Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for simplifying the service interface to access web service, applicable to the network with communication capability. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The modern communication devices, such as hand-held devices, are thin, small, and consume little power. However, there still exist limitations on the use of these devices. For example, when accessing web service, these hand-held devices can only show a small part of the web page contents on the small screen. This leads to the inconvenient browsing. Furthermore, sometimes multiple key combinations are used to access web service, which is not as convenient as using a keyboard or mouse. 
     One possible solution is to develop simplified web pages for the hand-held device access. However, as the new web service and web pages are continuously developed, it is neither practical nor economical to develop simplified versions of all the web pages. On the other hand, although a larger screen may solve the above problem, a large screen consumes much more power and shortens the battery time. 
       FIG. 1  shows a web-as-participation-platform service, such as Web 2.0. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a network platform  100  can be shared, or constructed by participants. Every user can be connected to network platform  100  to retrieve or share all types of information, including audiovisual, text, images, and so on. The participation-typed service has been widely adopted on desktop computers  110  or portable PC  120 . The manner of using participation-typed service is through the interface provided by browser  130  to upload or download the contents on network platform  100 . This type of architecture of participation promotes the personalized service through experience and the communication among users through the use of tag and sharing. 
     To provide this type of network service, such as browser, on the hand-held device, the problem encountered is the complexity of the interface as well as the computing complexity of the services on such thin and small hand-held devices. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,259 disclosed an open network and corresponding communication protocol to provide the device without standard I/O, such as card reader, voice phone, to communicate PC with standard I/O for database or information exchange in a banking system. This open network system solved the transmission problem between the central server and a plurality of peripheral transaction devices in a bank system. By using a common communication protocol to transmit the transaction data of different non-standard peripheral devices, the disclosed patent then uses a central server to analyze the contents of the transaction. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in a network system  200 , central server  210  uses the tag of the http communication protocol to provide the data transmission guideline to the non-standard devices in open network  230 . According to the available I/O on the devices, the central server uses common gateway interface (CGI)  220  to convert and communicate so that processing system  240  can exchange data with PC while avoid the risk of information theft caused by incomplete network safety mechanism under the network communication protocol. The analysis capability of central server  210  provides secured transmission service to the peripheral devices to solve the transmission security problem. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The examples consistent with the invention may provide an apparatus and method for simplifying service interface to access network service to support the participation-typed service. The simplified interface allows the user to access different services provided by different servers in the network. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for simplifying service interface to access network service, the apparatus comprising: a service interface that includes at least one of an upload element, a download element and a command element, for providing a user to access information contents; and a conversion and interpretation unit, wherein the conversion and interpretation unit interprets a request for the information contents as data for the upload element, the download element and the command element; transmits the data for displaying on the service interface; compiles the data into a web page document to be transmitted to the network platform for processing; compiles returned data from the network platform, and transmits the compiled returned data for displaying on the service interface. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to a method for simplifying service interface to access network service, applicable to a network platform, the method comprising: providing a service interface for a user to access information contents, the service interface having an upload element, a download element and a command element; compiling the first data into a web page document and transmitting the web page document to the network platform for processing, and returning second data; and compiling the second data into third data, and transmitting the third data to the service interface. 
     The foregoing and other features of the invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic view of a conventional participation-typed network service. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic view of a conventional open network system. 
         FIG. 3A  shows a schematic view, illustrating an exemplary device with a simplified service interface for accessing network service applicable to a network platform, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  shows a flowchart, illustrating an exemplary operation of a device with a simplified service interface for accessing network service applicable to a network platform, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic view, illustrating an exemplary service interface applied to a network platform to accomplish participation-typed service, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 5A  shows a flowchart illustrating an exemplary data uploading, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  shows a flowchart illustrating an exemplary data downloading, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows a diagram, illustrating an exemplary operation of the conversion and interpretation unit, consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 7  shows an exemplary XML web page document, consistent with the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The exemplary examples consistent with the invention use the characteristics of participation-typed service to categorize the information contents and compile the information contents for display on communication devices through a simplified service interface.  FIG. 3A  shows an exemplary example of a schematic view of a device with a simplified service interface, consistent with the invention for accessing network service applied on a network platform. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3A , a device  300  with the simplified service interface for accessing network service includes a service interface  301 , and a conversion and interpretation unit  303 . The service interface  301  includes an upload element  301   a , a download element  301   b , and a command element  301   c  for the user to access information contents. The conversion and interpretation unit  303  interprets, through the service interface  301 , a request for the information contents as the data for upload element  301   a , download element  301   b  and command element  301   c , and display the data on service interface  301 . Then, the conversion and interpretation unit  303  compiles a web page  303   a , transmits web page  303   a  to network platform  310  for corresponding processing, converts returned data  310   a  from network platform  310 , and compiles returned data  310   a  to the service interface  301  for display. 
