WO2008010071A2

WO2008010071A2 - Information retrieval and delivery system and components

Info

Publication number: WO2008010071A2
Application number: PCT/IB2007/002020
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ian Harrison
Original assignee: Psitek (Proprietary) Limited
Priority date: 2006-07-18
Filing date: 2007-07-18
Publication date: 2008-01-24
Also published as: WO2008010071A3

Abstract

Information retrieval and delivery system in which data procured in response to a request received from a satellite information terminal (50) is retrieved in text format; text extraction means separates text data from mixtures of text and graphics data and resulting text is converted to speech by conversion means and the resultant audio data is transferred to a portable information storage device (10) having audible output means. The portable device has interface means for interfacing with the satellite information terminal for transferring data procured to the portable device. The satellite information terminal is connectable to at least one remote back-end system (100) from or by way of which information data may be procured by the satellite information terminal. Portable devices are capable of intermittent coupling with the satellite information terminal for the purpose of transfer of data. Each portable device is uniquely identifiable by the satellite information terminal.

Description

INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND DELIVERY SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an information retrieval and delivery system whereby information on a particular subject of interest to a system participant is retrieved and delivered to the participant with limited cost and infrastructure required on the part of the participant. The invention also relates to various components of the information retrieval and delivery system including a satellite information terminal and a portable information storage device (herein termed a portable device).

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Whilst the information technology age has provided a plethora of information that is publicly available on computer networks, in particular the Internet, to persons having both access to a computer and the necessary computer skills, access to such information remains severely restricted for numerous less privileged persons who cannot afford the relevant computer equipment; do not otherwise have access to such equipment; or are unable to operate such equipment.

The lack of access to telecommunication and information services in developing nations is well known. Whilst there are many drives to provide people in emerging economies with access to ICT and the Internet, the cost thereof remains an inhibiting factor. Furthermore, high levels of illiteracy exclude large numbers of people from development through the use of, for example, personal computers. Current solutions for providing access to information sources on a shared basis are dominated by the use of computer terminals thereby creating a situation where protracted browsing of data by one user restricts access to the source of information by others.

It is to be noted that voice based interface systems have been proposed in order to facilitate access to information networks in particular circumstances. An example of such a system in described in United States patent number 5,884,266 to Dvorak. However, such systems would be extremely costly and do not address the problem of availability and cost of the relevant hardware.

Prior European patent number EP 1376407, on the other hand, addresses the problem of persons not having enough time to benefit from information available to them on the Internet or by way of e-mails or the like and proposes to create audio files of appropriate information so that the information can be reviewing audibly whilst the relevant person is away from the computer in which ought to which the information was acquired. Once again, the proposed system and method result in an additional cost to a computer user and would, in the form described, be of no use in solving the problem described above.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an information retrieval and delivery system and components thereof whereby available information may be rendered more easily and economically accessible to system participants than in instances of the prior art outlined above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided an information retrieval and delivery system in which information data procured in response to a request received from a satellite information terminal is retrieved in text format and wherein the system includes, as may be required, text extraction means for separating text data from mixtures of text and graphics data and wherein the system also includes text to speech conversion means to convert at least selected text data thus procured to audio data that is transferred to a portable information storage device (herein termed a portable device) having audible output means whereby data stored within the storage device can be rendered audible to communicate information embodied in the data audibly to a user, and wherein the portable device has interface means for interfacing with the satellite information terminal for transferring data procured to the portable device and wherein the satellite information terminal is connectable to at least one remote back-end system from or by way of which information data may be procured by the satellite information terminal, the system being characterised in that in respect of a single satellite information terminal there is a multiplicity of participants or participant groups each of which is provided with a portable device that is capable of intermittent coupling with the satellite information terminal for the purpose of transfer of data and wherein each portable device is uniquely identifiable by the satellite information terminal.

The text extraction means is preferably associated with the back-end system so that only separated text data is communicated from the back-end system to the satellite information terminal. The text to speech conversion means is, on the other hand, preferably associated with the satellite information terminal in order to benefit from the relatively small size of text data files when compared to their corresponding audio data files when the data files are transferred from the back-end system to the satellite information terminal. The text to speech conversion means preferably comprises a text to speech engine comprising hardware and/or software which converts the information in text format to audio data, such as MP3 or other data- reduced digital audio formats, for transfer to the portable information storage device. It should be noted however, that it is within the scope of this invention, that the text to speech conversion means could be embodied within the portable device itself in the event that the cost of a suitable microprocessor and associated circuitry permits of such an arrangement to thereby maximise the amount of data that can be stored on the portable device.

