(12) United States Patent
`Schilit et al.
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,670,968 B1
`Dec. 30, 2003
`
`US006670968B1
`
`(54)
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`(75)
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`(73)
`(*)
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`(21)
`(22)
`(51)
`(52)
`(58)
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`(56)
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`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING
`AND NAVIGATING LINKS
`
`Inventors: William N. Schilit, Menlo Park, CA
`(US); Jonathan James Trevor, Santa
`Clara, CA (US); Catherine Claire
`Marshall, San Francisco, CA (US);
`Elizabeth F. Churchill, San Francisco,
`CA (US)
`
`Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Tokyo (JP)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 418 days.
`
`Appl. No.: 09/612,806
`Filed:
`Jul. 10, 2000
`
`Int. Cl.7 .......................... .. G09G 5/00; G06F 17/00
`US. Cl. ................... .. 345/760; 345/810; 715/501.1
`Field of Search ............................... .. 345/760, 853,
`345/864, 808, 810; 715/5011, 513, 907
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,937,041 A
`6,011,546 A
`6,023,701 A
`6,070,176 A
`6,317,740 B1
`6,334,145 B1
`6,417,873 B1
`
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`379/9325
`Cardillo, IV et al.
`Bertram .................... .. 345/780
`
`Malik et al. . . . . . .
`
`. . . .. 707/10
`
`8/1999
`1/2000
`2/2000
`5/2000
`707/513
`Downs et al.
`11/2001
`Mukherjea et al. .......... .. 707/4
`12/2001 Adams et al. ............ .. 709/217
`7/2002 Fletcher et al. ........... .. 345/853
`
`Eldridge, et. al., Studies for Mobile Documents Work and
`Their Contributions to the Sachel Product, 1999, found at
`http://WWW.rxrc.xerox.com/publis/cam—trs/html/lam
`ming.htm.
`Lamming, et. al., Satchel Providing Access to Any Docu
`ment, Any Time AnyWhere, 1999, found at http://WW
`W.rxrc.xerox.com/publis/cam—trs/html/lamming.htm.
`Robin Cover, The XML Cover Pages, Jun. 27, 2000, pp. 1—4
`of 13, found at http://WWW.oasis—open.org/cover/Wap—Wm
`l.htm.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—John Cabeca
`Assistant Examiner—Brian DetWiler
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Fliesler Dubb Meyer &
`Lovejoy LLP
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`AWeb broWser provides the ability to separate content and
`hyper-links from a Web page and provides a list of the links
`for vieWing on a mobile device display screen, enabling
`more effective Web page navigating using the limited mobile
`device display. In addition to the links from the Web page,
`further links are created to telephone numbers, addresses,
`and other communication-related information in the Web
`page to further enhance usability of the Web page informa
`tion for mobile device users. Further, once a link is selected
`using the mobile device, a services portal link is provided to
`the mobile device display to provide selection of services to
`be performed on the selected link, such as faxing or printing.
`Further, the services are made link dependent, or user
`dependent so that speci?c services can be displayed depend
`ing on factors such as the availability of services provided
`speci?cally from a Web page oWner for link dependent
`services, or for the location of a user relative to a printer for
`user dependent services.
`
`5 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Flynn, et. al., The Satchel System Architecture Mobile
`Access to Documents and Services, 1999, found at http://
`WWW.rxrc.xerox.com/publis/cam—trs/html/lamming.htm.
`
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`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 30, 2003
`
`Sheet 1 0f 4
`
`US 6,670,968 B1
`
`FIG. 1
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`FIG.2
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 30, 2003
`
`Sheet 2 0f 4
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`US 6,670,968 B1
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`25; Egg; ,4; ,7 '"(5 "Lilia 3231::
`
`FX PaloAltoLaboratory
`3400 llillviel Ave Blgrl 4 - Palo Alto Cll 94304 - 550381765 FAX 550. 813.7081
`Incorporated 'in l995, FX Palo Alto Laboratory (FXPAL) is an expanding
`laboratory researching software and information technology for Luji;
`Xerox (30., Ltd. Fuji-Xerox serves as the hub for the Xerox Groupls
`operations in the fast-growing Asian and Southern Pacific regions.
