| 摘要 |
<p>A system including any number workstations, file servers, printers and other fixed devices coupled in a network, and a number of portable devices carried by users and coupled to the network by infrared (IR) link. Each portable device emulates its user's personal satchel for documents: the device is programmed to receive transmit and store tokens. The tokens include context information (indicating the identity of a nearby device and the services - such as send/receive, scanning, printing, faxing, converting - that are available a that device) are distributed from one person to another by transmission of IR data packets. Once a network-connected computer, printer or multifunction device has received a token via IR transceiver associated with it, a search request can be derived from the token and document references (e.g. WWW URLs) corresponding to the token can be obtained via a search engine. For each URL obtained, the corresponding electronic document can be retrieved from a repository and displayed or printed. The portable device is preferably a handheld or wristwatch computer with a graphical display for enabling the user to transfer tokens, and the fixed devices preferably include a scanner/copier/printer having its own IR transceiver. <IMAGE></p> |
