KR20080020122A - Method and apparatus for e-book service with realtime searching - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing an e-book service capable of performing a real time search and a wired & wireless information communication terminal using the same are provided to enable a user to perform a real time search for a wanted part of e-book contents and to receive detailed search results. A wired & wireless information communication terminal comprises an e-book providing module(110), a search object selecting module(120), a search module(130) and an output module(140). The e-book providing module(110) outputs e-book contents to a screen and provides the e-book service for a user. The search object selecting module(120) enables a user to select characters among the e-book contents displayed on the screen. The search module(130) converts the selected characters into a search word, transmits the search word to a search server, and receives search result data on the search word from the search server. The output module(140) outputs the search result data, received from the search module(130), to the screen.

Description

Electronic book service method capable of real-time search and wired / wireless information communication terminal using the same {Method and apparatus for e-book service with realtime searching}

The following drawings attached to this specification are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the invention to serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention, the present invention is a matter described in such drawings It should not be construed as limited to

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a network system to which the electronic book service method of the present invention is applied.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a wired / wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time search in an electronic book service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an e-book service method capable of real-time searching according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a string selection procedure of FIG. 3.

5 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the string selection procedure of FIG. 3.

6 is an exemplary view illustrating a form in which a search result is output on a screen of an information communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110: e-book providing module 120: search object selection module

130: search module 140: search result output module

The present invention relates to an e-book service as a mobile application in a wired / wireless information communication terminal, and more particularly, to an e-book service capable of real-time search through the Internet.

Recently, e-book content services, which are multimedia contents, have been provided using portable wired and wireless information communication terminals. Representative of such a portable terminal is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), there is a portable telephone (cell phone).

The PDA and the portable telephone are easy to carry and can use electronic book contents anytime and anywhere. Such mobile phones have a higher penetration rate than PDAs, and users using electronic book contents through mobile phones will increase.

The e-book content may be downloaded by accessing a server providing the e-book content through the wireless Internet of the portable terminal, or may be downloaded to the portable terminal by downloading the electronic book content stored in the PC connected to the PC via a communication cable.

Accordingly, the user can read the electronic book content that is to be read through the portable terminal regardless of the location of the electronic book content, for example, a novel, an essay made up of text.

When using an electronic book service with a conventional portable terminal, if an unknown word is found while reading the electronic book content, only a predetermined reference word or a degree of word interpretation through a dictionary can be referred to.

However, in the related art, a detailed description of unknown words or phrases or various search services related thereto are not provided. To this end, a method such as accessing the Internet separately and providing a search service through a search site is used to search for a corresponding word or phrase. Such a method is cumbersome and inconvenient for the user, and has a problem in that a lot of time is spent in searching.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a search service in real time while using an electronic book content service as a portable terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an internet access wired / wireless information communication terminal capable of providing a search service in association with an electronic book content service.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be described below and will be appreciated by the embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by means and combinations indicated in the appended claims.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic book service method capable of real-time search according to the present invention is an electronic book (e-book) service method of a mobile application in a wired / wireless information communication terminal having Internet access, and (a) the wired / wireless Displaying electronic book contents stored in the information communication terminal on a screen of the terminal; (b) receiving a string selected from electronic book contents displayed on the terminal screen by the electronic book service user; (c) generating the selected character string as a query word and transmitting it to a search server; (d) receiving search result data according to the query word from the search server; And (e) displaying the received search result data on the screen of the terminal.

In particular, the step (b) may include: reading start point coordinates and end point coordinates from the terminal screen through an input means from a user; And recognizing and selecting a character string included between the read start point coordinates and the end point coordinates. The input means may be a touch screen or a touch pen.

In addition, the step (b) is a step of setting the character string in the electronic book content displayed on the screen of the terminal through the input means from the user; And recognizing and selecting the character string set as the block, wherein the input means is a mouse, a keypad, or a touch pad.

Preferably, before the step (c), further comprising the step of receiving a search request signal for the selected character string from the user.