`Located in Silicon Valley on the Xerox Polo Alto campus, FXPAL is the
`newest member of the Xerox global research community;
`
`FXPAL’s vMission
`FXPAL plans to shape the "office of the future" and the "document of
`the future" and provide Fuji Xerox a digital information technology base
`for the 21st century. This goal is accomplished through:
`‘Research in core software technologies
`‘Work with selected universities to develop and transition
`information technologies
`' Interaction with the US software industry to help tailor new
`products for FX systems and applications
`
`FIG. 5A
`
`Q)
`
`Connected
`*INDEXr
`1.+Home (fxpoLcom)
`2. About
`3. Research
`4. Publications
`5. Conferences 8:
`6. People
`7. Employment
`8. Map
`0K
`
`v- NEXT
`
`3
`
`FIG. 5B
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 30, 2003
`
`Sheet 3 0f 4
`
`US 6,670,968 B1
`
`E fxpoLcom
`@ (650) 65-7765
`@ FX Palo Alto Labor"
`El About
`C1 Reoeorch
`El PublLcatLone
`[:1 Conferencee
`D More
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`
`E7 PublLcatLone‘
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`El An Lnter-actLve...
`D1 Anchored convem...
`B Hypertext Lnteract.
`E] D'uatrlbuted reeearch
`El Heb page ?ltertng.
`[> HavLgatLon
`D Offmtte
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`
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`
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`
`4
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 30, 2003
`
`Sheet 4 0f 4
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`US 6,670,968 B1
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`'9
`
`Services
`
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`
`5
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`

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`US 6,670,968 B1
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING
`AND NAVIGATING LINKS
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to a method for reformatting
`information from the World Wide Web W W or Web) so
`that it can be more effectively used on mobile devices.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`The Internet, fueled by the popularity of the Web, has
`exhibited signi?cant groWth over the past feW years. At
`present, to access the information on the Web, users typi
`cally use standard computer equipment, such as a home
`personal computer With a display and modem, and an
`Internet connection.
`There have been efforts to expand the number of users and
`the ease With Which they access the Internet. For example,
`several companies have developed television set-top boxes
`that permit users to broWse or “surf” the Internet from their
`television sets. In addition, telephone companies have joined
`With softWare developers to alloW mobile communication
`devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, and personal
`digital assistants (PDAs—such as the 3COM Palm Pilot) to
`access some features of the Internet.
`Presently, several types of Internet connections are avail
`able. For example, to use an Internet connection from
`Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the user dials into a
`computer at the ISP’s facility using a modem and standard
`telephone line. The ISP’s computer in turn provides the user
`With access to the Internet. Through this Internet connection,
`the user can access information on the Web using a computer
`program called a “Web broWser,” such as for example the
`Netscape NavigatorTM from Netscape Communications Cor
`poration. The Web broWser is a softWare program that alloWs
`a user to vieW the data received from an Internet site
`location. To accomplish this, the user gives the Web broWser
`a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for an object on the
`Internet, for example, a data ?le containing information of
`interest. The document is referred to as a “Web page,” and
`the information contained in the Web page is called content.
`Web pages often refer to other Web pages using “hypertext
`links”, also referred to as “hyper-links”, or simply as “links”.
`The links are typically associated With Words, phrases, or
`images representing the other pages in a form that gives the
`broWser the URL for the corresponding Web page When the
`user selects a link.
`Links are made possible by building Web pages using a
`Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), an evolving markup
`language standard Which is used to construct documents in
`a uniform, standardiZed format so they may be accessed by
`Web broWsers and displayed for the user. HTML is an ASCII
`text-based markup language Which de?nes page or frame
`formats used to display the HTML elements. To provide the
`hypertext linking, most documents contain “anchor” Words,
`phrases or images. The anchors serve as visible starting
`points for links. The anchor, or the HTML<A>element,
`includes a URL that uniquely identi?es the endpoint of the
`link, or the destination document or Web page that Will be
`activated When the link is selected.
