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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A distributed search system connecting a plurality of computers on a network, each of the plurality of computers comprising:
means for storing advertisement information including position information of an information resource;
means for searching the storing means of each of the plurality of computers in response to a search request;
means for accepting a request to register advertisement information in said storing means; and
means for transferring the advertisement information requested to be registered to the plurality of computers, wherein transferring of the advertisement information is determined by cost information given to the advertisement information.
2. A distributed search system according to claim 1, wherein the search request is relayed along a path between one or more of the plurality of computers, and advertisement information stored in each of the one or more plurality of computers is
updated during an inverse trace of the path.
3. A distributed search system according to claim 1, the storing means further comprising storing an evaluation value of an information resource corresponding to advertisement information obtained during the search by the searching means.
4. A distributed search system according to claim 3, further comprising:
means for selecting advertisement information having a positive evaluation value and/or information resources corresponding to the selected advertisement information from the search result, and presenting the selected information resource to an
information resource searcher making the search request.
5. A distributed search system according to claim 3, further comprising means for providing an evaluation value of an information resource designated by an information resource searcher to an information resource provider.
6. A distributed search system according to claim 3, wherein a period for storing the advertisement information stored in each computer is changed and/or deleted based on the evaluation value given to the advertisement information.
7. A distributed search system connecting a plurality of computers on a network, each of the plurality of computers comprising:
means for storing advertisement information including position information of an information resource; and
means for searching the storing means in response to a search request, wherein the search request is accepted from searching means of the plurality of computers, and a search range corresponding to the search request is determined by cost
information of the search request.
8. A distributed search system according to claim 7, wherein the search request is relayed along a path between one or more of the plurality of computers, the distributed search system further comprises means for updating the stored
advertisement information in each of the one or more plurality of computers during an inverse trace of the path.
9. A distributed search system according to claim 7, wherein the storing means stores an evaluation value given to an information resource corresponding to advertisement information obtained in response to the search request.
10. A distributed search system according to claim 9, further comprising means for selecting advertisement information having a positive evaluation value and/or information resources corresponding to the selected advertisement information from
the search result, and presenting the selected information resource to an information resource searcher making the search request.
11. A distributed search system according to claim 9, further comprising means for supplying an evaluation value designated by an information resource searcher to the plurality of computers.
12. A plurality of searching apparatus, having corresponding information resources, connected to a network that includes an information resource provider, each of the plurality of searching apparatus comprising:
a storage device to store advertisement information that includes position information corresponding to the information resources;
an advertisement processing device to accept registration of the advertisement information from the information resource provider; and
a control device to store the advertisement information accepted for registration by the advertisement processing device in the storage device, transfer the advertisement information accepted for registration to the plurality of searching
apparatus, and store and transfer advertisement information transferred from the plurality of searching apparatus.
13. A plurality of searching apparatus according to claim 12, wherein cost information is included in the advertisement information, and the control device determines whether the advertisement information is transferred to the plurality of
searching apparatus based on the cost information.
14. A plurality of searching apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the control device calculates the cost information and the cost information is updated when the control devices transfers the advertisement information.
15. A plurality of searching apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the information resources of the plurality of searching apparatus include a corresponding evaluation value, and the advertisement processing device obtains the evaluation
value of the accepted advertisement information and presents the obtained evaluation value to one of the plurality of searching apparatus.
16. A searching apparatus, from among a plurality of searching apparatus having information resources, that processes a search request from an information resource searcher, comprising:
a storage device to store advertisement information that includes position information of the information resources;
an interface device to provide a search result, having corresponding advertisement information, in response to the search request; and
a control device to search the storage device in response to the search request, transfer the search request to the plurality of searching apparatus, search the storage device in response to a search request transferred from one of the plurality
of searching apparatus and transfer the transferred search request to the plurality of searching apparatus other than the one searching apparatus, and transfer resulting advertisement information to the information resource searcher or the one of the
plurality of searching apparatus.
17. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, wherein cost information is included in the search request, and the control device determines whether the search request is transferred to the plurality of searching apparatus other than the one
of the plurality of searching apparatus based on the cost information.