In addition, in the step (d), it is preferable that the search result data includes advertisement data according to the query word, and in the step (e), the search result data is output to a predetermined area of the terminal screen. desirable.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wired / wireless information communication terminal equipped with an electronic book (e-book) service application and capable of accessing the Internet, and provides an electronic book providing an electronic book service to a user by outputting electronic book contents on a terminal screen module; A search object selection module configured to receive a string from electronic book content output from the user on the terminal screen; A search module which generates a string selected by the selection module as a query word and transmits it to a search server and receives search result data for the query word; And a search result output module for outputting the search result data received by the search module on the screen of the terminal.

Preferably, the search object selection module receives a start point coordinate and an end point coordinate from an electronic book content output screen from a user through an input means of a terminal and recognizes and selects a string included between the start point and end point coordinates. do.

Alternatively, the search object selection module may recognize and select a block designated character string from the user in the electronic book content output on the screen of the terminal through an input means of the terminal.

In addition, the search module preferably operates after receiving a search start signal for the character string selected by the selection module from the user.

In addition, the search module preferably receives advertisement data about a query word from the search server in search result data.

In particular, the output module preferably outputs the search result data to a predetermined area of the terminal screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an electronic book stored in the wired / wireless information communication terminal as a recording medium in which a program for processing an e-book service procedure as a mobile application is recorded in a wired / wireless information communication terminal having internet access. Displaying a content on a screen of the terminal, receiving a string from the e-book content displayed on the terminal screen by the user of the e-book service, generating a query as a query word, and transmitting the selected string to a search server; A recording medium recording a computer-readable program for executing a procedure of receiving search result data according to the query word from the search server and a procedure of displaying the received search result data on a screen of the terminal.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms or words used in the specification and claims should not be construed as having a conventional or dictionary meaning, and the inventors should properly explain the concept of terms in order to best explain their own invention. Based on the principle that can be defined, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a network system to which the electronic book service method of the present invention is applied.

As shown, this network system comprises an information communication terminal 100 and a search server 200 connected to each other via a wired / wireless communication network 300 and a database system 220 connected to the search server 200.

The information communication terminal 100 includes a PDA, a mobile phone, a notebook, an electronic dictionary, and the like, and the configuration of the information communication terminal 100 will be described in detail later.

The search server 200 provides a search service and performs processing of the search service. The search server 200 receives query words, such as words, phrases, and sentences, to be searched as input data and performs a search through the search engine 210. The search engine 210 inquires the query in the index database 220 and returns an index value. The search result page and search result data are read using this index value. The read data is transmitted to the output for the query.

In addition, the search server 200 may transmit advertisement data for a predetermined query in addition to the general search result for the query in the search result data. In this case, identification information for identifying the advertisement data in search result data is included.

The wired / wireless communication network 300 refers to the Internet interconnecting a plurality of computer networks (LAN / WAN), but is not necessarily limited thereto. In other words, if the client and server are connected through a communication line and can transmit and receive multimedia information such as data, text, and graphics, regardless of wired or wireless communication networks.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a wired / wireless information communication terminal 100 capable of real-time search in an electronic book service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal 100 of the present invention includes an electronic book providing module 110, a search object selection module 120, a search module 130, a search result output module 140, an input means 150, The display means 160, the communication means 170, and a general CPU (not shown), RAM (not shown), and a storage device (not shown) are included.

The CPU reads out and executes the program and other programs shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 described later from the storage device to the RAM. The CPU has a plurality of general purpose registers for execution of a program.

The RAM is constituted by a semiconductor memory and has a work memory for loading a program to be used as a main memory area of the CPU.

The storage device is constituted by a recording medium such as a magnetic disk device or a static memory, and stores a processing program of the CPU and an electronic book service application software.

The input means 150 is a means for receiving various information and instructions from a user. The input means 150 may include a touch screen, a touch pen, a touch pad, a mouse, a keypad, and the like.

The display means 160 is composed of an LCD or the like, and displays the contents provided by the processing result of the CPU or the processing described later.