`Once the user selects a URL for a site either directly or
`through a link, the URL can be used to identify a speci?c
`host computer on the Internet called a “Web Server,” along
`With a location of the Web page located on the Web Server.
`The Web broWser retrieves the Web page and displays it for
`the user.
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`Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a common net
`Work protocol used by the broWser to access and link users
`With various other Web pages or sites referenced by the
`original Web page. HTTP requires a program running on the
`host computer that understands and responds to the protocol
`or formatting of the link’s content. The ?le retrieved might
`be, for example, an HTML ?le, a graphics ?le, a sound ?le,
`a PoWerPointTM ?le, or a Word processing ?le. Whether the
`?le can be retrieved or handled depends on the features and
`capabilities of the broWser.
`When a broWser requests a speci?c URL, it sends the
`request to the Web server. The Web server receives the
`request and attempts to ?ll it. There are several Ways the user
`requests can be ?lled. For example, Web servers can trans
`late a request such as “http://WWW.recipes.com/recipes/
`soup.htm” into a search for a physical ?le on that server. It
`Would start from the base category for the domain and then
`apply the path that Was requested. In this example, the Web
`server Would look for a category called “recipes” and then
`look for a ?le called “soup.htm” Within that category. If the
`?le Was found it Would be passed back, Without
`modi?cation, to the requesting broWser. In this Way, the URL
`can be thought of as a speci?c ?le sitting on a server, or host
`computer.
`HTML can be translated from other standard generaliZed
`markup languages, such as Wireless Markup Language
`(WML). WML Was developed by the Wireless Application
`Protocol
`Forum, Which Was founded by Ericsson,
`Motorola, Nokia and UnWired Planet. WML Was developed
`as a global Wireless protocol speci?cation intended for use
`in specifying content and user interface for narroWband
`devices, including cellular telephones and pagers, to alloW
`users mobile access to the resources of the Internet. WML is
`based on XML (extensible Markup Language).
`While computer terminals and other devices that are
`con?gured to receive HTTP signals and HTML ?les may
`utiliZe the above methods to access and vieW the Internet
`data, the display capabilities for on screen-display mobile
`devices, such as cellular phones, alloW only a limited vieW
`of the HTML ?les.
`Recently systems have been developed to make broWsing
`the Web more feasible for handheld devices. One such
`system, referred to as “Satchel”, Was disclosed by employ
`ees of Xerox Research Center Europe. See, Mike Flynn, et
`al., “The Satchel System Architecture: Mobile Access to
`Documents and Services”, Mobile Networks &Applications,
`Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp. 243—258, December 2000. The Satchel
`BroWser provides the ability to broWse categories for docu
`ments and also provides the ability to invoke services, such
`as printing, or faxing, once the document has been retrieved.
`The Satchel BroWser typically displays categories, rather
`than the text of documents themselves because of limits of
`transmission bandWidth, storage requirements, screen siZe
`and resolution on mobile handheld devices. For example,
`With a pager-type mobile device Which has a tWo line screen,
`as illustrated in FIG. 1, displaying an entire Web page Would
`not be desirable. A mobile device With a larger display and
`capabilities, such as the Nokia 9000 Communicator shoWn
`in FIG. 2, makes vieWing larger blocks of text possible, but
`a display Which includes four to six lines as opposed to tWo
`still is not a desirable vieWing area for an entire Web page.
`FIG. 3 illustrates hoW Satchel operates to provide a
`category of documents to the display of the Nokia 9000
`Communicator, shoWn in FIG. 2. Upon turning on the
`mobile device the Satchel start menu is activated to alloW a
`series of user selected categories to be displayed. One of the
`
`6
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`

`
`US 6,670,968 B1
`
`3
`categories can then be selected by the user and opened by
`selecting the “Open” command to provide a display of the
`contents of the category. To return to the previous category,
`a user selects the “Close” command. The contents of a
`category may be ?les, or links Which can be used to identify
`documents in a single line.
