Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19691 PCT/CA99/008'71
System and Method for Conducting an Auction over a Communications Network
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to communication networks and more
particularly to a system for conducting an auction over a communications
network.
BACKGROUND
Traditional auctions take the form of a physical gathering of bidders at an
auction place. A major limitation associated with physical auctions is that
bidders are
forced either to travel or to appoint a representative for the auction.
Advance bidding may be done by mail or by facsimile so that bidders do not
have to be physically present at the auction. However, advance bidding suffers
a
significant disadvantage as compared to real-time bidding since it lacks
immediacy
and fine bidders have no opportunity to increase a bid in quick response to
competitive
bids.
Several methods of conducting auctions over the Internet in real-time fashion
are known. This requires, however, that all participants in the auction use an
Internet-
connected computer. Furthermore, auctioneers may find that it is more
difficult to
obtain a good price with an auction conducted over the Internet because it
lacks the
excitement that can be conveyed by voice.
Telephone conference systems are used today to share, in real-time, voice
messages among persons in various locations. It is difficult, however, to hold
an
auction using a traditional telephone conferencing system, at least for the
following
reasons: the auctioneer may have difficulty identifying bidders by their
voices;
telephone conferences are very noisy when they have a large number of
participants;
there is no method of ejecting a bidder who chooses to interfere with the
auction by
making noise or pretending to be the auctioneer; and it is difficult to
enforce payment
because it is difficult to verify the identity and creditworthiness of
bidders.
-1-
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
One known system for conducting an auction over a communication network is
taught
in Interactive call-handling, European Patent Application 620669A1 to Katz
("Katz").
Katz teaches a system having a plurality of telephone terminals within a
telephone
communication network that are connected to a receiving station by a plurality
of
processing systems. The system can be used to conduct auctions, whereby a
plurality
of bidders each use one of the telephone terminals to submit their bids by
pushing
buttons on their key-pads which generate DTMF tones that are sent to the
processing
systems. The bids are sorted and organized by the processing systems and
presented
to on a computer monitor to the auctioneer. Conversely, the auctioneer's
messages to
the bidders are presented either though a television link that runs
concurrently to the
system taught in Katz, or the auctioneer's messages are played on the earpiece
of the
bidder's telephone terminal. One drawback to Katz is that bidders do not
submit their
bids orally, and instead rely on DTMF tones to signal their intentions, which
thus
15 reduces the overall excitement and energy that can exist in traditional
auctions.
Concurrently, the bidders in Katz cannot 'hear' the bids being submitted by
other
bidders, which also reduces the applicability of Katz in substantially
reproducing
traditional,auctions. Overall, it can be-seen that Katz does not reproduce
certain
'w
aspects of traditional auctions that may be desi able.
,1
- la -
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00119691 PCTlCA99l00871
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved auction
system that overcomes totally or in part the limitations of the above-
mentioned
auction systems.
One aspect of the invention is defined as a bidder message processor
comprising processing means for processing a bidder message entered through a
bidder voice terminal into a bidder data signal, wherein said bidder data
signal
includes a bidder identifier, and output means for outputting the bidder data
signals at
an auctioneer terminal.
Another aspect of the inventionlis defined as a bidder message processor
system comprising a bidder message processor and connecting means. The bidder
message processor comprises processing means for processing a bidder message
entered through a bidder voice terminal into a bidder data signal; wherein
said bidder
data signal includes a bidder identifier, and output means for outputting the
bidder
data signals at an auctioneer terminal. The connecting means connect the
bidder
message processor to the bidder voice terminal over a communications network.
Another aspect of the invention is defined as an auctioneer message processor
system comprising an auctioneer voice transmitter for broadcasting auctioneer
voice
messages from an auctioneer terminal simultaneously to a plurality of bidder
voice
terminals, and connecting.means for connecting said bidder voice terminals to
said
auctioneer voice transmitter over a communications network.
A further aspect of the invention is defined as an auction system for use in
an
auction conducted over a communications network, the auction system comprising
a
bidder message processor, an auctioneer voice transmitter and connecting
means.
The bidder message processor comprises means for processing a bidder message
entered through any one of a plurality of bidder voice terminals into a bidder
data
signals, wherein said bidder data signal comprises a bidder identifier, and
means for
outputting the bidder data signals at an auctioneer terminal. The auctioneer
voice
transmitter broadcasts auctioneer voice messages from the auctioneer terminal
simultaneously to selected bidder voice terminals. The connecting means
connect
-2-
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19691 PCT/CA99I00871
said bidder voice terminals to the bidder message processor and to the
auctioneer
voice transmitter over the communications network.
