Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
  • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
  • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
  • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
  • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
  • G06F16/955—Retrieval from the web using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/02—Protocols based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an information access system.
• it relates to a system for accessing information over the Internet.
• the invention is concerned with facilitating access to information about entities, for example about purchasable products and services. In the light of this, there is a need to provide a user-friendly method and system for accessing information from the Internet.
• UPC Universal Product Code
• US patents 5,193,210, 5,950,173 and 5,918,214 suggest the use of a Universal Product Code (UPC) as a key for accessing information about products labelled by the UPC.
• the UPC code is the coding system typically used for bar codes.
• UPC codes if presented in human readable form, are typically not easily readable, and if they are, then they are not easy to remember, being a sequence of numbers.
• US patent 5,812,776 suggests the use of a telephone number as a descriptor for providing access to network services.
• the use of a telephone number suffers from at least some of the same disadvantages as the use of the UPC.
• EP-A2-0-774-723 discloses a virtual file management system in which file identifiers incorporating specific (non-alphabet and non- numeric) characters are used.
• EP-A2-0-774-722 relates to a system and method for indexing, querying and retrieving information in an on-line multimedia publishing system, in which title layout and content are separated.
• WO- A 1-97/49044 discloses a system for extracting links from hypertext documents and assigning them numerical identifiers that can be used to cause the system to fetch an associated URL.
• WO-A2-96/42041 discloses a system in which a numerical telephone number is used to direct a browser to an associated URL.
• a computer- implemented method of facilitating access to information relating to a plurality of purchasable entities via a computer network comprises:
• a network server system allocating a unique alphanumeric-coded identifier comprising alpha and/or numeric characters to each purchasable entity for which information is retrievable;
• the network server system responding to a query from a client including a said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier to provide the client with the linking data for addressing the information relating to the purchasable entity corresponding to said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier.
• the references to purchasable entities relate to any entity such as a product or service that can be purchased using e-commerce techniques, for example by the Internet or the like.
• Each identifier is allocated to and is unique with respect to the purchasable entity, rather than being allocated to some part of a computer system.
• an alphanumeric-coded identifier means that an identifier can be kept short. This in turn enables easy entry of the identifier and makes it easier to remember a particular identifier.
• the same unique alphanumeric-coded identifier can be used as at least one e-mail address to facilitate the sending of an e- mail to an address or addresses associated with a purchasable entity.
• the method can comprise:
• an e-mail router responding to an e-mail addressed to the unique alphanumeric coded identifier at the Internet domain to access said e-mail address associated with the corresponding purchasable entity for redirecting the e-mail thereto.
• embedded code can be held in a page at the network server that can be referenced by a client query that includes the unique alphanumeric- coded identifier as part of an address.
• the embedded code can be operable to query the data linking each unique alphanumeric-coded identifier to at least one network location at which information relating to the corresponding purchasable entity is stored for redirecting the client query to the network location(s).
• the unique identifier can be provided with an extension code (e.g., a prefix or suffix) for defining a sub-set of information for the corresponding purchasable entity.
• an extension code e.g., a prefix or suffix
• the extension code defines an access to a purchase option (e.g. a web- page for placing an order) for the purchasable entity, whereby automatic ordering of a product or service represented by the unique alphanumeric-coded identifier can be effected.
• a purchase option e.g. a web- page for placing an order
• the allocation of the unique alphanumeric- coded identifiers and the response to a query are effected by a single computer. These functions can, however, be performed by different computers forming part of the network server system.
• a subset of the data recorded in the server system can be exported to a customer system to enable queries to be effected at the customer system.
• a customer is an organisation that is registered with the network server system as having UAIDs.
• a computer program product for controlling the operation of a customer system for facilitating access to information relating to a plurality of purchasable-entities via a computer network.
• the computer program product can include computer program code on a carrier medium, for example, a storage medium or a transmission medium.
• a network server system connectable to a computer network, the server system comprising:
• a unique alphanumeric-coded identifier allocation mechanism operable to allocate a unique alphanumeric-coded identifier comprising alpha and/or numeric characters to each of a plurality of purchasable entities; a database operable to record data linking each unique alphanumeric-coded identifier to at least one network location at which information relating to a corresponding purchasable entity is stored; and
• a query engine operable to respond to a query from a client including a said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier to provide the client with the linking data for addressing the information relating to the purchasable entity corresponding to said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier.
