the question is
When the user can specify the network address retrieved from the answer request destination list and transfer it to another information processing device along with the transition list of the answer request in which his / her own network address is entered, and answer the question, the answer generation step When the question is received from the terminal, when the question is received from the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, A process including a transfer step of designating and transferring a network address to another information processing apparatus as a query source, and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is to be transferred in the transfer step A computer-readable program to be executed is recorded.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein, when specified by a network address, receiving means for receiving a question, and answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means. When,
It is determined whether or not the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is referred to a plurality of other information retrieved from the answer request destination list. When the network device can be designated and transferred to the processing device and the answer can be made, the answer generation means generates an answer to the question, and the generated answer is sent to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal. When the question is received from another information processing apparatus, the network address is designated and transferred to the other information processing apparatus as a question source, and the answer from a plurality of other information processing apparatuses is transmitted. Receiving the certainty factor, comparing the certainty factors, selecting an answer having a high certainty factor, and transmitting the terminal to the terminal; Characterized in that it comprises a storage means for storing the reply processing component list of the previous network address.

In the information processing method according to the present invention, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, and an answer generating step of generating answer to the question received in the receiving step having knowledge for answer It is determined whether or not the answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step. When the answer cannot be answered, the question is When a network address is specified and transferred to the information processing apparatus, and an answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated in an answer generating step, and when the generated answer is received from the terminal, Sent to the terminal and when the question is received from another information processing device,
A network address is specified and transferred to another information processing apparatus as a query source, and replies and convictions from a plurality of other information processing apparatuses are received. The method includes a transfer step of selecting an answer and transmitting the answer to the terminal, and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred in the transfer step.

A recording medium according to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention includes a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step. It is determined whether or not an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step can be generated in the answer generating step, and when the answer cannot be answered, the question is
When a network address is specified and transferred to a plurality of other information processing apparatuses searched from the answer request destination list and the answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated in an answer generating step, and the generated answer is When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing apparatus, the network address is specified and transferred to another information processing apparatus as a question source. Along with receiving the answer and the certainty from the plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty,
A computer readable program for executing a process that includes a transfer step of selecting an answer with a high degree of certainty and transmitting the answer to the terminal, and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred in the transfer step A unique program is recorded.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 22, wherein, when specified by a network address, a receiving means for receiving a question, and an answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means. When,
The receiving means reads the number of transfers of the question and the upper limit thereof, and when the number of transfers has not reached the upper limit, causes the answer generating means to generate an answer to the question. The number of transfers is incremented together with the number of times, and the network address is specified and transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list. When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit, The generated answer, together with its confidence, is transferred to another information processing device as a query source by designating a network address, and further, responses from a plurality of other information processing devices are received. , A means for selecting an answer with a high degree of certainty and transmitting the answer to the terminal,
Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is transferred.

An information processing method according to claim 23, wherein, when specified by the network address, an accepting step of accepting a question, and an answer generating step of generating answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, having answer knowledge. And read the number of transfers of the question received in the receiving step and its upper limit, and when the number of transfers has not yet reached the upper limit, generate an answer to the question in the answer generating step, and generate the generated answer, Along with the certainty factor, the number of transfers is incremented, and the information is transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by designating a network address.
When the limit is reached, the answers generated so far are
Along with the certainty factor, a network address is specified and transferred to another information processing apparatus as a query source, and further,
A transfer step of receiving answers from a plurality of other information processing apparatuses, comparing the certainty factors, selecting an answer with a high certainty factor, and transmitting the answer to the terminal, and a transfer destination network for transferring the question in the transfer step And a storage step of storing an address request destination list.

A recording medium according to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention has a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, an answer generating step of having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step. In the receiving step, the number of transfers of the question received in the receiving step and its upper limit value are read, and if the number of transfers has not yet reached the upper limit value, an answer is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is The number of transfers is incremented together with the certainty factor, and the data is transferred to another information processing device retrieved from the answer request destination list by designating the network address. When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit value, To the other information processing device as a question source,
Transferring by specifying a network address, further receiving a response from a plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty thereof, selecting an answer with a high certainty, and transmitting to the terminal, And a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the question is to be transferred in the transfer step.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, when the information processing apparatus is designated by a network address, it has a receiving means for receiving a question and knowledge for answering, and a plurality of subdivided questions are received from the question received by the receiving means. A question generating means for generating a question, an answer generating means for generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means, or a fragmented question generated by the question generating means, and an answer to the question generated by the question generating means. Determining whether the answer generating means can generate the answer, and if the answer generating means can generate the answer, sends the question generated by the question generating means to the answer generating means to generate the answer, If the generating means cannot generate an answer, the question generated by the question generating means is replaced by its own network Transfer means for designating the network address as the transfer destination searched from the answer request destination list and transferring to another information processing apparatus, and the network address as a query source from any other information processing apparatus. Receiving means for receiving the answer to the question generated by the question generating means, or the answer to the question generated by the question generating means, sent from the answer generating means, Answer generating means for generating, from the received answer, an answer to the question before being subdivided received by the receiving means,
Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of network addresses of other information processing devices as transfer destinations to which the question is transferred by the transfer means.

The information processing method according to the twenty-sixth aspect has a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, and a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step having answering knowledge. A question generating step of generating a question, an answer generating step of generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step, or a subdivided question generated in the question generating step, having an answer knowledge, and a question generating step It is determined whether an answer to the generated question can be generated in the answer generation step, and if an answer can be generated in the answer generation step, the answer to the question generated in the question generation step is If the answer cannot be generated in the answer generation step, the quality A transfer step of specifying the own network address as a query source, specifying a network address as a transfer destination searched from an answer request destination list, and transferring the network address to another information processing apparatus, The answer to the question generated in the question generating step, or the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, generated in the answer generating step, transferred from the information processing apparatus by designating the network address as the question source A receiving step of receiving, an answer generating step of generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received in the receiving step from the answer received in the receiving step, and another transfer destination for transferring the question in the transfer step. A storage device for storing a list of reply request destinations of network addresses of information processing apparatuses. Tsu, characterized in that it comprises a flop.

A recording medium according to claim 27, comprising a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, and a question generating step of generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step. An answer generating step for generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step or a fragmented question generated in the question generating step, and an answer generating step for generating an answer to the question generated in the question generating step If the answer can be generated in the answer generation step, the answer of the question generated in the question generation step can be generated in the answer generation step, and the answer cannot be generated in the answer generation step The question generated in the question generation step to your own network A transfer step of specifying an address, specifying a network address as a transfer destination searched from the answer request destination list, and transferring it to another information processing apparatus, and a network address as a query source from any other information processing apparatus. Receiving the answer to the question generated in the question generating step or the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, generated in the answer generating step, and receiving the answer in the receiving step. An answer generating step of generating an answer to a question before being subdivided received from the received answer in the receiving step, and an answer request destination of a network address of another information processing apparatus as a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step And a storage step of storing the list. Wherein the-readable program is recorded.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 28, when specified by a network address, a receiving means for receiving a question, and a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question received by the receiving means, and the subdivided question is generated. Answer generating means for inputting an answer to the question that has been input, executing an answering procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question, and generating an answer to the pre-subdivided question accepted by the accepting section; A storage unit for storing an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before the segmentation received by the accepting unit from the answer to the segmented question;

According to the information processing method of the present invention, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question received in the receiving step, and the subdivided question is generated. An answer generation step of inputting an answer to the question, executing an answering procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question, and receiving an accepting step to generate an answer to the question before subdivision, A storage step of storing an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received in the receiving step from the answer to the subdivided question.

According to a thirtieth aspect, when specified by a network address, a receiving step of receiving a question, a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question received in the receiving step, and a plurality of subdivided questions are generated. An answer generation step of inputting an answer, executing an answer procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question, and generating an answer to the question before subdivision received in the receiving step, And a storage step of storing an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided, which is received in the receiving step, from the answer to the question that has not been subdivided. A recording medium characterized in that:

An information processing apparatus according to claim 31 is an acquiring means for acquiring information on an access destination of another accessing information processing apparatus so far, and a holding means for retaining information on the access destination acquired by the acquiring means. And a disclosing means for disclosing the information of the access destination held by the holding means to the other information processing apparatus when another information processing apparatus accesses the information processing apparatus.

According to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method described above, an acquiring step of acquiring information of an access destination of another information processing apparatus which has accessed the information processing apparatus, and a holding unit for retaining the information of the access destination acquired in the acquiring step And a disclosure step of, when another information processing apparatus accesses the information processing apparatus, disclosing information of the access destination held in the holding step to another information processing apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium, comprising: an acquiring step of acquiring information of an access destination of another information processing apparatus which has accessed the information processing apparatus; and a holding step of retaining information of the access destination acquired in the acquiring step. And a computer-readable program for executing a process including, when another information processing device accesses, a disclosure step of disclosing access destination information held in the holding step to another information processing device. It is characterized by having been done.

An information processing apparatus according to a thirty-fourth aspect is a receiving means for receiving a question from a terminal and another information processing apparatus connected to a network for providing an answer to the question from the question received by the receiving means. Search means for searching for the network address of the apparatus and transmitting the network address of the searched information processing apparatus to the terminal, counting means for counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus, and corresponding to the counting result of the counting means. And updating means for updating information for searching for a network address of another information processing apparatus which provides an answer to the question from the question of the searching means.

The information processing method according to claim 35 is a receiving step of receiving a question from a terminal and, based on the question received in the receiving step, another information processing method connected to a network that provides an answer to the question. A search step of searching for the network address of the device and transmitting the network address of the searched information processing device to the terminal; a counting step of counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing device; and a counting result in the counting step. And updating the information for searching for the network address of another information processing apparatus that provides the answer to the question from the question in the searching step.

A recording medium according to claim 36, further comprising: a receiving step of receiving a question from a terminal; and another information processing apparatus connected to a network for providing an answer to the question from the question received in the receiving step. A search step of searching for a network address of the information processing apparatus and transmitting the network address of the searched information processing apparatus to the terminal; a counting step of counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus; and a counting step corresponding to the counting result in the counting step. And a renewal step of renewing information for retrieving a network address of another information processing apparatus that provides an answer to the question from the question in the retrieving step. It is characterized by being recorded.

[0038] In a network system according to a thirty-seventh aspect, the first information processing apparatus has first accepting means for accepting a question when specified by a network address, and knowledge for answering; First answer generating means for generating an answer to the question accepted by the means;
It is determined whether or not the first answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the first first receiving means. If the answer cannot be generated, the question is
Transfer means for generating an answer to the question by the first answer generation means if the network address can be transferred to another information processing apparatus retrieved from the answer request destination list by designating the network address, and the transfer means; Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of a network address of a transfer destination to which a question is transferred, wherein the second information processing apparatus receives a question when specified by the network address. Means for generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received by the second receiving unit, and inputting an answer to the subdivided question;
Second answer generating means for executing a procedure for answering from the answer to the input subdivided question and generating an answer to the question before subdivided accepted by the second accepting means; And a second storage unit that stores an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided, which is received by the second receiving unit from the answer to the question that has been given.

The information processing method according to claim 38 is characterized in that:
The information processing method of the information processing apparatus includes a first receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, and a step of generating an answer to the question received in the first receiving step, having knowledge for answering. It is determined whether an answer to the question received in the first answer generating step and the answer received in the first first note receiving step can be generated in the first answer generating step. Is transferred to another information processing apparatus searched from the answer request destination list by designating its network address, and if a reply can be made, a transfer step of generating an answer to the question in a first answer generating step; A first storage step of storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which a question is transferred in the transfer step. In the information processing method of the second information processing apparatus, when specified by a network address, a second receiving step of receiving a question and generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the second receiving step And inputting an answer to the subdivided question, executing an answering procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question, and responding to the pre-subdivided question received in the second receiving step. A second answer generating step of generating an answer and an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received in the second receiving step from the answer to the subdivided question are stored. And a second storage step.

The recording medium according to claim 39, wherein the first information processing apparatus has a first receiving step of receiving a question when specified by a network address, a first receiving step, and a first receiving step. A first answer generating step of generating an answer to the question received in the step,
It is determined whether or not the answer to the question accepted in the first first accepting step can be generated in the first answer generating step. If the answer cannot be made, the question is entered from the answer request destination list. If the network address can be transferred to another searched information processing apparatus by designating the network address and the answer can be made, a transfer step for generating an answer to the question in a first answer generation step and a transfer of the question in the transfer step And a first storing step of storing an answer request destination list of the transfer destination network address, and when the second information processing apparatus is designated by the network address, the second information receiving apparatus receives a question.
And generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the questions received in the second reception step, inputting the answers to the subdivided questions, and using the answers to the input subdivided questions as answers. A second answer generating step of executing a procedure and generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received in the second receiving step, and an answer to the subdivided question in the second receiving step. And a second storage step of storing an accepted procedure for generating an answer to the question before the subdivision, and a computer-readable program for executing the process. I do.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
In the information processing method according to the item (1) and the recording medium according to the item (3), when the answer to the accepted question cannot be generated, the question is transferred to the transfer destination described in the transfer destination list. Is done. Further, when the answer is generated, the answer is transferred to the information processing apparatus as the question source by designating the network address.

[0042] The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, and claim 5
In the information processing method according to the item (1) and the recording medium according to the item (6), the question is transmitted with the number of times the self-response cannot be performed and the upper limit thereof set. However, the information processing device as a question source,
Transferred by specifying the network address.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,
In the information processing method according to the first aspect and the recording medium according to the thirteenth aspect, the transfer destination of the question is determined in accordance with a response status from another information processing apparatus.

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 16, the information processing method according to claim 17, and the recording medium according to claim 18, the network address of the information processing apparatus to which the question has been transferred is the answer request. It is described in the transition list and is sequentially transferred together with the question or answer.

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 19, the information processing method according to claim 20, and the recording medium according to claim 21, the question is transferred to a plurality of other information processing apparatuses, When an answer is obtained from another information processing device, an answer with high certainty is selected based on the certainty.

In the information processing apparatus according to the twenty-second aspect, the information processing method according to the twenty-third aspect, and the recording medium according to the twenty-fourth aspect, the upper limit of the number of times the question is transferred is transferred together with the question. When the number of transfers for the URL has not reached the upper limit, the question, along with the answer and confidence,
It is sequentially transferred to another information processing device, and when it reaches the upper limit,
The question is transferred to the information processing apparatus as the question source together with the answer and the certainty factor, and an answer with a high certainty factor is selected.

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 25, the information processing method according to claim 26, and the recording medium according to claim 27, a plurality of subdivided questions are further generated from the received questions. Then, the plurality of generated questions are transferred to another information processing device by designating a network address. The answer is transmitted from another information processing apparatus to the information processing apparatus of the question source, and the information processing apparatus of the question source
Generate an answer to the accepted question from the received answer.

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 28, the information processing method according to claim 29, and the recording medium according to claim 30, a plurality of subdivided questions are further generated from the accepted questions. Is done. An answer to the received question is generated from the answers to the plurality of questions.

According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 31, the information processing method described in claim 32, and the recording medium described in claim 33, information on the access destination of the accessing terminal up to that time is obtained. , It is disclosed to other terminals.

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 34, the information processing method according to claim 35, and the recording medium according to claim 36, in response to the number of accesses, a question The information for searching for the network address of the information processing apparatus that answers is updated.

In the network system according to claim 37, the information processing method according to claim 38, and the recording medium according to claim 39, when the first information processing apparatus receives a question, When the question cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device by designating a network address. The second information processing device divides the question and generates an answer to the question before being subdivided from the answer to the subdivided question.

[0052]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, each means is described. When the features of the present invention are described by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after the parentheses, the result is as follows. However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described.

The information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention has a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, a question input / output device 31-1 in FIG. 4).
And answer generation means having knowledge for the answer and generating an answer to the question received by the reception means; and determining whether the answer generation means can generate an answer to the question received by the reception means. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by designating the network address, and if the answer can be answered, the answer generating means answers the question. When the question is received from the terminal, the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing apparatus, the other information processing apparatus as a question source is transmitted. Transfer means (for example, the question transfer device 32-1 in FIG. 4) for designating and transferring a network address, and a transfer destination to which the transfer means transfers a question. Storage means for storing the reply request destination list of network addresses (e.g., the destination management unit 34-1 of FIG. 4); and a.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, a question input / output device 31-1 in FIG. 4).
And answer generation means having knowledge for the answer and generating an answer to the question received by the reception means; and determining whether the answer generation means can generate an answer to the question received by the reception means. If the question can be generated, the answer generation unit generates an answer to the question, and transmits the generated answer to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal, and the question is received from another information processing apparatus. In the case of, when transferring to another information processing device as a question source, specifying the network address, if the answer can not be answered, the accepting means received with the question, read the number of times the question could not be self-answered and its upper limit, If the number of self-replies has not reached the upper limit, the question is asked with the number of self-replies that have been incremented. When a network address is specified and transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list, and the number of times the self-response cannot be performed reaches the upper limit value, the other information processing device is used as a question source for the question. To
Transfer means for specifying and transferring a network address (for example, the question transfer device 32-1 in FIG. 4 for performing the processing in FIG. 8)
And a storage unit (for example, the transfer destination management device 34-1 in FIG. 4) for storing an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the transfer unit transfers the question.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 7 is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, a question input / output device 31-1 in FIG. 4).
And answer generation means having knowledge for the answer and generating an answer to the question received by the reception means; and determining whether the answer generation means can generate an answer to the question received by the reception means. When the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device by designating the network address searched from the answer request destination list, and when the answer can be answered, the answer to the question is And generate the answer,
When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing apparatus, the network address is specified and transferred to another information processing apparatus as a question source. Transfer means (for example,
The question transfer device 32-1) of FIG. 4 and a transfer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the transfer unit transfers the question are stored, and the transfer of the question is performed according to the answer status from another information processing device. Determining means for determining the destination (for example, the transfer destination management device 34-
1) is provided.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 16 is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, the question input / output device 31- of FIG. 4).
1) having answer knowledge, answer generating means for generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means, and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device by specifying the network address searched from the answer request destination list together with the change list of the answer request in which the own network address is entered. When the question can be answered, the answer generating means generates an answer to the question, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is accepted from the terminal, together with a transition list of the answer request, When a question is received from another information processing device, the network address is sent to the other information processing device as a question source. (For example, the question transfer device 32-1 in FIG. 4 that performs the processing in steps S125 and S127 in FIG. 22) and the transfer request destination of the network address of the transfer destination to which the transfer unit transfers the question. Storage means for storing the list (for example, the transfer destination management device 34-1 in FIG. 4).