`Once a document is selected, the “Services” command
`can be selected to provide a list of services Which can be
`performed for any ?le identi?ed. An eXample of the services
`provided is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shoWn, once the ?le is
`opened, it can be printed, faXed or emailed by selecting one
`of items shoWn. VieWing is also made available, but upon
`selecting vieWing the content of the ?le is provided in a
`linear manner to the limited siZed screen for the user a line
`at a time. With the limited vieWing area, it is eXpected that
`the user Would prefer to use one of the other services to
`obtain the contents of the ?le rather than vieWing.
`The Satchel system uses a format termed Halibut Which is
`translated from HTML. The Halibut translation does not
`alloW large images, movies, or other non-HTML ?les to be
`transmitted over the loW-bandWidth link to the mobile
`device.
`Further, the documents provided for selection in the
`Satchel system are prede?ned by a user and stored in a
`category structure in a system repository. In creating selec
`tion list of links for documents, this prede?ned category
`structure Within the Satchel repository is used. It is a
`disadvantage of the system that the user is required to
`pre-de?ne a category structure and select from this structure
`instead of navigating the hyperlink structure already con
`tained in the hypertext content. Moreover, if the user Wishes
`to ?nd document B that is linked Within document A, then
`the user must read through document A’s content on a small
`display until the link comes into vieW. In this Way, the Web
`page content itself provides a hindrance for the user in
`making a quick link selection on a mobile display.
`Another system for providing Web access for handheld
`devices is Mobile Google. Mobile Google uses a search
`engine to address the problem of link selection. The user
`enters a search term and the system presents a search result
`list of links to Web pages. Alink from the list can be selected
`Whereupon the Web page content is displayed in a linear
`manner according to the constraints of the limited siZed
`screen. Again, the amount of teXt in a Web page leads to
`vieWing a feW lines at a time on mobile devices, and makes
`selecting a link Within the page dif?cult. Further, a disad
`vantage of this and other search-based techniques is that in
`order to obtain a short list of precise results the user must
`enter many terms on a device Where input is difficult.
`Systems such as Mobile Google and Satchel provide a
`mechanism for mobile e-commerce (or m-commerce) in that
`they let users select a bit of content from a mobile device.
`HoWever, the disadvantage of these and other current sys
`tems is that selection of the content is constrained to
`prede?ned lists or large numbers of search results. In
`addition, the services or operations permitted for either the
`Satchel system or Mobile Google are limited.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`In accordance With the present invention, to overcome the
`disadvantages described, it Was ?rst recogniZed that users
`access Web pages on a mobile device in a modal manner—
`either the user Wishes to perform some service on content
`(such as vieWing the content itself), or the user is looking to
`select a particular hyper-link provided Within the content.
`In accordance With the present invention a method for
`m-commerce is provided Which separates hyper-links from
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`65
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`4
`content of a Web page. The separated hyper-links are then
`used to provide a category of items for selection on a mobile
`device display. The list of links provides for more accessible
`selecting on a mobile device display than a linear stream of
`the lines of an entire Web page. The links displayed on the
`mobile device are further organiZed to distinguish offsite
`links Which are less likely desired for vieWing. Further,
`duplicate links are removed to limit the number of items for
`display. Although some links are identi?ed by images in a
`Web page, steps are taken, such as using the ALT code or the
`URL name to provide a label for displaying on the mobile
`device display.
`In addition to the hyper-links in the Web page, in accor
`dance With the present invention data detection is provided
`to parse through the Web page and create neW links to
`further improve accessibility for mobile users. Since the
`mobile device used typically provides telephone access, neW
`links are provided for telephone numbers identi?ed Within
`the Web page. The telephone number links are provided to
`the mobile device display along With the hyper-links from
`the Web page, and the telephone number links may be
`accessed to dial the listed number. Further, since mobile
`device users may desire map locations for an address, neW
`links to addresses Within the Web page are provided to the
`display. The addresses may be accessed along With a map for
`locating the address for the users convenience. Further, since
`email capability is typically provided on a mobile device,
`neW links to email addresses Within the Web page are
`identi?ed and provided to the display along With hyper-links
`from the Web page.
