Table of contents indexing system

Claim 2

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 wherein said sequence of words in step a) has a particular word, the particular word being the primary data received during a discrete, identifiable time interval; and the steps b), c), and e) are executed immediately after the particular word is received in step a) such that the media representation derived from the particular word is presented to said at least one user immediately after the particular word is received.

Claim 3

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of media representations is generated in step c) by executing procedures in cooperation with a plurality of second knowledge representations and wherein the plurality of episode data is delineated in step b) by executing procedures in conjunction with a plurality of first knowledge representations.

Claim 4

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 further comprising the step of: f) storing the plurality of episode data and the plurality of media representations in a database.

Claim 5

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of: f) allowing a user to retrieve selective ones of said episode data by selecting corresponding ones of the media representations; g) allowing a user to input ancillary data to annotate the selected episode data that the user retrieved in step f); h) presenting the ancillary data to a user; i) storing the ancillary data such that the ancillary data is appended to the particular selected episode data that was retrieved in step f); j) indexing the ancillary data such that each ancillary data has a first ancillary address stored in the database; and k) retrieving the ancillary data such that the ancillary data is replayed for said user.

Claim 6

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 5 further comprising the steps of: l) sorting the ancillary data by using input values selected by a user and by using the intrinsic values of the ancillary data; m) generating a second ancillary address corresponding to the ancillary data that was sorted according to step a), the second ancillary address being stored in the database; and n) displaying the ancillary data that was sorted according to step a) on a display device by using the second ancillary address.

Claim 7

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 6 further comprising the steps of: o) sorting the episode data by sorting respective ones of ancillary data that were appended to the corresponding ones of said plurality of episode data in claim 6.

Claim 8

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 wherein the sequence of words relates to a given occurrence selected from a plurality of occurrences by the user, respective ones of said episode data being associated with corresponding ones of said occurrences; and further comprising the step of permitting the user to select a presentation of corresponding ones of said occurrences by selecting respective ones of said episode data.

Claim 9

A method of operating a data processor to index data according to claim 1 wherein the data source is selected from the group consisting of an audio data source, a visual data source, an audiovisual data source, a text data source, a user input data source, and combination thereof.

Claim 10

A data processor system for indexing data comprising: a) a receiver, the receiver capable of demodulating a primary data signal to obtain primary data, the receiver having a memory buffer selected from the group of first input memory buffers and second input memory buffers to store the primary data in digital form, the primary data of at least one sequence of words; b) a plurality of episode data, each episode data being at least one word of the sequence of words; c) a plurality of first knowledge representations containing that relate the plurality of episode data to the primary data; d) a plurality of second knowledge representations that relate respective ones of said plurality of media representations with corresponding ones of said episode data; e) a processor selected from the group of first processor, second processor, and first and second processor considered collectively to generate each media representation from any given episode data, from the plurality of episode data, based on said second knowledge representations, and to generate each episode data from any given primary data based on said first knowledge representations; and f) a means for real time generating of a table of contents from the plurality of episode data and from the media representations.

Claim 11

The system according to claim 10 further comprising means for presenting primary data to a user before the primary data is stored.

Claim 12

The system according to claim 10 further comprising means for generating a media representation and means for associating respective ones of said plurality of episode data with corresponding ones of said media representations.

Claim 13

The system according to claim 10 further comprising means for storing a table of contents of the plurality of episode data and media representations.

Claim 14

A multimedia conferencing system comprising: a) a plurality of participating clients, the participating client being work stations, the work stations supporting a graphical user interface; b) external sources, the external sources having external data, external data including primary data, and metadata and event data from other networks; c) internal sources, the internal sources encompassing local sources of metadata and event data; d) an episode server, the episode server having a means for storing data, said means for storing data responsive to the input of external data, event data, client request or client notes, the episode server having a means for retrieving data, said means for retrieving data being responsive to the input of a client query, client selection or client request, said means for storing data including delineating episode data by executing procedures in conjunction with a plurality of first knowledge representations; e) a network manager, the network manager being operably, electrically connected to said episode server, said external sources and said participating clients, the network manager having a means for providing communication, switching and control functions between ones of said participating clients and the episode server, between ones of the participating clients, between the external sources and the episode server, and between the internal sources and the episode server; and f) an archive, the archive operably attached to the episode server, the archive being a high-capacity storage device for storing the episode data, and for storing other common files for the participating clients.

Claim 15

The multimedia conferencing system of claim 14 wherein the plurality of first knowledge representations contain knowledge concerning the luminance values of bitmap, the correlation of simultaneous changes in audio and video and the color of bitmaps.