The information processing apparatus according to the nineteenth aspect is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, the question input / output device 31- of FIG. 4).
1) having answer knowledge, answer generating means for generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means, and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. When the judgment is not possible, when the question cannot be answered, the question is transferred to a plurality of other information processing apparatuses searched from the answer request destination list by designating the network address, and when the answer can be answered, the answer generation means An answer to the question is generated, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal. When the question is received from another information processing device, another To a given information processing device, specify the network address, transfer the information, and receive the replies from a plurality of other information processing devices and their convictions. , And selects a response having a high degree of certainty and transmits the selected response to the terminal (for example, the question transfer device 32-1 in FIG. 4 that performs the processing in FIG. 25) and the transfer destination to which the transfer unit transfers the question. Storage means (for example, the transfer destination management device 34-1 in FIG. 4) for storing the answer request destination list of the network address.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 22 is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, the question input / output device 31- of FIG. 4).
1), answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question accepted by the accepting means, reading the number of transfers of the question accepted by the accepting means and its upper limit, and the number of transfers is still upper limit When the value has not been reached,
The answer generation means generates an answer to the question,
The generated answer is incremented, along with its certainty factor, in the number of transfers, and transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by designating a network address. Has reached
The answer generated so far, together with the degree of certainty, is transferred to another information processing apparatus as a question source by designating a network address, and further, answers from a plurality of other information processing apparatuses are received. The transfer unit (for example, the question transfer device 32-1 in FIG. 4 that performs the processing in FIG. 23) that selects the answer with a high degree of certainty by comparing the certainties and transmits the answer to the terminal, and the transfer unit transfers the question. Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of the transfer destination network address (for example, FIG.
Transfer destination management device 34-1).

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus receives a question when specified by a network address.
1), a question generating means (for example, step S274 in FIG. 34) having knowledge for answers and generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received by the receiving means, Or answer generation means for generating an answer to the fragmented question generated by the question generation means, and an answer to the question generated by the question generation means, determine whether the answer generation means can be generated,
If the answer generating means can generate an answer, the question generated by the question generating means is sent to the answer generating means to generate the answer, and if the answer generating means cannot generate the answer, the question is generated. Transfer means for transferring a question generated by the means to another information processing apparatus by designating its own network address as a question source and designating a network address as a transfer destination searched from an answer request destination list (For example, step S288 in FIG. 35) and an answer to the question generated by the question generating means, which is transferred from any other information processing apparatus by designating a network address as a question source,
Alternatively, receiving means (for example, step S291 in FIG. 35 and step S302 in FIG. 36) for receiving an answer to the question generated by the question generating means, which is sent from the answer generating means, and an answer received by the receiving means. ,
An answer generation unit (for example, step S305 in FIG. 36) for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received by the reception unit, and a network of another information processing apparatus as a transfer destination to which the question is transferred by the transfer unit Storage means for storing an address request destination list (for example, FIG.
Transfer destination management device 34-1).

The information processing apparatus according to claim 28 is a receiving means for receiving a question when specified by a network address (for example, the question input / output device 31- of FIG. 4).
1) and generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the questions received by the receiving means, inputting an answer to the subdivided question, and executing an answer procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question. Then, an answer generation unit (for example, the question search device 33 that performs the process of step S274 in FIG. 34, the step S289 in FIG. 35) that generates an answer to the question before the segmentation received by the reception unit.
And a storage unit for storing an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before the segmentation received by the accepting unit from the answer to the segmented question (for example, , A collection of questions and answers of the question search device 33 in FIG. 33).

The information processing apparatus according to the thirty-first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that an acquiring means (for example, step S352 in FIG. 41) for acquiring information of an access destination of another accessing information processing apparatus so far; Holding means (for example, step S35 of FIG. 41)
7) and a disclosing means for disclosing the information of the access destination held by the holding means to another information processing apparatus when another information processing apparatus accesses (for example, step S in FIG. 41).
358).

The information processing apparatus according to claim 34 is a receiving means for receiving a question from a terminal (for example, FIG. 38)
Step S311) and searching for the network address of another information processing apparatus connected to the network providing the answer to the question from the question received by the receiving means, and changing the network address of the searched information processing apparatus. Search means for transmitting to the terminal (for example, FIG. 38)
Step S313) and a counting means (for example, FIG. 38) for counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus.
Step S314), and updating means for updating information for searching for a network address of another information processing apparatus that provides an answer to the question from the question in the searching means in response to the counting result of the counting means. For example, it is characterized by comprising (Step S316) of FIG.

In a network system according to a thirty-seventh aspect, when the first information processing device is specified by a network address, the first information processing device receives a question (for example, the question processing device 3-1 of FIG. 42). A question input / output device 31-1) and a first answer generating means (for example, the question processing device 3-1 in FIG. 42) which has answer knowledge and generates an answer to the question received by the first receiving means. The question answering device 33-1) and the first answer generating means determine whether or not the answer to the question received by the first note receiving means can be generated. When the question can be transferred to another information processing apparatus searched from the answer request destination list by designating its network address and answered, the first answer generating means A transfer means for generating an answer to be asked (for example, the question transfer device 32-1 of the question processing device 3-1 in FIG. 42) and an answer request destination list of a transfer destination network address to which the transfer means transfers the question. 42 (for example, the transfer destination management device 34-1 of the question processing device 3-1 in FIG. 42), and the second information processing device accepts a question when specified by a network address. (For example, the question input / output device 31-1 of the question processing device 3-2 in FIG. 42), and a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question received by the second reception unit. The answer to the question is input, the answer procedure is executed from the answer to the input subdivided question, and the answer to the pre-subdivided question received by the second receiving unit is received. First be formed 2
(For example, the question processing device 3-2 in FIG. 42)
The question retrieving device 33 that performs the process of step S274 of FIG. 34, the question transfer device 32 that performs the process of step S289 of FIG. 35, and the answer to the subdivided question. A second storage unit (for example, a collection of questions and answers of the question search device 33 in FIG. 33 of the question processing device 3-2 in FIG. 42) for storing an answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being converted. It is characterized by having.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in the following order. The figures in parentheses below represent representative drawings of the embodiment or the modified example.

(1) First Embodiment (FIG. 4) (1-1) First Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 1) (1-2) First Modification of First Embodiment 2 (see FIG. 1)
4) (1-3) Third Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 1)
6) (1-4) Fourth Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 2)
0) (1-5) Fifth Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 2)
2) (1-6) Sixth Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 2)
3) (1-7) Seventh Modified Example of First Embodiment (FIG. 2)
5) (1-8) Eighth Modification of First Embodiment (FIG. 2)
7)

(2) Second Embodiment (FIG. 28) (2-1) First Modification of Second Embodiment (FIG. 2)
9) (2-2) Second Modification of Second Embodiment (FIG. 3)
1)

(3) Third Embodiment (FIG. 32) (3-1) First Modified Example of Third Embodiment (FIG. 3)
7) (3-2) Second Modification of Third Embodiment (3-3) Third Modification of Third Embodiment

(4) Fourth Embodiment (FIG. 38)

(5) Fifth Embodiment (FIG. 41) (5-1) First Modification of Fifth Embodiment

(6) Sixth Embodiment (FIG. 42)

Here, each embodiment and its modification will be briefly described as follows.

That is, in the first embodiment,
When a question is input to the question processing device, if it can be answered internally, the answer is given. If the answer cannot be answered internally, the question is transferred to another question processing device.

In the first modification of the first embodiment, the URL of the transfer destination question processing device to which the question is transferred is learned according to the number of answers.

In the third modification of the first embodiment, the URL of the transfer destination is learned according to the time required for the answer.

In the fourth modification of the first embodiment, the destination of the question is learned in association with the content of the question.

In the fifth modified example of the first embodiment, the URL of the question processing device to which the question was transferred without being answered
Is added to the inquiry packet and transferred.

In a sixth modification of the first embodiment, the answer is added with certainty, and the answer is sequentially transferred to another question processing device together with the question. When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit, the question is asked. At the same time, the answer is transferred to the question source. The questioner selects the answer with the highest certainty factor.

In a seventh modification of the first embodiment, a question is transferred to a plurality of question processors simultaneously.
The question processing device that receives the transfer of the question adds the certainty factor to the answer and transfers the answer to the question source. The question source selects the answer having the highest degree of certainty from the plurality of answers.

In an eighth modification of the first embodiment, an answer from an input device such as a sensor is used as an answer to a question.

In the second embodiment, when a question is returned without being answered, the transfer destination introducing device presents the URL of a predetermined question processing device.

In the first modification of the second embodiment, the transfer destination introduction device collects URLs registered in the transfer destination list from each question processing device.

In the second modification of the second embodiment, the transfer destination introduction device receives an input of a question, transfers the question directly to the question processing device, and receives a direct answer.

In the third embodiment, an input question is subdivided into a plurality of questions and transferred to another question processing device. From the answers to the subdivided questions from each question processing device, an answer to the pre-subdivided question is generated.

In the first modification of the third embodiment, a character string included in the text of a question is appropriately replaced with a predetermined character string.

In the second modified example of the third embodiment, the answers to the subdivided questions are transferred in the middle of the process together with the answers to the original questions generated from them.

In the third modification of the third embodiment, when an answer to an original question is generated from an answer to a subdivided question, the answer is registered.

In the fourth embodiment, in the Internet search device, text data of each homepage is collected, and an index for full-text search is created.
When a question is input, a search is performed based on this index, and a list of homepages corresponding to the keyword of the question is transmitted.

In the fifth embodiment, the bookmark information held by each user is presented to other users.

In a first modification of the fifth embodiment, browsing history information of each user is collected and presented to other users.

In the sixth embodiment, a system for transferring an answer to an input question is constructed by an intranet.

Next, the concepts used in this specification will be described together here. In other words, answer generation means generating an answer to an input question, which includes searching for answers, answering simulation results, and observation values of events as a middle concept. Answering is included.

[0092] The lower concept of the answer search is to search the FAQ for an answer to the matching question, or to search the statistical data and answer the value corresponding to the item matching the question. Is included.

As a subordinate concept to answering the simulation result, an answer obtained by inputting a value and a model to the simulator is used as an answer. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2605828,
This includes answering the output of the inference obtained by giving the necessary input values to the inference system having a rule base corresponding to the question.

Further, as a lower concept corresponding to replying the observed value of the event, replying the input value from the sensor is included.

The number of times that the self-response is not possible means the number of times that each signal processing device was unable to answer by itself, and its middle concept includes the number of times that a search is impossible or the number of times a question is transferred. . The number of times that the search is not possible is the number of times that each question processing device determines that the answer cannot be searched, in other words, if the question is transferred to a plurality of question processing devices, in other words, It means the number of question processing devices that could not answer the question. The question transfer count means the number of times the input question is transferred to the question processing device.

The forwarding request destination list means that the question processing device
This means a list of question processing apparatuses of request destinations requesting an answer to a question, and the corresponding middle concept includes a transfer destination list or a list of holding destinations of knowledge in a field related to the question.

The transfer destination list means a list of transfer destination question processing devices to which the questions are transferred. The holding list of the knowledge of the field related to the question is not only a list of the question processing devices of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred, but also has the knowledge of the field related to the question which the transfer destination has. Mean list.

The answer status means the status of the answer given to the question, and the corresponding middle concept includes the time from the question to the answer, the certainty given to the answer, or the number of answers. included.

The change list of the answer request is a change list of the question processing apparatus that has determined whether or not a question can be answered. The middle concept includes a transfer path list. The transfer path list is a list of question processing devices that have determined whether or not the input question can be answered, and have been transferred on the communication path without determining whether or not the question can be answered. Receive the packet,
An information processing apparatus that has simply performed a process of transferring the packet to the transfer destination described in the packet is not described in the transfer route list.

[0100] The answer knowledge means the knowledge necessary for the answer, and the corresponding middle concept includes a question answer collection not including the answer procedure, a question answer collection including the answer procedure, or And a rule base as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2605828.

The collection of questions and answers is a set of questions and answers stored in pairs. A collection of questions and answers including the procedure for answering the question specified in the corresponding question column in the answer column, when multiple subdivided questions are described, The answer procedure for generating one original question from the answer to the question of the above means the question answer collection described in the answer column.

The question processing apparatus has a URL as a unique network address,
Automatically acquire information from its own internal information, sensing function, etc., process the acquired information, generate original output information, and hold it so that it can be output to the outside. It also has the function of outputting to This means that if the conventional homepage is called a passive homepage, it can be called an active homepage. The query processing device can be configured not only by software but also by a hardware device having a communication function and an information processing function.

[0103] The search is a search from the prepared information.
This means looking for a match for the request.

The search formula means an input of a request for the search, and includes an input in a natural language.

The search result means prepared information obtained by the above search.

The question is different from what the user wants to know and whether the above simple search formula returns a search result or an answer described below.

The answer means an answer that satisfies the above question. There are cases where it can be obtained by searching, obtained by calculation, obtained by measurement, and the like.

The homepage means the homepage of the World Wide Web, and its position is specified by a network address called a URL.

The WWW browser is, for example, N
Software for browsing homepages represented by etscape Navigetor.

The protocol is a communication protocol between a WWW browser and a WWW server, and specifically means HTTP.
In the present invention, this protocol is extended as a communication protocol between WWW servers. Virtually,
It can be considered as an extension to the communication protocol between home pages.

The packet means a group of information performed at one time by the above protocol.

[0112] Transfer refers to sending a packet from one home page to another on a network.

The subdivision of a question means that a question is divided into a plurality of simple questions in order to answer a difficult question.

The simulator means a procedure for inputting a plurality of simple answers and generating answers for difficult questions.

The certainty means a numerical value indicating the certainty of the answer.

The network address is an address represented by a URL, and specifies an access destination on a network.

The hyper space means a space defined by a network address.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network system to which the present invention is applied. In this configuration example, the personal computer 1 as a terminal includes:
Question processing devices 3-1 through 3- via the Internet 2
3 is connected. This Internet 2 also has
The Internet search device 4 is also connected. This Internet 2 is the so-called The Internet, TCP / IP
(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protoco
This is an international network that exchanges various data using l) as a protocol.

In this network system, various resources are designated by a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator) using the WWW (World Wide Web). That is, in this network system, as shown in FIG. 2, http: //, ftp: //, gophe
The resource network address is specified by r: //, wais: //, file: //, news :, etc. In addition, the address when the computer accesses an internal resource can be included in the address. In this specification, a space in which such an URL defines an access address (network address) is defined as a hyper space. That is, this network system has a hyper space, and various data and the like are exchanged in the hyper space.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the question processing device 3 (hereinafter, when it is not necessary to individually distinguish the question processing devices 3-1 to 3-3, they are simply described as the question processing device 3). I have. The CPU 11 executes various processes according to a program stored in the ROM 12. The RAM 13 contains the CPU 1
1 stores programs and data necessary for executing various processes as appropriate. Interface 14
Executes interface processing between the CPU 11 and various input / output units. The input unit 15 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and is operated by a user when inputting various commands. The display 16 includes a CRT, an LCD, and the like, and is used to display various information. The speaker 17 outputs an audio signal.

The hard disk drive (HDD) 18
Various programs and data are recorded on the built-in hard disk. Floppy disk drive (FDD) 1
Reference numeral 9 records and reproduces data, programs, and the like on the mounted floppy disk. The communication unit 20 includes a terminal adapter, a modem, and the like, and is connected to the Internet 2.

Although not shown, the personal computer 1 has basically the same configuration as the question processing device 3 shown in FIG.

Further, the question processing device 3 and the personal computer 1 do not necessarily need to have all the components shown in FIG. 3, but need only have the necessary components as appropriate.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration centered on a computer program of the network system shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
Is a WWW browser (hereinafter also referred to as a unit browser) 4
One. This WWW browser uses Netscape's Net
Software for viewing WWW homepages such as scape Navigator (trademark). Each question processing device 3
In this network system, url-1, url-2, and url-3 are assigned as network addresses, respectively. That is, they each provide a respective home page when accessed by a URL.

Each question processing device 3 includes a question input / output device 3
1. It has a question transfer device 32, a question search device 33, and a transfer destination management device 34.