18. A searching apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the control device updates the cost information and transfers the search request to the plurality of searching apparatus other than the one of the plurality of searching apparatus based on
the updated cost information.
19. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a searching device to obtain an information resource based on position information in the advertisement information of the search result provided by the interface device.
20. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control device obtains an information resource based on the position information included in the advertisement information of the search result provided by the interface device, and
transfers the information resource to the one of the plurality of searching apparatus, or to the information resource searcher.
21. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, wherein an evaluation value is accepted from the information resource searcher, the searching apparatus further comprising a feedback processing device to determine a storage period of
advertisement information corresponding to the information resources, and/or determine whether the advertisement information is deleted based on the evaluation value, wherein the storage period is stored in the storage device, and the control device
changes the storage period and/or deletes the advertisement information and informs the plurality of searching apparatus of the changes to the storage period and the deletion of the advertisement information.
22. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the stored advertisement information includes an evaluation value, and the interface device selects advertisement information having a positive evaluation value and/or information
resources corresponding to the selected advertisement information from the search result, and presents the selected information resource to the information resource searcher.
23. A searching apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the search request includes keywords, the searching apparatus comprising a search engine interface device to extract the keywords execute the search using the extracted keywords, and
transmit resulting 77 information resources to the information resource searcher.
24. A searching apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the control device produces advertisement information corresponding to the resulting information resources, and stores the produced advertisement information in the storage device. |
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Description |
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon and claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 9-300188, filed Oct. 31, 1997, the contents being incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distributed searching system in general, and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a distributing searching system for locating information resources in a large scale network of connected
computers having respective available information resources.
2. Description of Related Art
Within the basic intangible resources of the information industry, information and service provided by computers is generally referred to as "information resources".
As a result of recent progress that has been made in network services, including the ability to connect an enormous number of computers and offering a variety of services, it has become difficult to ascertain the type of information resources
possessed by each of the respective computers in a network.
Moreover, even if such information can be ascertained, since the network environment periodically changes due to maintenance and defects in the computers or the networks, information resources which have been previously used may not always be
available. Therefore, it is necessary for users to ascertain which computers provide desired information resources using the most recent information available at the time the user actually uses the information resources.
In addition, many computers generally have the same information resources, and therefore it is natural that information resource quality, such as freshness, accuracy and degree of abstraction, etc. are different in each computer, depending on
management policies of a computer manager. Therefore, it is preferable that users be able to determine which of the many computers have the best information resources.
However, information resources qualities cannot be identified until the information resources are actually used and compared with other information resources. To do so, however, requires a large amount of both time and labor, and is especially
difficult for beginners who have poor knowledge of information resources. Therefore, the most effective method for identifying the best information resources assumes that those information resources which are recognized by many users as being reliable
information resources the most effective.
In recent years, many network information resources can be accessed by the World Wide Web ("WWW"). Positional information of information resources can be expressed in the WWW by a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"). When a user wants to utilize
an information resource, the user must know the URL corresponding to the information resource. However, only a small number of URLs from among all information resources on the network are known by any single user. Therefore, as a method of searching
for a URL corresponding to an information resource, a searching service, commonly referred to as a "search engine", is provided on the WWW.
The method executed in the searching service can basically be divided into two steps. The first step involves collecting information regarding information resources which are available through the network, and the second step involves
administrating and providing the collected information for users. The information collection method is roughly classified into two kinds of systems, namely a directory service system and a robot system.
In a directory service system, an information resource providing side requests registration to a directory from a manager, or provider of an information resource that offers the search engine service, or directory service. Many search engines,
such as Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/) and AltaVista (http://altavista.digital.com/), are examples of the directory service system. Since the information resource provider can reliably issue the registration request, information quality tends to be high. Nevertheless, a disadvantage of the directory service system is that the registration requests are often executed by a manager using a manual process, which results in overburdening the process load shared by the manager. Moreover, as a result of the
substantial load, information cannot be updated quickly and accurately.