• a customer computer system connectable to a computer network, the customer computer system comprising:
• a query engine operable to respond to a query from a client including a said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier to provide the client with the linking data for addressing the information for the purchasable entity corresponding to said unique alphanumeric-coded identifier.
• a computer network comprising a network server system as defined above and a client device comprising a query generator for effecting a query including a unique alphanumeric coded identifier for accessing information relating to the purchasable entity corresponding to the unique alphanumeric coded identifier.
• the client device preferably supports a web browser.
• Figure 1 is a schematic overview of a network on which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented
• Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating functional components of a server system for the network of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer for implementing a server system of Figure 2;
• Figure 4 is a representation of a web page for the input of a query for the server system of Figure 2.
• Figure 5 is a flow diagram representing the operation of a unique identifier allocation sub-system of the server system of Figure 2;
• Figure 6 is a flow diagram representing the operation of a query sub-system of the server system of Figure 2.
• Figure 7 is a flow diagram representing the operation of an e-mail sub-system of server system of Figure 2. Description of the Preferred Embodiment
• FIG 1 is a schematic overview of a network on which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.
• the network 10 is the Internet, although in other embodiments it may be formed by an intranet, or indeed any other type of telecommunications network.
• a first computer system 12 connected by a connection 13 to the Internet 10 forms a server system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• a further computer system 14, connected to the network 10 via a connection 15, forms a client computer system.
• Further computer systems 16 and 18, connected to the network 10 via respective connections 17 and 19, form customer computer systems on which data is stored relating to one or more entities of potential interest to a client at the client computer system 14.
• Figure 1 is merely schematic and that in practice many customer and client computer systems may be connected to the network 10.
• the server system may be implemented on one, or more than one, computer connected via one, or more than one, connection to the network 10.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating functional components of a server system 20 for the network of Figure 1.
• Various of the functional components illustrated in Figure 2 could be implemented by respective software components on a single computer forming the first computer system 12 of Figure 1 , or by a network of computers forming the first computer system 12 of Figure 1 and connected to the network 10 by the connection 13, or by a plurality of computer systems such as the first computer system 12, each connected to the network 10 via a respective connection 13.
• the server system 20 includes a database 21.
• NG network gateway
• QE Query Engine
• ESS E- mail Server Sub-system
• the database 21 contains data identifying relationships between Unique Alphanumeric-encoded IDentifiers (UAIDs), each UAID being allocated uniquely by the server system to identify a respective entity, and corresponding locations on the network at which data relating to the respective entities are to be found.
• UAIDs Unique Alphanumeric-encoded IDentifiers
• the Identifier Allocation Mechanism 22 is responsive to requests for identifiers from customers to allocate unique alphanumeric-coded identifiers for entities.
• the Query Engine 24 is responsive to a query request from a client computer system 14, which query request includes a UAID, to query the database for the location or locations identified in the database 21 as being associated with the UAID, and with the entity identified by the UAID.
• the query engine provides information to the client, in the preferred embodiment by means of a redirect command, to enable the client to access the data relating the entity identified by the UAID at the location identified in the database 21.
• the query engine could be provided with a copy 25 of the appropriate content of the database 21 to enable the queries to be effected.
• the copy 25 of relevant content of the database 21 is updated at an appropriate frequency, depending on the system usage and the frequency with which the underlying database is updated, for example as a result of new UAIDs being created.
• the query can be received in different formats.
• a query could be accepted in the format www.xxxx.yyyy.com, where xxxx is a UAID held in the database and yyyy.com or the like is the domain name for the server system 20.
• xxxx is a UAID held in the database
• yyyy.com or the like is the domain name for the server system 20.
• an entry at a DNS level will point to a page at yyyy.com.
• a query could be accepted in the format www.yyyy.com/xxxx, where xxxx is a UAID held in the database and yyyy.com or the like is the domain name for the server system 20. This addressing mode does not require a DNS entry other than that required for the domain name yyyy.com itself. What happens here is that within a folder called, in this instance, "xxxx", a default page (also called the home page, or index page) contains a script that issues a query to the database 21. The query string would include the UAID as an argument - in this case "xxxx".
