IP Library Granted Patent US 7,577,921
Granted Patent B2
US 7,577,921 · App. 11/458,385 · Granted Aug 18, 2009

Method and system for performing search using acronym

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,577,921
App. No.
11/458,385
Granted
Aug 18, 2009
Kind
B2
Abstract

Techniques for facilitating efficient local search using acronym are disclosed. According to one aspect of the techniques, a graphic user interface is provided to accept inputs from a user; letters successively entered as the inputs from the user are received; and titles are then progressively reduced and displayed in accordance with the letters, wherein the titles have words each beginning with one of the letters.

Claims (30)

1. A method, to be performed by one or more processors, for searching a library for one or more titles, the method comprising:

generating a first graphic user interface to receive inputs from a user;

receiving a plurality of inputs, entered in succession, wherein each of the plurality of inputs corresponds to a letter;

searching the library for a set of titles based on the plurality of inputs, wherein each title in the set includes a plurality of words, the number of words in each title being at least equal to the number of inputs received from the user, wherein each of the plurality of inputs matches the first letter of a respective one of the plurality of words in each of the titles, and wherein the number of titles in the set is progressively reduced in response to each successive input; and

displaying the set of titles on the first graphic user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

enabling the user to select one of the titles displayed on the first graphic user interface; and

displaying, on a second graphic user interface, information pertaining to the selected title.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of words do not include articles, if any, in the titles.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein searching the library for a set of titles comprises:

in response to receiving one of the plurality of inputs, corresponding to a first letter, searching the set of titles for one or more titles that include at least one word beginning with the first letter; and

removing, from the set, titles that do not include at least one word beginning with the first one letter.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein searching the library for a set of titles comprises searching a data structure for the set of titles, wherein the data structure includes data corresponding to a plurality of movies.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising organizing the data based, at least in part, on an alphabetical order of movie titles associated with the data.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising organizing the data structure to include a data header portion, wherein the data header portion has an index for locating data corresponding to an individual movie.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the data structure comprises an integral number of sectors and wherein organizing the data structure comprises organizing the data such that the sectors are aligned on sector boundaries of a data store that is organized as a sequence of tunable-sized blocks.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the data structure is provided on a server configured to analyze data organized in a hierarchical directory.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising organizing the plurality of data in the data structure as pre-computed query results.

11. A system for searching a library for one or more titles, the system comprising:

a device to receive a plurality of inputs from a user, entered in succession, wherein each of the plurality of inputs corresponds to a letter, the device being configured to search the library for a set of titles based on the plurality of inputs, wherein each title in the set includes a plurality of words, the number of words in each title being at least equal to the number of inputs received from the user, wherein each of the plurality of inputs matches the first letter of a respective one of the plurality of words in each of the titles and wherein the number of titles in the set is progressively reduced in response to each successive input; and

a display, coupled to the device, to display the set of titles on a first graphic user interface.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first graphic user interface enables the user to select one of the titles, and wherein a second graphic user interface displays information pertaining to a selected title.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of words do not include articles, if any, in the titles.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein upon receiving one of the plurality of inputs, corresponding to a first letter, the device is configured to: (i) search the set of titles for one or more titles that include at least one word beginning with the first letter, and (ii) remove, from the set, titles that do not include at least one word beginning with the first letter.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the device is further configured to search a data structure for the set of titles, wherein the data structure includes data corresponding to a plurality of movies.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data is organized based, at least in part, on an alphabetical order of movie titles associated with the data.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the data structure is organized to include a data header portion, wherein the data header portion has an index for locating data corresponding to an individual movie.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the data structure comprises an integral number of sectors and the data is organized such that the sectors are aligned on sector boundaries in a data store that is organized as a sequence of tunable-sized blocks.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the data structure is provided by a server configured to analyze data organized in a hierarchical directory.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the data in the data structure is organized as pre-computed query results.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE COVERSHEET TO EXCLUDE APP. NO. 11368308, WHICH WAS INADVERTENTLY ADDED AT THE TIME OF RECORDING THE ASSIGNMENT PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 053609 FRAME: 0302. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jan 18, 2022
From: VUDU, LLC
To: NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA LLC
Reel/Frame 058756/0244 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 26, 2020
From: VUDU, LLC
To: NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA LLC
Reel/Frame 053609/0302 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Aug 24, 2020
From: VUDU, INC.
To: VUDU, LLC
Reel/Frame 053585/0162 →