It will be understood that the satellite information terminal will typically comprise input means, generally a keyboard, operable by an operator, a display for displaying information entered by an operator and information received from the back-end system, data processing means, a communication interface for communication with the back-end system, and a data transfer interface for communication with a portable device.

The back-end system will comprise data processing means, data storage means and a communication interface for communication with the satellite information terminal and with third party information sources. The satellite information terminal is thus operable to receive an input of a request for information from an operator via the input means, to transmit such information request to the back-end system, to receive from the back-end system information retrieved from either or both of an internal database and one or more external sources of data such as third party search engines in response to the information request, to generate, in the preferred embodiment, audio data from the received information, and to transfer the audio data to the portable device.

The information retrieval system is preferably operable as an information vending system, including a mechanism for paying an operator of the system according to the number of information requests processed, the file size of information procured and / or other criteria.

The back-end system or the satellite information terminal, or both, are preferably operable to insert one or more advertising messages into the information sent to the portable device in response to an information request. Such advertisements, typically in audio format, may be stored in the satellite information terminal for re-use with the back-end system maintaining a record of such advertisements stored on the terminal with the back-end system transmitting an index to such stored advertisements when transmitting information to the information terminal. The advertising messages are preferably selected according to one or more of the following criteria: user preferences, a user profile, a user rating of information previously supplied to a particular user, and the nature of a new information request or refinements to the new information request. The programming of the system is preferably such that the advertisement must be played before the information can be accessed.

The invention therefore also provides as a second aspect hereof, an information package comprising at least one advertising message and information data both of which are either in the form of audio data or in the form of text data suitable for direct conversion to audio data and wherein the information package is configured to interact with a portable device of a system as defined above such that the advertising message is played by way of the audible output means as a prerequisite ahead of the information data. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a portable device usable in a system as defined above, the device comprising a data transfer interface compatible with a data transfer interface of the satellite information terminal, data storage means, audible output means, and one or more controls operable by a user of the device, the device being operable to receive information data from the information terminal, to store the information data, and to play the information data as audio data selectively in response to operation of the controls by a user, thereby to play the information received from a back-end system in response to the information request to the user of the device.

The portable device may include identification means for storing data identifying the device or a user thereof, or both. Preferably, the portable device is operable by the user in response to prompts in the audio data to record user responses to one or more aspects of the information received from the back-end system. In particular, the audio data may include prompts to the participant to rate the quality or usefulness of the information received, the device being operable to record data corresponding to the user responses in the data storage means and to transfer said data to the information terminal when the device is connected subsequently to the information terminal. The system may be programmed such that in an absence of a rating response, the system will deny a particular participant further access to additional information.

In order that the information retrieval and delivery system and its components may be more fully understood one embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a basic diagram illustrating one embodiment of system according to the invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of one embodiment of portable device forming part of an information retrieval and delivery system according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of one embodiment of satellite information terminal forming part of the system;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the components of the portable device illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the major components and functionality of the satellite information terminal illustrated in Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the components of a back-end system included in the system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

Briefly, the embodiment of the system according to the invention that is illustrated schematically in Figure 1 comprises a series of portable devices (10) for use by participants or groups of participants, the portable devices being capable of periodic coupling to any one of a plurality of satellite information terminals (50) each of which is capable of communicating with a remote back-end system (100). The back-end system may have its own data base but is especially able to effect searching by way of the World Wide Web or other external data sources collectively indicated by numeral (110).

As illustrated in Figure 2, one embodiment of portable device (10) has a sturdy housing of plastics material and is sized to fit comfortably in the hand of a participant or user. On an upper surface of the housing, a group of user controls are mounted including a "Play" button (12), a "Stop" button (14), and an "Enter" button (16), all connected to a microcontroller indicated by numeral (26) in Figure 4. The function of these controls is described below. The device includes an audio output comprising a jack (18), into which a plug (20) of a set of earphones (22) can be inserted. The housing of the device is formed with an aperture (24) allowing it to be carried by a strap or lanyard.

It will be appreciated that the device described above is purely exemplary, and the device can be varied widely. The functionality of the device is described below.

