U.S. patent application number 12/134688 was filed with the patent office on 2009-01-08 for method for transfer of information related to targeted content messages through a proxy server.
This patent application is currently assigned to QUALCOMM INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Pooja Aggarwal, Robert S. Daley, Dilip Krishnaswamy, Patrik Lundqvist, Martin Renschler.
Application Number | 20090013051 12/134688 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40221842 |
Filed Date | 2009-01-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090013051 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Renschler; Martin ; et
al. |
January 8, 2009 |
METHOD FOR TRANSFER OF INFORMATION RELATED TO TARGETED CONTENT
MESSAGES THROUGH A PROXY SERVER
Abstract
Information transfer methods for exchange of information with a
wireless access terminal (W-AT) includes receiving a first message
from the W-AT, the first message including first information
provided by the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of
identifying the W-AT, converting the first message to an anonymized
message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction identifier
(ID), transmitting the anonymized message to a remote server,
receiving a first response from the remote server, the first
response having response information and the anonymized address
information, converting the first response to a second response by
replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT address, and
transmitting the second response to the W-AT.
Inventors: |
Renschler; Martin; (San
Diego, CA) ; Aggarwal; Pooja; (Del Mar, CA) ;
Krishnaswamy; Dilip; (Del Mar, CA) ; Daley; Robert
S.; (Del Mar, CA) ; Lundqvist; Patrik;
(Encinitas, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
5775 MOREHOUSE DR.
SAN DIEGO
CA
92121
US
|
Assignee: |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
SAN DIEGO
CA
|
Family ID: |
40221842 |
Appl. No.: |
12/134688 |
Filed: |
June 6, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60948450 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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60948451 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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60948452 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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60948453 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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60948455 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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60948456 |
Jul 7, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/2129 20130101;
H04W 4/02 20130101; G06F 2221/2135 20130101; G06F 2221/0731
20130101; H04W 4/12 20130101; G06F 2221/2145 20130101; G06F
2221/0775 20130101; G06F 2221/2101 20130101; G06F 2221/0759
20130101; G06F 2221/2117 20130101; H04W 64/00 20130101; G06F
2221/0768 20130101; G06F 16/9535 20190101; G06F 21/10 20130101;
G06F 2221/2141 20130101; G06F 16/9537 20190101; G06F 2221/0744
20130101; G06F 2221/2103 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101; G06F
2221/0742 20130101; G06Q 30/0267 20130101; H04L 67/025 20130101;
G06Q 30/0269 20130101; H04W 4/029 20180201; G06F 2221/2151
20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06F 21/6254 20130101; G06F
2221/2143 20130101; G06F 2221/0724 20130101; G06Q 30/0251 20130101;
H04L 67/22 20130101; G06F 2221/2115 20130101; H04W 8/245
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. An information transfer method for providing exchange of
information with a wireless access terminal (W-AT), the method
comprising: receiving a first message from a W-AT at a proxy
server, the first message including first information provided by
the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the
W-AT; converting, at the proxy server, the first message to an
anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction
identifier (ID); transmitting the anonymized message to a remote
server.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information is
generated on a W-AT based on at least one of
targeted-content-message information on the W-AT and user profile
information on the W-AT;
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: deleting at least one
of the transaction ID and the W-AT address information at the proxy
server, after transmitting the anonymized message to the remote
server.
4. The method of claim 2 further comprising: receiving, at the
proxy server, a first response from the remote server, the first
response having response information and the anonymized address
information; converting, at the proxy server, the first response to
a second response by replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT
address; and transmitting the second response to the W-AT.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising deleting at least one
of the transaction ID and the W-AT address information at the proxy
server, after transmitting the second response to the W-AT.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the remote server is denied the
W-AT address.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the transaction ID is used by the
proxy server to identify the W-AT
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the transaction ID is produced
via a hashing function.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: incorporating the
response information in a user profile of the W-AT.
10. The method of claim 4, wherein the response information is
information relating to at least one of a likely age and an ethnic
background of the user.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first information is a
geographic location.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the W-AT is configured such
that the first information is never translated real-time.
13. A proxy server capable of transferring information to a
wireless access terminal (W-AT), comprising: means for receiving a
first message from a W-AT, the first message including first
information provided by the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable
of identifying the W-AT; means for converting the first message to
an anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a
transaction identifier (ID); means for transmitting the anonymized
message to a remote server; means for receiving a first response
from the remote server, the first response having response
information and the transaction ID; means for converting the first
response to a second response by replacing the transaction ID with
the W-AT address; and means for transmitting the second response to
the W-AT by use of the W-AT address information.
14. The server of claim 13, wherein the first information is
generated on a W-AT based on at least one of
targeted-content-message information on the W-AT and user profile
information on the W-AT;
15. The server of claim 13, further comprising means for deleting
at least one of the transaction ID an W-AT address information.
16. The server of claim 13, wherein the remote server is denied the
W-AT address.
17. The server of claim 13, wherein the transaction ID is used by
the proxy server to identify the W-AT
18. The server of claim 17, wherein the transaction ID is produced
via a hashing function.
19. The server of claim 14, wherein the response information is
incorporated in a user profile of the W-AT.
20. The server of claim 19, wherein the response information is
information relating to at least one of a likely age and an ethnic
background of the user.
21. The server of claim 20, wherein the first information is a
geographic location.