The question input / output device 31 is a WWW browser 41
The question input from the user is received, and the internal question transfer device 3
HTML (Hyper) so that the response returned from the internal question transfer device 32 can be displayed on the WWW browser 41.
text Markup Language) format and output. The question transfer device 32 that transmits and receives the question and the answer receives the question transferred from the question input / output device 31 or the question transfer device of another question processing device internally (question search in the question processing device to which the user belongs). The device 33 determines whether or not the answer is possible, and controls the flow of the question and the answer in accordance with the result of the determination.

The transfer destination management device 34 previously registers a transfer destination list in which position information (URL) of another information processing device to which a question is to be transferred is registered. When there is, a predetermined transfer destination (URL) is selected from the transfer destination list and presented to the internal question transfer device 32. The question search device 33 holds a question and answer collection in which a question and an answer are stored as a pair, and searches for a question that matches the question input from the question transfer device 32.
Searched from the question and answer collection, and among the questions in the question and answer collection, those having a degree of coincidence with the input question equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value are subjected to syntax analysis and semantic analysis, and the input question An answer corresponding to the question having the same meaning as that of the question is read out and output to the question transfer device 32 as an answer to the input question. The question input / output device 31 sends the answer received from the question transfer device 32 to the WWW browser 41.
Send to

In this network system, a predetermined question processing device 3 is accessed from the personal computer 1 via the Internet 2 and a predetermined question (what the user wants to know) is transmitted. Answer). The question here can be in any form,
Generally, it is represented by sentences in a natural language that can be understood by ordinary people. Of course, words (keywords) extracted from the text, search expressions combining the keywords with predetermined logical expressions, and the like can also be included. The answer is the same.

First, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, a process from inputting a question of the personal computer 1 to obtaining an answer will be described.

First, in step S1, the user accesses a predetermined question processing device (for example, the question processing device 3-1) via the Internet 2. Therefore, the user inputs url-1. At this time, the question input / output device 31-1 of the question processing device 3-1 is, for example,
A question input screen on the homepage as shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted to the personal computer 1 via the Internet 2 and displayed on the display 51 thereof.

In step S2, the user inputs a question on the screen of the displayed homepage. For example,
In the input area 52 of FIG. 6, a question is input by operating a keyboard or the like. An execution button 53 is displayed below the input area 52 on the homepage displayed on the display 51 of the personal computer 1. When the input of the question is completed, the user operates the mouse, for example, and clicks the execution button 53. This allows the user
The question input to the input area 52 is transmitted to the question input / output device 31-1 of the question processing device 3-1.

Further, in step S3, the personal computer 1 transmits an address for receiving an answer via the network to the question processing device 3-1 that has accessed the personal computer 1. This answer address will be required to receive your answer, phone number, e-mail
A URL other than the mail address may be used. The transmission process of the answer address can be automatically transmitted by the WWW browser 41 without the user intentionally inputting it. In this case, the user stores his / her own answer address in the RAM of the personal computer 1 in advance. The WWW browser 41 uses this UR stored in RAM.
Read L and have it transmitted along with the question. Next, in step S4, the WWW browser 41 receives an answer addressed to itself (addressed to its own answer address) from the question processing device 3-1.

[0133] In step S4, the WWW browser 41 does not necessarily need to be constantly connected to the Internet 2 until an answer is obtained. Alternatively, connection to the Internet 2 may be made again.

In the case where the connection is once released after accessing the question processing device 3, if the personal computer 1 decides to access the question processing device 3 again in order to receive an answer, Step S
Step 3 is not always necessary.

[0135] The WWW browser 41 runs on a firewall,
When accessing the question processing device 3 via a proxy server such as a provider, the proxy server manages the WWW browser 41, and therefore transmits predetermined information (answer in this case) to the WWW browser 41. The procedure for performing this is already secured when the WWW browser 41 accesses the question processing device 3 in step S1. Therefore, in such a case, the special procedure in step S3 becomes unnecessary.

When transmitting a question received from the WWW browser 41 to the question processing device 3, the proxy server replaces a portion corresponding to the machine name (host name) in its own URL with the header of the transmission packet. And send it.
That is, the URL is usually composed of a scheme name representing a transfer protocol, a host name, and a file name. For example, the URL of the provider is http: //abc.def.c
o.jp (in this case, there is no file name)
The part of abc.def.co.jp is transmitted while being included in the header of the transmission packet.

Although the details will be described later, the question processing device 3 which has received the question from the proxy server transfers the question to another question processing device 3 if the question cannot be answered internally. At that time, the question processing device 3 receiving the transmission of the question from the proxy server sets the machine name (host name) of the proxy server (abc.def.co. j
Describe p).

As a result, when the other question processing device 3 which has received the transfer of the question packet can answer the question, it transfers the answer to the question source. Directly to the server (question processing device 3 that has received a question from the proxy server, or question processing device 3 that has transmitted (answered) an answer packet)
(Without the intermediary of the question processing device 3 which has transferred the question to. The proxy server as a query source transmits the transferred answer to the WWW browser 41 managed by itself.

The question input / output device 31 is a WWW browser 41
The processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed in response to the input from. First, in step S11,
The process waits until data is received from the WWW browser 41, and when the data is received, in step S12, it is determined whether the received data is a request to display a question input homepage. When the received request is a request to display a question input homepage, the process proceeds to step S13, and HTML data for prompting input of a question is transmitted to the WWW browser 41. That is, the HTML data for displaying the screen as shown in FIG. 6 described above is transmitted to the WWW browser 41, and the process returns to step S11.

A question input screen as shown in FIG.
This is displayed on the display 51 of the personal computer 1 by the browser 41. According to this display, the user of the personal computer 1 inputs a question in the input area 52 and clicks the execution button 53.
It is transmitted from the browser 41 to the question input / output device 31. As a result, a determination of YES is made in step S11, and a determination of NO is made in step S12, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether or not the received data is the question data. If it is determined in step S14 that the received data is not the question data, the process returns to step S11, and the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed. In this case, the received data is the question data. Is determined, and the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S15, the question input / output device 31 sends the input question packet (in this network system, http (hypertext) as a protocol for managing data links between hypertext documents.
transfer protocol) is used, and questions and answers are packetized and sent and received) to extract the text of the question. Then, in step S16, the question input / output device 31
Supplies the question extracted in step S15 to the internal question transfer device 32. Although the details will be described later, when the question transfer device 32 receives the input of the question from the question input / output device 31 in this way, it determines whether or not the question can be answered internally, and , The question is output to the internal question search device 33 and the answer is searched. If it is determined that the question cannot be answered internally, the question transfer device 32 transfers the question to the external question transfer device 32.

When the answer to the question can be searched internally, the answer is supplied to the question transfer device 32 from the internal question search device 31. When the question is transferred to the outside, the answer is transferred from the question transfer device 32 of the external question processing device. Question transfer device 3
2 outputs the input answer to the question input / output device 31. Therefore, in step S17, the question input / output device 31 receives an input of an answer from the internal question transfer device 32.

Next, in step S18, the question input / output device 31 converts the received answer into HTML data and
It is transmitted to the W browser 41 via the Internet 2. At this time, the network address input to the question processing device 3 in step S3 in FIG. 5 is used as the destination of the answer. The WWW browser 41 receives the input HTML
The data is displayed on the display 51. This allows
The user of the personal computer 1 has obtained an answer to the input question. If the WWW browser 41 is not driven because the power of the personal computer 1 is turned off, the question input / output device 3
No. 1 holds the answer until the WWW browser 41 is driven. When the WWW browser 41 is in a driving state, the response is transmitted.

The processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 can be realized by the mechanism of CGI (Common Gateway Interface) of WWW.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The process of the question transfer device 32 will be described. First, in step S21, the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not a question has been input from the internal question input / output device 31, and if no question has been input from the internal question input / output device 31, Proceeding to S22, external question processing device 3
It is determined whether or not the packet has been transferred from. If the packet has not been transferred from the external question processing device 3, the process returns to step S21, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

If it is determined in step S21 that a question has been input from the internal question input / output device 31, the process proceeds to step S32, where the question transfer device 32 uses the internal question search device 33 to input the input question. It is determined whether or not a response can be made. Details will be described later,
The question search device 33 has, for example, an FAQ file. That is, a question and a corresponding answer are stored as a pair. The question transfer device 32 is a
Regarding the collection of questions and answers in the FAQ file that the company has as one file for each field, extract keywords (words used as search units) included in the questions and answers, and index the keywords (search Keywords for
Is stored in advance.

The question transfer device 32 is provided with the question input / output device 31.
, A keyword is extracted from the question input from, and whether or not the keyword is included in a previously stored index is searched (matching). For example, of the keywords included in the question, the ratio of the keywords included in the index is calculated as the relevance. If the degree of relevance is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value, the internal question search device 33 has a highly relevant question-answer collection (FAQ file).
No. 2 determines that the entered question can be answered internally. For example, if a question includes 10 keywords, and if 7 or more of the keywords are included in the index,
It is determined that the question can be answered internally. Further, the weight of each keyword, the ratio of the keyword to the length of the sentence, and the like may be considered.

The relevance may include an element other than the ratio included in the index of the keyword of the question.

In step S32, if the internal question search device 33 determines that the question input from the question input / output device 31 can be answered, the process proceeds to step S36, and the question transfer device 32 The question input from the question input / output device 31 is transmitted to the internal question search device 33. As will be described later, when the question search device 33 receives an input of a question from the question transfer device 32, it searches for an answer corresponding to the question and outputs this to the question transfer device 32. The question transfer device 32 determines in step 37 whether or not an answer has been obtained from the question search device 33. If no answer has been obtained, the process proceeds to step S33, and the subsequent processes are executed. When the answer is obtained from the internal question search device 33, the process proceeds to step S38, and when the question transfer device 32 receives the answer from the question search device 33, it outputs this to the question input / output device 31. The question input / output device 31 transfers the answer received from the question transfer device 32 to the WWW browser 41 by the processing of steps S17 and S18 in FIG.

On the other hand, in step S32, if the question transfer device 32 determines that the internal question search device 33 cannot search for an answer, the process proceeds to step S3.
3 and the question just input and the question input / output device 31
The return destination (communication port) of the answer to is stored. That is, in this case, since the question cannot be answered by the internal question search device 33, the question is transferred to another question processing device 3, but before the answer to this question is returned. Further, another question from another WWW browser may be input from the question input / output device 31 to the question transfer device 32. In this case, the question transfer device 32 returns a plurality of answers to the question input / output device 31 (communication ports of the question input / output device 31).
Therefore, the destination to which the answer is returned is stored in association with the question.

This can be realized, for example, in a form called a UNIX (trademark) process. That is, a process that generates one process for one question and does not return an answer yet waits until an answer arrives at the communication port. In this case, the question and the communication port to the process are stored as a pair. When the answer is returned, the communication port is searched using the question included therein as a key, and the answer is sent to the searched communication port.

After step S33, the process proceeds to step S34, in which the question transfer device 32 sets the internal transfer destination management device 34
Get the transfer destination URL from. Although the details will be described later, the transfer destination management device 34 has a transfer destination list in which URLs of other question processing devices 3 are registered. The transfer destination management device 34
When the question transfer device 32 requests presentation of the URL of the transfer destination, the URL of the predetermined question processing device 3 is searched from the transfer destination list and transmitted to the question transfer device 32. In step S35, the question transfer device 32 creates a packet for transferring the question, and receives the URL transmitted from the transfer destination management device 34 (another (external) question processing device 3).
Forward this to

As shown in FIG. 9, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the question packet of the question processing device 3 (in this case, the question processing device 3-1) which first received the input of the question from the WWW browser 41 is included in this question packet. A URL (url-1 in this case) is arranged. The transfer destination includes a transfer destination management device 34-1.
(For example, the URL of the question processing device 3-2)
Url-2) is written. Further, the upper limit value N _{MAX of the} number of times the inquiry packet is transferred is written in the inquiry packet, and the remaining transfer number N representing the number of transfers that can be performed until the upper limit of the number of transfer times is reached is written.
Of course, a question is also written in this question packet.

After the processing in step S37 or S35,
In order to transfer the question from the other question processing apparatus 3 to the other question processing apparatus 3 or to receive an answer from the other question processing apparatus 3 to the question issued by the user, step S
Return to 21.

In step S22, the URL of the transfer destination (transmission destination) addressed to itself is transmitted from another question processing device 3 to url-1.
Is determined to have been sent,
Proceeding to step S23, the question transfer device 32 determines whether an answer is included in the packet. If the forwarded packet contains an answer,
In step S35, since it is the answer to the question transferred to the other question processing device 3 by itself,
At 24, the question transfer device 32 checks the answer return destination (communication port) corresponding to the question stored in step S33, and transmits the answer to the answer return destination (communication port) of the question input / output device 31. . Question input / output device 31
Transmits this answer to the WWW browser 41 as described above. When the process in step S24 ends, the process returns to step S21.

If it is determined in step S23 that the packet addressed to itself does not include an answer, the process proceeds to step S25, where the question transfer device 32 replies this question transferred from the other question processing device 3 to It is determined whether the internal question search device 33 can answer. This judgment is
The determination is performed in the same manner as the determination in step S32 described above. If it is determined in step S25 that the internal question search device 33 cannot answer, the process proceeds to step S26.
The question transfer device 32 determines whether the number of transfers is within the valid range or not. That is, it is determined whether or not the remaining transfer number N of the inquiry packet shown in FIG. 9 is one.

If the remaining transfer number N is 2 or more, the transfer count has not yet reached the upper limit value (N _MAX ), so the process proceeds to step S28, where the question transfer device 32 sets the transfer destination management device. 34, a request is made to present the URL of the transfer destination (URL of another question processing device 3). In response to this request, the transfer destination management device 34 responds to this request by requesting the UR
L is searched from the transfer destination list, and the searched URL is transmitted to the question transfer device 32. In step S29, the question transfer device 32 receives the UR from the transfer destination management device 34.
L, the question packet shown in FIG.
The URL of the transfer destination of the question packet (transferred from) is updated, the remaining transfer number N is decremented by 1, and the question packet is transmitted to the question processing device 3 of the transfer destination. Thereafter, the process returns to step S21.

As described above, when each of the question processing devices 3 cannot answer the question transferred from the other question processing device 3, the remaining transfer number N is decremented by 1, and the other question processing devices 3 are further decremented. 3 is repeated, so that the remaining transfer number N of the inquiry packet decreases every time the transfer is repeated. Then, in step S26,
If it is determined that the remaining transfer number N is 1, it means that the transfer has already been repeated only (N _MAX -1) times. Now, even in this question processing device 3, it is determined that no answer can be made in step S25, and therefore this question processing device 3 also transfers this question. This means that the number of times the question has been transferred has reached the upper limit _NMAX . Therefore,
In this case (in step S26, when it is determined that the transfer remaining number N is 1), the process proceeds to step S27, in which the question transfer device 32 transmits the message whose answer could not be retrieved to the answer packet (question packet ), And sends the answer packet to the question processing device 3 of the question origin.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the answer packet has a structure in which the URL of the answer destination and the answer are added to the question packet shown in FIG. 9 (only the answer is added to the question packet. This can be considered as a question packet). In this case, the question transfer device 32 writes its own URL (url-1) as the answer source, writes a message such as "No answer was found" in the answer column, and further writes the message to the transfer destination. URL of question source U
Update to RL (for example, url-3) and transfer the answer packet to the question source. Thereafter, the process returns to step S21.

If it is determined in step S25 that the answer can be searched by the internal question search device 33, the process proceeds to step S30, where the question transfer device 32
The question transferred from the other question processing device 3 is transmitted to the internal question search device 33. The question search device 33 searches for an answer to the input question, and transmits the obtained answer to the question transfer device 32. In step S31,
When receiving the answer from the question search device 33, the question transfer device 32 creates an answer packet as shown in FIG. In the answer column, the answer is described, and in the answer source,
Your own URL is described. In the transfer destination, the same URL as the question source is described. The remaining transfer number N is also decremented by one. In this manner, the generated answer packet is directly transferred to the question processing device 3 (question source question processing device 3-3 (url-3) to the question processing device 3-2 (url1- In the case where the question is transferred to the question processing device 3-1 (url1-1) via 2), when the question processing device 3-1 answers, the answer is transmitted without passing through the question processing device 3-2. , Is directly transferred to the question processing device 3-1 as a query source). Step S31
After the processing of, the processing returns to step S21.

Next, the transfer destination management device 34 will be described. The transfer destination management device 34 holds the URL of each question processing device 3 as a transfer destination list, as shown in FIG. The transfer destination list is registered by the administrator of the question processing device 3 in advance, and performs maintenance operations such as adding or deleting as necessary. When the question transfer device 32 requests the presentation of the transfer destination, the transfer destination management device 34 selects one predetermined URL from the transfer destination list in step S40, and sends the selected URL to the question transfer device. 32.

The method of selecting a transfer destination in step S40 is, for example, such that every time a presentation is requested, the next URL is selected in order from the top of the transfer destination list,
For example, there is a method of randomly selecting from the transfer destination list.

On the other hand, the question retrieving apparatus 33 stores, as answer knowledge, a question and answer collection in which a question and an answer are paired as one file (FAQ file) for each field. Further, a rule base of Japanese Patent No. 2605828 is also stored. Then, a keyword is extracted from the FAQ file, and the keyword is registered in advance as an index for performing a full-text search of the FAQ file. In this FAQ file, the question is parsed, and the sentences of the question are classified in terms of the syntax of the sentence.