Figure 4 shows the major components of the portable device (10) of Figure 2 in a simplified schematic form. The portable device (10) is based on the microcontroller (26) with associated data storage or memory (28), which would typically be solid state flash memory but could, alternatively, be any other suitable device such as a miniature hard drive. The device includes a digital to analogue converter (30) associated with (or forming part of) an audio interface (32) which includes the output jack (18) or other connector. Instead of, or in addition to, a jack or connector for an external audio device such as set of earphones or audio player, the portable device (10) could include a built-in loudspeaker (not shown). The portable device is powered by a rechargeable battery (38), which is recharged by a power supply circuit (40). The power supply circuit (40) is, in turn, powered via a data interface connector (42) when the device is connected to a satellite information terminal of the system (see below), a dedicated charger or another external power supply.

The portable device (10) is uniquely identified with identification means in the form of a silicon serial number indicated by numeral (34) and provides a small advertising area (36) which can be used, for example, for receiving a logo or other branding information.

Referring now to Figure 3, a satellite information terminal (50) forming part of the system has a moulded housing of plastics material, input means in the form of a keyboard (51) and a multi-line liquid crystal display (LCD) (52). Below the display are several pushbuttons (53), usable by an operator to select items shown on the display. Referring now to Figure 5, the satellite information terminal (50) has three main internal sub-systems in the form of a communications and control unit (54), a data processing and storage unit (55) and a power supply and docking module (56).

The communications and control unit (54) includes a communication interface comprising a transceiver (58) with an associated wireless or fixed line interface (60) that is adapted to communicate with the back end server by way of a public or private communications network. The terminal (50) and its components are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) (62). The terminal is uniquely identified by an identification means such as a silicon serial number (64) and a "narrow band" advertising area (66) is provided on its external housing on which a label or other identification or branding information can be located. The operator user interface that includes the keyboard (52), the display (54) and the buttons (56), is indicated by numeral (68) in Figure 5. An operator identification means is provided for obtaining parameters from an operator of the terminal that enable an operator's identification to be authenticated. For example, the terminal could include a fingerprint scanner or other biometric identification device, or it may be set up to require an operator to enter a PIN or password to access the terminal. This arrangement allows more than one operator to share the satellite information terminal.

The data processing and storage unit (55) includes a text to speech convertor (61) that is to receive the search results and any advertisements accompanying them from the communications and control unit and to compile a data package in a data packaging unit (59) that may also include advertisements retrieved from an advertisement data base (57) forming part of the data processing and storage unit. The data processing and storage unit may also retain market-research questions and responses in a data base indicated by numeral (63) and information as to ratings given information retrieved in a ratings data base (65).

The power supply and module (56) includes a data transfer interface or docking connector (70) for connecting to it any portable device (10). The docking connector includes electrical connectors for transferring both data and power to the portable information storage device (10). The docking connector is operative to transfer data between the CPU (62) and the portable device (10) by way of the data packaging unit (59) and an internal electrical interface circuit (72). The terminal is powered by a rechargeable battery (74) and includes a power supply and charge control circuit (76) that controls charging of the battery via a charging connector (78) which can be connected to a mains electrical supply.

The data processing and storage unit (55) will typically include a hard drive on which the various databases or files are defined, as well as additional cache memory (67) for frequently used data.

It will be understood that, whilst the satellite information terminal is described as being a custom built terminal, it is perfectly within the scope of this invention that a suitably modified computer, such as a PC or notebook, can be used for this purpose.

Turning now to Figure 6, the remote back end system (100) may be of any generally known type that has been modified to operate within the system provided by the invention. The back-end system has a receiving circuit (101) that receives data transmission by way of a public or private communications network (102) and supplied to a plurality of sub-data bases (104) according to its nature. In this embodiment of the invention the various sub-data bases include those for recording information about the vendor (the vendor and the satellite terminal), research results, addresses for locating further information required, end user information (portable device identity and capacity, the user profile, the specific user), information about the location and local conditions of the user or the information vendor, or both, a log of any new user query strings and the rating of previous results. These details are utilised in a hierarchical profile generator (106) that outputs to a query refinement module (107a); a query checker module (107b); a query builder module (107c); an advertisement selector module (107d); and a payment calculator (122) that has an output (124) that specifies payment due to relevant operators of a relevant satellite information terminal. The output of the query checker is fed to a search engine (108) that initiates a search in third party data bases (110), particularly the World Wide Web. A results pre-processor (118) that also serves as a text extraction means receives the search results and separates text information from other information, in particular graphics, before transferring the textual information to a packaging unit (120) that also receives selected advertisements, or references to such advertisements as well as market-research questionnaire material and any updates destined for the satellite information terminal. The final information package is sent to the relevant satellite information terminal by way of a logging unit (121).