22. A proxy server capable of transferring information to a
wireless access terminal (W-AT), comprising: wireless receiving
circuitry configured to receive a first message from a W-AT, the
first message including first information provided by the W-AT and
an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT; first
processing circuitry configured to convert the first message to an
anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction
identifier (ID); first transmitting circuitry configured to
transmit the anonymized message to a remote server; first receiving
circuitry configured to receive a first response from the remote
server, the first response having response information and the
transaction ID; second processing circuitry configured to convert
the first response to a second response by replacing the
transaction ID with the W-AT address; and wireless transmitting
circuitry configured to transmit the second response to the W-AT by
use of the W-AT address information.
23. The server of claim 22, wherein the transaction ID is produced
via a hashing function.
24. The server of claim 22, wherein the response information is
information relating to at least one of a likely age and an ethnic
background of the user.
25. The server of claim 24, wherein the first information is a
geographic location.
26. A computer program product, comprising: a computer-readable
medium comprising: a first set of instructions for receiving a
first message from a W-AT, the first message including first
information provided by the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable
of identifying the W-AT; a second set of instructions for
converting the first message to an anonymized message by replacing
the W-AT address with a transaction identifier (ID); a third set of
instructions for transmitting the anonymized message to a remote
server; a fourth set of instructions for receiving a first response
from the remote server, the first response having response
information and the anonymized address information; a fifth set of
instructions for converting the first response to a second response
by replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT address; and a sixth
set of instructions for transmitting the second response to the
W-AT.
27. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising
instructions for deleting at least one of the transaction ID and
the W-AT address information.
28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the
transaction ID is produced via a hashing function.
29. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the response
information is information relating to at least one of a likely age
and an ethnic background of the user.
30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the first
information is a geographic location.
31. One or more integrated circuits that together comprise:
wireless receiving circuitry configured to receive a first message
from a W-AT, the first message including first information provided
by the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the
W-AT; first processing circuitry configured to convert the first
message to an anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with
a transaction identifier (ID); first transmitting circuitry
configured to transmit the anonymized message to a remote server;
first receiving circuitry configured to receive a first response
from the remote server, the first response having response
information and the transaction ID; second processing circuitry
configured to convert the first response to a second response by
replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT address; and wireless
transmitting circuitry configured to transmit the second response
to the W-AT by use of the W-AT address information.
32. An apparatus, comprising: processing circuitry; and a memory
coupled to the processing circuitry that includes: a first set of
instructions for receiving a first message from a W-AT, the first
message including first information provided by the W-AT and an
address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT; a second set
of instructions for converting the first message to an anonymized
message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction identifier
(ID); a third set of instructions for transmitting the anonymized
message to a remote server; a fourth set of instructions for
receiving a first response from the remote server, the first
response having response information and the anonymized address
information; a fifth set of instructions for converting the first
response to a second response by replacing the transaction ID with
the W-AT address; and a sixth set of instructions for transmitting
the second response to the W-AT.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to
Provisional Application No. 60/948,450 entitled "USER PROFILE
GENERATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING" filed Jul. 7, 2007,
and Provisional Application No. 60/948,451 entitled "USER PROFILE
GENERATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING USING SECURE
EXTERNAL PROCESSES" filed Jul. 7, 2007, and Provisional Application
No. 60/948,452 entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING TARGETED
ADVERTISING BASED ON A USER IN A MOBILE ENVIRONMENT" filed Jul. 7,
2007, and Provisional Application No. 60/948,453 entitled "USER
PROFILE GENERATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING USING
PROFILE ATTRIBUTES HAVING VARIABLE CONFIDENCE LEVELS" filed Jul. 7,
2007, and Provisional Application No. 60/948,455 entitled "METHOD
AND SYSTEM FOR DELIVERY OF TARGETED ADVERTISING BASED ON A USER
PROFILE IN A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE" filed Jul. 7, 2007, and
Provisional Application No. 60/948,456 entitled "USER PROFILE
GENERATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MOBILE ADVERTISING" filed Jul. 7, 2007,
all of which are assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby
expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] This disclosure relates to wireless communications. In
particular, the present disclosure relates to wireless
communications systems usable for targeted content-message and
related transactions.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Mobile Targeted-Content-Message (TCM)-enabled systems can be
described as systems capable of delivering targeted content
information, such as local weather reports and advertisements
targeted to a particular demographic, to wireless communication
devices (WCDs), such as cellular telephones or other forms of
wireless access terminals (W-ATs). Such systems may also provide a
better user experience by presenting non-intrusive
targeted-content-messages that are likely to be of interest to a
user.
[0004] An example of a mobile TCM-enabled system is a mobile
advertising system capable of delivering advertisements to wireless
communication devices (WCDs). Generally, a mobile advertising
system can provide such things as an advertisement sales conduit
for a cellular provider to provide advertisements on a W-AT, as
well as some form of analytical interface to report back on the
performance of various advertisement campaigns. A particular
consumer benefit of mobile advertising is that it can provide
alternate/additional revenue models for wireless services so as to
allow more economical access to the wireless services to those
consumers willing to accept advertisements. For example, the
revenue generated through advertising may allow W-AT users to enjoy
various services without paying the full subscription price usually
associated with such services.
[0005] In order to increase the effectiveness of TCMs on W-ATs, it
can be beneficial to provide targeted information, i.e., TCMs which
are deemed likely to be well received by, and/or of likely interest
to, a particular person or a designated group of people.