The communication means 170 is provided with a line termination device such as a modem. This communication means 170 enables the computer system to transmit data to and receive data from any network to which the computer system may be connected.

The electronic book providing module 110 provides a service for outputting electronic book content stored in the storage device on the screen through the display means 160, that is, the electronic book service to the user. Here, an e-book is a general term for digital books that can be used as a book by recording information such as text and images on an electronic medium such as a CD-ROM, floppy disk, or IC card, and can be published or published as a book. After the contents of the copyrighted work are stored in the storage device of the electronic recording medium using digital data, it is a digital book that allows users to read, view and listen to the contents through a wired or wireless information communication network.

The search object selection module 120 processes a process of selecting a string as a search object when the user selects a string from the electronic book content output on the screen through the display means 160. The search object selection module 120 receives coordinates of a start point and an end point from the user through the input means 150. That is, when the user underlines the touch screen or touch pen, the coordinates become input values. The character string included between the two coordinates is read from the electronic book contents by using the coordinates of the input start and end points. In other words, the string underlined by the user is recognized and selected as the search object.

As another example of selecting a character string from the user in the search object selection module 120, a block is designated in the electronic book content output on the screen through the input means 150, and the character string included in the block is recognized to recognize the character string. To select.

The search module 130 requests a search to the search server 200 through the communication means 170 for the selected string according to a user's request and instruction, and receives a result. The search module 130 generates a string selected by the user in the search object selection module 120 as a query word and transmits the query word to the search server 200. Accordingly, the search server 200 receives the search result data for the query word. In this case, the search result data for the query word from the search server 200 may include advertisement information for the query word prepared in advance together with the search result for the query word. In addition, the search module 130 may proceed with the search procedure at the same time the character string is selected in the search object selection module 120 without the user's search request and instructions according to the user's settings.

The search result output module 140 outputs the search result data received by the search module 130 on the screen through the display means 160. At this time, the advertisement information may be output on the page together with the search results. In particular, it is preferable to set a predetermined area other than the electronic book content area output on the screen by using the display means 160 and output a search result in this area. In addition, an area in which the search result is output may be displayed again by being divided into a search result area and an advertisement area. This example is illustrated through FIG. 6. 6 is an exemplary view showing a form that is output on the screen of the information communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the display means 160, the screen may be divided into an A region in which electronic book content is output, a B region in which a search result is output, and a C region in which an advertisement is output. The screen division shown in FIG. 6 is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various forms of division may exist.

As described above, the wired / wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time searching in the e-book service according to the present invention connects a string selected by the user with an underline or a block designation method in conjunction with a search server when the e-book content is displayed on the screen. Search results can be provided to the user in real time.

Next, a real-time search method in an electronic book service of an information communication terminal will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an e-book service method capable of real-time searching according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a user uses an electronic book service, which is an application, using a wired / wireless information communication terminal having internet access. According to this application, the electronic book content stored in the medium is output through the terminal screen.

In the electronic book content output on the screen, a string to be searched by the user is selected. One example of such a selection procedure is shown in detail in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 4, when a user selects a character string when using a touch screen or a touch pen, first, the coordinates of the starting point are read out from the screen. That is, the coordinates of the point where the user first touches are read. (S21) The coordinates of the next end point are read. This means the coordinates of the point where the user touches the touch point after drawing the line. Alternatively, the coordinates when the first point is touched and then the next point may be recognized as the end point. (S 22) The character string included between the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates is read. This means that the string is included in the underlined area. (S 23) Finally, the read string is recognized as a selection value (S 24).

Another example of a string selection procedure is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 5, a character string is selected when a user uses a mouse or a keypad. First, a desired region is set or designated as a block among electronic book contents output on a screen. At this time, the user drags the mouse or presses a direction key of the keypad (S 25). The character string included in the block thus set is read. (S 26) Then, the read character string is recognized as a selection value (S 27).

According to the procedure illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, a string may be selected. (S 20)

After the string is selected, the user receives a search request signal for the string. If the request signal is received, proceed with the next procedure, if the request signal is not received and ignores the process to stop (S 30).