When a question is input from the question transfer device 32, the question search device 33 executes a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, first, in step S41, it is searched whether or not an index prepared in advance for full-text search includes a keyword included in a question. Then, a FAQ file having a high degree of association is selected. Next, in step S42, the question input from the question transfer device 32 and the FAQ file searched in step S41 are parsed from the part of speech information and the like, and a syntax tree is obtained. Then, in step S43, the syntax tree generated in step S42 is analyzed into a question sentence pattern by referring to a prepared question sentence type template.

When the question sentence pattern is obtained in step S43, the semantic matching processing with the question sentence pattern is performed in step S44 by referring to the semantic network of the word. In other words, the words included in the entered question and the FA
The distance of the word group of the words in the Q file on the semantic network is calculated as “semantic matching”.

If there is an unanswered question, step S
In step 45, a question sentence type transformation strategy process is performed, and in step S44, a semantic matching process is performed on the transformed question sentence type again. By this processing, an accurate answer can be obtained even for a complicated answer.

As described above, the FAQ file having the question most relevant to the input question is searched, and the FAQ file is searched.
The answer included in the file is output to the question transfer device 32 as an answer to the question input from the question transfer device 32.

In the network system shown in FIG. 4, a user inputs a question from the personal computer 1 to the question processing device 3-1 of url-1, and this is input to the url-1.
-2 question processing device 3-2, and further, url-
3 and transferred to the question processing device 3-3.
The process flow in the case where the answer is 3 is summarized as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, first, in step S51, the user of the personal computer 1 sends the URL-
1 and the WWW browser 41 sends the question processing device 3-
When accessing 1 (the homepage), the image of the homepage is transmitted to the WWW browser 41. When the WWW browser 41 inputs a question on the screen of the homepage, the question is transmitted to the question processing device 3-1.

The question input / output device 31 of the question processing device 3-1
-1 determines in step S52 whether or not the question received from the WWW browser 41 can be answered internally,
If it is determined that the answer is not possible, in step S53, the question input / output device 31-1 requests the question transfer device 32-1 to transfer the question, and sets itself to the receivable state and waits.

Next, in step S54, the question transfer device 32-1 receives the url-2 of the question processing device 3-2 as the transfer destination of the question from the transfer destination management device 34-1. -2 (to the question processing device 3-2). Here, the transfer means sending a packet from the question processing device 3 (homepage) to another question processing device 3 (homepage).

The question transfer device 32-2 of the question processing device 3-2
In step S55, it is determined whether or not the question transferred from the question transfer device 32-1 of the question processing device 3-1 can be answered internally. In S56, the transfer destination management device 34-2
Request to show the transfer destination, and as the transfer destination, ur
When l-3 is presented, the question transfer device 32-2 further transfers the question to the question processing device 3-3 of url-3.

The question transfer device 32- of the question processing device 3-3
In step S57, it is determined whether or not the question transferred from the question processing device 3-2 can be answered internally. If it is determined that the question can be answered, the question is determined by the internal question search device. 33-3. Question search device 3
In step S3, an answer to the input question is searched in step S58, and the answer obtained as a result of the search is output to the question transfer device 32-3. Question transfer device 32-3
Sends the answer to the question received from the question processing device 3-2 in step S59 directly to the question transfer device 32-1 of the question processing device 3-1 as the query source (question processing device 3-2). Transfer). As a result, quick response transfer is possible.

The question transfer device 32- of the question processing device 3-1
Upon receiving the transfer of the answer from the question processing device 3-3 in step S60, 1 transmits the answer to the internal question input / output device 31-1. The question input / output device 31-1
In step S61, the answer received from the question transfer device 32-1 is converted into HTML and transmitted to the WWW browser 41.

As described above, the WWW browser 41
You can get answers to your questions.

Next, a protocol in this network system will be described. In this network system, HTTP, which is a WWW transfer protocol, is used by extension. For example, the protocol for an HTTP request is
It is expressed as follows. GET URL? TAG1 = VAL1 & TAG2 = VAL2…

Here, the URL is an address indicating the location of the homepage to which the request is sent, and is, for example, the following address. http://www.miti.go.jp/intro.
html

TAG indicates a tag when data is input to the homepage, and VAL indicates a data value when data is input to the homepage.

From the WWW browser 41, the question input / output device 31
The transfer protocol for transferring a question to a query is as follows, assuming that the tag for inputting the question is “QUE”. GET URL? Q
UE = VAL

For example, the user from the WWW browser 41
When asking "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?" For the homepage url-1, GET url-1 / QUE = 199
What is the economic growth rate for eight years? Is sent. Japanese strings are encoded according to the rules of http,
Here, for convenience of explanation, it is represented as a Japanese character string.

Normally, the http protocol is compatible with WWW browsers and W
This is a communication protocol between WW servers. To display information, a WWW browser transmits a "request" requesting GET information and waits for a "response" from the WWW server including the information. On the other hand, in the present network system, the http protocol is extended as a communication protocol between WWW servers, that is, a communication protocol between servers (question processing devices). The question transfer device 32 that actually transmits and receives packets
Is a program on the WWW server. Virtually,
It can be considered as an extension as a communication protocol between the question transfer devices 32. As a result, the protocol in the network system is a protocol for transmitting information, and does not wait for a "response" to the packet after transmitting the packet.

The protocol for question transfer between the question transfer devices 32 is as follows, assuming that the tag of the URL of the question source is “URL0”, the tag of the upper limit of the number of transfers is “TLIM”, and the tag of the question is “QUE1”. It can be expressed as follows. GET URL? URL0 = VAL1 &
TLIM = VAL2 & QUE1 = VAL3

Assuming that the upper limit of the number of transfers of a question input by the user to homepage url-1 from url-1 to url-2 is 10, the next packet will be sent. GET URL-2? URL0 = url-1 & TLIM = 10 & QUE1 = What is the economic growth rate in 1998?

The transfer protocol of the answers between the question transfer devices 32 is such that the tag of the URL of the question source is “URL0”, the tag of the number of transfers is “TLIM”, the tag of the question is “QUE1”, and the tag of the URL of the answer source is If "URLA1" and the answer tag are "ANS1", it will be as follows. GET URL? URL0 = VAL1 & TLIM = VAL2 & QUE1 = VAL
3 & URLA1 = VAL4 & ANS1 = VAL5

Url-3 answers the question input by the user to homepage url-1 after two transfers, and url-1
When sending back to, the following packet is sent. GE
T = url-1? URL0 = url-1 & TLIM = 8 & QUE1 = What is the economic growth rate in 1998? URLA1 = url-3? ANS1 = 0.3%

If the answer is not found and returned to the question source, the tags of URLA1 and ANS1 are not added, and the value of TLIM is set to 0.
And forward it to the source of the question. The question source is that URL 0 is your U
It is determined that the packet whose TLIM is 0 in the RL is a question for which no answer was found.

As described above, each of the question processing devices 3-1 to 3
-3 is a unique network address.
It has url-1 to url-3, but these automatically acquire information from other homepages, own internal information, sensing functions, etc., or process the acquired information,
It has the function of generating its own output information, holding it so that it can be output to the outside, and actively outputting it to the outside.If the conventional homepage is called a passive homepage, it should be called an active homepage Can be done.

Next, various modifications of the first embodiment will be described. In the above example, if it is determined in step S26 of FIG. 8 that the number of transfers has reached the upper limit, in step S27, a message indicating that no answer was found is returned to the question source. In the first modification, in this step S27,
Instead of writing a message indicating that no answer was found in the answer packet, the Internet search device 4 (FIG. 1) is requested to further search for the question.

The Internet search device 4 is an existing search device connected to the Internet 2. For example, as in Infoseek (trademark), a large number of homepages are full-text searched using keywords or natural languages, and are searched. It is configured to have the function of returning the URL of the server.
However, the Internet search device 4 is configured as a question processing device 3 having a question input / output device 31, a question transfer device 32, a question search device 33, a transfer destination management device 34, and the like as shown in FIG. However, the only function provided is a function of directly returning a search result (URL) for the entered keyword to the device that has performed the input for the entered keyword.

The question transfer device 32 (or the transfer destination management device 34) of the question processing device 3 stores the URL and the input format of the Internet search device 4 in advance, so that no answer is found and the question is returned. In step S27, the answer is not returned to the question input / output device 31 as it is, but the Internet search device 4
Enter the returned question in the input format of
The data is transmitted to the Internet search device 4. When receiving the input format, the Internet search device 4 performs a search corresponding to the input format, searches for a home page that includes a word included in the question as a keyword, and compares the search result with the question of the question processing device 3. Transfer device 32
Will be sent to Then, the question transfer device 32 transmits the character string (URL) designating the homepage transmitted from the Internet search device 4 as an answer to the question input / output device 31. As a result, an access destination that is not a complete answer but provides some information related to the question is presented to the user.

Next, a second modification will be described. In the basic example of the first embodiment, the transfer destination list held by the transfer destination management device 34 is basically fixed. However, in the second modification, for example, a flow chart shown in FIG. Thus, the transfer destination is learned by the number of answers.
That is, in this example, in step S71, when the question transfer device 32 receives the answer packet, the transfer destination management device 34 determines the answer source included in the answer packet.
Receive input of URL. Then, in step S72, it is determined whether or not the URL input in step S71 already exists in the transfer destination list held by the transfer destination management device 34. If the URL that has just been input already exists in the transfer destination list, the process proceeds to step S73.
In FIG. 15, as shown in FIG. 15, the number of responses corresponding to the URL in the transfer destination list is increased by one. For example, in step S71, the input URL is url
If it is -2, and if the number of responses is 5, it is set to 1
Is incremented to 6.

If it is determined in step S72 that the URL input in step S71 does not exist in the transfer destination list, the flow advances to step S74 to receive the input.
The URL is registered in the transfer destination list, and 1 is registered in the column of the number of responses.

As described above, the number of responses is registered in the transfer destination list, and the transfer destination management device 34
When the request for the transfer destination is requested from the request transfer device 3, the URL with the highest number of responses is preferentially selected, and the URL is selected.
2 As a result, a URL that is highly likely to actually return an answer to the question is clarified, the question is prevented from being transferred in vain, and an answer to the question can be obtained efficiently.

Note that a URL with a small number of answers may be deleted from the transfer destination list. For example, an average value and a standard deviation of the number of replies of the URLs registered in the transfer destination list are calculated, and URLs having a number of replies less than the threshold value which is twice the standard deviation lower than the average value are deleted.

Next, in the third modification, the transfer destination is learned not based on the number of transfers but on the time required for returning the answer. FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show processing examples of the transfer destination management device 34 in this case. First, step S81
In, the transfer destination management device determines whether the question transfer device 32 has requested presentation of the transfer destination. When the presentation of the transfer destination is requested, the process proceeds to step S82,
The input of the question to be transferred is received from the question transfer device 32. Then, in step S83, a high-priority URL is selected from the transfer destination list registered in advance. That is,
In this example, as shown in FIG. 18, the priorities of the URLs (question processing devices) are stored in the transfer destination list corresponding to the URLs of the transfer destinations. In the example of FIG. 18, since url-3 has the highest priority, url-3 is selected in this step S83.

Next, in step S84, the transfer destination management device 34 reads the current time from a built-in timer and stores it. In step S85, the question received in step S82 and step S8
For example, as shown in FIG. 19, the URL as the transfer destination selected in 3 and the transfer start time are stored in association with each other. FIG.
In the display example, "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?"
Url-3 is presented as the URL of the transfer destination in response to the question (1), and it is stored that the transfer start time is 10:21:15 on March 14, 1998.

Next, proceeding to step S86, the transfer destination management device 34 sends the inquiry transfer device 32 a step S83.
Is presented to the question transfer device 32. Then, the process returns to step S81.

If it is determined in step S81 that the presentation of the transfer destination has not been requested, the process proceeds to step S8.
Proceeding to 7, it is determined whether an answer has been returned from another question processing device 3. If the answer has not been returned from another question processing device 3, the process returns to step S81, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed. When the answer is returned from the other question processing device 3, the process proceeds to step S88, and the transfer destination learning process is executed. Details of the transfer destination learning process are shown in FIG.

That is, when receiving the notification that the answer has been returned from another question processing device 3 from the question transfer device 32, the transfer destination management device 34 sends the answer packet from the question transfer device 32 to the answer packet in step S91. Receive the input of the included question and the answer source URL. In step S92, it is determined whether or not the URL input in step S91 already exists in the transfer destination list. If there is, the process proceeds to step S93, and a process of increasing the priority of the URL by one is performed. Be executed. If the input URL does not exist in the transfer destination list, the process proceeds to step S94, and the URL is registered in the transfer destination list and its priority is registered as 1.

Following the processing in step S93 or step S94, the process proceeds to step S95, and the transfer destination and transfer start time corresponding to the question input in step S91 are stored in the table stored in step S85 in FIG. 16 (FIG. 19). Table).

In step S96, the transfer destination management device 34
Reads the current time, and stores the current time in step S95
Calculate the time required for the answer from the transfer start time searched in. In step S97, the transfer destination management device 34
Retrieves the URL as the transfer destination searched in step S95 from the transfer destination list. In step S98,
It is determined whether or not the answer time referenced in step S96 is a time equal to or less than a preset threshold value (for example, 10 seconds). If the answer time is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, the process proceeds to step S99, and the transfer destination management device 34 increases the priority (see FIG. 18) corresponding to the URL of the transfer destination list searched in step S97 by one. Let it. Step S
In 98, when it is determined that the answer time is larger than the threshold, the process of step S99 is skipped.
That is, in this case, the priority is not increased and is kept as it is.

As described above, the learning is performed so that the priority of the question processing device 3 that has returned the answer becomes higher within a short time. As a result, step S1
In step S83 of FIG. 6, as a result of the selection of the URL (question processing device 3) having a higher priority, the question processing device 3 which returns the answer more quickly is preferentially selected, and the question transfer device 32
Will be presented.

Next, a fourth modification will be described. In the fourth modified example, when the transfer destination management device 34 receives a request to present a question transfer destination from the question transfer device 32,
At the same time, you will be asked questions. Then, the priority of the transfer destination is dynamically changed for each input question, and the URL of the transfer destination having the highest priority is presented to the question transfer apparatus 32. For this reason, the transfer destination management device 34 performs the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 20 to perform the learning processing.

That is, first, in step S111, when the question transfer device 32 receives an answer from another question processing device 3, the transfer destination management device 34 sends the answer to the answer source URL, the question, And input of answer. In step S112, the transfer destination management apparatus 34 extracts one word included in the question and answer received from the question transfer apparatus 32 in step S111. In step S113, it is determined whether or not all the words have been extracted. If all the words have not been extracted yet, the process proceeds to step S114, where the words extracted in step S112 are already It is determined whether or not the item is already registered as a heading in the list held by. That is, as shown in FIG. 21, the transfer destination management device 34 uses the words included in the transferred answer and the corresponding question as headlines, and transfers the question or answer including the headline, as shown in FIG. 21. The stored URL is stored together with the appearance frequency (the number of words) of the word corresponding to the headline. Accordingly, here, the transfer destination list is a list in which the knowledge of the related (special) field is registered together (the list of knowledge holding destinations of the field related to the question). If it is determined that the word extracted in step S112 is not included in the heading, in step S117, the word is added to the heading, the appearance frequency of the word is set to 1, and the word is added together with the URL. sign up.

In step S114, step S1
If it is determined that the word extracted in step 12 is present in the headline, the process proceeds to step S115, and the URL of the answer source input in step S111 is included in the list of transfer destinations and the number of words corresponding to the headline. It is determined whether or not it has been registered. If the URL has already been registered, in step S116, the number in the word number column of the URL in the list of the transfer destination and the word number is incremented by one. If it is determined in step S115 that the URL corresponding to the headline extracted in step S112 has not been registered in the list of transfer destinations and the number of words, the process proceeds to step S118, and step S111 is included in the list. In addition to registering the input URL, 1 is registered as the number of words as the frequency of appearance of the headline word in the URL.

The above processing is repeatedly executed until it is determined in step S113 that the same processing has been performed for all the words included in the input question and answer.

As a result of the above-described learning, a heading as shown in FIG. 21 and a URL obtained by processing a question or an answer including a word corresponding to the heading are registered together with the number of words. Therefore, the transfer destination management device 34 sets the question transfer device 3
2. When a request for the transfer destination is requested from 2, the URL containing the most words included in the question to be transferred is preferentially selected and presented. This allows the UR to be accurately determined for each question.
L can be presented.

As described above, when the transfer destination is determined according to the response status, the transfer is performed in consideration of the number of responses, the time, the content (the number of words (frequency of appearance)), and various factors. You can decide ahead.

Next, a fifth modification will be described. As described above, for example, since a predetermined question processing device 3-1 cannot search for an answer internally, when a question is transferred to another question processing device 3-i, the question processing device 3-i If the answer cannot be searched internally, the question is forwarded to another question processing device 3, but at that time, since the question cannot be answered internally already, A situation occurs in which the data is transferred to the processing device 3-i, for example, to the question processing device 3-1. Since the question processing device 3-1 cannot already answer the question internally, it has been forwarded to another question processing device 3-i, so even if the same question is forwarded there again, it is useless. It is. In the fifth modification, such a situation is prevented.

