1-24. (canceled)
25. A method, performed by an apparatus, the method at least comprising:
updating or triggering updating of a second-layer coverage area representation of a second-layer coverage area at least in dependence on a decision whether a first-layer coverage area representation of a first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent or not, wherein the first-layer coverage area and the second-layer coverage area are part of a hierarchy of coverage areas of a communication system, and wherein the second-layer coverage area at least comprises the first-layer coverage area.
26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the decision is based on position information provided by a terminal associated with a coverage-area providing entity of the first-layer coverage area.
27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the second-layer coverage area representation is composed of a set of one or more grid elements of a second-layer grid.
28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the first-layer coverage area representation is decided to have changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent if one or more grid elements have to be added or removed from the second-layer coverage area representation to reflect the changes in the first-layer coverage area representation.
29. The method according to claim 27, wherein the first-layer coverage area representation is decided to have changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent if an amount of change of at least one parameter of the first-layer coverage area representation exceeds a pre-defined or determined threshold.
30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the threshold equals a dimension of a second-layer grid element of the second-layer grid multiplied by a factor that is larger than 0 and smaller than or equal to 1.
31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the factor is 0.5.
32. The method according to claim 27, wherein the first-layer coverage area representation is composed of a set of one or more first-layer grid elements of a first-layer grid, and wherein the second-layer grid is coarser than the first-layer grid.
33. The method according to claim 25, wherein the first-layer coverage area representation is composed of a set of one or more grid elements of a first-layer grid, and wherein the first-layer coverage area representation is decided to have changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent if one or more grid elements have to be added or removed from a previous first-layer coverage area representation to obtain the first-layer coverage area representation.
34. The method according to claim 27, wherein for each second-layer grid element that has been added to or refreshed in the second-layer coverage area representation in a previous updating of the second-layer coverage area representation based on a decision that a first-layer coverage area representation of a first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent exceeding a pre-defined or determined extent, an identifier of this first-layer coverage area representation is stored.
35. The method according to claim 34, wherein for each second-layer grid element that is removed from the second-layer coverage area representation in the updating of the second-layer coverage area representation based on the decision whether the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent or not, an identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation stored for the second-layer grid element is deleted.
36. The method according to claim 34, wherein, in the updating, in case of a decision that the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent, one or more second-layer grid elements of the second-layer grid that respectively do not contain any part of the first-layer coverage area representation but contain at least a part of an unchanged first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area are identified, and wherein for each identified second-layer grid element, it is checked if an identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation is stored, and if this is case, the identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation is deleted for the identified second-layer grid element.
37. The method according to claim 34, wherein, in the updating, in case of a decision that the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent, one or more second-layer grid elements of the second-layer grid that respectively contain at least a part of the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area but do not contain any part of an unchanged first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area are identified and wherein for each identified second-layer grid element, it is checked if an identifier of any first-layer coverage area representation is stored for the identified second-layer grid element, and if this is not the case, the identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation is stored for the identified second-layer grid element.
38. The method according to claim 27, wherein both an identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation and a timestamp are stored for each second-layer grid element that has been added to or refreshed in the second-layer coverage area representation in a previous updating of the second-layer coverage area representation based on a decision that the first-layer coverage area representation of this first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent exceeding a pre-defined or determined extent, wherein, in the updating, in case of a decision that the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area has changed to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent, one or more second-layer grid elements of the second-layer grid that respectively contain at least a part of the first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area but do not contain any part of an unchanged first-layer coverage area representation of the first-layer coverage area are identified, wherein for each identified second-layer grid element, it is checked if an identifier of any first-layer coverage area representation is stored for the identified second-layer grid element, wherein if this is not the case, the identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation and a timestamp are stored for the identified second-layer grid element, and wherein if this is the case, the identifier of the first-layer coverage area representation and the timestamp are only stored for the identified second-layer grid element if the already stored timestamp is older than a pre-defined or determined threshold.
39. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:
updating or triggering updating of a third-layer coverage area representation of a third-layer coverage area at least in dependence on a decision whether the second-layer coverage area has changed, due to an updating thereof, to an extent that exceeds a pre-defined or determined extent or not, wherein the third-layer coverage area is part of the hierarchy of coverage areas of the communication system, and wherein the third-layer coverage area at least comprises the second-layer coverage area.
40. The method according to claim 25, wherein the respective coverage area representations of different layers of the hierarchy of coverage areas of the communication system are provided in a database to allow or at least support positioning of a mobile terminal based on an identification of one or more coverage areas the mobile terminal is associated with, wherein an accuracy of the positioning of the mobile terminal is highest when based on coverage area representations of the lowest-layer coverage areas and decreases when based on coverage area representations of higher-layer coverage areas, and wherein coverage area representations of higher-layer coverage areas serve as a fall back solution in cases where coverage area representations for lower-layer coverage areas with which the mobile terminal is associated are not or only partially available.
41. The method according to claim 25, wherein said communication system is a cellular radio communication system.
42. A computer program at least comprising:
program code for performing the method according claim 1 when said computer program is executed on a processor.
43. An apparatus, comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said apparatus at least to perform the method according to claim 25.
44. The apparatus according to claim 43, further comprising at least one of a user interface, an antenna and communication network interface.