[0006] Targeted-Content-Message (TCM) information can be based on
immediate needs or circumstances, such as a need to find emergency
roadside service or the need for information about a travel route.
Targeted-Content-Message information can also be based on specific
products or services (e.g., games) for which a user has
demonstrated past interest, and/or based on demographics, for
example, a determination of an age and income group likely to be
interested in a particular product. Targeted Advertisements are an
example of TCMs.
[0007] Targeted advertisements can provide a number of advantages
(over general advertisements) including: (1) in an economic
structure based on cost per view, an advertiser may be able to
increase the value of his advertising budget by limiting paid
advertising to a smaller set of prospects; and (2) as targeted
advertisements are likely to represent areas of interest for a
particular user, the likelihood that users will respond positively
to targeted advertisements increases substantially.
[0008] Unfortunately, the information that makes some forms of
targeted advertising possible may be restricted due to government
regulations and the desire of people to limit the dissemination of
their personal information. For example, in the US, such government
restrictions include the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Title 47
of the United States Code, Section 222--"Privacy of Customer
Information." In comparison, the European Union has a policy of
protecting "personal data" or "any information relating to an
identified or identifiable natural person (`data subject`); an
identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or
indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number
or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological,
mental, economic, cultural or social identity." Common carriers
also may be restricted from using personal information about their
subscribers for marketing purposes. For example, the GLBA prohibits
access to individually identifiable customer information, as well
as the disclosure of location information, without the express
prior authorization of the customer.
[0009] Thus, new technology for delivering targeted advertising in
a wireless communication environment is desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0010] In an exemplary embodiment, an information transfer method
for exchange of information with a wireless access terminal (W-AT)
includes receiving a first message from a W-AT, the first message
including first information related to targeted-content-message
information and/or user profile information provided by the W-AT
and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT,
converting the first message to an anonymized message by replacing
the W-AT address with a transaction identifier (ID), transmitting
the anonymized message to a remote server, receiving a first
response from the remote server, the first response having response
information and the anonymized address information, converting the
first response to a second response by replacing the transaction ID
with the W-AT address, and transmitting the second response to the
W-AT.
[0011] In another exemplary embodiment, a proxy server capable of
transferring information to a wireless access terminal (W-AT)
includes means for receiving a first message from a W-AT, the first
message including first information related to targeted content
message information and/or user profile information provided by the
W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT,
means for converting the first message to an anonymized message by
replacing the W-AT address with a transaction identifier (ID),
means for transmitting the anonymized message to a remote server,
means for receiving a first response from the remote server, the
first response having response information and the transaction ID,
means for converting the first response to a second response by
replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT address; and means for
transmitting the second response to the W-AT by use of the W-AT
address information.
[0012] In another exemplary embodiment, a proxy server capable of
transferring information to a wireless access terminal (W-AT)
includes wireless receiving circuitry configured to receive a first
message from a W-AT, the first message including first information
related to targeted content message information and/or user profile
information provided by the W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable
of identifying the W-AT, first processing circuitry configured to
convert the first message to an anonymized message by replacing the
W-AT address with a transaction identifier (ID), first transmitting
circuitry configured to transmit the anonymized message to a remote
server, first receiving circuitry configured to receive a first
response from the remote server, the first response having response
information and the transaction ID, second processing circuitry
configured to convert the first response to a second response by
replacing the transaction ID with the W-AT address, and wireless
transmitting circuitry configured to transmit the second response
to the W-AT by use of the W-AT address information.
[0013] In another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product
includes a computer-readable medium that includes a first set of
instructions for receiving a first message from a W-AT, the first
message including first information related to targeted content
message information and/or user profile information provided by the
W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT, a
second set of instructions for converting the first message to an
anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction
identifier (ID), a third set of instructions for transmitting the
anonymized message to a remote server, a fourth set of instructions
for receiving a first response from the remote server, the first
response having response information and the anonymized address
information, a fifth set of instructions for converting the first
response to a second response by replacing the transaction ID with
the W-AT address, and a sixth set of instructions for transmitting
the second response to the W-AT.
[0014] In another exemplary embodiment, one or more integrated
circuits that together includes wireless receiving circuitry
configured to receive a first message from a W-AT, the first
message including first information provided by the W-AT and an
address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT, first
processing circuitry configured to convert the first message to an
anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction
identifier (ID), first transmitting circuitry configured to
transmit the anonymized message to a remote server, first receiving
circuitry configured to receive a first response from the remote
server, the first response having response information and the
transaction ID, second processing circuitry configured to convert
the first response to a second response by replacing the
transaction ID with the W-AT address, and wireless transmitting
circuitry configured to transmit the second response to the W-AT by
use of the W-AT address information.
[0015] In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes
processing circuitry; and a memory coupled to the processing
circuitry that includes a first set of instructions for receiving a
first message from a W-AT, the first message including first
information related to targeted content messages provided by the
W-AT and an address of the W-AT capable of identifying the W-AT, a
second set of instructions for converting the first message to an
anonymized message by replacing the W-AT address with a transaction
identifier (ID), a third set of instructions for transmitting the
anonymized message to a remote server, a fourth set of instructions
for receiving a first response from the remote server, the first
response having response information and the anonymized address
information, a fifth set of instructions for converting the first
response to a second response by replacing the transaction ID with
the W-AT address, and a sixth set of instructions for transmitting
the second response to the W-AT.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The features and nature of the present disclosure will
become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below
when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which reference
characters identify corresponding items and processes
throughout.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the interaction between an
exemplary wireless access terminal (W-AT) and a
targeted-message-sending infrastructure.
