Temporal Information Systems with Bidirectional Timeline Traversal

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing temporal information systems face issues such as unidirectional traversal of timelines, cumbersome temporal string encoding, sparse timetables, misleading user navigation, lack of priority assignment, limited concurrent display of timetables, and inconsistent temporal string encoding across datasets.

Innovation Solution

A data-processing system that allows bidirectional traversal of timelines from their center, dynamically updates temporal strings with references to a present date, compresses timetables by removing empty dates, prioritizes time periods, concurrently displays multiple timetables, and normalizes inconsistent temporal string encodings to enhance comprehension and efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If timelines are made bidirectionally traversable with center positioning, then user navigation flexibility is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetimeline navigationVSAvoidtraversal system

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The timeline is segmented into multiple pages with a central page containing the current time and adjacent time periods, and satellite pages containing other time periods. This segmentation allows bidirectional traversal while managing complexity through modular page structures that can be independently rendered and navigated.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The central page acts as an intermediary between satellite pages, providing a hub for bidirectional navigation. Users can traverse from the central page to any satellite page and back, enabling flexible navigation without requiring direct connections between all pages, thus reducing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of information

If temporal strings include dynamic references to present date, then information comprehension is improved, but processing overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetemporal contextVSAvoidstring processing

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Temporal strings use dynamic parameters such as 'this', 'next', 'last' that automatically adjust based on the present date. For example, 'this Wednesday' changes its meaning as weeks progress. This parameter-based approach maintains rich temporal context while simplifying processing compared to storing complete absolute dates with contextual annotations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Area of stationary object

If timetables are compressed to remove empty dates, then spatial locality is improved, but navigation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetimetable display spaceVSAvoidtimetable structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Empty dates are extracted and removed from the timetable display, keeping only dates that contain temporal information. This compression improves spatial locality by grouping populated dates closer together. The underlying data structure maintains the full date range for navigation purposes, so users can still navigate through empty periods without affecting the compressed visual representation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Quantity of substance

If multiple timetables are displayed concurrently, then information density is improved, but update synchronization complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetemporal information displayVSAvoidsynchronization system

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple timetables are merged into a single unified data structure that shares common date ranges and temporal information. When the present date changes, the system performs a single update operation that automatically reflects across all concurrently displayed timetables, eliminating the need for separate synchronization mechanisms for each timetable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

5Loss of energy

If temporal information is fetched in batches, then network efficiency is improved, but waiting time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenetwork trafficVSAvoiddata fetching delay

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by fetching temporal information in advance and caching it locally. When users navigate to different time periods, the required information is already available from previous fetches, eliminating waiting time. The batch fetching strategy is optimized to preload information for commonly accessed time ranges, balancing network efficiency with immediate access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20250147634A1Temporal information systems

Publication Date: 2025.05.08 BURKE GAVIN

AI summary

Temporal information is traversed and manipulated in response to user input and the advancement of time. A timeline is traversed by a present or user-specified time and by upwards and downwards traversal from there for the appearance of anterior and posterior temporal information. An initial positioning toward the center of this timeline permits its bidirectional traversal without the necessity of prepending or appending additional temporal information. Temporal strings are populated with dynamic references to a present date and syntactically normalized. Timetables containing dates are compressed to the eviction of dates absent of temporal information; moreover, they skip over empty periods and efface indicia for traversal toward posterior and anterior periods barring temporal information on them. A plurality of timetables concurrently display and up-date.