• a hard-coded version could be used but this would require two changes to be made for each change in the details of the redirection, with the consequence of potential errors creeping in, one of the changes being overlooked etc.
• the first change would be in the hard-coded default page and the second in the IPID database.
• the E-mail server sub-system 26 includes an e-mail Router that enables the server system to be responsive to a received e-mail having an address of the form or the like, where xxxx is a UAID held in the database and yyyy.com or the like is the domain name for the server system 20.
• the E-mail Router accesses the database 21 to generate an e-mail address applicable for the entity identified by the UAID and to effect rerouting of the e-mail to that address.
• the E-mail Router 26 could be provided with a copy 27 of the relevant content of the database 21 to enable the routing of the e-mail to be effected.
• the copy 27 of relevant content of the database 21 is updated at an appropriate frequency, depending on the system usage and the frequency with which the database is updated, for example as a result of new UAIDs being created.
• the components of the server system 20 shown in Figure 2 are implemented by means of respective computer program products on a single computer.
• other implementations can be envisaged.
• Figure 3 is schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a computer for implementing a server system of Figure 2.
• the computer includes a bus 30 to which a number of units are connected.
• a processor (CPU) 32 is connected to the bus 30.
• Read only memory 34 and random access memory 36 are also connected to the bus 30.
• a display adapter 37 connects the display 38 to the bus 30.
• a communications interface 39 for example a network interface and/or a telephonic interface such as a modem, ISDN or optical interface, enables the computer 12 to be connected via the connection 13 to the network 10.
• an input device interface 40 connects one or more input devices, for example a keyboard 41 and a mouse 42, to the bus 30.
• a storage interface 43 enables access to one or more hard disks 44.
• An optical drive interface 45 provides access to one or more CD ROMs, DVDs 46 or the like, and a floppy drive interface 47 provides access to one or more floppy disk drives 48.
• a printer interface 49 also connects a printer 50 to the bus 30. It will be appreciated that one or more of the components illustrated in Figure 3 may be omitted and/or additional components may be provided, as required for a particular implementation.
• a UAID in a preferred embodiment termed an Internet Product IDentifier (IPID) in accordance with the invention is an alphanumeric code (possibly with other keyboard symbols too) that acts as a unique index or key to an entity. Entities may take a huge variety of forms. In a most common aspect, an entity may be a product or a component, but it could more generally be a service, a place, a geographical feature, an item of knowledge, or indeed virtually anything.
• a UAID is allocated by the server system 20. The server system 20 is able to ensure the uniqueness of the UAID before it is allocated by interrogating the database of UAIDs already allocated. By the use of an alphanumeric encoding, UAIDs can be kept short so that they may be presented concisely and be readily remembered.
• All UAIDs already allocated are held in the database 21 maintained by the server system 20.
• the server system can readily be accessed via a web page at the server system (e.g., at a domain such as IPID.com).
• the database 21 stores network (web) addresses of data or information that can then be accessed by means of the UAID, as well as other items of information such as keyword descriptions, logging data, accounting data and associated e-mail addresses.
• the web addresses stored in this database may include bookmarks. These are standard in web addresses and define a specific place in a given web page. They are useful when pages are too long to fit on a screen and provide a means of directing a browser to somewhere other than the top of a page, which is what happens when no bookmark is specified. These bookmarks are recorded and defined in the appropriate markup language (e.g. HTML) code within a web page description.
• markup language e.g. HTML
• the UAIDs are exclusively issued, controlled and allocated by the server system 20.
• the UAID can then be used as a convenient method for defining a web address: the record indexed by the UAID is uniquely specified by the UAID, and any web addresses stored in this record can be fetched using standard database processes.
• a standard web redirect operation can be used to permit a browser to display these web pages automatically.
• the UAID can consist of any combination of alpha and/or numeric characters 36 possibilities per character (for example assuming using only upper or only lower case alphas and numeric keyboard characters are used) can be provided. It thus forms a very compact method of addressing. Four characters allow 1.6 million addresses, five characters allow 60.4 million, six characters allow 2.1 billion addresses, and so on.
• the alphanumeric code is encoded, for example in ASCII, in the computer system, to preserve the full range of options covered by such a coding.