It is to be mentioned that the query refinement processor receives inadequate search instructions rejected by the search engine as being lacking in some respect or another as will be further described below and is able to communicate with the relevant satellite information terminal by way of a refinement database (112).

Further detail of the operation of this particular embodiment of the invention will become more apparent from the following expanded description thereof in use.

The arrangement of the various components of the system is adapted to operate as follows.

When a portable device (10) is issued to a user, or a group of users who share the portable device, it is connected to the satellite information terminal (50) (or a similar terminal used for initialising the portable device) by coupling its electrical/data interface (42) with the docking connector (70) of the satellite information terminal.

The data storage means (28) of the portable device preferably contains several data structures for the storage of various data fields. A user profile data structure is used for storing information regarding the participant or user of the device. The category of user may be defined by various fields such as age, main activity/occupation (farmer, student, pensioner, etc), interests/hobbies, geographical area, peer group memberships, etc. This user profile data is entered via the keyboard of the satellite information terminal on first connecting to the portable device, and in the case of more than one sharing user, for each sharing user of the device, and the data is written to the data storage means (28). Upon subsequent connection of a portable device to the satellite information terminal, the user profile data structures are read from the portable device. Apart from the user profile data structure, an address list data structure is provided for storing a list of addresses of further information that may be requested, arising out of an initial request for information by a user. An information rating data structure is provided for storing a rating given to the quality of information provided to the user of the portable device in use, as described below.

In a typical application of the system in which it is operated as an information vending system, users approach an operator of a satellite information terminal to search for information. Such users may be illiterate or at least computer-illiterate. The operator interacts with the user orally to determine what information is required. The result of such an oral exchange is reduced by the operator into an information request that is entered via the keyboard of the satellite information terminal (50) by the operator.

The information request is submitted to the information back-end system (100) via the transceiver (58) together with the identity code of the terminal, data identifying the information vendor, and the unique identity code of the portable device connected to the terminal. Additional data including the data storage capacity of the portable device, the user identification data, and any data stored in the data storage structures of the portable device, such as the user profile data structure, the address list data structure or the information rating data structure, is also submitted. The satellite information terminal user interface furthermore contains means for categorizing the information required into various categories which is also provided to the back-end system in order to focus the information request submitted on behalf of the user. For example, a menu can be displayed which provides a list of predetermined information categories from which the operator can choose, to help in classifying the information required when commencing the information retrieval process.

The data storage unit (55) of the information terminal stores market research questions, pertaining to specific user profiles, as well as user responses to these market research questions which are submitted, with the user's information request and the other data, to the back-end system (100). When the requested information is returned by the back-end system, in the form of text data containing the results of a search for the requested information as well as advertisements and possibly other data, the information terminal converts the text data to audio data. The audio data is transferred to the portable device via its data interface (42) and stored in its data storage means (28) for access by the user at his/her convenience.

The controls of the portable device allow the user to play and stop the playback of the audio data as required, using the "Play" key (12) and the "Stop" key (14). By using the "Enter" key (16) in accordance with logic determined by software running on the microcontroller (26), the user can operate the controls to navigate, select, retrieve, rate, store or discard, as well as control access to the stored data.

The audio data may contain predetermined distinct sound characteristics, which identify hyperlinks to further information in a similar manner to the method described in US patent 5,884,266. Upon the user tagging or selecting this information for subsequent retrieval, the portable device stores the address corresponding to the hyperlink in the address list data structure. When the portable device is next connected to a satellite information terminal, the address list data structure may be read by the information terminal and used to obtain further information for the end user.

The system of the invention provides an information rating means for prompting the user to rate the information provided to the user, using the controls on the portable device in response to audible prompts. The user is not allowed to submit further information requests via an information terminal without rating the information provided previously. The information provided would typically be rated according to predefined values such as: "Just what I was looking for", "Interesting but not what I was looking for" or "Totally useless".