[0018] FIG. 2 is schematic block diagram showing the operation of
an exemplary W-AT having an on-board user profile generation
agent.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an exemplary
operation of a data transfer of a user profile generation
agent.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram handling an exemplary
request for profile data processing.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing an exemplary
operation of a user profile generation agent.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a flowchart outlining an exemplary operation for
generating and using a user profile.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a flowchart outlining another exemplary operation
for generating and using a user profile.
[0024] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the use of a one-way hash
function for client identity protection when identifiable data is
transferred to a mobile targeted-message-sending server. A
targeted-message-sending server is an example of mobile
targeted-content-message processing server.
[0025] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating data flow implemented by a
proxy server for anonymizing identifiable data transferred to a
mobile targeted-message-sending server.
[0026] FIG. 10 depicts a communication protocol for content
distribution in a mobile targeted-message-sending-enabled
network.
[0027] FIG. 11 depicts another communication protocol for content
distribution in a mobile targeted-message-sending-enabled
network.
[0028] FIG. 12 depicts another communication protocol for content
distribution in a mobile targeted-message-sending-enabled
network.
[0029] FIG. 13 depicts another communication protocol for content
distribution in a mobile targeted-message-sending-enabled
network.
[0030] FIG. 14 depicts a timeline for a first communication
protocol for downloading targeted-message-sending content according
to "contact windows" approach.
[0031] FIG. 15 depicts an alternate timeline for a communication
protocol for downloading targeted-message-sending content according
to a defined time schedule.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] The terms and respective definitions/descriptions below are
provided as a reference to the following disclosure. Note, however,
that when applied to certain embodiments, some of the applied
definitions/descriptions may be expanded or may otherwise differ
with some of the specific language provided below as may be
apparent to one of ordinary skill and in light of the particular
circumstances.
[0033] TCM--Targeted-Content-Message. An advertisement can be an
example of a Targeted-Content-Message.
[0034] M-TCM-PS--Mobile Targeted-Content-Message Processing
System
[0035] MAS--Mobile advertising system.
[0036] UPG--User Profile Generation Agent
[0037] M-TCM-EC--Mobile TCM-Enabled Client
[0038] MAEC--Mobile advertising enabled client. This can be an
example of a Mobile TCM-Enabled Client
[0039] Mobile TCM Provider (M-TCM-P)--A person or an entity that
may want to display a targeted-content-message through a
targeted-content-message processing system.
[0040] Advertiser--A person or an entity that may want to display
advertisements through a mobile advertising system (MAS). An
advertiser may provide the advertisement data along with respective
targeting and playback rules, which may in some instances form
advertisement metadata to a MAS. An advertiser is an example of a
Mobile TCM Provider.
[0041] TCM Metadata--A term used to identify data that can be used
to provide additional information about a respective
Targeted-Content-Message (TCM).
[0042] Advertisement Metadata--A term used to identify data that
may be used to provide additional information about a respective
advertisement. This may include, but is not limited to, mime type,
advertisement duration, advertisement viewing start time,
advertisement viewing end time, etc. Respective advertisement
targeting and playback rules provided by the advertiser may also
get attached to an advertisement as metadata for the advertisement.
Advertisement Metadata is an example of TCM metadata.
[0043] Application Developer--A person who or an entity that
develops an application for the mobile advertising enabled client
(MAEC) that can feature advertisements.
[0044] System Operator--A person who or entity that operates a
MAS.
[0045] Third Party Inference Rule Provider--A third party (other
than a system operator) who may provide user profile inference
rules to be used by a User Profile Generation Agent
[0046] User Profile Generation Agent--A functional unit at the
client that may receive various pertinent data, such as
advertisement inference rules, user behavior from a metric
collection agent, location data from a GPS, explicit user
preferences entered by a user (if any) and/or user behavior from
other client applications, then generate various user profile
elements. A User Profile Generation Agent may continuously update a
profile based upon information gathered that may be used to
characterize user behavior.
[0047] User Behavior Synthesizer--A functional device or agent
within a User Profile Generation Agent that may be used to receive
a variety of data, such as user behavior information, location
information and user profile inference rules to generate
synthesized profile attributes.
[0048] Profile Element Refiner--A functional device or agent within
a User Profile Generation Agent that may receive profile attributes
generated by a user behavior synthesizer as well as a number of
user profile inference rules. A Profile Element Refiner may refine
profile attributes, process them through queries sent to a profile
attribute processor, and generate user profile elements.
[0049] Profile Attribute Processor--A server and/or resident agent
of a server that may process profile attribute requests that may
require data-intensive lookups, and then respond with refined
profile attributes.
[0050] TCM Filtering Agent--A client agent that may receiver a
number of TCMs with their respective meta-data, TCM targeting rules
and TCM filtering rules, then store some or all of the TCMs in a
TCM-cache memory. The filtering agent may also take a user profile
as input from the User Profile Generation Agent.
[0051] Advertisement Filtering Agent--A client agent that may
receive a number of advertisements with their respective metadata,
advertisement targeting rules and advertisement filter rules, then
store some or all of the received advertisements in an
advertisement cache memory. The filtering agent may also take a
user profile as input from the User Profile Generation Agent. An
advertising filtering agent is an example of a TCM filtering
agent.