That is, in the fifth modification, the transfer destination management device 34 executes a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S121,
The question transfer device 32 receives a transfer of a question packet from another question processing device 3. In step S122, the question transfer device 32 responds to the question contained in the question packet input in step S121 by using the internal question search device 3
In step 3, it is determined whether the answer can be given. When the answer can be searched by the internal question search device 33, the process proceeds to step S129, and the question transfer device 32 transmits the question to the internal question search device 33 and causes the internal question search device 33 to search for an answer to the question. In step S130, the question transfer device 32 receives the answer searched from the question search device 33, writes the answer in an answer packet, and transfers it to the question transfer device 32 of the question processing device 3 that is the question source. The processing in this case is the same as the processing in the example described above.

On the other hand, in step S122, the question transfer device 32 uses the internal question search device 33
If it is determined that the answer to the question cannot be searched, the process proceeds to step S123, and the transfer destination URL is acquired from the transfer destination management device 34. Then, step S124
In, the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not the last tag of the question packet is URLPi (i = numeral) (representing a URL that has passed through (representing a URL that failed to answer the question)). I do. The last tag in the question packet is URLPi
If it is determined that is, the question transfer device 32 proceeds to step S126, and adds 1 to the number i of the tag URLP to create a new tag URLP (i + 1). Then, in step S127, a new tag is added at the end of the inquiry packet.
URLP (i + 1) and its value as your own URL (for example, url-
k) is added. That is, URLP (i + 1) = url-k is added.

[0212] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S124 that the last tag of the question packet is not URLPi, the question processing device transfers itself to another question processing device for the first time. Therefore, in step S125, the question transfer device 32
At the end of the question packet, add the tag URLP1 and your own URL (url-k) as its value. That is, URLP1 = url-k
Add.

That is, in this example, if the tags of the URL that passed through are “URLP1”, “URLP2”,.
The following packet will be sent. GET URL? URL0 = VAL1 & TLIM = VAL2 & QUE1 = VAL3 & URLP1 = VAL4 & U
RLP2 = VAL5…

For example, via url-3 and url-4,
Question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?"
If the packet is forwarded to the next packet, the next packet is forwarded. GET ur
l-2? URL0 = url-1 & TLIM = 8 & QUE1 = What is the economic growth rate in 1998? & URLP1 = url-3 & URLP2 = url-4

Next, a sixth modification will be described. In this modified example, an answer is obtained from a plurality of question processing devices for one question, and one answer having the highest certainty is selected from the answers.

That is, in this modified example, the question transfer device 32 executes a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S141, the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not a question has been input from the question input / output device 31, and if not, proceeds to step S142 to perform another question processing. The device 3 determines whether a packet addressed to itself has been transferred. If the packet addressed to itself has not been transferred from another question processing device 3, the process returns to step S141, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

If it is determined in step S141 that a question has been input from the question input / output device 31, the process proceeds to step S143, where the question transfer device 32 can answer the question by the internal question search device 33. It is determined whether or not. If the answer to the question can be searched by the internal question search device 33, step S
Proceeding to 144, the question transfer device 32
To the question input from the question input / output device 31,
The question search device 33 is made to search for the answer to the question.
The question search device 33 searches for an answer to the input question, and outputs the searched answer to the question transfer device 32. At this time, the question search device 33 also outputs the certainty factor of the answer (a numerical value indicating the certainty of the answer). The certainty of the answer can be represented, for example, by the degree of coincidence between the user's question and the question in the question answer collection stored in advance. This degree of coincidence can be represented by the distance on the word network between the word included in the user's question and the word included in the question answer collection when “semantic matching” is performed in step S44 in FIG.

When the processing in step S145 is completed,
Alternatively, in step S143, when it is determined that the answer to the question cannot be searched by the internal question search device 33, the process proceeds to step S146, and the question transfer device 32 returns the question and the answer to the question input / output device 31. Remember the destination. Then, in step S147, a request is made to the transfer destination management device 34 for presentation of the transfer destination URL,
The transfer destination URL presented from the transfer destination management device 34 is acquired. In step S148, a question packet for transferring the question is created, and the question packet is transferred to the transfer destination acquired from the transfer destination management device 34 in step S147. Then, the process returns to step S141.

[0220] The question transfer device 32 of the question processing device 3 which has received the transfer of the question similarly executes the following processing, which is performed by the question transfer device 32 of the question processing device 3 as the query source. Will be.

That is, if it is determined in step S142 that the packet has been transferred from itself to the other question processing device 3, the process proceeds to step S149, where the question transfer device 32 determines the value of the tag TLIM in the packet. Is -1
It is determined whether or not. This tag TLIM indicates the maximum value of the number of times the question has been transferred. The fact that the value of this tag TLIM is -1 means that the question has been transferred up to the upper limit of the number of transfers already set in TLIM. Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step S150, and the answer that maximizes the certainty tag CFx included in the packet is selected. In step S151, the return destination of the answer included in the packet is searched from the return destinations stored in step S146, and the answer selected in step S150 is transmitted to the return destination of the question input / output device 31. Then, the process returns to step S141.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S149 that the value of the tag TLIM in the packet is not -1, the number of times of transferring the query has not yet reached the upper limit. Therefore, in this case, step S15
Proceeding to 2, the question answering process is executed. After the question answering process, the process returns to step S141.

Details of the question answering process in step S152 are shown in the flowchart of FIG. In this question answering process, in step S161, the question transfer device 32 determines whether the value of the tag TLIM in the packet received in step S142 is 0. tag
The fact that the value of TLIM is 0 means that the number of transfers of the question is
This means that the value set by the tag TLIM has been reached. Therefore, since there is no need to transfer the question any more, the process proceeds to step S162, and the value of the tag TLIM is decremented by 1 (the value of the tag TLIM is set to −1) (at the question source, this TLIM =
23 is determined in step S149 in FIG. 23), and in step S163, a process of returning the question packet received in step S142 in FIG.

As described above, when the question transferred by the value set by the tag TLIM is returned to the question source, as described above, the processing in steps S149 to S151 selects the answer included in the packet from among the answers included in the packet. , The one with the highest confidence is selected and transmitted to the question input / output device 31.

If it is determined in step S161 that the value of the tag TLIM in the packet is not 0, it means that the question has not yet been transferred to the upper limit. At this time, the process proceeds to step S164, where the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not the internal question search device 33 can search for an answer.
Then, the question transfer device 32 sends the question to the question search device 33.
, And search for answers to the questions. The question search device 33 searches for an answer to the input question, and transmits the answer and the certainty obtained as a result of the search to the question transfer device 32. In step S169, the question transfer device 32 receives the answer and the certainty factor input from the question search device 33.

Next, in step S170, the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not the tag ANSx exists in the packet transferred from the other question processing device 3 acquired in step S142 in FIG. This tag ANSx
Is an answer tag. If this answer tag ANSx exists, it means that another question processing device 3 has already given an answer. In this case, the process proceeds to step S172, and 1 is set in the variable x. Add. Further, in step S173, the own URL is set to the tag URLAx representing the URL of the answer source, the answer character string is set to the value of the answer tag ANSx, and the confidence is added to the value of the tag CFx representing the confidence. And add it to the end of the packet.

If it is determined in step S170 that the tag ANSx does not exist in the packet, an answer is added for the first time this time, so that in step S171, the variable x is set to 1 (ANS1). Then, in step S173, the respective values are set to the respective tags URLAx, ANSx, and CFx as in the case described above.

When the processing in step S173 is completed,
Alternatively, if it is determined in step S164 that the internal question search device 33 cannot search for an answer, the process proceeds to step S165, where the question transfer device 32 sets the value of the tag TLIM that defines the upper limit of the number of transfers to 1 Is decremented, and in step S166, the transfer destination management device 3
From 4, the user is presented with the transfer destination URL. Then, in step S167, a process of transferring the question packet to the transfer destination URL presented in step S166 is executed.

The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 24 is also a process executed when the signal processing device 3 other than the query source receives the transfer of the query packet.

As described above, in this example, the question is the tag TL
Until the upper limit set by IM is reached, it is sequentially transferred to each question processing device 3. When each of the question processing devices 3 can answer the transferred question, it adds an answer and transfers the question packet to another question processing device 3. When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit value, the question packet is returned to the question processing device 3 of the question source, and the signal processing device 3 of the question source outputs the highest reliability among the obtained answers. Is selected and supplied to the question input / output device 31.
Then, this is further transmitted to the WWW browser 41.

The tags of the URLs of the respondents are “URLA1” and “URLA1”.
2 ”... and the answer tags are“ ANS1 ”,“ ANS2 ”
.. And the tags of the certainty factors are “CF1”, “CF2”,..., The following packet is transmitted. GET URL? URL0 = VAL1 & TLIM = VAL2 & QUE1 = VAL3 & URLA1 = VAL4 & A
NS1 = VAL5 & CF1 = VAL6 & URLA2 = VAL7 & ANS2 = VLA8 & CF2 = VAL9…

For example, a question input by the user to the home page url-1 is answered twice with the transfer count, url-2 is answered with a certainty of 0.6, and url-3 is answered with a certainty of 0.8. In response, when forwarding to url-4, the transmitted packet is
It looks like this: GET url-4? URL0 = URL-1 & TLIM = 8 & QUE1 =
What is the economic growth rate in 1998? & URLA1 = url-2? ANS1 = 0.2% & C
F1 = 0.6 & URLA2 = url-3? ANS2 = 0.3% & CF2 = 0.8

In this example, if multiple answers are allowed, a predetermined number of answers are selected in descending order of reliability.

Next, a seventh modification will be described. In the sixth modification, one question is sequentially transferred to another question processing device 3, but it can be simultaneously transferred to another question processing device 3 in parallel. The seventh modification shows an example in this case. That is, in the seventh modification, the question transfer device 32 executes a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S181, the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not a question has been input from the question input / output device 31, and if not, in step S182, the other question processing devices 3 It is determined whether or not a packet addressed to itself has been transferred. If the packet addressed to itself has not been transferred, step S
Returning to 181, the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.

If it is determined in step S181 that a question has been input from the question input / output device 31, the process proceeds to step S183, where the question transfer device 32 determines whether the internal question search device 33 can answer. judge. If an answer is possible, the process proceeds to step S184, where the question transfer device 32 transmits a question to the question search device 33 and causes the question search device 33 to search for an answer.

[0237] In step S185, the question transfer device 32 receives the answer and the certainty factor from the question search device 33, and in step S186, stores the answer and the certainty factor received in step S185.

Next, in step S187, the question and the answer return destination to the question input / output device 31 are stored, and in step S188, the transfer destination URL is transmitted from the transfer destination management device.
(N-1) are obtained. That is, the user wants to obtain a total of N answers, but he or she already has one answer in step S18.
4 and the other signal processing devices 3
Thereafter, it is sufficient to obtain N-1 answers. Therefore,
When N-1 transfer destination URLs are obtained, in step S189, the question transfer device 32 stores the transfer inquiry packet in N
−1 are created and transferred to the N−1 destinations acquired in step S188. Then, the process returns to step S181.

In step S183, the internal question search device 3
If it is determined that the answer cannot be searched in Step 3,
Proceeding to step S190, the question transfer device 32 stores the question and the answer return destination to the question input / output device 31. In step S191, N transfer destination URLs are obtained from the transfer destination management device 34. In this case, since the user himself / herself has not searched for an answer, it is necessary to obtain N answers from the other question processing devices 3. Therefore, N transfer destinations are obtained. In step S192, the question transfer device 32
Sends a question having the same content as a question packet to the N transfer destinations acquired in step S191. Then, the process returns to step S181.

As described above, after transferring the (N-1) or N query packets to another query processing device 3, in step S182, the packet addressed to itself is transferred from another signal processing device 3. If it is determined that the packet has been transmitted, the process proceeds to step S193, where the tag TLIM
It is determined whether or not the value of -1 is -1. The value of the tag TLIM is-
1 means that the predetermined question processing device 3 has given an answer to the question (step S22 in FIG. 26).
1) Or, the question is transferred until the upper limit set by the tag TLIM is reached, but none of the question processing devices 3 can search for the answer (step S in FIG. 26).
212, S213). In this case, there is no need to transfer the inquiry packet to another signal processing device 3. Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step S194, and it is determined whether all the answers have been returned. That is, the answer to the N-1 question packets transferred in step S189 or the N
It is determined whether all the answers to the question packets have been obtained. If all answer packets have not been returned yet, the process returns to step S181, and the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.

When all the replies to the transferred packet have been returned, the process proceeds from step S194 to step S194.
Proceeding to 195, the question transfer device 32 selects a packet in which the certainty of the value of the tag CF is maximized. In step S196, the question transfer device 32 checks the return destination of the answer to the question of the question input / output device 31 recorded in step S187 or step S190, and then proceeds to step S195.
Is transmitted to the answer return destination of the question input / output device 31. Thereafter, the process returns to step S181, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

In step S193, the value of the tag TLIM in the packet transferred from the other signal processing device 3 is-
When it is determined that it is not 1 (when a question that has not been answered yet has been transferred from another signal processing device 3), the process proceeds to step S197, performs a question answer process, and then returns to step S181. .

Details of the question answering process are shown in the flowchart of FIG. The question answering process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 26 is performed by the signal processing device 3 other than the question source.
This is also a process executed when a packet is transferred from another signal processing device 3.

First, in step S211, the question transfer device 32 determines whether the value of the tag TLIM in the packet supplied from another question processing device 3 is 0 or not. The fact that the value of the tag TLIM is 0 means that the question has been transferred to each question processing device 3 the number of times set by the tag TLIM.
In this case, because we didn't get an answer,
Proceeding to step S212, the value of the tag TLIM is decremented by 1 to −1, and in step S213, the query packet is returned to the signal processing device 3 of the query source.

If it is determined in step S211 that the value of the tag TLIM in the transferred packet is not 0, the number of transfers of the packet has not reached the upper limit yet. Then, the process proceeds to step S214, where the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not the internal question search device 33 can search for an answer. If the answer can be answered, the process proceeds to step S218, and the question transfer device 32 performs the question search. The question is forwarded to the device 33 to be searched. In step S219, the question transfer device 32 sends a
When the input of the answer and the confidence is received and the input is received, in step S220, the own URL is set to the value of the tag URLA as the answer source, and the answer character string is set to the value of the answer tag ANS. The certainty is set to the value of the certainty tag CF.
These are added at the end of the packet.

Further, in step S221, the question transfer device 32 sets the value of the tag TLIM to -1. That is, since the answer has been obtained, there is no need to transfer the question to another signal processing device 3 any more. Here, the same setting is performed as when the number of transfers has reached the upper limit value in a pseudo manner.
In step S222, the packet generated as described above is returned to the question processing device 3 that is the source of the question.

If it is determined in step S214 that the internal question search device 33 cannot search for an answer, the flow advances to step S215 to decrement the value of the tag TLIM by one. In step S216, the question transfer device 32 receives the presentation of the transfer destination URL from the transfer destination management device 34, and
In step S217, the question transfer device 32 transfers the question packet.

As described above, in the seventh modification, the same question is transferred to a plurality of question processing devices 3 simultaneously and in parallel. The signal processing device 3 that has received the transfer returns the answer to the question source when the answer can be searched internally, and sends the answer to another question processing device 3 when the answer cannot be answered internally. Then forward that question. Then, even if the number of transfers reaches the upper limit value, if an answer cannot be obtained yet, the question packet is returned to the question processing device 3 of the question source.

Next, an eighth modification will be described. In the above example, the information fixedly recorded in advance in the question search device 33 is returned as an answer.
Information that can be collected as appropriate may be returned as a response to the question. The eighth modification shows an example in this case.

That is, in this example, as shown in FIG. 27, the question retrieving device 33 saves information on the procedure for activating the input devices 71 and 72 in the answer area in the question answer collection. A flag is set in the area in order to discriminate between a fixedly recorded answer and such procedure information. For example, a flag DATA is set for fixed information, and a flag FUNC is set for a procedure for activating the input device. When retrieving an answer from the question and answer collection, the question search device 33 checks this flag.
If it is DATA, the answer recorded therein is returned to the question transfer device 32 as it is. On the other hand, if the flag is FUNC, the question retrieval device 33 activates the procedure recorded in the answer area, and returns information obtained as a result of the procedure to the question transfer device 32 as an answer.

For example, since the answer to the question “What is the average rainfall in Japan in 1997?” Is already fixed information, the flag DATA is set for the answer “1500 ml / m ² ”. Has been remembered. On the contrary,
For a question such as "What is the amount of rainfall in the A region?" Therefore,
In the answer column, set the FUNC flag and enter "Measurement Procedure A"
Record it. Similarly, for the question "What is the amount of rainfall in the B region?", A flag of FUNC is set and "Measurement procedure B" is recorded in the answer column.

When the question "What is the amount of rainfall in the region A?" Is input, the question search device 33 activates "measurement procedure A" and causes the input device 71 to measure the rain gauge in the region A. . Then, the measured result is returned to the question transfer device 32 as an answer to the question "What is the amount of rainfall in the A region?"

In the WWW, not only a character string but also an image and a voice can be transferred, so that not only a value input by a sensor but also an image captured by a camera, a voice input by a microphone, and the like can be returned as an answer. .

However, when a question is received, instead of measuring those values, it is also possible to repeat the measurement periodically and update and record the measurement result every time. is there. In this case, the answer column contains the flag DA
The measurement data is stored together with the TA.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the case of the first embodiment, the loop of the transfer destination may be closed locally, and an answer to the question may not be obtained effectively. This is solved in the second embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 28, in this embodiment, a transfer destination introduction device 81 is connected to a network system. This transfer destination introduction device 81
It has a function of determining which question processing device 3 can answer each question, and presents a question transfer destination in response to a request from the question processing device 3.