When the search request signal is received, a query for transmission to the search server is generated using the selected string. The generated query is sent to the search server. The generated query word may be a word, phrase, or sentence. (S 40, 50)

After the search server performs the search processing with the query, the search server provides the search result corresponding to the query as search result data and receives the search result data for the query. In addition, as described above, the search result data may include advertisement information according to the query.

The search result data thus received is displayed on the screen through the display means. In this case, it is preferable that the search results are output in a specific area other than the area in which the electronic book content is output, and the area is also classified and output in the advertisement area and the search result area. If advertisement information is included in the received search result data, the advertisement information and the search result are classified by the identifier and output to the corresponding area.

After providing the user with a search result for the part to be searched, the process returns to step S20 and prepares a real-time search service for the next part to the user.

The method of the present invention as described above may be implemented as a program and stored in a recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.) in a computer-readable form. Since this process can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art will not be described in more detail.

The terms or words used in this specification and claims are not to be construed as limiting in their usual or dictionary meanings, and the inventors may appropriately define the concept of terms in order to best explain their invention in the best way possible. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

According to the present invention, when using an e-book service as an information communication terminal, a detailed search result is provided by searching for a portion of the e-book contents desired by the user in real time, thereby providing the user with speed and convenience. .

In addition, the advertisement information may be provided to the user who wants to search a certain portion of the e-book service together with the search result to provide the advertisement and the promotion effect to the user.

Claims (14)

As an e-book service method of a mobile application in a wired / wireless information communication terminal having internet access, (a) displaying electronic book contents stored in the wired / wireless information communication terminal on a screen of the terminal; (b) receiving a string selected from electronic book contents displayed on the terminal screen by the electronic book service user; (c) generating the selected character string as a query word and transmitting it to a search server; (d) receiving search result data according to the query word from the search server; And and (e) displaying the received search result data on the screen of the terminal. The method of claim 1, Step (b) is Reading start point coordinates and end point coordinates from the terminal screen through an input means from a user; And And recognizing and selecting a character string included between the read start point coordinates and the end point coordinates. The method of claim 2, And the input means is a touch screen or a touch pen. The method of claim 1, Step (b) is Setting a character string as a block in electronic book content displayed on the terminal screen through an input means from a user; And Recognizing and selecting the character string set to the block; e-book service method characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 4, wherein And the input means is a mouse, a keypad, or a touch pad. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Before step (c) above, And receiving a search request signal for the selected character string from a user. The method according to claim 1 or 2, In step (d), And the search result data includes advertisement data according to the query word. The method according to claim 1 or 2, In step (e) And the search result data is output to a predetermined area of the screen of the terminal. A wired / wireless information communication terminal equipped with an e-book service application and capable of internet access, An electronic book providing module for outputting electronic book contents on a terminal screen to provide an electronic book service to a user; A search object selection module configured to receive a string from electronic book content output from the user on the terminal screen; A search module which generates a string selected by the selection module as a query word and transmits it to a search server and receives search result data for the query word; And And a search result output module for outputting search result data received by the search module on a screen of the terminal. The method of claim 9, The search object selection module, In the e-book service, a user inputs a starting point coordinate and an ending point coordinate from an electronic book content output screen through an input means of a terminal, and recognizes and selects a string included between the starting point and ending point coordinates. Searchable wired and wireless information and communication terminal. The method of claim 9, The search object selection module, Wired and wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time search in the electronic book service, characterized in that for selecting the block character string from the user in the electronic book content output on the screen of the terminal through the input means of the terminal. The method of claim 9, The search module, A wired / wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time searching in an e-book service, which is operated after receiving a search start signal for a string selected by the selection module from a user. The method according to claim 9 or 12, The search module, Wired and wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time search in the e-book service, characterized in that for receiving the advertisement data for the query from the search server in the search result data. The method of claim 9, The output module, Wire and wireless information communication terminal capable of real-time search in the electronic book service, characterized in that for outputting the search result data to a predetermined area of the terminal screen.

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