     The information contents displayed on service interface  301  can be optionally connected to one or more multimedia peripheral devices  320  for displaying, capturing or extracting information contents. 
       FIG. 3B  shows a flowchart illustrating the operation process of an exemplary example consistent with the invention applied to a network platform. As shown in  FIG. 3B , step  311  is to provide the service interface  301  for users to access information contents. The service interface  301  includes an upload element  301   a , a download element  301   b  and a command element  301   c . Step  312  is to use the service interface  301  according to a defined network service type to interpret a request for the information contents as a first data for the upload element  301   a , the download element  301   b  and the command element  301   c , and displays the first data on the service interface  301 . Step  313  is to compile the first data into a web page document, transmits the web page document to the network platform  310  for corresponding processing, and returns a second data. Step  314  is to compile the second data into a third data, and transmit the third data to the service interface  301 . 
     The service interface of the present invention can replace browser  130  of  FIG. 1  to support the participation-typed service. The service interface also provides the user with a simplified service interface for accessing different services provided by different servers on the network.  FIG. 4  shows a schematic view of the application of the service interface  301  of an exemplary example consistent with the invention to participate in the network platform  310  to accomplish the participation-typed service. 
     In cooperation with the existing multimedia peripheral devices, such as a microphone or a digital camera, of the communication devices, the service interface can access information contents, such as texts, images, multimedia or any combination of these three types, and generates different commands according to the service content. The data for upload element can be text, image, multimedia, or any combination of these three types. Similarly, the data for download element type can be text, image, multimedia, or any combination of these three types. The multimedia, for example, may include at least one of audio and video. 
     The data for command element are a plurality of different commands generated according to the service content. Through the service interface, the users can input the information for uploading and being transmitted with the commands to the conversion and interpretation unit. The conversion and interpretation unit converts, according to the type and the characteristics of the network service, into commands and information for the conventional browser, and protocols, such as HTTP, for transmission to one or more terminals or servers through the network interface. 
     To download information contents from the network platform, the commands and contents for downloading can also be converted by the conversion and interpretation unit into a web page transmitted by a conventional browser to the server, terminal or host on the network to request downloading. In addition to uploading and downloading, the upload element and the download element work with the command element to present the functions provided by a conventional browser, such as uploading a keyword for searching, and displaying the search result on the download element of the service interface. Another example is for the command element to issue the share command to instruct the conversion and interpretation unit to convert the information contents displayed on the download element to be uploaded to the network platform for sharing with other users. 
     Users may configure the service data and related configuration that the communication device can be connected to. When the user needs to use a certain service, the communication device can establish connection to the service.  FIGS. 5A &amp; 5B  describe the exemplary data flow during the data exchange in uploading and downloading processes, respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5A , step  501  is for the conversion and interpretation unit to determine the type of the command from the command element during the uploading process when the uploading element issues a request. If the command type is to change the network service, the configuration will be changed, and a new network service will be connected, as shown in step  555 . If the command type is to upload data, the conversion and interpretation unit will obtain the data for uploading from upload element, compiles the data into a network data, and converts the request into a network command, as shown in step  503 . Step  505  is to further compile the network data and the network command into a network packet, which is transmitted through a network interface to the network platform. If the command type is not for data processing, the conversion and interpretation unit directly converts the request into a network command, which is transmitted to the network platform through a network interface, as shown in step  507 . 
     It is worth noting that the conversion and interpretation unit will select and configure the network services at the beginning of the uploading process. The complete configuration profile at least includes the uniform resource locator (URL)/web address, upload/download element, and the tag mapping for the web page. The conversion and interpretation unit is connected to a network service and waits for the request or response. If a request is issued from the command element, the present invention executes the process of  FIG. 5A . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5B , if a network packet is transmitted from the network platform during the downloading process, the conversion and interpretation unit will receive the network packet through a network interface and interpret the network packet as one or more network commands and one or more data, as shown in step  511 . Step  513  is to process the data according to the network commands. Step  515  is to display the data on the service interface according to the data type, such as playing audio, displaying the images, or texts. 
       FIG. 6  shows an exemplary operation of the conversion and interpretation unit consistent with the invention. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the conversion and interpretation unit  303  is connected to a network interface  605  and a service interface  301  respectively for communication and information content exchange between the network interface  605  and service interface  301 . The operation of the conversion and interpretation unit is as the following. 