A typical information package would firstly play one or more advertisements that cannot be skipped. The user would then listen to the retrieved information either in one or a number of successive sessions and then rate the information provided. Only once the rating has been done will a further information package be supplied to the user.

With particular reference to Figure 6, an information request received from a satellite information terminal (50) would firstly be separated into respective different categories, and stored in the sub-databases of the database (104).

This data, together with logs of results provided, a log of advertisements provided, and the history of training provided to the information vendor is used to build hierarchical profiles in the hierarchical profiles generator (106). These profiles include the geographical area in which the vendor operates, the end users, the suppliers of information and goods, as well as research results and advertisements. This hierarchical classification of information is also built up for groups of users of particular satellite information terminals or by geographical or other areas. The hierarchical profiles are used to further refine and build a better query in a query builder module (107c). The refined query is checked before determining the final search parameters provided to the search engine (108) which accesses external third-party databases (110) (via the World Wide Web, or from other data sources).

The query refinement and checking step could optionally be implemented, in the case of very inexperienced operators, by way of human intervention.

The query checker module may generate a query exception output together with tentative results of a query when the query is found to be suspect, or too widely defined (resulting in too many hits), or when it has been submitted by an inexperienced operator. This output is put through a query refinement process, which determines parameters in the query that need to be refined or clarified. These refinement parameters are logged to the refinement database (112) which is used to improve the query refinement process and update the history of training provided to the operator. The refinement parameters are furthermore provided to the operator for clarification via query refinement prompts which may be represented with appropriate graphical prompts that are made up by a query prompt assembly means (114). Upon reception of query refinement prompts, the information terminal (50) prompts the operator/user to clarify uncertain parameters of the query by providing simple questions or pictures to choose from. A typical clarification for the search parameter "water", may lead to the following query: "Water as a noun or water as a verb?" The perfect match for a query would be data that carries message value that is useful for changing certain actions. In order to determine the appropriate information to supply, the system seeks to determine what actions the end-user is seeking to modify. Query refinements may be processed as data (text, pictures or packetised voice services such as VoIP or push to talk/chat) or as circuit switched voice services of the transceiver and the back-end system, whichever makes the most economic sense.

The hierarchical profiles (106) are also used to match the profile of the users of information with the profile of the suppliers of information. The best alignment or match of this information, together with the history of advertisements supplied to the information vendor and/or user is used by the advertisement selector (107d) to select advertisements from a database of advertisements (116).

When the operator is classified by the back-end system as being experienced and/or there are no further query refinements to be made, the results of the search are pre-processed in the pre-processor (118) and packaged by a information download packaging unit (120), together with selected advertisements, which may be either indexes to the database of adverts already stored on the satellite information terminal, or new advertisements that are not yet stored on the information terminal.

The amount of information packaged for the user is calculated according to the memory size of the particular portable device that onto which the information is to be downloaded. This calculation is made by simulating terminal in the back-end system the operation of the audio synthesis unit and packaging unit of the satellite information. Changes to market research questions and updates to text-to-speech databases in the information terminals are also packaged by the information packaging unit. The packaged data provided to the user is logged in the logging unit (121) to the relevant database against the specific user and information terminal, in the following categories: results provided, advertisements provided, market research questions provided and updates to the text-to-speech parameters/database. Search results, advertisement database updates, advertisement selections, text to speech parameter updates and market research questions/prompts are all provided to the satellite information terminal. This data updates the advertisement database, and selects and retrieves advertisements from the advertisement database. These advertisements are either combined directly with other data as audio files or provided as speech synthesized mark-up language or hypertext input to a speech synthesis unit, which typically would have a speech synthesis mark-up language interpreter. The data furthermore may update a text to speech parameter database according to data received from the back-end system.

The satellite information terminals may provide the search results as speech synthesized mark-up language or hypertext input to the speech synthesis unit. The output of the speech synthesis unit is combined with audio advertisements in an audio packaging unit, which interleaves information obtained for the user via the back-end system with advertisements in such a way, and in a format readable by the portable device, that the portable device requires the user to have to listen to the advertisement before listening to the information provided to the user. The audio packaging unit packages search results in such a way that hyperlinks are identified with a distinctive predetermined sound and are associated with locator addresses.

The information provided to the user could incorporate personal information such as voicemail, text messages from a conventional mailing system or other forms of personalized information.

