Data acquisition apparatus, data acquisition system and method of acquiring data

摘要

A data acquisition apparatus includes a processing resource operably coupled to an input unit and an output unit. The processing resource is arranged to provide an execution environment for supporting a user interface. An enquiry module is provided and supported by the execution environment. In at least one embodiment, the apparatus also includes a communications unit operably coupled to the processing resource for supporting communications over a communications network. The enquiry module is arranged to generate a search query relating to a point of interest and receive search results in response thereto via the communications unit, the enquiry module also being arranged to use the search results to derive data associated with the point of interest.

主权项

1. A data acquisition apparatus comprising:
a processing resource operably coupled to an input unit and an output unit, the processing resource being arranged to provide an execution environment for supporting a user interface; a local database for storage of point of interest information; retrieval and enquiry modules supported by the execution environment; and a communications unit operably coupled to the processing resource for supporting communications over a communications network; wherein the retrieval module is arranged to determine at least one of whether temporal data relating to a point of interest is present in the local database and whether the temporal data is current by calculating an age for the stored temporal data; and in the event the temporal data relating to the point of interest is not present in the local database or is not current, the enquiry module is arranged to:
generate a web search query using a web search engine, wherein the web search query relates to temporal data associated with the point of interest and receive search results in response thereto via the communications unit;use the search results to derive temporal data associated with the point of interest by:
searching for one or more predefined terms in content that is identified in the search results; andderiving the temporal data from the content based at least in part on text included in or associated with instances of the one or more predefined terms that are found during the searching; and wherein the retrieval module verifies an accuracy of the derived temporal data.