Patent Publication Number: US-2003224776-A1

Title: System and method for providing descriptions of tourist attractions from internet servers to wireless devices

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
     [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/384,968, filed Jun. 3, 2002. 
    
    
     
       FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
       [0002] Not Applicable  
       SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
       [0003] Not Applicable  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004] This invention relates to a system and method of providing descriptions of tourist attractions from Internet servers to wireless devices.  
       [0005] Obtaining accurate and adequate travel information is usually difficult for tourists. They need travel information that is researched and prepared by professionals in particular geographical areas. And the information must be up to date.  
       [0006] Tourists need guidance when they reach an unfamiliar tourism site. When they visit a tourist attraction, historical, descriptive, and other information is helpful. There are several traditional ways to get this information. Tourists can read wall labels or tour guidebooks, listen to tour guides, ask their friends, or surf the Internet.  
       [0007] There are serious problems with all those methods.  
       [0008] Wall labels have several limitations. First, many tourist attractions do not have wall labels. Second, the information on a wall label usually is very brief and is rarely updated. Third, when a tourist site is crowded, getting close to wall labels becomes difficult, and having enough time to read them carefully may be impossible. Fourth, tourists can&#39;t read wall labels unless they actually visit tourist attractions in person.  
       [0009] There are also problems with guidebooks. For example, information about a specific attraction may not be in the book. Also, much information in a guidebook becomes out of date as soon as the book is published.  
       [0010] Some tourists depend on a tour guide. But many people prefer not to do this, because they do not want to be tied to the guide&#39;s schedule. In addition, a tour guide may not be well informed or may not communicate well.  
       [0011] If tourists depend on their friends, they may get inaccurate or insufficient information.  
       [0012] Regarding the Internet, many web servers provide travel information. The information is stored on the servers and is easy to keep updated. It is practical to gather high-quality information from professionals. However, many descriptions of tourist attractions are not stored on the Internet. Moreover, descriptions of tourist attractions on the Internet are on web servers scattered around the world, so searching for specific information requires a fast Internet connection. A fast connection is not available to tourists most of the time. In addition, searching for such information is usually time consuming, and is not practical when tourists have time restraints.  
       [0013] Even as recently as a few years ago, only a few people had wireless devices, such as cellular phones, pagers, and wireless PDAs. Even fewer people had Internet access with their wireless devices. Nowadays, partly because the cost has decreased a lot, many people have Internet-enabled wireless devices and bring the devices with them when they travel. It is very easy for them to get wireless network information from their wireless devices.  
       [0014] The present invention provides a system and method of providing descriptions of tourist attractions from Internet servers to wireless devices. High-quality and up-to-date information prepared by experts is stored on the Internet. Because all descriptions are classified and indexed according to geographical locations, information requested by tourists is easy to be accessed. The global positioning system (GPS) and base-station-dependent technology can be used to ascertain the location of the user with the wireless device. Based on the user&#39;s location, the user has the option of requesting that the system search the tourist descriptions within the immediate area surrounding the user. Thus, the system could deliver relevant descriptions more quickly and efficiently.  
       [0015] None of the prior systems provide descriptions of tourist attractions from Internet servers to wireless devices.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016] It is an object of the invention to provide descriptions of tourist attractions with dynamic contents from Internet servers to wireless devices.  
       [0017] The attraction may be a tourism site or an object on public display.  
       [0018] Briefly, the present invention relates to a system and method for storing descriptions of tourist attractions in a database.  
       [0019] The descriptions are classified and indexed according to their geographical locations.  
       [0020] Globally unique strings that identify attractions based upon their geographical locations and/or categories (GUAIDs) may be used during the classification and indexing.  
       [0021] According to the user request, the system searches the database and gathers relevant information.  
       [0022] The information will be delivered to the wireless device through Internet and wireless networks.  
       [0023] In general, the present invention provides a system and method of providing descriptions of tourist attractions to wireless devices. Updated descriptions are stored on Internet servers and delivered to wireless devices as requested.  
       [0024] The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent when reference is made to the description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0025]FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the location of the description system of the present invention in a typical system for wireless Internet.  
     [0026]FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram of the description system typical of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.  
     [0027]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the Attraction Information Database shown in FIG. 2.  
     [0028]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the operations of the User Interface Module shown in FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0029] Glossary of Terminology  
     [0030] Tourist Attraction  
     [0031] A tourism site or an object on public display  
     [0032] Attraction  
     [0033] An abbreviation for “Tourist Attraction” 
     [0034] Description System  
     [0035] The computer system constructed for the present invention that provides descriptions of tourist attractions  
     [0036] Data Transmission Lines  