`Further, in accordance With the present invention, a ser
`vices portal is provided once a link from the mobile-device
`display is selected. The service portal presents a list of
`services that can be performed on the selected link’s docu
`ment of the link itself. The services list includes actions such
`as faxing, printing, mailing, and vieWing.
`An important aspect of the service portal is that it alloWs
`a number of stake-holders, such as users and content
`providers, to dynamically contribute to the items shoWn in
`the services list. A number of databases of services are
`accessed When the services portal is selected so that like
`dependent, user-dependent, and content-provider-dependent
`services can be provided. For eXample, When a user goes to
`a Web site that sells books and selects a link to a Web page
`that describes a book, the site may insert a special item in the
`services menu for ordering the book. The Web site oWner
`can offer additional services for their oWn content by storing
`a publically readable database of services With an agreed
`upon name Within their Web server that is aggregated by the
`services portal. Further, link dependent services may be
`provided depending on the format of the link, such as if the
`document linked is provided in WordPerfectTM or PoWer
`PointTM point format.
`In another aspect of the present invention, the services
`portal enables a dynamic contribution to the items in the
`services list dependent on the speci?c user. To provide such
`user dependent services, the services portal can monitor
`selections of speci?c users so that user service preferences
`can be provided With links dependent on the user’s prefer
`ences. Further, the user location can be monitored to provide
`links to services Which are conveniently close by, such as the
`nearest print service. Further, the type of mobile device a
`user is operating, such as a mobile phone or laptop, can be
`monitored to provide services speci?cally for the mobile
`device type.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`Further details of the present invention are explained With
`the help of the attached draWings in Which:
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`US 6,670,968 B1
`
`5
`FIG. 1 shows a pager-type mobile device With a tWo line
`display screen;
`FIG. 2 shows a Nokia 9000 Communicator;
`FIG. 3 shoWs hoW a Satchel BroWser program operates to
`provide a category of documents to the display of the Nokia
`9000 Communicator;
`FIG. 4 shoWs an eXample of services provided by the
`Satchel BroWser;
`FIG. 5A shoWs contents and links provided in the FXPAL
`Web page;
`FIG. 5B shoWs hoW links are provided from the FXPAL
`Web page in an indeX list on a Sprint PCS mobile phone in
`accordance With the present invention;
`FIG. 6A shoWs an alternative embodiment for displaying
`links from the FXPAL Web page With links reorganiZed for
`better vieWer accessability, and neW links for a telephone
`number and an address provided;
`FIG. 6B shoWs links provided after selection of the
`publications link in FIG. 6A;
`FIG. 6C shoWs services available for the “Hypertext
`interact .
`.
`. ” publication link from FIG. 6B; and
`FIG. 7 shoWs components for a system architecture in
`accordance With the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`I. OvervieW
`
`The present invention provides a Web BroWser, referred
`to herein as “m-link”, Which converts HTML documents for
`displaying on a mobile display. The m-link program
`accesses a server to retrieve a document as identi?ed by a
`user-selected URL. The document received from the server
`is then parsed and hyper-links provided in the document are
`separated from the content. The hyper-links are processed,
`re-organiZed, and provided for display on the mobile device.
`In addition to the hyper-links, m-link can search through
`the content and create links Where hyper-links Were not
`provided Within the Web page. For example, telephone
`numbers can be displayed as links, since a mobile device
`typically offers telephone capabilities. The telephone num
`ber link is con?gured so that When it is selected, the
`telephone number is dialed.
`Once the links are displayed, the mobile-device keypad
`can then be used to navigate to and select one of the
`displayed links. A list of situation, or context-appropriate
`services, such as printing or faxing, is then provided to the
`mobile device display after a link is selected enabling a
`service selected from a list to be performed on the selected
`link.
`
`II. Separation of Links from Content
`
`FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate hoW m-link can separate and
`display links from the Web page With the URL identi?cation
`“WWW.fXpal.com”. The Web page is provided for the Fuji
`XeroX
`Palo Alto Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif. FIG.