• the UAID can also double as an e-mail address.
• Such an address takes the form xxxx@yyyy.com where xxxx is the UAID and yyyy is the domain name of the server system 20. Any e-mails sent to this address can then be forwarded to e-mail addresses associated with the UAID. These e-mail addresses are recorded in the database record that is uniquely identified by the UAID. In this way, the UAID e-mail address can act as an alias for a second e-mail address. The benefit of this system is best shown by example.
• UAID C45T is assigned to a product such as a spectrometer, and the manufacturer makes use of the e-mail forwarding facility and requests that e-mails about the product are sent to joebloggs@manufacturer.co.uk
• the server system say IPID.com
• the UAID is thus acting both as a sufficient identifier of a record in a database providing redirection facilities AND as an e-mail address.
• the controlling company of the server system is the only body authorized to issue UAIDs. There may be commercial reasons for wishing to license the issuance process to third parties, but ultimate control over the process still remains with the controlling company. It would be possible for third parties to act as agents for the controlling company, along the lines of affiliate marketing programs in which the third party earns commission for sales of new UAIDs and either has an order entry form included somewhere in their own website, or has a link to an ordering page of the server system 20 on their site. Alternatively, the server system 20 could issue in advance a block of UAIDs for sale to customers by the third party. A commission or agency discounting pricing structure could reward third parties for their sales.
• the source of the order is recorded in a data field that is passed to the server system 20 for the order to be processed.
• the server system 20 has confirmed the uniqueness of the UAID and has recorded appropriate information in the database 21, the UAID is not operative.
• UAIDs may rented out for short periods only.
• certain very memorably UAIDs such as "00" or “Al” can be rented to advertisers for a limited time only. This could enable them to be able to get their target audience to find out more about whatever it is that they are advertising by going to the server system 20 (e.g., IPID.com) and entering "00" etc.
• This UAID could be allocated to a different advertisement a few months later after a dormant quarantine period. An appropriate charging level for such high premium UAIDs may be charged.
• IPID.com IPID.com
• e-mails may be extension (prefix or suffix) encoded to allow messages to be sent to different locations according to the code added to an e-mail address.
• An extension code (e.g., a prefix or suffix code) is a character or set of characters that can be added to a UAID to make the database look-up process more specific or to set in place other automated system processes.
• the UAID refers uniquely to a record in a database. Certain extension codes (e.g., prefix or suffix) added to the UAID can used to refer specifically to fields within this record. So, for example, if R45T is provided as a UAID, R45T# can be used to refer to a specific field within the record defined by R45T.
• extension codes e.g., prefix or suffix
• R45T may fetch the web address of the product's "home page”
• R45T# may fetch the web address of a page containing other information about the product, for example its specification.
• extension codes could be provided, and/or different extension codes may be used.
• the allocation of UAIDs could be dependent on the type of entity (e.g. different categories of UAIDs could be used for products and services).
• a record field in the database could identify the type of entity.
• a suffix code "/” is provided for to perform a distinct data logging function although in principle any specific character would do.
• the server system 20 detects the suffix code "/” some or all the following information, and possibly further information, can be recorded in a file, namely: time, date, source of enquiry, UAID and also whatever follows the "/" symbol.
• This enables codes after the "/” to be used to refer to specific advertisements and enable monitoring of the effectiveness of certain advertising campaigns. Advertisers can print on their advertisements the UAID that takes the browser to the underlying information, but would also include the suffix and a short code following this. This code might depend on the media used to advertise in.
• an advertisement in a given newspaper for the product with an UAID R45T might state "For more information, see R45T/2 @ yyyy.com.”
• the interested consumer would enter R45T/2 on the server system web site, and the server system 20 would essentially record along with standard logging information, that the source of the enquiry was given the code 2.
• the advertiser would know that enquiries coded with a 2 corresponded to those produced by the advertisement in that newspaper.
• the suffix is then stripped from the data to leave just the UAID that is then used in the normal way to find the web address of the information sought.
• prefix and/or suffix codes are provided as appropriate, e.g. #R45T or #R45T/12.
• the server system 20 website provides a data input screen, an underlying database system and various peripheral but commercially important web pages such an online UAID ordering pages.