In the robot system, in order to automatically search existing URLs to establish the database of a URL, a trace is sequentially made for a link, or anchor in the Hyper-Text Mark-up Language ("HTML") documents using a program called a robot. HTML
is a standard language that describes the information provided by the WWW. Examples of a robot system include WWW Worm (Colorado Univ., O. A. McBryan) and RBSE Spider (Houston Univ. D. Eichmann). However, only when a information resource provider
informs someone of service of the information resource and the link to it has been extended by him, the information is registered to the database of information resources update of information resource and service must be made, reference is made to the
information resource while the information resource provider is unaware of the update. Moreover, since information resources are searched mechanically, non-useful information resources may easily be picked up, generating a useless load on the network
and computers.
Next, a method of administrating positional information of the collected information resources and providing such information resources to users is described as follows.
In a centralized management system, all data is served with a single server. The centralized management system is used in many search engines, including Yahoo and AltaVista. An advantage of the centralized management system is that maintenance
is easily performed because there is only one administration. On the other hand, server load quickly becomes very large since access by users is concentrated to a single server. Moreover, the r centralized management system also has the disadvantage of
high communication costs, which result for some users, making the service burdensome. Furthermore, if the server fails, the centralized management system can no longer offer the service.
In a distributed management system, data is administrated and served in common with other servers. This system can be classified as follows, depending on the procedure for sharing.
Each user in a distributed management system uses a server by selecting a most accessible server to distribute the load. Mirroring is an example of this system. An advantage of the distributed management system is that since many of the servers
have the same functions, service can be continued even if a particular server fails. However, a user cannot benefit from this advantage if he cannot detect positional information of the alternative server to continue the same service. In addition, in
the distributed management system, data management costs are high since all servers must hold the same data.
In a distribution of service system, service is classified into several categories, with each category being covered by respective servers. Domain Name Service ("DNS"), which makes reference to an IP 12 "Internet Protocol" IP address from the
name of the computer, is an example of the distribution of service system. Wide Area Information Service ("WAIS") Pre is a large scale distributed database that can also be placed into this category. Moreover, the % distribution of service system is
compatible with the distribution of access. In this system, since the server to be administrated is different depending on the kind of service, maintenance can be easily performed. However, when the kind and range of service is restricted, the
distribution of service system becomes similar to the centralized management, and therefore the disadvantages of the centralized management system can be seen.
A user must change the server to be used depending on the desired service, and therefore, it is inconvenient when the user is unable to determine the server required from the service. This is not a problem for DNS because the server can
automatically be searched by utilizing the hierarchical configuration of domain.
On the other hand, a technique of an information resource recommending function, known as social filtering or collaborative filtering has been developed in which a preferable information resource is recommended based on aecommendation by another
person, or an evaluation value and action of other persons having the same preference. For example, Tapestry (Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, D. Goldberg, D. Terry) is a system that aids in selective reading of articles recommended by others from among
numerous articles from Usenet News and a mailing list. In the same way, examples of similar former systems in which other users designate an evaluation value for articles and recommended articles having a greater value, include GroupLens (minesota
Univ., J. Riedl, J. Konstan), which is a system for recommending Usenet News articles and Ringo (MIT, P. Maes, U. Shardanand), which is a system for recommending music albums.
But, since it is not guaranteed that the favorite of one field is similar even if a favorite of another field is similar, it is not always best to follow the action and recommendation of a particular person. In addition, since information about
a favorite is centralized for management, the problem described in regard to the centralized management of the information of the search engine may be made apparent in regard to the management of favorite data.
As described above, problems that exist in the related art can be classified as follows.
In the directory service system, execution of registration requests often depends on manual operation by a manager, and therefore the manager tends to be heavily overloaded. As a result, it is likely that a search will be unsuccessful due to a
mistake by the manager.
Ineffective HTML documents may be transferred since the robot program does not fully evaluate the contents of HTML documents, and, as a result, the load of traffic and load on the server tend to increase.
In order to keep the traffic low, frequency of activation of the robot program must be reduced. As a result, information collected is often immediately changed there is an increased possibility that the information obtained may already be
invalidated.