That is, the transfer destination introduction device 81 sets the transfer destination management device 34 inside the question processing device 3 to
It can be considered more specialized and larger. This transfer destination introduction device 81 has the ability to register the text of the question and answer book possessed by each question processing device 3 in the index of full-text search, and to return the URL of the question processing device 3 with the relevance as a search result of the index. Have. That is, since the transfer destination introduction device 81 registers the index generated from the question and answer collection of all the question processing devices 3 connected to the network system, which of the question processing devices 3 It is possible to judge whether or not it is possible to answer the question.

For example, the transfer destination introduction device 8 always starts from the beginning.
It is also possible to make the transfer destination introduction device 81 introduce the transfer destination, but in such a case, the processing is concentrated on the transfer destination introduction device 81, and the transfer destination introduction process may be delayed.
Therefore, in this embodiment, as a result of the inquiry packet being returned as a result of the transfer count reaching the upper limit of the question processing device 3 of the question source or the transfer count not yet reaching the upper limit, In a loop, when the question packet returns to the question source without an answer, the question processing device 3 of the query source inquires the transfer destination introduction device 81 of the transfer destination.

That is, as shown in FIG. 28, the WWW browser 41 outputs a question in step S231,
When the question processing device 3-1 receives this question in step S232, when the question processing device 3-1 determines that the answer cannot be searched internally, the process proceeds to step S233.
Then, the question is output to, for example, the question processing device 3-5. When inputting the transfer of the question in step S234, if the answer cannot be searched internally, the question processing device 3-5 transfers the question to the question processing device 3-3 in step S235. Question processing device 3-3
Receives the transfer of this question in step S236,
If the search cannot be performed internally, the question is further transferred in step S237.

The question processing device 3-2 proceeds to step S238.
When the question is transferred, if the answer cannot be searched internally, the question is further transferred in step S239. This question is asked in step S240
In step S241, the question processing device 3-1 inquires of the transfer destination introducing device 81 about the transfer destination in step S241.

[0260] The transfer destination introduction device 81 executes the step S242.
In step S243, when the request for introduction of the transfer destination is received, the transfer destination is searched, and the obtained transfer destination is determined in step S243.
Output to the question processing device 3-1 of the question source. Upon receiving the presentation of the transfer destination from the transfer destination introduction device 81 in step S245, the question processing device 3-1 transfers the question to the transfer destination that has received the presentation in step S246. In this case, the transfer destination introduction device 81 presents url-4 as the transfer destination. As a result, the question from the question processing device 3-1 is transferred to the question processing device 3-4 having url-4. Upon receiving the transfer of this question in step S247, the question processing device 3-4 searches for an answer to this question and returns the obtained answer to step S2.
At 48, it is returned to the question processing device 3-1. The question processing device 3-1 receives this answer in step S249. Then, the received answer is stored in step S250.
Is transmitted to the WWW browser 41, and the WWW browser 41
Receives this answer in step S251.

As a communication protocol between the transfer destination introduction device 81 and the question processing device 3, a protocol between a WWW browser and a WWW server can be used. The protocol is simple, returning a single response to a single request. http protocol GE
Of the T methods, the tag included in the request packet and the data format included in the response may be defined as follows.

For example, if the question tag is “QUE1”, the format of the request is as follows. GET URL? QUE1 = VAL3

For example, the transfer destination introduction device 81 of the URL-0
Then, when inquiring about the transfer destination of the question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?", The following packet is sent. GE
T url-0? QUE1 = What is the economic growth rate in 1998?

The format of the response is HTML
Use the header format of
If you say "F", you can negotiate as follows. Content-type: text / html <HTML><HEAD> URLF </ HEAD></HTML>

When the question processing device 3 receives the response,
Make the string in the header tag the new destination and forward the question to it.

The transfer destination list of the transfer destination introduction device 81 may be prepared and input by the administrator in advance.
For example, as a first modification of the second embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, the transfer destination introduction device 81 may communicate with each question processing device 3 to collect the URL of the transfer destination list. By performing this processing periodically, a large number of transfer destinations can be collected.

That is, in the example shown in FIG. 29, the transfer destination introduction device 81 sets url-1, url as the transfer destination list now.
-2. First, the transfer destination information collection device 82 of the transfer destination introduction device 81 communicates with, for example, the question processing device 3-1, and acquires url-3 included in the transfer destination list as a new URL. Then, this is registered in the transfer destination list of the transfer destination introduction device 81.

Further, the transfer destination information collection device 82 communicates with the question processing device 3-2, and acquires url-4 and url-5 as new URLs from the transfer destination list. When communicating with the question processing devices 3-3 and 3-4, a new
Although the URL cannot be obtained, the question processing device 3-5
When the transfer destination information collection device 82 communicates with
Further, url-6 and url-7 can be acquired as new URLs.

In the case where each of the question processing devices 3 is sequentially adding a transfer destination list, the transfer destination introduction device 81
These can always be registered as the latest transfer destination list.

The transfer destination introduction device 81 may further execute a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 30 in order to determine what question each question processing device 3 can answer. it can. The processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 30 is basically the same as the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 20, except that it is not necessary to register information of one URL many times. Processing is different.

That is, first, in step S261, the transfer destination introduction device 81 receives the URL and the text of the question and answer book from the question transfer device 32 of one question processing device 3. In step S262, words are extracted from the sentences of the question and the answer, and in step S263, it is determined whether all the words have been extracted. If all the words have not been extracted yet, the process proceeds to step S264, and it is determined whether or not the word extracted in step S262 has already been registered in the previously registered heading. If the word has not been registered in the heading, the process proceeds to step S266, the word is added to the heading, and the URL and the number of words 1 are registered in the list of transfer destinations and the number of words in the column of the heading. . Thereafter, the process returns to step S262, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

At step S264, step S2
If it is determined that the word extracted in 62 is already registered in the headline, the process proceeds to step S265, and the corresponding URL
Is increased by 1, and the process returns to step S262.

As described above, a full-text search index similar to that shown in FIG. 21 is created. Using this index, the transfer destination introduction device 81 can determine what kind of question each question processing device 3 (each URL) can answer.

Of course, if the transfer destination introduction device 81 has sufficient processing capability, the transfer destination introduction device 81 is not accessed from the question processing device 3 as in the example shown in FIG. As a second modified example of the embodiment, as shown in FIG.
1-2, a question is directly input to the transfer destination introduction device 81,
The transfer destination introduction device 81 searches for the question processing device 3 that can answer the input question, and the transfer destination introduction device 81 transfers the question to the searched question processing device 3 by itself. An answer as a search result is obtained, and the answer can be transmitted to each of the WWW browsers 41-1 and 41-2.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a simulation system (simulator) can be constructed. For example, as shown in FIG.
What is the economic growth rate in 998? Is a question processing device 3-
1, when the question processing device 3-1 cannot internally search for an answer to this question,
This question is transferred to, for example, the question processing device 3-3. The basic configuration of the question processing device 3 according to the third embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 4, except that the question search device 33 uses
If you have multiple questions that are broken down (the difficult questions are broken down into simple questions so that you can answer them), Information of a procedure for deriving an answer to one original question is recorded. When one question is input from the question transfer device 32, a plurality of subdivided questions and an answer derivation procedure are returned to the question transfer device 32 as the answer.

When the question transfer device 32 outputs a single question to the question retrieval device 33 and receives a plurality of subdivided questions as an answer and an answer derivation procedure, the subdivided question is transmitted. Answering the plurality of questions internally or transferring them to another question processing device 3 and waiting for all the answers to those questions to return,
When all answers to a plurality of subdivided questions are returned, the answer is input to an answer derivation procedure, and a function is provided for generating an answer to one original question.

For example, “What is the economic growth rate in 1998?”
If there is no question processing device 3 that can directly answer the question, it is conceivable to collect the values of these economic indicators and input them into a simulation to obtain an answer. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 33, in the collection of questions and answers of the
What is the annual economic growth rate? Is stored in the answer column corresponding to this, and this question is subdivided into "What is the industrial production in 1997?", "What is the raw material cost in the manufacturing industry in 1997?" For example, a plurality of questions including ten economic indicators are recorded. Then, when the answers to the plurality of questions are obtained along with the plurality of questions, the answer to the original question “What is the economic growth rate in 1998?” Is derived from these answers. "An answer derivation procedure A" is recorded. Such a question answer collection is prepared in advance by the administrator.

In order to identify a subdivided question, a flag “QUES” is set for these subdivided questions, and “SIMS” is included in the procedure information for deriving an answer.
The "U" flag is set. Then, as in the case described above, the flag “DATA” is set in the normal original answer.

Therefore, the question retrieval device 33 of the question processing device 3-3 shown in FIG. 32, when the question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?" The subroutine outputs a plurality of subdivided questions and an answer derivation procedure recorded in the question answer collection to the question transfer device 32.

The processing of the question search device 33 can be summarized as shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step S271, the question search device 33 performs a matching process between the question input from the question transfer device 32 and the question registered in the question answer collection. This matching process is similar to the process performed in step S44 of FIG. Next, in step S272, the question search device 33 determines whether the answer flag corresponding to the matched question is DATA. If the corresponding answer flag in the question answering process is DATA, in step S273, the question search device 33 transmits the answer to the question transfer device 32 together with the flag DATA. If the answer flag is not DATA, in step S274,
The question retrieval device 33 transmits to the question transfer device 32 the QUES flag, all of the subdivided questions corresponding thereto, the SIMU flag, and the procedure corresponding thereto.

When receiving a plurality of subdivided questions and an input of an answer derivation procedure for one question as shown in FIG. 33, the question transfer device 32, as shown in FIG. , The number of questions (the number of questions transferred), the information for invoking the procedure, and the subdivided question corresponding to the input position to the procedure. The information for starting the procedure and the input position at the time of starting correspond to the function entry point and the argument of the function call. Therefore, the number of subdivided questions and the number of input positions of the answer derivation procedure need to match.

That is, for example, the question transfer device 32 of the question processing device 3-3 of FIG. 32 executes a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, first, in step S281, the question transfer device 32 inputs a question to the question search device 33 and obtains an answer. In this case, the question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?" Is input to the question search device 33, and as the answer, ten questions and an answer derivation procedure obtained by further dividing this question are obtained.

[0283] Next, the process proceeds to step S282, in which the question transfer device 32 determines whether or not the flag of the answer obtained from the question search device 33 in step S281 is DATA. The answer packet is created, and the corresponding answer is output to the question input / output device 31.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S282 that the answer flag is not DATA, the flow advances to step S284 to store the number of subdivided questions, the start position of the procedure, and the input position to the procedure. .

[0285] Further, in step S285, the question transfer device 32 extracts one question from the plurality of subdivided questions. In step S286, it is determined whether or not there are no more subdivided questions (the subdivided questions could not be extracted).
Proceeding to 287, it is determined whether the one question extracted in step S285 can be answered internally. If it is not possible to answer internally, a question packet is created and this question is transmitted to another question processing device 3.

For example, in the example of FIG. 32, the question transfer device 32 of the question processing device 3-3 transfers the question “What is industrial production in 1997?” To the question processing device 3-2.
The question “What is the raw material cost in the manufacturing industry in 1997?” Is transferred to the question processing device 3-4.

After the processing in step S288, step S288
Return to 285.

If it is determined in step S287 that the subdivided question can be answered by the internal question search device 33, the process proceeds to step S289, and the question transfer device 32 transmits Enter subdivided questions and get answers. In step S290, the question transfer device 32 searches for an input position to the procedure using the content of the question as a key (stored in step S284), and in step S291, obtains the input position searched for in step S289. Enter the value of the answer. Then, the process returns to step S285.

The above processing is repeatedly executed until it is determined in step S286 that there are no more subdivided questions.

That is, for a subdivided question that can be answered internally, the answer is searched and input to a predetermined input position, and the subdivided question that cannot be answered internally is replaced with another question. It is transferred to the processing device.

As described above, the question transfer device 32, which has transferred the fragmented question to another question processing device as necessary, further executes the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Derives an answer to the original one question from.

That is, first, in step S301, the process waits until an answer (answer to the question transferred in step S288 in FIG. 35) packet is input from another question processing device 3, and if it is input, the process proceeds to step S301. S3
The process proceeds to step 02, where the input position to the answer derivation procedure is searched based on the question contained in the answer packet received (stored in step S284 in FIG. 35). If the input position is found, the question transfer device 32 inputs the answer transferred from the other question processing device 3 to the input position in step S303.

Next, in step S304, it is determined whether or not there is a position for which an answer has not yet been input among the input positions. If there is an uninput position, the process returns to step S301. Subsequent processing is repeatedly executed. If it is determined in step S304 that answers have been input to all input positions, the process proceeds to step S305, where the question transfer device 32 starts an answer derivation procedure,
Generate answers. That is, the question processing device 3 shown in FIG.
3 receives the input of the answers to the subdivided questions from the question processing devices 3-2, 3-4, etc., and generates the answer of the original question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?"
In the example of FIG. 32, the answer “0.3%” is generated for the question “What is the economic growth rate in 1998?”. In step S306, the question transfer device 32 writes one answer generated in step S305 into
An answer packet is created and returned to the question processing device 3-1 as a question source.

When determining the correspondence between the question input from the question transfer device 32 and the question in the question and answer collection registered in the question search device 33, the character string in the question sentence is determined based on a simple fact. May need to be replaced. For example, “this year” needs to be replaced with a specific year in which the question was asked, for example, a character string “1998”.
Alternatively, the reverse may occur. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 37, as a first modified example of the third embodiment, the question answering apparatus 33 can store a character string to be replaced together with a flag REPL in the question answer collection. As a result, the match of the question can be determined by a simple substring match, and if a match is found, the substring in the question is replaced with the original character string and returned.

In the collection of questions and answers in FIG. 37, “this year”
Corresponds to the answer of "1998". "*" In "* This year *" and "* 1998 *"
Is a symbol that is determined to match any string.

In the above, from the subdivided answers,
An answer to one original question is generated, and only that one answer is returned to the question source. As a second modification of the third embodiment, a fragmentation is performed in the process of generating an answer to a question. The answer to the asked question can also be transmitted to the question source. By doing so, for example, “1”
What is industrial production in 997? Is sent to the questioner together with one final answer “0.3%”, so the questioner must determine whether the final answer is valid or not. It can be inferred from the answers to the subdivided questions.

When analyzing the answer to the subdivided question, the protocol for returning the answer can be, for example, as follows.

That is, the tag of the URL of the question source is changed to “URL
0 ", transfer count tag" TLIM ", question tag" QUE "
1 ", the URL tag of the answer source is" URLA1 ", and the tag of the answer is" A
NS1 "and subdivided question tags to" QUE1-1 "," QUE1-
2 ”..., the URL tags of the answer source to the subdivided question are“ URLA1-1 ”and“ URLA1-2 ”, and the tags of the answer to the subdivided question are“ ANS1-1 ”and“ ANS1-2 "..., the reply return protocol is as follows. GET URL? URL0 = VAL1 & TLIM = VAL2 & QUE1 = VAL3 & URLA1 = VAL4 & A
NS1 = VAL5 & QUE1-1 = VAL6 & URLA1-1 = VAL7 & ANS1-1 = VAL8 & QUE1
-2 = VAL9 & URLA1-2 = VAL10 & ANS1-2 = VAL11 ・ ・ ・

In the example of FIG. 32, the following reply packet is sent. GET url-1? URL0 = url-1 & TLIM = 9 &
QUE1 = What is the economic growth rate in 1998? & URLA1 = url-3? ANS1 =
0.3% & QUE1-1 = What is the industrial production in 1997? & URLA1-1
= url-2 & ANS1-1 = 250 trillion yen & QUE1-2 = What is the raw material cost in 1997? & URLA1-2 = url-4 & ANS1-2 = 180 trillion yen & ...

As a third modification of the third embodiment,
Break down a question into multiple questions, get answers,
When one answer is generated, one answer for the one question can be newly registered. That is, in the case of the above-described example, for the question "What is the economic growth rate in 1998?", The answer DATA 0.3% is registered in the question answer collection. By doing so, it is not necessary to subdivide the question and obtain an answer to the question, and it is possible to obtain an answer to the question in a shorter time.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. As a first modification of the first embodiment, a question is transferred to the Internet search device 4, a keyword included in the question is searched, and a URL of an information processing device capable of searching for a question including the keyword is set as: The answer is obtained as an answer, but such a transfer destination management function can be regarded as a function for managing the strength of links between homepages. In the fourth embodiment, the number of times the user has accessed the URL provided as a response is measured based on the search result from the Internet search device 4, and the search index of the Internet search device 4 is updated. At this time, the update cycle of a homepage with a large number of accesses is made shorter.

FIG. 38 shows the operation of such an Internet search device 4. First, step S311
In, the Internet search device 4 determines whether an input of a question has been received from the personal computer 1, the question processing device 3, or the like.
Proceeding to step S312, it is determined whether the update cycle has been reached. If the update cycle has not been reached, step S
Returning to 311, the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.
The process of determining the update cycle will be described later with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

If it is determined in step S312 that the update cycle has been reached, the process proceeds to step S315, where the Internet search device 4 accesses a predetermined homepage (URL) that has reached the update cycle, and transmits the text data to the robot. 91 (application software of the Internet search device 4). In step S316, the robot 91 searches for a keyword from the collected text data, creates a full-text search index from the keyword, and updates the index if it has already been created. Thereafter, the process returns to step S311.