• Table 1 below is an example of the information that can be held at the server system database 21. It should be noted that some or all of the information may be held in the server system database or indeed that other information may be stored instead or as well as the information shown in Table 1. TABLE 1
• E-mail Indicates whether e-mail forwarding active
• Advertisement coding Indicates if advertisement coding active
• Enquiry logging Indicates if enquiry logging is active
• Administration information Customer number Key to file containing customer information Links to customer file Other Other administration information
• the data for each UAID may be stored using any appropriate storage methodology. , for example in a simple table, or by means of a linear or hierarchical linked list, or indeed in any other suitable form. Access to the data for a particular UAID is effected by using the UAID as an address, either directly or indirectly.
• Figure 4 is a schematic representation of an example of a server system website home page 60.
• a query is sent to the server system 20, where the query engine 24 is responsive to the query to access address information (e.g., a Universal Resource Locator (or URL) for the Internet) from a record addressable by means of the UAID in the database 21.
• address information e.g., a Universal Resource Locator (or URL) for the Internet
• the addressing information is returned to the client computer system to enable the client's browser to be redirected to a new web page at which the data relating to the entity identified by the UAID is to be found.
• a second input field 64 can be provided in the form of a menu (e.g., a drop down menu, radio buttons, etc.)
• a menu e.g., a drop down menu, radio buttons, etc.
• extension codes possibly with the exception of an extension code used for advertisement coding, and acts both as a guide to codes available and as a means of adding a suffix code automatically.
• Suffix codes can be added by means of the menu or alternatively by directly entering them (e.g., typing them) in the primary input field.
• the code in the primary input field takes precedence in the present example, although of course this need not be the case in other examples.
• the design of the home page may vary. Also different approaches may be employed for the entry of extension codes. Indeed, it is not necessary that a conventional web page be used as the input tool. For example. UAIDs could be entered using alphanumeric keying on, for example a mobile telecommunications device such as a mobile telephone, where a web page is not actually displayed, but where a data input field is provided to the client user. Indeed, although in the above description, reference is made above to a client computer, in fact the client device could be any device capable of network (e.g., Internet) access.
• network e.g., Internet
• UAIDs can be used to access desired information when at other sites, subject to the necessary mechanisms being provided.
• a micro-page, or input field could be provided on a customer site with underlying control logic for implementing UAID processing being provided.
• a special input field can be added to third party customer websites to allow clients to access the UAID database via the customer website.
• an input field is displayed on the third party customer web page together with a submit button or hotspot.
• the server system 20 can receive a query from the customer website to look up the UAID in the database 21 and to issue an appropriate redirect instruction to the browser or web-access device.
• a code can be passed to the server system 20 from the customer system to enable recording of the origin of the query.
• Such an arrangement enables third party customer web sites to offer the UAID service and for the server system 20 to monitor usage by these sites for commercial reasons.
• relevant parts of the information from the database 21 may be sold or rented to such a customer system.
• relevant extracts from the database 21 relating to UAIDs and the associate information for entities (e.g., products) of that customer could be provided to the customer to enable internal forwarding of UAID queries. In such a case, only the local addressing information needs to be held on the customer system.
• database processes are implemented on the server system web site using Active Server Pages (ASP), which are based on Visual Basic, although other approaches could be employed.
• ASP Active Server Pages
• Active Server Pages allow mark-up language (e.g. HTML) code to be created dynamically on request. This allows control as to the data that is sent to a browser or web-access device when a particular page is requested.
• mark-up language e.g. HTML
• a trivial example might be that it is desired to display the time on the page when it is requested. This cannot be achieved by "hard coding" the time into the page markup language because the time will not be updated.
• a request for an UAID look up calls an ASP page that first runs a database query to see if the UAID refers to a record in the redirection database. If it finds such a record, the appropriate fields are returned to the ASP for further processing. In particular, web addresses will be fetched from the record and then incorporated into a RESPONSE. REDIRECT statement that is then sent to the browser. This causes the browser to load the web page indicated in the RESPONSE. REDIRECT statement. The ASP incorporates the code that parses the request, performs the logging, database processes etc.
• the code of the ASP itself is not sent to the browser. Only the output of the code is sent, which means that some limited degree of protection over the source code is available.