[0052] TCM Cache Manager--A client agent that can maintain a
targeted content-message cache. A cache manager may take cached
targeted content-messages from a filtering agent, and respond to
content-message requests from other applications on the access
terminal.
[0053] Advertisement Cache Manager--A client agent that can
maintain an advertisement cache. A cache manager may take cached
advertisements from a filtering agent and respond to advertisement
requests from other applications on the access terminal. An
advertisement cache manager is an example of a TCM cache
manager.
[0054] User Profile Attributes--User behavior, interests,
demographic information, and so on that may be synthesized by a
user behavior synthesizer to form profile attributes, which may be
viewed as intermediate pre-synthesized forms of data that may be
further processed and refined by a profile element refiner into
more refined user profile elements.
[0055] User Profile Elements--Items of information used to maintain
a user profile, which may include various types of data useful to
categorize or define the user's interests, behavior, demographic
etc.
[0056] TCM Targeting Rules--These may include rules related to the
presentation of a targeted-content-message specified by a Mobile
TCM Provider.
[0057] Advertisement Targeting Rules--These may include rules
specified by advertisers to impose rules/restrictions on how
advertisements may be displayed and/or rules to target an
advertisement towards a particular segment of users. They may be
specific to a number of criteria, such as an advertisement campaign
or advertisement group. Advertisement Targeting Rules are an
example of TCM Targeting Rules.
[0058] TCM Playback Rules--These can include display rules
specified by a client application while querying a TCM Cache
Manager for TCMs to display in the context of their
application.
[0059] Advertisement Playback Rules--These can include display
rules specified by a client application while querying an
Advertisement Cache Manager for advertisements to display in the
context of their application. Advertisement Playback Rules are an
example of TCM Playback Rules.
[0060] TCM Filter Rules--These can include rules upon which TCMs
may be filtered. Typically, a system operator may specify these
rules.
[0061] Advertisement Filter Rules--These can include rules upon
which advertisements may be filtered. Typically, a system operator
may specify these rules. Advertisement Filter Rules are an example
of TCM-Filter-Rules.
[0062] User Profile Element Inference Rules--These can include
rules, specified by a system operator (and/or a third party), that
may be used to determine one or more processes usable to build a
user profile from demographic and behavioral data.
[0063] TCM Telescoping--A display or presentation function for a
TCM whereby additional presentation material may presented to a
user in response to a user request.
[0064] Advertisement Telescoping--An advertisement display or
presentation function whereby additional presentation material may
presented to a user in response to a user request. Advertisement
Telescoping is an example of TCM telescoping.
[0065] As mentioned above, various regulations regarding
telecommunications and privacy can make targeted advertising
difficult. However, the present disclosure can provide a variety of
solutions to deliver targeted advertising to wireless access
terminals (W-ATs), e.g., cellular phones, while paying attention to
privacy concerns.
[0066] One of the many approaches of this disclosure used to
alleviate privacy issues includes offloading a variety of processes
onto a user's W-AT that may, in turn, be used to generate a set of
information that likely characterizes the user, i.e., it can create
a "user profile" of the user on the W-AT itself. Accordingly,
targeted-content-messages, such as advertisements and other media,
may be directed to the user's W-AT based on the user's profiles
without exposing potentially sensitive customer information to the
outside world.
[0067] The various disclosed methods and systems may be used in a
Mobile TCM Processing System (M-TCM-PS) (and, in particular, in a
Mobile Advertising System (MAS)), which for the present disclosure
may include an end-to-end communication system usable to deliver
targeted-content-messages (or in particular, advertisements) to
TCM-Enabled W-ATs (or in particular Mobile Advertising Enabled
W-ATs). A MAS may also provide an analytical interface capable of
reporting on the performance of a particular advertisement
campaign. Accordingly, an appropriately constructed MAS may provide
a better consumer experience by presenting only non-intrusive
advertisements that are likely to be of interest to consumers.
[0068] While the following examples are generally directed to
content, such as commercial advertising, a broader scope of
directed content is envisioned. For example, instead of directed
advertisements, content such as stock reports, weather reports,
religious information, news and sports information specific to a
user's interests, and so on is envisioned within the bounds of this
disclosure. For example, while directed content may be an
advertisement, a score for a sports event and a weather report may
just as easily be directed content. Accordingly, devices such as
advertising servers may be viewed as more general content servers,
and advertising-related agents and devices may be more generally
thought of as content-related agents and servers. Information
exchange between a TCM-enabled WAT and a content-related agent or
server can be encrypted. All further discussion is provided in the
context of advertisements as an example of a TCM (Targeted Content
Message), and it should be noted that such discussion is applicable
to Targeted-Content-Messages in general.
[0069] FIG. 1 is a diagram of some of the various functional
elements of a MAS showing the interaction between an
advertisement-enabled W-AT 100 with a communication network having
an advertising infrastructure. As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary
MAS includes the advertisement-enabled mobile client/W-AT 100, a
radio-enabled network (RAN) 190 and an advertising infrastructure
150 embedded in the network associated with the wireless WAN
infrastructure (not shown in FIG. 1). For example, the advertising
infrastructure could be available at a remote server not
geographically co-located with a cellular base station in the
wireless WAN.
