1. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit, the method comprising:
receiving a request for an emergency temporary directory number from a mobile unit;
determining if the request is a valid request;
if the request is a valid request, granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit; and
alerting the mobile unit of the emergency temporary directory number.
2. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit comprises granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit for a predetermined length of time.
3. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 2, wherein the predetermined length of time is longer than a length of a call.
4. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a request for an emergency temporary directory number from a mobile unit comprises receiving a star code.
5. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a request for an emergency temporary directory number from a mobile unit comprises receiving a call at a service center.
6. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a request for an emergency temporary directory number from a mobile unit comprises receiving a request sent via a computer network.
7. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of determining if the request is a valid request comprises determining if a predetermined emergency situation exists.
8. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of determining if the request is a valid request comprises determining the location of an HLR associated with the mobile unit.
9. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, the method further comprising the step of limiting the number of emergency temporary directory numbers assigned.
10. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit comprises granting an emergency temporary directory number only to mobile units that are located within a predetermined geographic location.
11. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 10, wherein the predetermined geographic location comprises the location affected by the emergency situation.
12. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of alerting the mobile unit of the emergency temporary directory number comprises displaying the emergency temporary directory number on the mobile unit.
13. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the request for an emergency temporary directory number comprises a length of time for which the emergency temporary directory number is requested.
14. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit comprises granting an emergency temporary directory number for a default length of time.
15. A method for assigning an emergency temporary directory number to a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of granting an emergency temporary directory number for the mobile unit comprises granting an emergency temporary directory number for a length of time, and wherein the length of time is dependent upon the number of requests received.
16. A method for routing a call to a mobile unit utilizing an emergency temporary directory number, the method comprising:
receiving a call for a roaming mobile unit;
determining whether to route the call for the roaming mobile unit without using the home system of the roaming mobile unit; and
routing the call via a visited mobile switching center (MSC).
17. A method for routing a call to a mobile unit utilizing an emergency temporary directory number in accordance with claim 16, wherein the step of determining whether to route the call for the roaming mobile unit without using the home system of the roaming mobile unit comprises comparing the called number with a list of emergency temporary telephone numbers.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer implemented method for retrieving video clips from a database, comprising the steps of:
retrieving in an initial query from a video collection based on a search term;
receiving a user selection of at least one video clip from a first set of video clips corresponding to the search term;
associating at least one visual attribute of the selected video clip with the search term;
receiving the at least one search term from a user in a subsequent query;
determining a set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the set of physical concepts to a plurality of visual attributes;
searching the database for at least one video clip corresponding to the plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a second set of video clips having the set of visual attributes to the user, the second set including the at least one video clip.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set contains fewer video clips than the first set.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said steps of determining a set of physical concepts and mapping the set of physical concepts are performed using a taxonomy and an inference engine.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of querying a plurality of collections of video clips in the database, wherein the range of values for a given visual attribute is the union of values that covers substantially all video clips having said given visual attribute across the plurality of collections of video clips.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is derived from sensor metadata stored with at least one of the second set of video clips.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is associated with the selected at least one video clip.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
extracting at least one actual value of at least one of the plurality of visual attributes for which at least one default value has been assigned in the taxonomy;
associating with the at least one actual value at least one other visual attribute from the second set of video clips; and
annotating the taxonomy with the associated at least one other visual attribute.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
receiving the at least one search term from the user;
determining a second set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the second set of physical concepts to a second plurality of visual attributes based on the annotated taxonomy;
searching the database for at least one video corresponding to the second plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the second plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a third set of video clips having the second plurality of visual attributes to the user, the third set including the at least one video clip.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the third set contains fewer video clips than the second set.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of assigning a default value to at least one of the plurality of visual attributes, the default value being computed based on a collection of training video clips.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of pre-computing minimum and maximum values of at least one of plurality of visual attributes.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one value corresponding to at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is derived from metadata contained within a collection of training video clips.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a set of physical concepts further comprising the step of finding synonyms of the search term for use in determining the set of physical concepts.
14. An apparatus for retrieving video clips from a database, comprising:
a processor configured for executing instructions comprising the steps of:
retrieving in an initial query from a video collection based on a search term;
receiving a user selection of at least one video clip from a first set of video clips corresponding to the search term;
associating at least one visual attribute of the selected video clip with the search term;
receiving the at least one search term from a user in a subsequent query;
determining a set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the set of physical concepts to a plurality of visual attributes;
searching the database for at least one video clip corresponding to the plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a second set of video clips having the set of visual attributes to the user, the second set including the at least one video clip.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second set contains fewer video clips than the first set.
16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said steps of determining a set of physical concepts and mapping the set of physical concepts are performed using a taxonomy and an inference engine.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured for executing instructions comprising the step of querying a plurality of collections of video clips in the database, wherein the range of values for a given visual attribute is the union of values that covers substantially all video clips having said given visual attribute across the plurality of collections of video clips.
18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is derived from sensor metadata stored with at least one of the second set of video clips.
19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is associated with the selected at least one video clip.
20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the step further comprises the steps of:
extracting at least one actual value of at least one of the plurality of visual attributes for which at least one default value has been assigned in the taxonomy;
associating with the at least one actual value at least one other visual attribute from the second set of video clips; and
annotating the taxonomy with the associated at least one other visual attribute.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured for executing instructions comprising the steps of:
receiving the at least one search term from the user;
determining a second set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the second set of physical concepts to a second plurality of visual attributes based on the annotated taxonomy;
searching the database for at least one video corresponding to the second plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the second plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a third set of video clips having the second plurality of visual attributes to the user, the third set including the at least one video clip.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the third set contains fewer video clips than the second set.
23. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences for retrieving video clips from a database, wherein execution of the one of more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps comprising:
retrieving in an initial query at least one video clip from a video collection based on a search term;
receiving a user selection of at least one video clip from a first set of video clips corresponding to the search term;
associating at least one visual attribute of the selected video clip with the search term;
receiving the at least one search term from a user in a subsequent query;
determining a set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the set of physical concepts to a plurality of visual attributes;
searching the database for at least one video clip corresponding to the plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a second set video clips having the set of visual attributes to the user, the second set including the at least one video clip.
24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the second set contains fewer video clips than the first set.
25. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein said steps of determining a set of physical concepts and mapping the set of physical concepts are performed using a taxonomy and an inference engine.
26. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform the step comprising querying a plurality of collections of video clips in the database, wherein the range of values for a given visual attribute is the union of values that covers substantially all video clips having said given visual attribute across the plurality of collections of video clips.
27. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is derived from sensor metadata stored with at least one of second set of video clips.
28. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein at least one of the plurality of visual attributes is associated with the selected at least one video clip.
29. The computer readable medium of claim 23, further comprises the steps of:
extracting at least one actual value of at least one of the plurality of visual attributes for which at least one default value has been assigned in the taxonomy;
associating with the at least one actual value at least one other visual attribute from the second set of video clips; and
annotating the taxonomy with the associated at least one other visual attribute.
30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform the steps comprising:
receiving the at least one search term from the user;
determining a second set of physical concepts based on the at least one search term;
mapping the second set of physical concepts to a second plurality of visual attributes based on the annotated taxonomy;
searching the database for at least one video corresponding to the second plurality of visual attributes;
identifying at least one video clip in the database having the second plurality of visual attributes; and
returning a third set of video clips having the second plurality of visual attributes to the user, the third set including the at least one video clip.
31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the third set contains fewer video clips than the second set.