     Service interface  301 , through upload element  301   a , download element  301   b  and command element  301   c , provides the user to access network service. When the user issues an instruction through command element  301   c , the instruction is sent to the conversion and interpretation unit by information contents exchange. Conversion and interpretation unit  303  identifies and compiles the command and information tag, according to the types of command and data into a tag of a web page document, as shown in  603   a , According to the service contents to be accessed, a web page tag search is conducted, shown as  603   b . The web page tag search includes searching the web page to locate the corresponding fields and tags. 
     Conversion and interpretation unit  303  executes connection for information contents and the web page document, shown as  603   c . The information contents are converted into web page data, which is transmitted by data exchange to the network interface  605 , and performs packet exchange with network platform  310 . When there is data from the network platform  310 , the packet is converted through network interface  605  into web page data and transmitted to conversion and interpretation unit  303 . Conversion and interpretation unit  303  executes web page connection, shown as  603   c , and searches web page tag in the web page data, shown as  603   b . The found data with web page tag is identified and converted into the information contents for the user, and displayed on the service interface  301 . 
     Basically conversion and interpretation unit  303  may include the three modules, command and data tag identification and conversion  603   a , web page tag searching  603   b  and connection execution  603   c , for operation. 
       FIG. 7  shows an exemplary XML web page document to demonstrate how the conversion and interpretation unit compiles the information contents into a network packet to meet the request of the user. A web page document includes a plurality of tags. This example shows a web page document describing the contents of a compact disc (CD) through the tags, including the artist, title, songs, and price. 
     When the user intends to search for a CD on a web page of a network service, the user can issue the “search for CD” command with keyword “CD title” through the service interface  301  of the present invention. Conversion and interpretation unit  303  compiles the “search for CD” command and the keyword “CD title” as a web page tag, and conducts the search on the web page to find the “search” “search string” tags. The information contents and the command inputted by the user are used to fill the contents of the corresponding search tag, and form a web page content by performing connection. The web page content is further converted through the network interface into a network packet and transmitted to network platform  305 . When the search result is returned from the network platform  305 , the search result goes through tag identification and the contents requested by the user regarding the CD are displayed on the service interface  301 , including artist, title, songs, and price. 
     Through the service interface, the conversion and interpretation unit and corresponding operations of the present invention, the user can directly execute browsing and use participation-types service through the communication device. The following shows two working examples of the present invention. 
     The first exemplary example is that the user intends to search for the travel information to the United States of America (USA) through the communication device. Through the service interface, the user inputs “USA” and “travel” as the upload element, and selects the command element for “search”. The conversion and interpretation unit transmits the request to the search engine in the network platform according to the defined “text” service type, with the content (search—travel, USA). Through data type identification, the conversion and interpretation unit realizes that the command is for text search through the tags, and connects to a search engine web site, such as Google, to conduct the text search. The conversion and interpretation unit searches for the search engine field in the entire web page and inputs the keywords “USA”, “travel” in the tag. The converted data is transmitted to the network platform. After the search result is returned from the network platform, the conversion and interpretation unit will display the returned contents as text on the service interface. 
     The second exemplary example is that the user intends to download a song when the title of the song is known. The user inputs the “song title” as the upload element to the service interface of the present invention, and selects the “music download” as the command element. According to the defined “music” service type, the conversion and interpretation unit sends the request to the music server or other users on the network platform. The content of the request is (search—song title) and (download—music file). Through data type identification, the conversion and interpretation unit realizes from the tag that this is music related information contents, and connects to the defined music web site, such as iTune web page. The conversion and interpretation unit searches for the search engine field in the web page, and inputs the “song title”. The converted data is transmitted to the network platform. After the web site returns a link for downloading, the conversion and interpretation unit identifies the returned data and connects to download the song. Upon completing the downloading of the song, the conversion and interpretation unit transmits the song as the download element of the service interface and plays the song through the multimedia device of the communication device. 
     As discussed above, the user therefore may use a service interface to input the network information. The input network information is interpreted and the returned information from the network service is compiled through a conversion unit. The compiled returned information is passed to the service interface to be displayed to the user. 
     Exemplary examples of user interface consistent with the invention may be used in combination with the peripherals of communication devices, such as a microphone or a digital camera, and follows an operation process to accomplish the complicated participation-typed services by the browser of a desktop PC or notebook PC. This simplifies the access to the network services, as well as accelerates and attracts more users to participate in the participation-typed service. The binding of handheld device and the participation-typed service will enrich the contents and growth of the participation-typed service. 
     Although exemplary examples consistent with the invention have been described with reference to the embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the disclosure as defined in the appended claims.

Technology Category: 3