A further aspect of the invention is defined as an auction system comprising
auctioneer output means, a plurality of bid interpreters which in operation
are
connected to a plurality of corresponding bidders voice terminals, an
auctioneer voice
manager coupled to the bid interpreters, for receiving voice messages from an
auctioneer voice transmitter over the communications network and for
broadcasting
the auctioneer voice messages simultaneously to all bidder voice terminals
connected
to the bidder interpreters. Each bid interpreter includes means for decoding
bidder
messages, means for attaching corresponding bidder identifiers to each decoded
bidder message and forming data signals and means for transmitting the data
signals
to the auctioneer output means, over a communications network.
A further aspect of the invention is defined a.s a method of processing bidder
messages for use in an auction conducted over a communications network, the
method
I S comps ising the steps of processing a bidder messages received entered
through a voice
terminal into a data (digital) signals, the processing step comprising
attaching a bidder
identifier to said data signal, and outputting said data signal at an
auctioneer terminal;
A further aspect of the invention is defined as a method of conducting an
auction over a communications network, the method comprising the steps of
transmitting bidders messages over the communications network and transmitting
auctioneer messages over the communications network. The step of transmitting
bidders messages comprises receiving the bidder messages from a plurality of
bidder
voice terminals, processing bidders messages into data signals, forming output
signals
by attaching bidder identifiers to selected data. signals, and sending and
outputting the
output signals at an auctioneer terminal. The step of transmitting auctioneer
messages
comprises receiving the auctioneer messages from the auctioneer terminal and
broadcasting the auctioneer messages to selected bidder voice terminals.
-3-
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
a
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The present invention will be further understood from the following detailed
description, with reference to the drawings in which:
Figure I presents a block diagram of an auction system in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 presents a block diagram of a bidder message processor system in
accordance with the embodiment in Figure 1; and
Figure 3 presents a block diagram of an auction system in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
to
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMIENT
Figure 1 presents a block diagram of an auction system 1 in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention. Auction system 1 is used to facilitate the
participation, in real-time, of persons located at various physical locations
in an
15 auction, by means of voice terminals 10. The communication takes place over
a
communications network 5, comprising the bidder voice terminals 10 and the
auction
system 1.
The auction system 1 comprises an auctioneer voice transmitter 50, a bidder
messages processor 1S and connecting means 20 connecting the bidder voice
2o terminals 10 to the auctioneer voice transmitter 50 and to the bidder
messages
processor 15. The bidder messages processor 15 comprises processing means 30
and
output means 40.
The bidder voice terminals 10 may be any one of cordline, cordless, wireless
telephone sets or the like. Other voice terminals may also be used, as they
emerge.
25 The connections between various components of the auction system 1, as well
as between the bidder voice terminals 10 and the auction system, can be
physical
connections, wireless connections or a combination of both. Likewise, it will
be
appreciated by a person skilled in the art the elements of the auction system
1, such as
the connecting means 20 and the processing means 30, can each comprise sub-
3o elements distributed at various physical locations. Furthermore, they may
be mainly
software structures attached to existing hardware platforms available in
existing
-4-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
communications networks, specially designed hardware platforms, or a
combination
of both, such as interface access cards. Moreover, the auctioneer's tasks may
be
performed by a person or by a data processor that may act on location or
remotely, in
analyzing the information on the output means 40 and commanding the auctioneer
voice transmitter 50 to send voice messages to bidder terminals 10. Therefore,
the
communication Iinks and the blocks shown in the block diagram of Figure 1
should
not be considered restrictive in a physical sense.
In operation, a bidder participating in an auction conducted using the auction
system 1 of Figure 1, enters bidder messages through a bidder voice terminal
10. The
1o bidder messages are transnutted to the processing means 30 through
connecting means
20. The bidder messages are processed into bidder data signals to be outputted
at the
output means 40 in order of arrival. The processed bidder data signals
comprise
information on the bidder message content as well as a bidder identifier.
Therefore,
through the output means 40, the auctioneer acknowledges the content of bidder
messages and the identity of bidders that originate the messages, in an
orderly fashion.