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 method for providing for display a two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of a document with respect to at least one variable, the method comprising:
receiving a request to generate the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the document with respect to the at least one variable;
in response to the received request, retrieving, by a computer, treatment information associated with the document with respect to the at least one variable from a database;
generating a message containing the retrieved treatment information of the document with respect to the at least one variable;
transmitting the generated message; and
providing for display the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the document with respect to the at least one variable based on the transmitted message, wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes among a plurality of treatment types pertaining to the document, wherein each of the plurality of treatment types is indicative of a manner in which the document was treated by one or more citing documents;
wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation comprises a matrix of cells, a first axis, and a second axis;
wherein the first axis comprises a first plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of treatment types, wherein the first plurality of labels comprises a first label corresponding to a first treatment type of the plurality of treatment types;
wherein the second axis comprises a second plurality of labels corresponding to a plurality of values of the at least one variable, wherein the second plurality of labels comprises a second label corresponding to a second value of the plurality of values of the at least one variable; and
wherein a first cell of the matrix of cells displays a first graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label occurred with respect to the second value corresponding to the second label, wherein the first label and the second label are associated with the first cell.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of treatment types includes a positive treatment type and a negative treatment type;
the positive treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document positively;
the negative treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document negatively; and
the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes between the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document positively and the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document negatively.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first axis is a vertical axis and the second axis is a horizontal axis, such that:
the vertical axis comprises the first plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of treatment types; and
the horizontal axis comprises the second plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of values of the at least one variable.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first graphical indication includes a number of times that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label occurred with respect to the second value corresponding to the second label.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the matrix of cells includes a second cell;
the second plurality of labels comprises a third label corresponding to a third value of the plurality of values of the at least one variable; and
the second cell displays a second graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label did not occur with respect to the third value corresponding to the third label, wherein the first label and the third label are associated with the second cell.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second graphical indication is a blank cell.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein a color of at least one cell of the matrix of cells is based on a row of the matrix of cells in which the at least one cell resides.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one variable is time.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one variable is jurisdiction.
10. A method for providing for display a two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of a legal document with respect to time or jurisdiction, the method comprising:
receiving a request to generate the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the legal document with respect to time or jurisdiction;
in response to the received request, retrieving, by a computer, treatment information associated with the legal document with respect to time or jurisdiction from a database;
generating a message containing the retrieved treatment information of the legal document with respect to time or jurisdiction;
transmitting the generated message; and
providing for display the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the legal document with respect to time or jurisdiction based on the transmitted message, wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes among a plurality of treatment types pertaining to the legal document, wherein each of the plurality of treatment types is indicative of a manner in which the legal document was treated by one or more citing documents;
wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation comprises a matrix of cells, a vertical axis, and a horizontal axis;
wherein the vertical axis comprises a first plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of treatment types, wherein the first plurality of labels comprises a first label corresponding to a first treatment type of the plurality of treatment types;
wherein the horizontal axis comprises a second plurality of labels corresponding to a plurality of values of time or jurisdiction, wherein the second plurality of labels comprises a second label corresponding to a second value of the plurality of values of time or jurisdiction; and
wherein a first cell of the matrix of cells displays a first graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label occurred with respect to the second value corresponding to the second label, wherein the first label and the second label are associated with the first cell.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein:
the plurality of treatment types includes a positive treatment type and a negative treatment type;
the positive treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the legal document positively;
the negative treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the legal document negatively; and
the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes between the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the legal document positively and the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the legal document negatively.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the first graphical indication includes a number of times that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label occurred with respect to the second value corresponding to the second label.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein:
the matrix of cells includes a second cell;
the second plurality of labels comprises a third label corresponding to a third value of the plurality of values of the at least one variable; and
the second cell displays a second graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label did not occur with respect to the third value corresponding to the third label, wherein the first label and the third label are associated with the second cell.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second graphical indication is a blank cell.
15. The method of claim 10 wherein a color of at least one cell of the matrix of cells is based on a row of the matrix of cells in which the at least one cell resides.
16. A system for providing for display a two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of a document with respect to at least one variable, the system comprising:
a computing device that comprises a non-transitory memory component that stores a set of executable instructions that cause the computing device to:
receive a request to generate the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the document with respect to the at least one variable;
in response to the received request, retrieve treatment information associated with the document with respect to the at least one variable from a database;
generate a message containing the retrieved treatment information of the document with respect to the at least one variable;
transmit the generated message; and
provide for display the two-dimensional graphical grid representation of the treatment of the document with respect to the at least one variable based on the transmitted message, wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes among a plurality of treatment types pertaining to the document, wherein each of the plurality of treatment types is indicative of a manner in which the document was treated by one or more citing documents;
wherein the two-dimensional graphical grid representation comprises a matrix of cells, a first axis, and a second axis;
wherein the first axis comprises a first plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of treatment types, wherein the first plurality of labels comprises a first label corresponding to a first treatment type of the plurality of treatment types;
wherein the second axis comprises a second plurality of labels corresponding to a plurality of values of the at least one variable, wherein the second plurality of labels comprises a second label corresponding to a second value of the plurality of values of the at least one variable; and
wherein a first cell of the matrix of cells displays a first graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label occurred with respect to the second value corresponding to the second label, wherein the first label and the second label are associated with the first cell.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one variable is time or jurisdiction.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first axis is a vertical axis and the second axis is a horizontal axis, such that:
the vertical axis comprises the first plurality of labels corresponding to the plurality of treatment types; and
the horizontal axis comprises the second plurality of labels corresponding to a plurality of values of time or jurisdiction.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein:
the plurality of treatment types includes a positive treatment type and a negative treatment type;
the positive treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document positively;
the negative treatment type is indicative of at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document negatively; and
the two-dimensional graphical grid representation graphically distinguishes between the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document positively and the at least one of the one or more citing documents treating the document negatively.
20. The system of claim 16, wherein:
the matrix of cells includes a second cell;
the second plurality of labels comprises a third label corresponding to a third value of the plurality of values of the at least one variable; and
the second cell displays a second graphical indication that the first treatment type corresponding to the first label did not occur with respect to the third value corresponding to the third label, wherein the first label and the third label are associated with the second cell.