• Figure 5 is a flow diagram representing the operation of a unique identifier allocation sub-system of the server system of Figure 2.
• Figure 5 illustrates two methods of allocating a UAID.
• a new UAID can be called off sequentially or in some other order and allocated.
• a specific IPID can be requested that can be checked for uniqueness and, if acceptable, can then be allocated.
• the allocation process involves reserving the UAID for a specific use and creating a record in the server system database 21. This record is then uniquely addressed by the UAID concerned and is used to store web addresses of information pages, e-mail addresses and keywords etc. that are to be linked with the UAID.
• step 71 a request is received by phone, fax, e-mail, post etc. or directly via an order input screen on the server system web site with no UAID being indicated.
• the information on the order form is entered into an order processing system.
• step 72 a next available UAID is fetched from a table or from some other allocation mechanism.
• step 73 a check for uniqueness is made by reference to the database 21. If the uniqueness test is passed (i.e. the UAID is not found in the database) then in step 74 a record is created in the database 21 with fields taking on specific values or default values if specific values are not specified.
• step 75 the requestor is notified that that the UAID has been allocated and a billing process to charge the customer is initiated, if applicable.
• step 81 a request is received by phone, fax, e-mail, post etc. or directly via an order input screen on the server system web site with a preferred UAID being indicated.
• the information on the order form is entered into an order processing system.
• step 82 a check for uniqueness is made by reference to the database 21. If the uniqueness test is passed (i.e. the UAID is not found in the database) then in step 83 a record is created in the database 21 with fields taking on specific values or default values if specific values are not specified.
• step 84 the requestor is notified that that the UAID has been allocated and a billing process to charge the customer is initiated, if applicable.
• the web addresses (URL's) of web information corresponding to the underlying product/service/concept etc. would be recorded in a record in the database.
• One of these fields becomes the default field whose value is fetched either if no suffix code is present, or if the page type requested by a specific code is not available. For example, if a code + is used to fetch an on line ordering page and no on line ordering facility existed for the product / service etc referred to by the UAID, then the default page would be fetched instead. Certain fields in this record can then be accessed using the suffix code system. Also, keywords about the product can be added to the database to permit searching facilities.
• Billing system applications also form part of the database. Charges can be made for set-up and monthly rental for a UAID. Preselected UAIDs and certain UAIDs can attract a higher charge that certain UAIDs and certain UAIDs can attract allocated by the system in the method of step 70.
• Figure 6 is a flow diagram representing the operation of a query sub-system 24 of the server system of Figure 2.
• the method 90 of querying the server system 20 includes the following steps.
• a query request for identifying a web page giving information about an entity are made when a UAID is entered into an input field at a client system, either on the server system web site page, or on a third party web site page with a link to the server system.
• a UAID with or without a suffix code, is received by the server system 20 for processing. Included in the request may be information about the source of the request.
• step 92 any hidden codes, if provided, are evaluated to confirm the source of the query, which may involve challenge and response handshaking, and logging processes are run to log the source of the query, the UAID, any extension codes, advertisement codes, etc.
• step 93 the query request is parsed to find the UAID to search for the record in the database 21 that is uniquely addressed by the UAID.
• the record is fetched in its entirety, or in part, in step 94.
• step 95 the query request is parsed to identify if any extension (suffix and/or prefix) codes were included in the request.
• step 96 if no codes are received, the default information page is specified. The value in the appropriate field is then used as an address to send to the client's browser. Alternatively, if an extension code is supplied, the appropriate alternative information page is specified. The value in the appropriate field is then used as the address to send to the client's browser.
• IPID record will store data indicating that payments are up to date. This will act as a credit checking device.
• a customer system such as the systems 16 and 18 of Figure 1, could be allowed indirectly to use the functions of the query engine 24 of Figure 2, or even to incorporate a limited query engine with a subset of the data from the server system database (similar to the subset 25 of Figure 2).
• the subset would typically relate to the records for the UAIDs for the customer's own products.
• the processing performed by the limited query engine of the customer system would be generally as shown in Figure 6, except that the address information would relate to address information on the customer's own website and would provide the local addresses of pages within the customer ' s website.
• Figure 7 is a flow diagram representing the operation of an e-mail server sub-system of server system of Figure 2.