Contents of information collected by a robot are probably not immediately reflected in a search result on an information resource provider side, even when it is not known to whom notification of the change of contents of service offered must be
made, and such change of contents can be informed.
When a database of an information resource becomes large, a large number of results are output for the search. Therefore, a user cannot determine which information resource is most adequate. When a user does not have sufficient knowledge about
the object information, such a determination becomes very difficult.
Since there is no guarantee that all favorites are similar, even if a particular favorite is similar, recommendation by a particular person is not always satisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention an information resource which has solved the problems explained above by preventing common-placing of information and selecting the best information resource being the best through simultaneous
advertisement of information resource using automated management of information regarding information resources, and returning the search result to a user via the advertisement of information resource by the information resource provider and inquiry from
a user.
Objects of the present invention are achieved by a distributed search system connecting a plurality of computers on a network. Each of the plurality of computers includes a device for storing advertisement information including position
information of an information resource, and a device for searching the storing device of each of the plurality of computers in response to a search request. In addition, each computer includes a device for accepting a request to register advertisement
information in the storing device, and a device for transferring the advertisement information requested to be registered to the plurality of computers. The transferring of the advertisement information is determined by cost information given to the
advertisement information.
Further objects of the present invention are achieved by a distributed search system connecting a plurality of computers on a network. Each of the plurality of computers includes a device for storing advertisement information including position
information of an information resource, and a device for searching the storing device in response to a search request. The search request is accepted from searching device of the plurality of computers, and a search range corresponding to the search
request is determined by cost information of the search request.
Further objects of the present invention are achieved by a plurality of searching apparatus having corresponding information resources, that connected to a network that includes an information resource provider. Each of the plurality of
searching apparatus includes a storage device to store advertisement information that includes position information corresponding to the information resources, an advertisement processing device to accept registration of the advertisement information
from the information resource provider, and a control device to store the advertisement information accepted for registration by the advertisement processing device in the storage device. The control device also transfers the advertisement information
accepted for registration to the plurality of searching apparatus, and stores and transfers advertisement information transferred from the plurality of searching apparatus.
Still further objects of the present invention are achieved by a searching apparatus from among a plurality of searching apparatus having information resources, that processes a search request from an information resource searcher. The searching
apparatus includes a storage device to store advertisement information that includes position information of the information resources, an interface device to provide a search result, having corresponding advertisement information, in response to the
search request, and a control device to search the storage device in response to the search request. The control device also transfers the search request to the plurality of searching apparatus, searches the storage device in response to a search
request transferred from one of the plurality of searching apparatus and transfers the transferred search request to the plurality of searching apparatus other than the one searching apparatus, and transfers resulting advertisement information to the
information resource searcher or the one of the plurality of searching apparatus.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information resource searching apparatus in a distributed searching system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of advertisement and search of an information resource in the distributed searching system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of propagation of information in regard to an information resource in a distributed searching system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of propagation of evaluation of an information resource in a distributed searching system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an information resource searching apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an advertisement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of advertisement in a searching apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 8A-8C are schematic diagrams showing an example of a search request according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a search process in the searching apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a result of a search according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a searching apparatus in a large scale distributed database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining operation of a large scale distributed database of the searching apparatus of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a searching apparatus in a large scale distributed database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of operation of the large scale distributed database of the searching apparatus of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a searching apparatus in a large scale distributed database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a process in a feedback processing section of FIG. 14;
FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a searching apparatus in a large scale distributed database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a searching apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an advertisement request in the searching apparatus of FIG. 18;
FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a search request in the searching apparatus of FIG. 18;
FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a searcher interface in the searching apparatus of FIG. 18;
and
FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a searching apparatus according to a preferred seventh embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A discrete agent 20 in a network that includes a plurality of agents, or "searching apparatus" in a distributed searching system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an
advertisement processing section 22 accepts an advertisement regarding an information resource from an information resource provider for notification as required by the information resource provider. An inquiry processing section 24 accepts a search
request from a user and returns a corresponding result. An agent interface 26 exchanges the advertisement, inquiry, and corresponding result with other agents (not shown). An information resource database 28 stores an advertisement sent from the
advertisement processing section 22 and the advertisement received from the agent interface 26. An information resource data control section 30 stores the advertisement received from the advertisement processing section 22 and agent interface 26 in the
information resource database 28, calculates a cost of the advertisement, and instructs processing, such as sending the advertisement to other agents via the agent interface 26 based on the calculated cost. The information resource data control section
30 retrieves the information resource database 28 or calculates the cost required for transmission of the search request for the inquiry from the inquiry processing section 24 and agent interface 26, and returns the inquiry to other agents through the
agent interface 26.