`5A shoWs contents and links provided in the FXPAL Web
`page. FIG. 5B shoWs hoW links are provided from the
`FXPAL Web page in an indeX list on a Sprint PCS mobile
`phone. The keypad of the cellular phone can be used to
`select a desired link for services to be performed. Only a
`limited number of the links from the FXPAL Web page of
`FIG. 5A are listed on the PCS phone display in FIG. 5B, so
`the keypad of the PCS phone must be used to scroll doWn to
`?nd a desired link. The links are provided to the display in
`
`6
`FIG. 5B in the order they are provided on the Web page,
`although the links can be reordered as described in more
`detail in sections to folloW.
`A. Using Document Structure to OrganiZe Links
`As indicated With respect to FIG. 5B, the links in one
`embodiment are provided to the mobile display in the order
`they are found in the Web site. In an alternative embodiment,
`links can be organiZed for display on the mobile device
`based on other aspects of the structure of the document. For
`eXample, in one embodiment, organiZation of the links is
`recon?gured so that links With the most duplicates are
`displayed on the mobile device display ?rst. In another
`embodiment, links Which have a larger siZe are displayed
`?rst. In another embodiment, links Which identify docu
`ments With the largest content are displayed ?rst.
`B. Placing Links In Categories
`FIGS. 6A—6C shoWs an embodiment of m-link Which
`organiZes links by putting less desirable links in categories.
`In FIG. 6A, links Which refer to documents offsite from the
`FXPAL Web page are provided in a category labeled
`“Offsite”, While links from the FXPAL Web site Which refer
`to contents Within the FXPAL Web page itself are still
`displayed. It is anticipated that the offsite documents Will be
`less desirable for vieWing because if the user has selected the
`FXPAL Web site, the user is likely to be seeking information
`from Within the Web page, rather than offsite links. Further
`in FIG. 6A, only a number of the links Which are onsite are
`listed, and a category labeled “More” is provided for access
`ing the remaining links. FIG. 6A further shoWs hoW that
`m-link has been con?gured to provide select and services
`key selections for the PCS phone display, and that a user has
`navigated to the “publications” category. The “publications”
`category provides access to another set of links to speci?c
`publications authored by employees of FXPAL.
`FIG. 6B shoWs the mobile phone display When the
`“publications” category has been navigated to, as in FIG.
`6A, and the “select” key depressed. As in FIG. 6A, in FIG.
`6B a number of links are provided to publications Which are
`offsite from the FXPAL Web page, and these links are stored
`in an a category labeled “Offsite”, similar to offsite links
`from the display list in FIG. 6A. Further, a link labeled
`“Navigation” is provided in the display in FIG. 6B to enable
`a user to return to the previous list of links in FIG. 6A. FIG.
`6B further illustrates that the user has navigated to the
`publication document identi?ed by the link labeled “Hyper
`teXt interact .
`.
`. ” Additional links to other publications, such
`as the link labeled “An interactive .
`.
`. ” and “Anchored
`
`convers .
`.
`. ” are further provided.
`C. User Control of Link List Organization
`M-links can be set to alloW user control of the organiZa
`tion of links displayed to a mobile device. In a setup menu
`for the mobile device, the user can control selection of the
`link organiZation, such as if links are displayed in the order
`they are found in a Web page, if they are displayed in order
`of the siZe of the links, in an alphabetical order, or otherWise.
`The user can also select Whether offsite links are simply
`listed or provided in a separate category. Further, the user
`can select if links Which cannot be displayed on one display
`are placed in a separate “more” category, or if the user
`Wishes to scroll doWn through the links to bring the links up
`on the display.
`M-links can also be set to alloW a user to constrain the
`type of links displayed. For eXample, the user can limit the
`type of links listed to one or more speci?c types, such as
`WordPerfectTM documents, or PoWerPointTM documents.
`The user can set the constraints in either a setup menu or
`With a constraint supplied When the link is selected.