[0070] As shown in FIG. 1, the W-AT can include a client
applications device 110, a client advertisement interface 112, a
metric collection agent 120, an ad caching manager 122, an ad
filtering agent 124, a metric reporting agent 126, an advertisement
reception agent 120 and a data service layer device 130. The
advertising infrastructure 150 can include an advertisement sales
agent 160, an analytics agent 162, a server advertisement interface
164, an advertisement ingestion agent 170, an advertisement
bundling agent 174, an advertisement distribution agent 176, a
metric database 172, a metric collection agent 178, and having a
proxy server 182.
[0071] In operation, the "client side" of the MAS can be handled by
the W-AT 100 (depicted on the left-hand side of FIG. 1). In
addition to traditional applications associated with W-ATs, the
present W-AT 100 may have advertisement-related applications at the
applications level 110, which in turn may be linked to the rest of
the MAS via a client advertisement interface 112. In various
embodiments, the client advertisement interface 112 may provide for
metrics/data collection and management. Some of the collected
metrics/data may be transferred to the metric reporting agent 126
and/or to the W-AT's data service layer 130 (via the metric
collection agent 120), without exposing individually identifiable
customer information, for further distribution to the rest of the
MAS.
[0072] The transferred metrics/data may be provided through the RAN
190 to the advertising infrastructure 150 (depicted on the
right-hand side of FIG. 1), which for the present example includes
a variety of advertising-related and privacy-protecting servers.
The advertising infrastructure 150 can receive the metrics/data at
a data service layer 180, which in turn may communicate the
received metrics/data to a number of metrics/data collection
servers (here metric collection agent 178) and/or software modules.
The metrics/data may be stored in the metric database 172, and
provided to the advertising server interface 164 where the stored
metrics/data may be used for marketing purposes, e.g., advertising,
sales and analytics. Note that information of interest may include,
among other things, user selections at a W-AT and requests for
advertisements executed by the W-AT in response to instructions
provided by the advertising infrastructure 150.
[0073] The server advertisement interface 164 can provide a conduit
for supplying advertisements (advertising ingestion), bundling
advertisements, determining a distribution of advertisements and
sending advertising through the data service layer 180 of the
advertising infrastructure 150 to the rest of the MAS network. The
advertising infrastructure 150 can provide the W-AT 100 with the
advertisements, and metadata for advertisements. The W-AT 100 can
be instructed by the advertising infrastructure 150 to select
advertisements based on any available advertisement metadata
according to rules provided by the advertising infrastructure.
[0074] As mentioned above, the exemplary W-AT 100 may be enabled to
generate, in whole or in part, a user profile for the W-AT's user
that, in turn, may be useful to enable the MAS to deliver targeted
advertisements of likely interest to the user. This may result in
better "click-through rates" for various advertisement campaigns.
However, as mentioned above, generating a user profile may raise
privacy concerns because of the potentially sensitive nature of
data that may reside in the user profile.
[0075] Nevertheless, as will be shown below in the various MAS
embodiments, privacy concerns may be alleviated by enabling a
user's W-AT to generate a user profile while subsequently limiting
the user profile to the confines of the user's W-AT except in very
limited (and controlled) circumstances.
[0076] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing operational details of the
exemplary W-AT of FIG. 1 configured to generate and use a user
profile. As shown in FIG. 2, the exemplary W-AT includes a
processing system capable of processing a number of applications
including a number of core client applications and a client
advertising interface. Note that some components, such as the ad
reception agent 128 and data service layer 130, are omitted from
FIG. 2 for simplicity of explanation for the functions relevant to
FIG. 2. The exemplary W-AT 100 of FIG. 2 is shown having a platform
specific adaptation interface 111 between the client advertisement
interface 112 and the client applications device 110, and an
advertisement filtering agent 124 having a user profile generation
agent 210 and a client advertisement filtering agent 220 responsive
to the user profile generation agent 210. An advertisement cache
memory 240 is shown in communication with the advertisement cache
manager 122. External devices, e.g., profile attribute processor
270, system operator (or 3.sup.rd party) 280 and advertisement
sales interface 164, are shown in communication with the
advertisement filtering agent 124. Devices 270, 280 and 164 are
generally not part of a W-AT, but likely to reside in another
portion of a MAS network.
[0077] While the various components 110-240 of the W-AT 100 are
depicted as separate functional blocks, it should be appreciated
that each of these functional blocks may take a variety of forms
including separate pieces of dedicated logic, separate processors
running separate pieces of software/firmware, collections of
software/firmware residing in a memory and being operated upon by a
single processor, and so on.
[0078] In operation, the client applications device 110 may perform
any number of functional applications useful for telecommunications
(e.g., calls and text messaging) or other tasks (e.g., games) using
the platform specific adaptation interface 111 to interface with
the client advertisement interface. The client advertisement
interface 112, in turn, can be used to allow the W-AT 100 to
perform a number of useful processes, such as monitor user behavior
and pass user-related information to the user profile generation
agent 210.
[0079] In addition to receiving information directly from the
client applications interface, the user profile generation agent
210 may accrue user behavior information from the metrics
collection agent 120, which itself may receive the same or
different information from the client advertisement interface 112.
Examples of user behavior may include advertising-related
responses, such as advertisement clicks and other metrics
indicating types and frequency of usage. Other user behavior
information may include direct user preferences or
authorizations.
[0080] The metrics collection agent 120 may provide metrics/data to
the metrics reporting agent 126, which in turn may provide the
metrics/data information to other components of MAS (discussed
below) that may be internal or external to a W-AT.