• the UAID can have a dual function. As well as acting as a short cut concise addressing system for the Internet, it can optionally also act as an e-mail address.
• e-mails can be sent to an address consisting of the server system domain and the standard e-mail format "@yyyy.com” or the like, where yyyy is the server system domain.
• yyyy is the server system domain.
• IPID is the server system domain
• an e-mail may be sent for forwarding to one or more e-mail addresses associated with an entity having the UAID R45T to the address "R45T@IPID.com”.
• the e-mail server subsystem 26 searches the database 21, or a subset 27 of the database information for the record identified by the UAID.
• step 103 If, in step 103, an entry is found, then the e-mail is automatically forwarded to a separate e-mail address retrieved from the server system database 21 in the record uniquely addressed by the UAID.
• the UAID not only acts as a sufficient identifier of a record in this database, it also acts as a separate e-mail address in its own right. If no entry is found, a "not found" e-mail can be returned to the client which initiated the original e-mail.
• step 104 the logging processes log information about each e-mail forwarding request.
• Figure 7 illustrates the use of a file 27 of the forwarding addresses, the file forming the aforementioned subset of the information from the database 21.
• Step 105 provides a step of updating the file 27 from the database 21 at regular intervals subject to the forwarding facility being activated. This can be on a UAID by UAID basis.
• extension codes can be (prefix or suffix) codes can be added to UAIDs when they are used as e-mail aliases to permit more sophisticated forwarding services to operate.
• An incoming e-mail is received addressed to xxxx@IPID.com where xxxx is the UAID of the product/service etc to which the UAID has been assigned.
• xxxx is the UAID of the product/service etc to which the UAID has been assigned.
• the xxxx part of the address is identified and used to fetch the appropriate record in the server system database 21 or the subset 27 thereof.
• the field containing the forwarding e-mail address is fetched and used as a forwarding address for the incoming e-mail.
• the e-mail is then resent to this new address.
• the e-mail server sub-system may in practice use a copy of part of the IPID database to redirect e-mails rather than run a query over the main database every time an e-mail is received for forwarding. This copy would then be synchronized with the main database periodically. This can reduce the load on the database 21.
• the e-mail server subsystem and the query engine can be implemented on the same or different computers.
• a log entry can be made into a database to record time, date, UAID, extension code(s) and source and type of enquiry.
• This database can then be queried to find useful information about accesses made to server system by enquirers. Some of this information may have commercial value. It can also be used automatically to provide billing services.
• all requests for a search include a data string that uniquely identifies the source of the request. This can then be used by server system for commercial purposes. This data string is automatically added to the request. It is recorded as a "hidden" field (a standard web-page concept) and is passed to server system along with the contents of the input field.
• the server system validates the value of the query to check the source is both known and has sufficient authority to proceed, possibly by means of a challenge-response exchange, before processing the enquiry in the usual way.
• keywords could be entered that describe the product service etc. This approach could be used to enable users to find products/services etc. by means other than the UAID.
• a further extension can provide a registration system that will let users define what product or service areas are of interest to them. This is to be used in conjunction with a section of the website that is devoted to new products and services. Information about a newly launched product for example can then be sent by e-mail directly to all registered users who have expressed an interest in the relevant product area.
• a computer implementation employing computer program code for storage on a data carrier or in memory can be used to control the operation of the processor of a computer.
• the computer program can be supplied on a suitable carrier medium, for example a storage medium such as solid state memory, magnetic, optical or magneto-optical disk or tape based media.
• a suitable carrier medium for example a storage medium such as solid state memory, magnetic, optical or magneto-optical disk or tape based media.
• a transmission medium for example a medium with a carrier such as a telephone, radio or optical channel.
• the described embodiment employs a computer program operating on a conventional computer, for example a conventional computer server
• special purpose hardware could be used.
• at least some of the functionality could be effected using special purpose circuits, for example a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
• FPGA field programmable gate array
• ASIC application specific integrated circuit

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• 1999
  • 1999-10-21 GB GB9924964A patent/GB2355555A/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2000
  • 2000-10-17 AU AU78083/00A patent/AU7808300A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-10-17 WO PCT/GB2000/003981 patent/WO2001029704A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
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