Patent ID: 6027024
Filing Date: 2000-02-22
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
A portable WWW access terminal for allowing an operator to access and display HTML-encoded documents located on the WWW by reading bar code symbols encoded with URLs pointing thereto, said portable WWW access terminal comprising:a hand-supportable housing supportable within the hand of said operator;a bar code symbol reader, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, and programmed for (i) reading a bar code symbol encoded with a URL specifying the location of an HTML-encoded document stored in an information server connected to the Internet and supporting the TCP/IP standard, and (ii) producing symbol character data representative of said URL;visual information display means, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for visually displaying information including graphical information contained in said HTML-encoded document specified by said URL;Internet accessing means, disposed in said hand-supportable housing and responsive to said bar code symbol reader, said Internet accessing means further including(i) computing means disposed in said hand-supportable housing, and(ii) a GUI-based WWW browser program executed by said computing means, and integrated with said bar code symbol reader in said hand-supportable housing, so that, in response to said bar code symbol reader reading the bar code symbol encoded with said URL, said GUI-based WWW browser program automatically accesses the HTML-encoded document specified by said URL using said TCP/IP standard and the symbol character data representative of said URL, and automatically displays said accessed HTML-encoded document on said visual information display means for review by the operator; anda radio-frequency (RF) transceiver, integrated with said hand-supportable housing and being operably connected to said Internet accessing means, for enabling a wireless two-way telecommunication link between said Internet accessing means and a base-station operably connected to an Internet service provider connected the Internet so as to enable said Internet accessing means to access said HTML-encoded document specified by the URL encoded in said bar code symbol read by said bar code symbol reader.