     [0037] Lines used in a communications network (preferably the Internet) to connect an administrator and the description system  
     [0038] Globally Unique Attraction Identifier  
     [0039] A globally unique string that identifies an attraction based upon its geographical location and/or category  
     [0040] GUAID  
     [0041] An abbreviation for “Globally Unique Attraction Identifier” 
     [0042] In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the position of the description system of the present invention in a typical system for wireless Internet.  
     [0043] As shown, a Wireless Network  102  is coupled to the Internet  106  via a Gateway  104 . The Wireless Network  102  includes a significant infrastructure, only a portion of which is illustrated in FIG. 1. Base transceiver station  108  facilitates wireless communications with wireless device  110 .  
     [0044] The Wireless Network  102  connects to the Internet  106  via the Gateway  104 . The Gateway  104  serves to convert communications as they pass between the Wireless Network  102  and the Internet  106 . Coupled to the Internet  106  is the description system  112  located on Internet servers, which provides attraction information via the Internet  106 . Wireless device  110  supports communication with the Internet via compatible languages and protocols.  
     [0045] One particular protocol supported by the Wireless Network  102  may be the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).  
     [0046] The wireless device  110  may support one or more markup languages, such as Wireless Markup Language (WML), Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) and compact HyperText Markup Language (cHTML). Similar to regular HTML, cHTML, WML, or HDML language is a tag-based document language that comprises a set of commands or statements specified in a file that specifies how information is to be processed on the wireless device  110 .  
     [0047] The Internet  106  supports the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), HDML, cHTML and WML for communications between the wireless device  110  and the description system  112 . However, as is known, the Internet  106  also supports communications in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML does not scale well to small displays and mouse-less user interfaces, and is a practical impossibility for delivering information to wireless devices with size, memory and cost constraints. The Gateway  104 , among other operations in facilitating communication between the Internet  106  and the Wireless Network  102 , converts communications between WAP and HTTP, the Gateway  104  supporting communications according to HTTP on its Internet  106  connection and according to WAP on its Wireless Network  102  connection.  
     [0048]FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram of the description system typical of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.  
     [0049] In this system, the description system  112  shown in FIG. 1 contains Attraction Information Database  202 , Information Management Module  204 , and User Interface Module  206 .  
     [0050] The description system  112  exchanges data with the system administrator through Data Transmission Lines  208 .  
     [0051] The Information Management Module  204  controls the data input.  
     [0052] The input data contain Text Data  210 , Graphics Data  212 , Audio Data  214 , Video Data  216 , and/or Animation Data  218 .  
     [0053] The User Interface Module  206  provides the user interface, performs the search based upon a user&#39;s requests, and delivers relevant information to the wireless device  110 .  
     [0054]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the Attraction Information Database shown in FIG. 2.  
     [0055] The Attraction Information Database  202  shown in FIG. 2 consists of Attraction Index  302 , Text Data  304 , Graphics Data  306 , Audio Data  308 , Video Data  310 , and/or Animation Data  312 .  
     [0056] The Attraction Index  302  contains information about name, location, and/or GUAID of the attraction.  
     [0057]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the operations of the User Interface Module shown in FIG. 2.  
     [0058] Processing begins at Start block  402 .  
     [0059] Decision block  404  determines whether the user inputted GUAID. If the user did, the program receives GUAID and proceeds to block  406 .  
     [0060] Block  406  accesses the database  202  and generates an information package.  
     [0061] When the user did not specify GUAID at decision block  404 , processing proceeds to block  412 , where the program receives search conditions from the user.  
     [0062] Module  414  searches the database  202  according to the user&#39;s search conditions.  
     [0063] Decision block  416  determines whether module  414  found the specified attraction. If not, the processing returns to block  412  and asks the user to reenter the search conditions. If the attraction was found, the system displays GUAID at block  418 . The system accesses the database  202  and generates an information package, as the user requested, at block  406 .  
     [0064] Processing goes to block  408 , where the information package is delivered to the user, and terminates at stop block  410 .  
     [0065] Advantages  
     [0066] From the description above, a number of advantages of the present invention become evident:  
     [0067] (a) Descriptions of tourist attractions are accessible to tourists who lack fast Internet connections and are using wireless devices.  
     [0068] (b) Because descriptions of tourist attractions are stored on Internet servers, high-quality information can be gathered and prepared by professionals and kept updated.  
     [0069] (c) The descriptions are classified and indexed by their geographical locations, making them easy to access.  
     [0070] (d) The contents are customized for each wireless device. Therefore, the desired information can be delivered to wireless devices efficiently.  
     [0071] Conclusion and Scope  
     [0072] Accordingly, readers can see that the present invention can be used to provide descriptions of tourist attractions from Internet servers to wireless devices. Tourists on the go often lack fast Internet connections; the invention provides a way for them to get dynamic, up-to-date, high-quality descriptions of tourist attractions. The information is classified and indexed for easy access and customized for each wireless device.  
     [0073] Although the present invention has been described in detail, it will be understood that this description is not intended to limit the invention to this embodiment. Instead, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.