In the embodiment of the system of the invention described above, information vendors are paid, based on various performance criteria measured by the information vending back-end system. The payment calculation module (122) carries out a calculation based on the number of advertisements provided to the user and predetermined payment criteria negotiated with the providers of the advertisements and the profile of the information vendor, which is in turn influenced by the rating of information provided to the end user, obtained from the end user. The details of each payment to a vendor, which may for example be an automatic transfer into the vendor's bank account together with a payment advice message to the satellite information terminal.

In a variation of the system described above, having multiple information vending terminals, the text-to-speech processing function could be centralised, instead of being duplicated in each terminal. In this embodiment, a number of information vending terminals are interconnected by a private network, such as a Wifi network, which links together all the information vending terminals in a mesh network. Thus, each information vending terminal would have a Wifi interface module instead of the above described communications means, and would not have the above described text-to-speech functionality, which is relatively expensive.

An additional gateway device contains the speech processing components, as well as two communications modules (one point to multi- point module for the Wifi network and one for connection to the public communications network 102). The gateway device has a relatively powerful processor in order to serve all the information terminals as a gateway to the back-end system.

In this alternative embodiment, information terminals would submit information requests via the gateway device to the back-end system. The text data received from the back-end system would be converted into an audio format by the gateway device and distributed in the audio format to the relevant information terminal via the private Wifi network. The reason for this arrangement is that it is more expensive to transmit information over the public network, so it is best to transmit information in text format when using the public network. Within the private broadband network the text can be converted to an audio format (which results in much larger files) which can then be transferred to the information terminals at relatively low cost.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An information retrieval and delivery system in which information data procured in response to a request received from a satellite information terminal is retrieved in text format and wherein the system includes, as may be required, text extraction means (118) for separating text data from mixtures of text and graphics data and wherein the system also includes text to speech conversion means (61) to convert at least selected text data thus procured to audio data that is transferred to a portable information storage device (10) (herein termed a portable device) having audible output means (22) whereby data stored within the storage device can be rendered audible to communicate information embodied in the data audibly to a user, and wherein the portable device has interface means (42) for interfacing with the satellite information terminal (50) for transferring data procured to the portable device and wherein the satellite information terminal is connectable to at least one remote back- end system (100) from or by way of which information data may be procured by the satellite information terminal, the system being characterised in that in respect of a single satellite information terminal there is a multiplicity of participants or participant groups each of which is provided with a portable device that is capable of intermittent coupling with the satellite information terminal for the purpose of transfer of data and wherein each portable device is uniquely identifiable by the satellite information terminal.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the text extraction means is associated with the back-end system so that only separated text data is communicated from the back-end system to the satellite information terminal.

3. A system as claimed in either one of claims 1 or 2 in which the text to speech conversion means is associated with the satellite information terminal.

4. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the satellite information terminal comprises a keyboard (51) operable by an operator, a display (52) for displaying information entered by an operator and information received from the back-end system, data processing means (55), a communication interface (60) for communication with the back-end system, and a data transfer interface (78) for communication with a portable device.

5. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the back-end system comprises a communication interface (101 , 114, 121) for communication with a satellite information terminal and with third party information sources (110), data processing means (106), and data storage means (104).

6. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the system is operable as an information vending system and includes a mechanism (122, 124) for paying an operator of the system according to the number of information requests processed, the file size of information procured and other criteria.

7. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the back-end system or the satellite information terminal, or both, are operable to insert one or more advertising messages (61 , 107d) in audio format into the information sent to the portable device in response to the information request.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7 in which advertisements are stored in the satellite information terminal for re-use with the back-end system maintaining a record of such advertisements stored on the terminal and transmitting an index and updates to such stored advertisements when transmitting information to the information terminal.

9. A system as claimed in either one of claims 7 or 8 in which the programming of the system is such that an advertisement must be played before the information can be accessed.

10. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the programming includes prompts to a participant to rate the quality or usefulness of the information received such that in the absence of a rating response, the system will deny a particular participant further access to additional information.

11. An information package suitable for use in a system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 comprising at least one advertising message and information data both of which are either in the form of audio data or in the form of text data suitable for direct conversion to audio data and wherein the information package is configured to interact with a portable device of the system such that the advertising message is played by way of the audible output means ahead of the information data.

12. Components of a system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 in the form of a portable device or a satellite information terminal suitable for incorporation into such a system.