This allows the auctioneer to identify the bidders, reducing ambiguity when
more bids
are received within a small time interval from various locations.
In order to communicate with the bidders, the auctioneer generates voice
messages through the auctioneer voice transmitter 50. From the auctioneer
voice
2o transmitter 50, the auctioneer voice messages are broadcasted
simultaneously to the
bidder voice terminals 10 through the connecting means 20.
The connecting means 20 comprises input/output (I/O) ports which allow
messages from the bidder voice terminals 10 to pass through to the rest of the
auction
system 1 and allow messages from the auction system 1 to be transmitted to the
bidder
voice terminals 10. The connecting means can be any combination of hardware
and
software connecting means available in existing communication networks, such
as
wire circuits, fiber optics circuits, wireless circuits, virtual connections,
with or
without associated controls, such as manually operated switchboards or other
interfaces, or through embedded logical systems, comprising multiplexers, flip-
flops,
latches and the like. Since the connecting means 20 regulates the flow of
messages
from and to the bidder voice terminals 10, the connecting means 20 maintains a
record
-5-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
1 ~-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
of bidders participating in the auction, through the auction system 1. The
record of
participating bidders can be maintained in a list set-up for this purpose, or
by simply
maintaining the communication channels with participating bidders open, and
ensuring that communication channels with non-participating bidders are
blocked.
Preferably, the record of bidders participating to the auction is updated
based on
access conditions. Such an embodiment will be described in more detail
hereinafter.
Figure 2 presents a detailed view of the bidder message processor 15 and the
connecting means 20, according to an embodiment of the invention.
The bidder message processor 15 comprises processing means 30 and output
1o means 40.
In the embodiment in Figure 2, the processing means 30 comprises
recognizing means 35, a bidder identifier appending block 34, an access
control block
37 and a voice coder 36.
A bidder message entering the processing means 30 is routed to the
15 recognizing means 35, where its content is recognized. The recognizing
means 35
selects the auction relevant messages from other bidder messages that a bidder
may
input through a bidder voice terminal 10. The auction relevant messages can
be, for
example, bids or access messages.
The valid bids can be numerical voice messages such as "One hundred and
2o fifty (150)", or " Two thousand(2000)". For simplicity, it is assumed that
the price
and the bids are represented by numerical values. However, it will be
understood that
an auction may be conducted by coding the implied trading means otherwise than
in a
numerical fashion, for example by a color code.
The access messages generally contain information which bidders are required
25 to provide in order to participate in various stages of the auction. The
access
messages may be passwords, credit information, confirmations of compliance
with
terms and conditions of the auction, and the like.
Through the bidder voice terminals 10, bidder messages can be entered in
various ways. The bidder messages may be voice messages or digital signals.
Fox
30 example, if a bidder voice terminal 10 is a telephone set having the touch-
toneTM
-6-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19691 PCT/CA99l00871
option, bidder messages can be entered as Dual-Tone-Multi-Frequency (DTMF)
signals.
The embodiment depicted in Figure 2 comprises a DTMF decoder 31 and a
voice decoder 32, for decoding the bidder messages into data signals that are
further
filtered by a message selector 33. The DTMF decoder 31 and the voice decoder
32,
may be any such decoders known in the art. Based on the decoded bidder
messages
coming from the DTMF decoder 31 or from the voice decoder 32, the message
selector 33 selects the auction relevant bidder messages. The message selector
33
may comprise, for example, a database comprising codes representing either
auction
relevant messages or parts of auction messages, such that bidder messages can
be
selected as being relevant to the auction being conducted or as being
unintelligible
with respect to the auction conducted. However, any other means known in the
art for
identifying a given signal as matching one of a plurality of predetermined
codes, can
be employed for the implementation of the message selector 33. Voice
recognition
I5 algorithms common in the art often comprise voice decoding means and
selection
means such as blocks 32 and 33 in Figure 2.
Message selector 33 may perform one of several tasks. Some of the auction
relevant messages, such as bids, are sent to the bidder identifier appending
block 34
which appends a bidder identifier, and sends the message, in this new form, to
the
output means 40. Other auction relevant messages, such as access messages, may
be
analyzed within an access control block 37. Bidder messages selected as being
unintelligible with respect to the conducted auction rnay be discarded or may
be sent
to the access control block 37, as well.
The access control block 37 may perform one or more of several functions.