[0081] The profile attribute processor 270 can process incoming
profile attribute processing requests from the W-AT 100 that
require (or can otherwise benefit from) data-intensive lookups and
respond with refined profile attributes to the user profile
generation agent 210.
[0082] One function of the user profile generation agent 210 may
include providing user profile information to the client
advertisement filtering agent 220, which may determine
advertisements that may be provided to the W-AT's user in
accordance with relevant filter rules, as well as advertisement
data and advertisement metadata from the advertising sales
interface 164. The advertisement filtering agent 220 may also
provide filtered advertisements to the advertisement cache manager
122, which in turn may store and later provide such advertisements
(via advertisement cache memory 240) for presentation to the
user.
[0083] A user profile generation agent can be any collection of
hardware and/or software residing in a Mobile Advertising Enabled
W-AT that can be used to collect user behavior information.
Potential information sources may include, but are not limited to,
applications residing on the user's W-AT, public information
available in various accessible databases, previous user responses
to advertisements, location data from a resident GPS radio and
explicit user preferences entered by the user (if any). Any user
profile information gathered may then be processed/synthesized to
generate user profile attributes or elements, which may better
characterize the user while using less memory resources.
[0084] In various embodiments, user profile inference rules
provided by a system operator (and/or a third party) may drive the
particular actions of a W-AT's user profile generation agent. Note
that these rules may be of a number of types, including: (1) Basic
Rules, which include actions to be performed by a user profile
generation agent on a pre-determined schedule associated with each
action; and (2) Qualified Rules, which include "action(s)" that are
qualified by a "condition", where the "condition" may define a
behavior that needs to be true, and the "action" may define an
action taken by a rule engine of the user profile generation agent
when the condition is detected to be true. Such rules may be useful
in inferring information from specific user actions or
behavior.
[0085] For example, a simple rule for a user profile generation
agent might be to store GPS derived location information for the
user's W-AT every five minutes. An associated rule could be that
the location most frequented within a 09:00-17:00 time range in the
day be marked as the user's likely work location.
[0086] By way of a second example, a rule qualified by a condition
might be to add a "game" category to the user's list of interests
if the user often spends more than 30 minutes a day in the gaming
applications on his W-AT.
[0087] Also note that the user profile generation agent may also
take as input user preferences including user selection concerning
express authorization of the user to derive a profile using
location data, other authorizations made by the user and other
specific information entered by the user. E.g. the user might input
his preference to view travel related advertisements.
[0088] Various rule-driven approaches incorporated in a user's W-AT
usable to gather and refine/categorize behavior data may alleviate
some of the privacy concerns users might have. For example, by
mining data and synthesizing raw data into more meaningful/useful
forms within the W-AT (as opposed to using an external server),
sensitive or personal information can be developed and later used
for targeted advertising without exposing this information to the
rest of the W-AT's communication network.
[0089] In various embodiments, particular aspects of a user's
profile may control portions of the user's W-AT. For example, a
user profile generation agent may utilize any retrieved W-AT
information to tailor information content in a manner best suited
for the W-AT, including the choice of menu layout, such as linear,
hierarchical, animated, popup and softkeys.
[0090] As mentioned above, while most profile generation rules can
be interpreted by the W-AT's embedded user profile generation
agent, there might be some rules that require large database
lookups, e.g., government census data. Since memory on the W-AT may
be too limited to accommodate large databases, it may be possible
to further refine the already synthesized user behavior and
demographic data by offloading the appropriate refinement tasks to
a specially configured server at the W-AP side of the MAS network.
For the present disclosure, any such external server capable of
assisting in user profile generation may be referred to as a
"profile attribute processor." Additional discussion of profile
attribute processors is provided below with respect to FIG. 4.
[0091] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the previously
presented user profile generation agent 210 shown in the context of
interacting with other devices 312 and 280. Various capabilities of
the user profile generation agent 210 (in addition to those
discussed above) are provided in part below.
[0092] One of the features of a mobile phone is that it can be
carried by a user wherever he/she goes. Utilizing the GPS
capabilities of a W-AT, the W-AT can determine where the user is
periodically or a-periodically spending some or most of his/her
time. As there is often demographic data associated with locations,
the use of GPS information and demographic data associated with
locations that the user frequents may allow the development of at
least some portions of a demographic profile associated with the
user. Typical demographic profile elements associated with the
user's profile using the location information may include, but are
not limited to: [0093] Location ZIP code [0094] Gender [0095]
Median age for the frequented location [0096] Age distribution and
associated probability [0097] Mean travel time to work [0098]
Household income or household income range [0099] Household size
[0100] Family income or family income range [0101] Family size
[0102] Marital status [0103] Probability of owning a house [0104]
Probability of renting a house [0105] Life-stage
group/classification
[0106] Note that multiple demographic user profiles can be
maintained at the W-AT for the user. For example, the Mobile
Advertising Enabled Client might be configured by the network to
maintain two demographic profiles for the user--one for his "home"
location (most frequented location between, say, 21:00-06:00) and
one for his "work" location (most frequented location between, say
09:00-17:00).
[0107] In addition to general demographics, a user profile may be
further developed using any of a W-AT's numerous applications.