If it is determined in step S311, that a question has been input from the personal computer 1 or the question processing device 3, the process proceeds to step S313, where the Internet search device 4 uses the full-text index created and updated in step S316. And searchable URL for the answer to the input question (question processing device 3)
And outputs the searched URL to the personal computer 1 or the question processing device 3 which has input the question. Personal computer 1 or question processing device 3
Are output on the display, a list of URLs as shown in, for example, FIG. 39 is displayed. In this example, a search result for the question “Onsen Ryokan” is displayed. The number at the beginning of the name of the homepage corresponding to each URL indicates the number of times the user has accessed the search result of the Internet search device 4. Then, in step S314, when the personal computer 1 or the question processing device 3 provided with the URL accesses the URL (homepage),
The number of accesses is counted and stored in a built-in memory. Thereafter, the process returns to step S311.

In the list of search results as shown in FIG.
When the mouse is clicked, an anchor to be connected to the displayed URL is displayed, for example, as <A HREF='url-1'>. When this is clicked with the mouse, the WWW browser 41 Transmits a request directly to the homepage of url-1, so that the Internet search device 4 cannot capture the number of accesses. Therefore, it is made to access via CGI. Therefore, the URL of the Internet search device 4 is changed to url-2, CGI
Cgi the program, PAGE the tag of the homepage you want to open
Then, the anchor is displayed as follows. <A HREF="url-2/CGI?PAGE=url-1">

When the user clicks this anchor with the mouse, the CGI program is started and url-1 in the list is displayed.
Is incremented by one. Thus, it is possible to count the number of accesses (for each URL) of each homepage accessed by receiving the presentation from the Internet search device 4.

Next, a method for determining a URL update cycle will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

That is, first, in step S321, the robot 91 selects one predetermined URL from the URL list to be searched by the index, and reads the number of accesses. In step S322, it is determined whether the URL to be read no longer exists and the URL could not be read. If the URL can be read, the process proceeds to step S323, and the UR
It is determined whether or not the number of accesses of L for three days is 1000 times or more. If the number of accesses is 1000 or more, the process proceeds to step S324, where the robot 91
Set the update period of the URL index to 3 days.

If it is determined in step S323 that the number of accesses is not 1000 or more, the process proceeds to step S325, and it is determined whether the number of accesses in three days is 100 or more (less than 1000). If it is determined that the number of accesses for three days is 100 or more, the process proceeds to step S326, and the update cycle of the index of the URL is set to one week. If it is determined in step S325 that the number of accesses for three days is less than 100, the process proceeds to step S327, and the update cycle of the index is set to one month.

[0310] As described above, the UR corresponding to the number of accesses is determined.
By determining the number of updates of the L index (information used for URL search), the search index of a more important (frequently accessed) URL can be updated more frequently.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. The WWW browser 41 is provided with a function called “bookmark” so that the homepage once browsed can be immediately referred to again, so that the URL of the homepage browsed once can be saved. Therefore, it can be considered that the bookmark information includes the interest information of the user. Furthermore, a plurality of users who browse a common homepage are likely to share interests, and if they can share bookmarks with each other, they will find the homepages they did not know but are interested in relatively easily. It becomes possible. Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, the homepage currently viewing the bookmark information is automatically learned and displayed as an anchor.

That is, in the case of this embodiment, the WWW browser 41 has a WWW homepage browsing device 41A having a function of transmitting the bookmark information stored by the user to the homepage being viewed.

For example, as shown in FIG.
In 351, the user of the WWW browser 41-1
When accessing the homepage (url-9) of the server 101, the homepage browsing device 4 of the WWW browser 41-1
1A-1 is the U which the WWW browser 41-1 accessed.
RL (url1-9) is stored. Then, the homepage browsing device 41A-1 displays the stored bookmark information.
It transmits to the WWW server 101. The WWW server 101 receives this in step S352.

[0314] The WWW browser 41 mainly receives information from the WWW server 101, and does not have a function of mainly transmitting information. Therefore, an information transmission button 102 for prompting transmission of bookmark information is displayed on the homepage of the WWW server 101. When the user clicks the information transmission button 102 with a mouse, the CGI is activated and a file in which bookmark information is recorded is transmitted from the WWW browser 41-1 to the WWW server 101.

In HTML 3.2, file transmission is realized by a method called “upload”. Therefore,
The following input should be specified in the HTML description of the homepage. <INPUT TYPE = FILE NAME = 'BookMark' VALUE = 'dir'>

Here, each WWW browser 4 is stored in dir.
The file path of one bookmark file is described.

In the example shown in FIG. 41, the WW
Homepage browsing device 41A-2 of W browser 41-2
Transmits the bookmark to the WWW server 101 in step S353, and the WWW server 101
4 receives this. In step S355, the homepage browsing device 41 of the WWW browser 41-3 is used.
A-3 transmits the bookmark in step S355, and the WWW server 101 receives the bookmark in step S356.

Upon receiving the bookmark information, the WWW server 101 registers the bookmark information in the bookmark learning list 104 at step S357. It also counts the number of received URLs and sorts them in the order of counting. Step S3
At 58, the higher anchor (in the display example of FIG. 41, the upper three anchors) is displayed in the link display area 103.
Is reflected in

Thus, the user of each WWW browser 41 can know information likely to be related to the homepage url-9 from the URL displayed in the link display area 103. By clicking a predetermined URL displayed in the link area 103 with a mouse, it is possible to access the URL.

Furthermore, as a first modification of the fifth embodiment, browsing history information can be transmitted instead of bookmark information. Browsing history information is WW
It means the URLs of all the homepages that have passed from the start of the W browser 41 to the homepage currently being viewed. Therefore, what kind of action the user has arrived at this homepage can be known from the browsing history information. By sharing this with each user, it becomes possible to share information of interest based on the behavior of another user.

In the above, the case where the present invention is configured by using the Internet has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to a network openly connected to the Internet, but may be provided via a predetermined firewall or the like. The present invention can be applied to a network system connected to the Internet, which is called an intranet (a network system having a network function independent of an external network).

FIG. 42 shows a configuration example of such an intranet as a sixth embodiment. In this configuration example, the Internet 2 has Internet search devices 4-1 and 4-2 and WWW servers 101-1 and 10-1.
1-2 are connected. In addition, this Internet 2
Is connected to an intranet 122 via a firewall 121. The intranet 122 includes a personal computer (PC) 1-1.
To 1-4 and question processing devices 3-1 to 3-4. Of course, Internet search device 4 and WWW
The server 101 may be directly connected to the intranet 122, or the personal computer 1 and the question processing device 3 may be directly connected to the Internet 2.

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the active homepage, computers all over the world connected by the Internet become one virtual artificial brain (hereinafter, referred to as global brain).
Then, each active homepage performs an operation corresponding to the brain cell in the global brain. Then, even for extremely difficult questions and questions and instructions that require a lot of information processing, the related computers around the world can operate as brain cells, mobilize their information resources, and process them in parallel. It is possible to perform information processing that could not have been considered before.

[0324] In this specification, the system is
It is assumed that the device as a whole is constituted by a plurality of devices.

As a providing medium for providing a user with a computer program for performing the above-described processing, a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, a CD-ROM, and a solid-state memory, as well as a communication medium such as a network and a satellite can be used. it can.

[0326]

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the second aspect, and the third aspect.
According to the recording medium described in the above, the network address of the transfer destination for transferring the question is stored in the answer request destination list in advance, and when the question cannot be answered, the question is designated by specifying the network address, The information is transferred to the information processing device, and when the answer can be made, the answer is transferred to the information processing device of the questioner, so using many resources connected to the network, quickly and reliably,
It is possible to provide an answer to a desired question.

[0327] The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, and claim 5
According to the information processing method described in (1) and the recording medium described in (6), when it is not possible to search for the answer to the question, when the number of times the self-response cannot be performed has not reached the upper limit, the question is searched. When the number of unsuccessful judgments is incremented and transferred to another information processing device, and when the self-response impossible number has reached the upper limit, it is transferred to the questioning information processing device. And the question can be prevented from being forwarded more than necessary.

[0328] The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,
According to the information processing method described in Item No. 0 and the recording medium described in Item 13, a list of transfer destination network addresses to which the question is transferred is stored, and the question Since the transfer destination is determined, it is possible to efficiently and surely obtain the answer to the question.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 16, the information processing method of claim 17, and the recording medium of claim 18, when it is impossible to answer a question, Since the question is transferred to another information processing device together with the transition list of the answer request in which the network address is entered, it is possible to prevent the question from being redundantly transferred to the already processed information processing device. It becomes possible.

According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 19, the information processing method described in claim 20, and the recording medium described in claim 21, when the input question cannot be answered, Since the question is transferred to a plurality of other information processing devices, the answers from the plurality of other information processing devices are received, and an answer with a high degree of certainty is selected. It is possible to improve the possibility of obtaining a proper answer.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 22, the information processing method of claim 23, and the recording medium of claim 24, when a question is transferred, the number of transfers is set to the upper limit. If not reached, the question and the certainty are sequentially transferred to another information processing device, and if the number of transfers reaches the upper limit, the answer and certainty searched so far are used as the information processing device of the question source. , The possibility of obtaining an answer to the question can be improved.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 25, the information processing method of claim 26, and the recording medium of claim 27, a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from an input question. Then, a plurality of questions are specified to their own network address as a question source, and a network address as a transfer destination searched from an answer request destination list is specified, and transferred to a plurality of other information processing apparatuses. Receives multiple answers transferred from other information processing devices, and generates answers to the questions before being subdivided from the answers. , It is possible to increase the possibility of obtaining an answer to a complicated question.

According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 28, the information processing method described in claim 29, and the recording medium described in claim 30, a plurality of subdivided questions are generated from an input question. And from the answers to these multiple questions,
By generating answers to unsubdivided questions, we can use the network to ensure that
The possibility of obtaining an answer to a complicated question can be increased.

According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 31, the information processing method described in claim 32, and the recording medium described in claim 33, an access destination of another information processing apparatus that has accessed so far. Is obtained and disclosed to other information processing apparatuses that have accessed the information, so that it is possible to reliably provide each user with necessary information.

According to the information processing apparatus described in claim 34, the information processing method described in claim 35, and the recording medium described in claim 36, the number of accesses to the information processing apparatus providing a question answer is counted. Then, the information for searching for the network address of the information processing apparatus from the question is updated in accordance with the counting result, so that the information processing apparatus having a greater number of access times transmits the network address more accurately. It is possible to do.

[0336] The network system according to claim 37, the information processing method according to claim 38, and claim 3
According to the recording medium described in Item 9, the first information processing device includes:
When you cannot answer the entered question,
The question is transferred to another information processing apparatus by designating a network address, and the second information processing apparatus divides the input question into a plurality of questions, and from the answer corresponding to the subdivided question, We have generated answers to questions before they were subdivided,
A network system that can efficiently and surely provide answers to questions can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network system to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a URL.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a question processing device 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a program of the network system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the personal computer 1 of FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a display example on the personal computer 1 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the question input / output device 3 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the question transfer device 32 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a question packet.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an answer packet.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the transfer destination management device shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the question search device 33 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the question processing apparatus 3 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the transfer destination management device of FIG. 4 learns a transfer destination based on the number of responses.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a transfer destination list.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the transfer destination management device shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a transfer destination learning process in step S88 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a transfer destination list.

FIG. 19 is a transfer destination management device that stores a transfer start time.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of FIG.

20 is a flowchart illustrating a process of learning the transfer destination of the transfer destination management device 34 in FIG. 4 in association with a question.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an index for learning by associating a transfer destination with a question.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a process of adding a URL of a passed question processing device to a packet.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the question transfer device that selects an optimal answer from the certainty factor.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a question answering process in step S152 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a question transfer device that selects an answer from a plurality of answer packets.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating a question answering process in step S197 of FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an input device.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the transfer destination introduction device.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating another operation of the transfer destination introduction device.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the transfer destination introduction device 81.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating another operation of the transfer destination introduction device.

FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining an operation in a case where a question is subdivided and searched.

FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a data structure when a question is subdivided.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the question search device when a question is subdivided.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the question transfer device when a question is subdivided.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a question transfer device that derives an answer from a question when the question is subdivided.

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a question search device that replaces a character string included in a question sentence.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the Internet search device.

FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a search result of the Internet search device.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of determining an update cycle based on the number of accesses of the Internet search device.

FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating learning of bookmark information.

FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an intranet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer 2 Internet 3-1 to 3-4 Question processing device 4-1 and 4-2 Internet search device 31-1 to 31-3 Question input / output device 32-1 to 32-3 Question transfer device 33-1 to 33-3 Question Retrieval Device 34-1 to 34-3 Transfer Destination Management Device 41 WWW Browser

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 17, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Information processing apparatus and method [Title of the Invention, a network system, and recording medium

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a network system, and a recording medium, using a network, quickly and reliably,
And be able to get answers to predetermined questions, the information processing apparatus and method, a network system,
And a recording medium.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshihiro Fujinami 10th Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture Inside Omron Corporation (72) Inventor Shinichi Mukakawa 10th Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto Inside Omron Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Furukawa 10th Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto O-Mron Co., Ltd.