The access control block 37 may verify an access message such as a password or
a
credit card cumber, for example by accessing special databases such as a
credit
database 90. Also, in order to determine the access rights of a bidder to the
auction,
the access control block 37 may generate access infor~rnation requests as data
signals
22 that are coded into voice messages by a voice coder block 3C and sent,
through the
connecting means 20, to targeted bidder voice terminal 10. Furthermore, upon
determining whether a certain bidder may or may not participate in the
auction, the
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
18-10-2000 PCT/CA99100871
access control block 37 may send control signals to the connecting means Z0,
instructing the connecting means 20 to allow or to restrict the communication
of said
bidder with the auction system 2. In this way, the access control block 37
updates the
record of bidders participating in the auction, which is maintained by the
connecting
means 20 as previously described.
Whenever the message selector 33 detects a bidder message that is not relevant
to the auction, which may be just noise or a comment not pertaining to the
auction, the
message selector can either discard such a message or it can allow the auction
system
1 to respond to such a message, by sending an indicative signal to the access
control
o Mock 37. Upon reception of such a signal, indicating the reception of a
bidder
message that is not relevant to the auction, the access control block 37 may
generate
an alert signal. Alert signals may be further processed in various ways. They
may be
stored within a memory component of the access control block 37 for further
use.
Also, an alert signal may be sent through the voice coder block 36 and through
the
connecting means 20, to the bidder voice terminal 10 at wruch said message
selected
as being not relevant to the auction originated. Such an alert signal may, for
example,
inform the bidder that the message was not understood and it must be re-
entered, or,
that the bidder voice terminal 10 has to be disconnected from the auction
system 1,
because of the unacceptable transmission of repeated unintelligible messages.
2o The output means 40 are preferably, but not restricted to, visual display
means
such as a monitor screen, that permit an auctioneer to acknowledge the bidder
messages and the identity of the bidders originating them.
A time compensation block 70 allows the auction system 1 to estimate
propagation delays of signals in traveling within the communications network
~. The
estimates may be used to compensate for the bias in favor of physically closer
bidders,
for whom the bidding signals have to travel a smaller distance. In deciding
which bid
was placed first in real-time, to compensate for these delays, the computer
may
subtract the round trip delay through network 5 from the time at which the bid
was
received at the output means. The estimates may also be used to alert the
auctioneer
3o that a bidder had entered a bid before being able to hear the closing
gavel, and that his
bid should therefore be allowed.
_g_
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19691 PCTlCA99100871
The time compensation block 70 can obtain the propagation delay estimates by
any suitable technique known in the art. For example, they can be obtained
from the
controlling software of the network 5. Alternatively, round-trip estimates may
be
obtained by estimating the delay before receiving an echo from the bidder
voice
terminal 10 using a system identification algorithm based on the echo
cancellation
technique known in the art. Another option is to attach a time stamp to every
message
originated within the auction system 1 or at a bidder voice terminal 10.
In the embodiment in Figure 2, a voice conferencing block 80 is used to
enable a voice conferencing system among the auctioneer and the participating
bidders. The voice conferencing block 80 may use any of the common voice-
conferencing techniques known in the art, preferably combined with techniques
used
to reduce the effect of combining background noise from many sources, such as
the
companding or squelch techniques.
In the embodiment depicted in Figure 2, the time compensation block 70 and
I 5 the voice conferencing block 80 are shown as being connected to the
connecting
means 20, since preferably, either one of the routines achieved by these
blocks
involves only bidders participating in the auction. As previously described, a
record
of such bidders is maintained through the connecting means 20.
A controller 100 controls the overall operation of the components of the
auction system I. For example, the controller 100 determines the output format
on
the output means 40 as well as various access control routines within the
access
control block 37. Preferably, the auctioneer may access the auction system 1
and
determine the operation of its components through an auctioneer interface (not
shown), linked to the controller 100.
The embodiment of the invention presented in Figures 1 and 2 addresses the
problems noted in the Background section, as follows. The auction system in
Figures
1 and 2 allows real-time communication among bidders and auctioneer, without
requiring bidders to be physically present at air auction place, or to appoint
a
representative at an auction place. Through this system, bidders may
communicate
bidirectionally with the auctioneer by means of voice terminals. By allowing
the
auction to be conveyed by voice at least on the bidders side, the system
described
-9-
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
above is closer to recreating the atmosphere of physical auctions and thus can
be
found more entertaining or easier to use by potential bidders, leading to a
potentially
more competitive bidding process. Furthermore, voice terminals can be
incorporated
within personal computers or they can function as independent pieces of
equipment.