Advertisement and search of an information resource in the distributed searching system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of transmission and reception of
advertisement and inquiry data in the system as a whole. In FIG. 2, each circle indicates an agent that executes an operation described below. Moreover, a solid line connecting the agents indicates that the connected agents can communicate with each
other.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of agents as described above form interconnected infrastructures in which the agents are connected with each other. Each of the agents informs the nearest agent of information
regarding service provided by an information resource provider in the form of an advertisement. An agent which receives an advertisement stores the contents described in the advertisement in the information resource database 28 and sends the
advertisement to other agents within a range of transmitting information that corresponds to a cost. The agent receiving the advertisement stores the advertisement for a constant period or "living period", and erases the advertisement when the living
period has passed. As a result, old information is stored in the information resource database of the agent for only a predetermined period.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, when a user generates an inquiry, the inquiry is sent, like the advertisement, to an agent within a range of transmission corresponding to a cost, and the agent returns a result to the user within a time that the inquiry
reaches the agent having the relevant data. When returning the result, inverse tracing is performed along a path that includes agents to which the inquiry has been transferred so that each agent stores the result. As a result, the advertisement can be
propagated outside of the range of the first advertisement by the information resource provider.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, when a search is successful, a user feeds back an evaluation to propagate a result, in a manner similar to the advertisement made by the information resource provider, when a satisfactory result is obtained using the
information resource. When an agent receives a positive evaluation regarding the information resource, the agent extends the living period of the information regarding the information resource. As a result, an advertisement regarding a satisfactory
information resource is stored in the information resource database for an extended period of time. On the other hand, when an agent receives a negative evaluation, the agent shortens the living period of the information resource to make it difficult to
obtain the information during a search.
Therefore, since each agent communicates only with neighboring agents, and transmits only advertisement and information specified by the search request, communication costs are lowered. Moreover, achievement of use by a user is reflected in the
living period in the database, and advertisement of an information resource which is frequently used with positive results remains within the database for an extended period of time, compared with other advertisements and is propagated to the agents in a
wider range. As a result, the advertisement is easily found by another user at the time of the search.
An information resource searching apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5. The information resource searching apparatus of FIG. 5 includes distributing and searching for information
resource information, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Elements in FIG. 5 that are similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by like reference numerals. Each agent shown in FIG. 1 functions as a server of a provider,
and is connected to the information resource providers, information resource searchers, or information processing apparatuses, such as personal computers, and the other agents or servers of the other providers, for the purpose of communication.
A process related to an advertisement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in reference to FIGS. 5-7. As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and it 7, an information resource provider 32, or producer, initially
transmits information regarding service of an information resource provider to the nearest agent in the form of an advertisement through a producer interface 34.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the advertisement includes a number of items along with information corresponding to the items. More particularly, the advertisement includes an "ID" item, or code to identify the advertisement given in the form of a
class code, such as P, which indicates the advertisement request. A "From" item includes information for identifying a name of an advertisement sender, such as a mail address used for making inquiry from an information user, or as verification data to
prevent alteration of the contents of the advertisement. A "Subject" item includes a name of the information resource provided, and a "Keywords" item includes keywords related to the type of information or service provided.
A "URL" item includes position or field information corresponding to information provided for searching the position information. However, it is also possible in an alternate embodiment of the present invention that information corresponding to
a key used by another searching method is described in this item, rather than the URL.