Claims (39)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, and receives an inquiry when specified by the network address. And answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means; and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address, and if the answer can be answered, the answer generating means Generate an answer to the question, When received from the terminal, the information is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is designated and transferred to another information processing device as a question source. An information processing apparatus comprising: transfer means; and storage means for storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the transfer means transfers the question. 2. An information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, a step of receiving a question when specified by the network address. An answer generation step that has knowledge for an answer and generates an answer to the question received by the receiving step; and whether an answer to the question received at the receiving step can be generated by the answer generating step. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address, and if the answer can be answered, the answer is generated in the answer generating step. Generate an answer to that question, The answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network is sent to another information processing device as a question source. An information processing method, comprising: a transfer step of designating an address for transfer; and a storage step of storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. 3. An accepting step of receiving a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and is accessed from a terminal via the network. An answer generation step that has knowledge for an answer and generates an answer to the question received by the receiving step; and whether an answer to the question received at the receiving step can be generated by the answer generating step. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address, and if the answer can be answered, the answer is generated in the answer generating step. Generate an answer to the question, and the generated answer Is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is sent to another information processing device as a question source. A computer-readable program for executing a process including a transfer step of designating and transferring, and a storage step of storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step is recorded. A recording medium characterized by being recorded. 4. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from another information processing apparatus via the network. Receiving means for receiving, answer answering means having answer knowledge, and generating an answer to the question accepted by the accepting means, and generating the answer to the question accepted by the accepting means by the answer generating means. Determine whether or not it is possible, if it can be generated, let the answer generating means generate an answer to the question, and send the generated answer to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal, When a question is received from another information processing device, another To the information processing apparatus, the network address is specified and transferred, and if the answer cannot be made, the accepting unit accepts the question together with the question and reads the number of self-response inability to answer the question and the upper limit thereof. When the question does not reach the upper limit, the question is transferred to another information processing apparatus searched from the answer request destination list by specifying the network address, together with the number of times the self-response cannot be performed by incrementing the value. When the number of times reaches the upper limit value, a transfer unit that transfers the question to the other information processing apparatus as a query source by designating the network address, and the transfer unit transfers the question. Storage means for storing an answer request destination list of the transfer destination network address. Place. 5. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: An accepting step of accepting, an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step in the answer creating step. It is determined whether or not it is possible, and if it can be generated, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is
When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is designated to another information processing device as a question source. If the answer cannot be answered, read the number of self-response impossible and the upper limit value of the question accepted in the accepting step together with the question.If the self-response impossible number has not yet reached the upper limit value, Is transferred together with the number of self-response inability to increment the value to another information processing device searched from the response request destination list by specifying the network address, and when the number of self-response inability reaches the upper limit value Transferring the question to the other information processing apparatus as a query source by designating the network address. The information processing method characterized by comprising the flop, and a storage step of storing the reply processing component list of the network address of the destination for transferring the question by the transfer step. 6. A receiving step of receiving an assignment of a unique network address for access on a network, and accepting a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus to be accessed from a terminal via the network. An answer generation step having knowledge for an answer and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step, and whether an answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step Is determined, and if it can be generated, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is
When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is designated to another information processing device as a question source. If the answer cannot be answered, the number of self-response impossible times and the upper limit value of the question accepted in the accepting step together with the question are read. Is transferred together with the number of self-response inability to increment the value to another information processing device searched from the response request destination list by specifying the network address, and when the number of self-response inability reaches the upper limit value Transferring the question to the other information processing apparatus as a query source by designating the network address. And a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. Recording medium. 7. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting unit accepts a question when specified by the network address. And answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means; and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. When the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device by designating the network address searched from the answer request destination list, and when the answer can be answered, the answer generating means Generate an answer to the question, When received from the terminal, the information is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is designated and transferred to another information processing device as a question source. Transfer means, storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the transfer means transfers the question, and determining the transfer destination of the question in accordance with the answer status from the another information processing apparatus An information processing apparatus comprising: a determination unit that performs the determination. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said determining means determines a transfer destination of said question in accordance with the number of times or time of said answer from said another information processing apparatus. Information processing device. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determining unit determines a transfer destination of the question based on a previous answer from the another information processing apparatus and a certainty factor corresponding thereto. Information processing device. 10. An information processing method of an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: An accepting step of accepting, an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step in the answer creating step. Determine whether or not it is possible, when the answer can not be answered, transfer the question to the other information processing device by specifying the network address searched from the answer request destination list, when the answer can be Generate an answer to the question in the answer generation step When the question is received from the terminal, the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing apparatus, another information processing as a question source is performed. A transfer step of designating the network address in the device, and storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step, and a reply from the other information processing device. Determining a transfer destination of the question according to a situation. 11. The destination according to claim 10, wherein, in the determining step, a transfer destination of the question is determined in accordance with the number of times or the time of the answer from the other information processing apparatus. Information processing method. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein in the determining step, a transfer destination of the question is determined based on a previous answer from the another information processing apparatus and a certainty factor corresponding thereto. Information processing method. 13. An accepting step in which a unique network address for access on a network is assigned, and a question is received, when specified by the network address, to an information processing apparatus to be accessed from a terminal via the network. An answer generation step having knowledge for an answer and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step, and whether an answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step When the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to another information processing device by specifying the network address searched from the answer request destination list, and when the answer can be answered, the answer is generated in the answer generating step. Generate an answer to the question, and An answer is transmitted to the terminal when the question is received from the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing apparatus, the network address is transmitted to another information processing apparatus as a question source. A transfer step of specifying and transferring, and storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step, and corresponding to an answer situation from the other information processing apparatus, A recording medium characterized by recording a computer-readable program for executing a process including a determining step of determining a transfer destination of a question. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, in the determining step, a transfer destination of the question is determined according to the number of times or the time of the answer from the other information processing apparatus. recoding media. 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein in the determining step, a transfer destination of the question is determined based on a previous answer from the another information processing apparatus and a certainty factor corresponding thereto. Recording medium. 16. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting unit accepts a question when specified by the network address. And answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means; and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. When it is not possible to answer the question, the other information processing apparatus specifies the network address searched from the answer request destination list together with the transition list of the answer request in which the own network address is entered. When you can forward and reply to An answer to the question is generated by the answer generation means, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal together with the change list of the answer request when the question is received from the terminal, and the question is transmitted to the other information. Transfer means for designating and transferring the network address to another information processing apparatus as a query source when accepted from the processing device; and answering the network address of the transfer destination to which the transfer means transfers the question An information processing apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores a request destination list. 17. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: An accepting step of accepting, an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step in the answer creating step. Determine whether or not it is possible, if the answer can not be answered, specify the network address searched from the answer request destination list, together with the transition list of the answer request filled with the own network address, etc. To the information processing device When an answer can be made, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generation step, and the generated answer, together with the change list of the answer request, when the question is received from the terminal, Transmitting, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the other information processing device as a question source,
An information processing method, comprising: a transfer step of designating and transferring the network address; and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. 18. A receiving step of receiving a unique network address for access on a network, and accepting a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus to be accessed from a terminal via the network. An answer generation step having knowledge for an answer and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step, and whether an answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step When it is not possible to answer the question, the other information processing apparatus specifies the network address searched from the answer request destination list together with the transition list of the answer request in which the own network address is entered. Can be forwarded and answered When the question is received from the terminal, the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal together with the change list of the answer request, and the generated answer is transmitted to the terminal. Is received from another information processing device, the other information processing device as a question source,
A computer readable program that executes a process including a transfer step of designating the network address and transferring, and a storage step of storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step A recording medium on which a program is recorded. 19. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting means for accepting a question when specified by the network address And answer generating means having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question received by the receiving means; and determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the receiving means. If the answer cannot be answered, the question is transferred to a plurality of other information processing devices searched from the answer request destination list by specifying the network address, and the answer can be answered. The answer to the question is generated by the generating means, and the generated answer is When the question is received from the terminal, it is transmitted to the terminal, and when the question is received from another information processing device, the network address is designated to another information processing device as a question source. Transfer means for receiving the answer from the plurality of other information processing apparatuses and the certainty factor, comparing the certainty factors, selecting an answer with a high certainty factor, and transmitting the answer to the terminal, An information processing apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the transfer unit transfers the question. 20. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: An accepting step of accepting, an answer generating step of having an answer knowledge and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step in the answer creating step. Determine whether or not it is possible, when unable to answer, transfer the question to the plurality of other information processing devices searched from the answer request destination list, specifying the network address,
When the question can be answered, the answer generation step generates an answer to the question, and when the question is received from the terminal, transmits the generated answer to the terminal, and the question includes other information. When received from the processing device, the other information processing device as a question source,
While specifying and transferring the network address, receiving the answer and the certainty from the plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty, selecting an answer with a high certainty, and transmitting to the terminal An information processing method, comprising: a transfer step of storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. 21. A receiving step of receiving a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and is accessed from a terminal via the network. An answer generation step having knowledge for an answer and generating an answer to the question received in the receiving step, and whether an answer to the question received in the receiving step can be generated in the answer generating step When it is not possible to answer, the question is transferred to a plurality of other information processing apparatuses searched from the answer request destination list by specifying the network address,
When the question can be answered, the answer generation step generates an answer to the question, and when the question is received from the terminal, transmits the generated answer to the terminal, and the question includes other information. When received from the processing device, the other information processing device as a question source,
While specifying and transferring the network address, receiving the answer and the certainty from the plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty, selecting an answer with a high certainty, and transmitting to the terminal And a storage step of storing a reply request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. Characteristic recording medium. 22. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting unit accepts a question when specified by the network address. And answer generation means having knowledge for the answer and generating an answer to the question accepted by the accepting means; and reading the transfer count of the question accepted by the accepting means and its upper limit, and the transfer count is still When the answer does not reach the upper limit, the answer generation unit generates an answer to the question, increments the generated answer together with the certainty factor, and the number of transfers, and retrieves another answer searched from the answer request destination list. The information is transferred to the information processing device by designating the network address. Transfer count of
When the upper limit has been reached, the answer generated so far, together with its confidence, is transferred to the other information processing apparatus as a question source by designating the network address, and further, Receiving the answer from the information processing device, comparing the certainty thereof, selecting an answer with a high certainty, and transmitting the terminal to the terminal; and the transfer unit to which the transfer unit transfers the question. Storage means for storing a network address reply request destination list. 23. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: An accepting step of accepting, an answer generating step having knowledge for answering and generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, reading the number of transfers of the question accepted in the accepting step and its upper limit, and reading the number of transfers When the answer has not yet reached the upper limit, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generating step, and the generated answer is incremented by the transfer count together with its certainty factor, and searched from the answer request destination list. To the other information processing device When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit, the answer generated up to that point, along with the certainty factor, is sent to the other information processing apparatus as a query source by the network. Transferring by designating an address, further receiving a response from the plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty thereof, selecting an answer having a high certainty, and transmitting the answer to the terminal; A storage step of storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step. 24. An accepting step in which a unique network address for access on a network is assigned, and a question is received when the terminal is designated by the network address to an information processing apparatus which is accessed from a terminal via the network. Having answer knowledge, generating an answer to the question accepted in the accepting step, reading the number of transfers of the question accepted in the accepting step and its upper limit, the number of transfers is still the said When the upper limit has not been reached, an answer to the question is generated in the answer generation step, and the generated answer is incremented, together with its certainty factor, by the number of transfers, and another answer searched from the answer request destination list. Specify the network address to the information processing device When the number of transfers reaches the upper limit, the answer generated so far, together with its certainty factor, is transferred to the other information processing apparatus as a query source by specifying the network address. And further receiving a response from the plurality of other information processing devices, comparing the certainty factors, selecting an answer with a high certainty factor, and transmitting the answer to the terminal; A storage step of storing an answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is to be transferred. 25. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting means for accepting a question when specified by the network address A question generating unit having knowledge for answer and generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received by the receiving unit; a question received by the receiving unit, or generated by the question generating unit. Answer generating means for generating an answer to the subdivided question; determining whether the answer generating means can generate an answer to the question generated by the question generating means; and generating the answer by the answer generating means. If the question can be generated, the question generated by the When the answer is generated by sending the answer to the generating means, and the answer generating means cannot generate the answer, the question generated by the question generating means is designated with the own network address as a question source and A transfer unit that specifies the network address as the transfer destination searched from the answer request destination list and transfers the network address to another information processing apparatus; and specifies the network address as the query source from any other information processing apparatus. Receiving means for receiving an answer to the question generated by the question generating means, or an answer to the question generated by the question generating means, sent from the answer generating means; From the answer received by the means, the answer to the question before fragmentation received by the accepting means is generated. Information processing apparatus for a answer generating means for, comprising: a storage means for storing the reply processing component list of the network addresses of the other information processing apparatus as a transfer destination for transferring the question by said transfer means. 26. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, comprising the steps of: A question generating step of generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step, and a question generating step of generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step; A question or an answer generating step of generating an answer to the subdivided question generated in the question generating step; and determining whether or not the answer to the question generated in the question generating step can be generated in the answer generating step. Determining and generating an answer in the answer generating step If it is possible, the answer of the question generated in the question generating step is generated in the answer generating step, and if the answer cannot be generated in the answer generating step, the question generated in the question generating step is Specify your own network address as the source,
Designating the network address as a transfer destination searched from the answer request destination list, a transfer step of transferring to another information processing apparatus, and specifying the network address as the query source from any other information processing apparatus Receiving the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, or the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, generated in the answer generating step; and An answer generation step of generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received from the received answer in the reception step, and the network of another information processing apparatus as a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step And a storage step of storing an address reply request destination list. Information processing method for. 27. An accepting step of receiving an assignment of a unique network address for access on a network, and accepting a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus to be accessed from a terminal via the network. And a question generation step of generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the reception step; a question received in the reception step, or an answer to the subdivided question generated in the question generation step Generating an answer to the question generated in the question generating step, determine whether the answer can be generated in the answer generating step, if the answer can be generated in the answer generating step, Answers to questions generated in the question generation step The so generated in answer generation step, if it is not possible to generate an answer in the answer generating step, a question which is generated by the question generating step, as well as specify the network address of their own as a question source,
Designating the network address as a transfer destination searched from the answer request destination list, a transfer step of transferring to another information processing apparatus, and specifying the network address as the query source from any other information processing apparatus Receiving the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, or the answer to the question generated in the question generating step, generated in the answer generating step; and An answer generation step of generating an answer to the question before being subdivided received from the received answer in the reception step, and the network of another information processing apparatus as a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step And a storage step of storing an address request destination list. Recording medium, wherein the computer readable program recorded to. 28. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, wherein an accepting means for accepting a question when specified by the network address And generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received by the accepting means, inputting an answer to the subdivided question, and executing an answer procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question. An answer generating means for generating an answer to a question before being subdivided, which is received by the receiving means; and an answer to the question before being subdivided, which is received by the receiving means, from an answer to the subdivided question. Storage means for storing the answer procedure for generating an answer An information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 29. An information processing method in which a unique network address for access on a network is assigned and an access is made from a terminal via the network, a receiving step of receiving a question when specified by the network address. Generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step, inputting an answer to the subdivided question, and executing an answer procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question. An answer generating step of generating an answer to a question before being subdivided received in the receiving step; and an answer to the question before subdivided received in the receiving step from the answer to the subdivided question. Memorizing said answer procedure for generating an answer An information processing method, comprising: 30. A receiving step of receiving a question when specified by the network address to an information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and is accessed from a terminal via the network. Generating a plurality of subdivided questions from the question received in the receiving step, inputting an answer to the subdivided question, and executing an answer procedure from the answer to the input subdivided question. An answer generating step of generating an answer to a question before being subdivided received in the receiving step; and an answer to the question before subdivided received in the receiving step from the answer to the subdivided question. Storage for storing the answer procedure for generating an answer And a computer-readable program for executing a process including the steps of: 31. An information processing apparatus which is assigned a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from another information processing apparatus via the network, wherein: Acquiring means for acquiring the information of the access destination up to that time; holding means for holding the information of the access destination acquired by the acquiring means; when the other information processing apparatus accesses, the holding means holds the information. And a disclosing means for disclosing the information of the access destination to the other information processing apparatus. 32. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from another information processing apparatus via the network, An acquiring step of acquiring information of an access destination of the information processing apparatus up to that time; a holding step of retaining the information of the access destination acquired in the acquiring step; A disclosing step of disclosing the information of the access destination held in the step to the other information processing apparatus. 33. An information processing apparatus which receives an assignment of a unique network address for access on a network and accesses an information processing apparatus which is accessed from another information processing apparatus via the network. An acquisition step of acquiring the information of the access destination up to that time; a holding step of holding the information of the access destination acquired in the acquisition step; and a holding step of the other information processing apparatus when the other information processing apparatus accesses. And a disclosure step of disclosing the information of the access destination to the other information processing apparatus. 34. An information processing apparatus which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from a terminal via the network, an accepting unit for accepting a question from the terminal, and an accepting unit. From the question accepted by, search for the network address of another information processing device connected to the network that provides the answer to the question,
Searching means for transmitting a network address of the searched information processing apparatus to the terminal; counting means for counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus; Of the means,
An information processing apparatus, comprising: updating means for updating, from the question, information for searching for a network address of the another information processing apparatus that provides an answer to the question. 35. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, which receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from another information processing apparatus via the network, comprising: A receiving step of receiving, from the question received in the receiving step, searching for a network address of another information processing apparatus connected to the network that provides an answer to the question,
A search step of transmitting a network address of the searched information processing apparatus to the terminal; a counting step of counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus; and, in response to the counting result in the counting step, An updating step of updating information for searching for a network address of the other information processing apparatus that provides an answer to the question from the question in the searching step. 36. A receiving step of receiving a question from the terminal to an information processing device that receives a unique network address for access on a network and receives access from another information processing device via the network. Searching for the network address of another information processing apparatus connected to the network that provides an answer to the question from the question received in the receiving step,
A search step of transmitting a network address of the searched information processing apparatus to the terminal; a counting step of counting the number of accesses to the searched information processing apparatus; and, in response to the counting result in the counting step, A computer-readable program for executing a process including, in a search step, an update step of updating information for searching for a network address of the other information processing apparatus that provides an answer to the question from the question. A recording medium characterized by being recorded. 37. A network system including a plurality of first information processing apparatuses or a plurality of second information processing apparatuses that receive a unique network address for access on a network and respond to an input question. The first information processing device, when designated by the network address, has first accepting means for accepting a question, and has answer knowledge, and generates an answer to the question accepted by the first accepting means. Determining whether the first answer generating means can generate an answer to the question received by the first answer receiving means, and if the answer cannot be answered; , Transfer the question to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address, Transfer means for causing the first answer generation means to generate an answer to the question, and the transfer means storing the answer request destination list of the network address of the transfer destination to which the question is transferred. 1
The second information processing apparatus further comprises: a second receiving unit that receives a question when specified by the network address; and a plurality of subdivisions based on the question received by the second receiving unit. And the answer to the subdivided question is input, and the answering procedure is executed from the answer to the input subdivided question, and the subdivided Second answer generating means for generating an answer to the question before the question is answered, and generating an answer to the question before the segmentation received by the second receiving means from the answer to the segmented question. Second to store the answer procedure of
And a storage unit. 38. A network system including a plurality of first information processing devices or a plurality of second information processing devices which receive a unique network address for access on a network and respond to an input question. In the information processing method, the information processing method of the first information processing apparatus includes: a first receiving step of receiving a question when specified by the network address; and a first receiving step having answer knowledge. A first answer generating step of generating an answer to the question received in step 1, and determining whether or not the answer to the question received in the previous first note receiving step can be generated in the first answer generating step If you ca n’t answer,
Transfer the question to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address,
If the answer can be given, a transfer step for generating an answer to the question in the first answer generation step, and the answer request destination list of the network address of a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step are stored. A first storing step, wherein the information processing method of the second information processing apparatus, when specified by the network address, receives a question in the second receiving step; A plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question, an answer to the subdivided question is input, and an answer procedure is executed from the answer to the input subdivided question, and in the second receiving step, A second answer generation step of generating an answer to the accepted question before the subdivision, and the subdivision And a second storing step of storing the answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before being subdivided, which is received in the second receiving step from the answer to the question. Information processing method. 39. A network system including a plurality of first information processing devices or a plurality of second information processing devices that receive a unique network address for access on a network and respond to an input question. A first accepting step of accepting a question when specified by the network address in the first information processing apparatus; having answering knowledge; and generating an answer to the question accepted in the first accepting step. A first answer generating step to be performed, and determining whether or not an answer to the question received in the previous first note receiving step can be generated in the first answer generating step. ,
Transfer the question to another information processing device searched from the answer request destination list by specifying its network address,
If the answer can be given, a transfer step for generating an answer to the question in the first answer generation step, and the answer request destination list of the network address of a transfer destination to which the question is transferred in the transfer step are stored. Executing a process including a first storage step, wherein the second information processing apparatus receives a question when specified by the network address; A plurality of subdivided questions are generated from the question, an answer to the subdivided question is input, and an answer procedure is executed from the answer to the input subdivided question, and in the second receiving step, A second answer generation step of generating an answer to the accepted question before the subdivision, and the subdivision A second storage step of storing the answer procedure for generating an answer to the question before subdivision received in the second receiving step from the answer to the question that has been received. A recording medium characterized by recording a program readable by a computer.