In the latter case, they can be more accessible in terms of cost of use.
Furthermore,
current voice terminals are usually wider spread and better connected to
existing
communication networks, than Internet connected computers used in prior-art
systems. Even further, wireless voice terminals are smaller and lighter, thus
easier to
carry than personal computers.
In addition, the auction system 1 presented in Figures 1 and 2 overcomes the
problems that would be encountered in conducting an auction using a
traditional
telephone conference system, mentioned in the background. Incoming messages
from
bidders are processed in a form that allows the auctioneer to identify
corresponding
bidders, through the output means 40. Messages from bidders are outputted in
order
of arrival. Through the time compensation block 70, the auction system 1 may
account for delays over the communications network 5. Through the access
control
block 37, bidders without credit or bidders that choose to interfere with the
auction by
making noise can be ejected from the auction.
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an auction system 1 in accordance with a
2o preferred embodiment of the invention. The auction system 1 comprises a
plurality of
bid interpreters 14, an auctioneer's computer 4S, an auctioneer s telephone
set 50 and
an auctioneer voice manager 18.
In operation, bidders participate, in real-time, in an auction using bidder
telephone sets 10 connected to the auction system 1. Each bidder telephone set
10
may establish a connection i6 through a telephony network 2, such as the
Public
Switch Telephony Network (PSTN), to a corresponding bid interpreter 14. The
bid
interpreters 14 process voice or DTMF bidder messages received through
connections
16 from bidder telephone sets 20 into data packets. The data packets thus
formed are
passed through connections 24 and data network 3, such a,~~ the Internet, to
be
3o summarized and displayed on the auctioneer's computer 45, in a summary
form. The
auctioneer analyzes the information on the auctioneer computer 45 and uses the
-10-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19b91 PCT/CA99100871
auctioneer telephone set 50 to enter a voice message to be broadcasted to the
bidder
telephone sets 10 of the participating bidders. The auctioneer's telephone set
50
establishes a connection 17 through the telephony network 2 to an auctioneer
voice
manager 18. The auctioneer voice manager 18 passes the auctioneer's voice
through
connections 26 to bid interpreters 14. In turn, the bid interpreters 14 pass
the
auctioneer messages through the connections 16 to bidder telephone sets 10. In
this
embodiment, the selection of the bidder telephone sets 10 corresponding to
participating bidders, and which, therefore, should receive auctioneer
messages, is
done at the level of the bid interpreters 14, as it will be explained in more
detail later
The bid interpreters 14 are microcomputers performing various operations.
One such operation is processing bidder messages into data packets to be sent
to the
auctioneer computer 45 for display or for further processing. Each data packet
formed
at a bid interpreter 14 and sent to the auctioneer computer 45, carries
information
identifying the bidder that entered the message or the corresponding bidder
telephone
set 10. For processing bidder voice messages into data packets, the bid
interpreters 14
use suitable voice recognition algorithms known in the art. According to this
embodiment, the bid interpreters 14 may also interpret DTMF signals received
from
bidder telephone sets 10 that have the touch-toneTM option.
Optionally, the bid interpreters 14 in Figure 3 also perform various
authorization procedures. Authorization procedures comprise requesting access
information and analyzing access messages from bidders in order to verify the
identities of bidders, their creditworthiness, their compliance with
predetermined
ternls and conditions of the auction and the like. In order to perform the
authorization
procedures, the bid interpreters 14 use voice recognition and other decoding
algorithms to recognize passwords or other access messages such as a credit
card
number. In this embodiment, the bid interpreters 14 may access credit
databases in
order to verify the credit information provided by bidders. Data packets
informing the
auctioneer computer 45 of the results of the authorization procedures carried
at the bid
interpreters 14 are sent through connections 24 to the auctioneer computer 45.
Upon
failure to meet authorization conditions, the auctioneer's computer 45 may
deny
participation in the auction to unauthorized bidders, by sending back data
packets
-11-
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCTICA99/00871
through connections 24 to the corresponding bid interpreters 14, commanding
them to
shut down. Alternatively, the auctioneer computer 45 may disconnect the input
ports
for connections 26 to the bid interpreters 14 corresponding to unauthorized
bidders.