A "Maintainer" item includes information for identifying an information resource manager, which may be same as a name of a sender of the advertisement. A "Cost" item includes parameters for limiting a range of the advertisement, such as a
maximum number of agents used for transmission, or time used for advertisement, or cost, when a charging system is introduced in regard to communication and use of a computer. A "Date" item includes a date and time for reception of the advertisement by
the agent, and a "Path" item includes a column of IDs of agents through which the advertisement has been relayed, to prevent repeated transmissions of one advertisement to the same agent. For example, the advertisement illustrated in FIG. 6 is relayed
to agents having IDs A, B and C.
Information contained in the ID, From, Date, and Path items is given automatically by the advertisement processing section 20 and therefore is not required to be provided by the information resource provider.
In step 101 of the advertisement process of FIG. 7, an advertisement transmitted from the producer interface 34 is received by the advertisement processing section 22. In step 102, the advertisement processing section 22 analyzes the contents of
the advertisement, fetches a field of automatically given items (the ID, From, Date, and Path items), and sends the advertisement to the information resource data control section 30.
A living period of the advertisement is determined, and in step 103, contents of the advertisement are stored in the information resource database 28. The information resource database 28 records advertisement information corresponding to the
information resource, namely, information such as URL and so forth, for obtaining the information resource. It should be noted that, while the information resource itself is not registered in the information resource database, a preferred embodiment for
registration of the information resource itself is not excluded from the present invention.
The information resource data control section 30 makes reference to a clock 36, and deletes an advertisement which has extended beyond a set living period from the information resource database 28. In step 104, the information resource data
control section 30 calculates a cost required by the advertisement, and in steps 105 and 106, transmits the advertisement to other agents through the agent interface 26 when there is an allowance still remaining in the available cost. The cost may be
set on the basis of time required for completion of the advertisement from issuance of the request, communication expense, and expense required to use the database. When the advertisement is transferred to the other agents, the cost information may be
replaced with newly calculated cost information that is obtained by subtracting the actual cost from the cost information.
In the distributed searching system of the present invention, advertisements transferred from other agents are also registered in the database, and their costs are calculated. When the cost does not equal zero, the advertisements are transferred
to the other agents, and steps 101, and 103 to 106 of FIG. 7 are executed.
An existing broadcast in which a range of advertisement is not limited can be realized by placing no limitation on the cost.
Next, a process corresponding to an information search according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 9.
In step 201 of FIG. 9, an information searching side, or resource information searcher 38, issues a search requirement, or search request to the inquiry processing section 24 via a searcher interface 40. As illustrated in FIGS. 8a-8c, the format
of the search request is similar to the format used corresponding to the advertisement illustrated in FIG. 6. The known items in the request are filled, leaving the items known by the search process as vacant items. In this way, information contained
in the ID, From, Date, and Path items are not filled by the searcher but are automatically filled by the inquiry processing section 24. The ID item is given a code Q to indicate a search request.
In this way, various search methods can be used. As illustrated in FIG. 8a, for example, keywords are designated, but the URL and Subject items are left vacant so that a name of an information resource and URL are searched in relation to the
designated keywords.
As illustrated in FIG. 8b, the URL is designated in order to determine whether the service is actually provided and to check the contents of the service, while the Subject and Keyword items are left vacant so that the Subject and Keywords are
searched.
As illustrated in FIGS. 8a and 8c, in order to establish cooperation of the same resource providers, Subject and Keywords items are designated, and the Maintainer item is left vacant in order to search the manager of the information resource
assumed to have a certain relation.
In step 203, illustrated in FIG. 9, after receiving the search request, the inquiry processing section 24 sends the search request to the information resource data control section 30 which analyzes the request to search the information resource
database 28 based on the request.
When a relevant result or search result is found, the search result is returned to the request sender via the inquiry processing section 24 and searcher interface 40 in step 204 and step 205.
The search result, which is illustrated in FIG. 10, includes an ID field that identifies the response to the search request issued | | |