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`User past behavior can also be used to control the orga
`niZation of links on a mobile device display. Studies have
`shoWn that it is likely that a user Will folloW much of the
`same path over and over again When navigating and opening
`links. Accordingly, m-links can be organiZed so that the links
`are organiZed for display With the links most previously
`accessed displayed ?rst. Thus, if the server end recogniZes
`that one of the on-site links it has extracted is one that the
`user folloWed before or folloWed recently, it can place it at
`or near the top of the list of links for a page. The number of
`times a user has navigated to a link, as opposed to hoW
`recently individual links Were accessed, can further be used
`to determine the organiZation of links for display.
`D. Listing Links from Multiple Documents
`M-link in one embodiment can be con?gured to identify
`links in more than one document, and then include the links
`all in one list for displaying. The multiple documents can be
`identi?ed from multiple user link inputs. M-link can also be
`con?gured so that the documents are all identi?ed from links
`identi?ed in one document identi?ed by a user. M-links can
`also be con?gured so that all documents at a site identi?ed
`by the user are used. For example, a user may Wish to
`identify all WordPerfectTM ?les at a site identi?ed by the
`user. Thus, m-link Would access the Web page identi?ed by
`the user, identify all the links and list all links in a Word
`PerfectTM format. M-links Would then further access each of
`the links from the Web page separately and identify all the
`WordPerfectTM format ?les found in those documents. All of
`the WordPerfectTM ?le links Would then be provided as a list
`on a mobile device display.
`E. Labeling Links
`Links can be provided in a Web page either as images or
`text. For text, a link label for providing to a mobile display
`can be easily obtained using the anchor text, or a portion of
`the anchor text if the phrase associated With the anchor is too
`long to display in its entirety on a mobile device. For images,
`a link label must be determined.
`To determine a label for an image, the ALT, or alternative
`identi?cation provided With the link can be used as a label.
`The ALT label is used When, for instance, a user is blind and
`the link must be audibly expressed to the user, or When the
`image for one reason or another cannot be retrieved or
`displayed. But, some programmers do not put in an ALT
`?eld label for an image. If no ALT label is provided, the URL
`for the link can be used to provide a label. Further, if no ALT
`45
`label exists, other duplicate links might be identi?ed some
`Where else Within the Web page With a text label or ALT
`label. A search through the Web page or Web site for other
`links With the same URL code Will typically identify a
`duplicate link With a text label Which can be used for
`labeling the previously unlabeled link. In either case, the
`title extracted from the document at the link destination may
`be used to label the link.
`F. Elimination of Duplicate Links
`More than one hyper-link is typically provided in a Web
`page or Web site for more important links. Because it is
`undesirable to provide more than one of the same link to
`limited mobile device display, the m-link program in one
`embodiment is con?gured to search through the URLs of the
`link list and eliminate multiple occurrences of the same
`URL.
`
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`
`II. Creating Links not Hyper-linked in Web Page
`for Mobile Devices
`
`In one embodiment, m-link serves as a data detector to
`identify and create links for display Which are not hyper
`linked in a Web site. The data chosen for links can be
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`particularly relevant for mobile displays, for example tele
`phone numbers for mobile phone displays as described in
`more detail beloW.
`A ?rst link created from Web page data, as illustrated in
`FIG. 6A, is the telephone number for the operator at FXPAL
`identi?ed in the FXPAL Web page. Since a mobile device
`typically provides telephone capabilities, one of the features
`of a Web page a user typically looks for is telephone
`numbers. As indicated previously, because of the limited
`display siZe on mobile devices, a user Will not typically Want
`to vieW the entire content of a Web page. To make the link
`listing more accommodating to a mobile user, in one
`embodiment m-link searches through the content of the Web
`page to identify telephone numbers. Links are provided for
`the identi?ed telephone numbers and listed on the mobile
`device display as shoWn in FIG. 6A. The link for the
`telephone number display is con?gured by m-link so that
`When the link is selected the telephone number is dialed. The
`telephone number link is provided as the ?rst link because
`it is likely a more desirable link to be accessed by a user of
`a mobile device.
`A second link shoWn