Also, the auctioneer computer 45 may ignore the data packets coming through
connections 24 from the bid interpreters 14 corresponding to unauthorized
bidders.
The auctioneer computer 45 analyzes the data packets received from the bid
interpreters 14. Selected data packets; such as those that captain bidding
information,
are outputted in a format that allows the auctioneer to acknowledge the
content of the
data packets and to identify the associated bidders. The data packets can be
outputted
1o by any means known in the art, such as visual, using a monitor terminal
connected to
the auctioneer computer 45 or audio, using speakers attached to the auctioneer
computer 45. The auctioneer may select the output means and a format of
outputting
data packets best suited to his or her needs, by means of a user interface
(not shown)
on the auctioneer computer 45.
The data packets are presented according to a predetermined scheme.
According to this embodiment, the auctioneer's computer 45 uses estimates of
the
different time delays for different bidders through networks 2 and 3 to
compensate for
the bias in favor of "closer" users, and uses these estimates in the
predetermined
scheme, in order to output data packets according to the time when the
associated
2o bidder messages were actually entered. In this embodiment, the auctioneer
computer
45 accomplishes the time compensation routine by subtracting the round-trip
delay
through networks 2 and 3 of each data packet it receives, from the time at
which same
data packet is received, before deciding which data packet came first. The
same
method may be used to alert the auctioneer that a bidder had entered a bid
before
being able to hear the closing gavel, and the bid should therefore be allowed.
The
round-trip time estimates needed for this embodiment are obtained from the
controlling software for the networks 2 and 3. Alternatively, the round-trip
estimates
could be obtained from the delay in receiving an echo from a bidder telephone
set 10
using a system identification algorithm based on an echo cancellation
technique
known in the art.
-12-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
19-10-2000 PCT/CA99/00871
In accordance with the embodiment in Figure 3, the auctioneer computer 45
may command the bid interpreters I4 to act as part of a voice conferencing
system by
sending data packets through connections 24 to the bid interpreters 14. With
the voice
conferencing system thus enabled, bidders participating in the auction can
hear the
voices of active bidders in addition to the voice of the aucd.oneer. Active
bidders are
herein defined as bidders participating in the auction and entering bidder
messages
representing valid bids through their telephone sets 10. Inactive bidders are
bidders
participating in the auction that remain silent on the line; bidders involved
in a
different auction process than a bidding process, such as in the process of
obtaining
authorization; or bidders who make comments that do not pertain to the
auction. The
distinction among active and inactive bidders is made at the level of bid
interpreters
14, which use voice recognition or other suitable decoding algorithms, to
recognize
the content of the messages received from bidders.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, an auction may be
conducted with bidders participating in the auction over a Communications
network
using voice terminals connected to an auction system such as described in any
of
Figures 1 to 3, for example, with other bidders being physically present to
the
auction, and yet with other bidders participating in the auction over the
Internet.
The invention could also be implemented to a lesser extent on existing
Internet
. and PSTN networks. For example, Internet servers could be given much of the
functionality of the invention similar to applications such as NetMeeting.
Alternatively, the invention could be implemented as an application program on
the
personal computers of end users interconnected over the Internet, although
this allows
the possibility of timestamps being inaccurate or falsified, and also makes it
difficult
to ensure that all garticipants are using current software. Qn the PSTN a
specialized
server could be attached to a class 5 switch. These implementations would not
have
ali the benefits of the invention, but could apply certain aspects of its
teachings.
The method steps of the invention may be embodied in sets of executable
machine code stored in a variety of formats such as object code or source
code. Such
code is described generically herein as programming code, or a computer
program for
simplification. Clearly, the executable machine code may be integrated with
the code
-13-
AMENDED SHEET
CA 02343777 2001-03-12
WO 00/19691 PCT/CA99/00871
of other programs, implemented as subroutines, by external program calls or by
other
techniques as known in the art.
The embodiments of the invention may be executed by a computer processor
or similar device programmed in the manner of method steps, or may be executed
by
an electronic system which is provided with means for executing these steps.
Similarly, an electronic memory means such computer diskettes, CD-Roms, Random
Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM) or similar computer software
storage media known in the art, may be programmed to execute such method
steps.
As well, electronic signals representing these method steps may also be
transmitted
via a communication network.
Numerous modifications, variations, and adaptations may be made to the
particular embodiments of the invention described above, without departing
from the
scope of the invention.
- 14-