Which applications, e.g., games, a user tends to spend most of his
time with or how he interacts with the various applications on the
phone may provide an opportunity to build a profile for the user
based on his behavior and preferences. Most of the data mining and
user behavior profile determination of this sort can be done on the
W-AT itself, being driven by user profile inference rules fed to
the user profile generation agent 210. Typical behavioral profile
elements associated with a user may include, but are not limited
to, the following: [0108] Application ID and time spent in the
application [0109] Interest categorization [0110] Favorite keywords
[0111] Favorite websites [0112] Advertisements of interest [0113]
Music album [0114] Games of interest
[0115] Many profile elements (including demographics) can be
inferred from behavior mined by adding hooks to observe application
behavior through a native user interface application on a W-AT. It
is through such applications that the user may launch other
applications. Applications of interest to the user and time spent
in these applications can be inferred by monitoring when the user
launches and exits a particular application.
[0116] Rules fed to the user profile generation agent 210 can
associate interest categories for a user based on the user's
interactions with applications. Interest categories can also be
assigned to the user profile using server assisted collaborative
filtering on the behavior data collected at the W-AT.
[0117] Rules that may get downloaded to the user profile generation
agent 210 may allow a server to control the functioning of the user
profile generation agent 210 in a dynamic fashion. By mining raw
data on the incumbent W-AT and synthesizing it into more meaningful
information (profile attributes), particular sensitive user
behavior information can be transformed into advertisement behavior
categories and user profile elements versus maintaining data in raw
form.
[0118] An exemplary W-AT can keep track of the advertisements of
interest to the user and the keywords associated with such
advertisements. Multiple clicks on the same advertisement may
indicate to a user profile agent an interest level associated with
the associated keywords and advertisement. On the same lines, games
and music of interest to the user can be maintained at the W-AT.
Server-assisted mode can also be used to associate user interest
categories with the user's profile based on the user's music and
game play-lists.
[0119] As a user profile is developed and maintained, such a
profile can take a variety of forms, e.g., synthesized profile
attributes and elements.
[0120] Note that some or all data attributes and elements in a user
profile may have some confidence level associated with them. That
is, because certain elements and attributes are based upon
inferences and rules, their results may not be certain and have
"fuzziness" associated with them. This fuzziness may be expressed
as a confidence level associated with a user profile attribute and
element.
[0121] By way of example, noting that a user is sending more that
five-hundred SMS messages per month, the profile generator might
say that the user is likely to be in the age group from 15-24 with
a confidence level of 60%. That means that if 100 users sending
more than five-hundred SMS messages per month were to be polled for
their age, about 60 of them are likely to fall within the age group
of 15-24.
[0122] Similarly, when a demographic profile is inferred for a user
based on his/her home location, there may be a confidence level
associated with the profile attributes. The confidence level here
may indicate the number of times the profile attribute is expected
to be accurate in a sample of one-hundred users with the same home
location.
[0123] The exemplary user profile generation agent 210 can also be
fed rules to combine confidence levels on the same profile
attribute from multiple sources to come up with a unified
confidence level for the attribute. For example, if the SMS usage
rate indicates that the user is within the age group of 15-24 years
with a 60% confidence level and demographic profile for the home
location indicates that the user is in age group of 15-24 years
with a 20% confidence level, then these two items can be combined
with fuzzy logic rules to come up with a unified confidence level
for the user lying in the same age group.
[0124] In contrast, if a user enters his interest preferences into
the client, then such values might be given a confidence level of
close to 100% since they are coming directly from the user.
Similarly if the carrier specifies any user profile
attributes/elements based on the user data it has (billing data or
optional profile data collected from the user during service
sign-up), then that too will have a higher confidence level
associated with it.
[0125] As more user behavior data is collected on a W-AT and
inferences made based on that, subsequent confidence level, in the
profile attribute and element values, is expected to increase.
[0126] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram for a profile attribute
processor 270 handling a request by a W-AT for profile attribute
processing. As discussed above, while a W-AT may be able to handle
most processing, there may be cases where huge database lookups are
required to determine portions of a behavior or demographic
profile. An example of such cases includes instances where census
databases, which may require gigabytes of storage, are useful.
Accordingly, a profile attribute processor (or other assisting
server) may be used to process user information to provide more
refined forms of user profile information.
[0127] Before a request is received by a profile attribute
processor 270, synthesized profile attributes may be gathered at
the relevant W-AT, and sent to the profile attribute processor 270
noting that the use of synthesized profile attributes can result in
better use of bandwidth. Some of the user profile attributes, which
require data-intensive lookups, can be processed by the profile
attribute processor 270 optionally by anonymously querying
techniques to protect user identities. The profile attribute
processor 270 may further refine any received attributes, and
provide the refined data to the appropriate W-AT in what may be
referred to as a set of refined user profile attributes.
[0128] When activated by a request from a W-AT, the profile
attribute processor 270 may process various types of specific and
non-specific synthesized data regarding a user's behavior and
demographics (e.g., profile attributes) and respond with the
appropriate refined profile information. In order to maintain user
privacy, some form of data scrambling, e.g., a hashing function and
a number of other tools may be employed via a device, such as the
one-way hash function generator 810 of FIG. 8. In operation, it is
possible to use a hash function at a W-AT to hide the user's
identity from the rest of the MAS network.
[0129] In various operations, a hashing function employed in a W-AT
can generate a predictable and unique, but anonymous, value
associated with a particular user. Such an approach can enable the
W-AT to query external servers without compromising on the privacy
of the user. In various embodiments, a hashing function may be
based on a primary identifier of the W-AT, e.g. a serial number
associated with the W-AT, as well as a random value, a
pseudo-random value, and a time-based value. Further, the hashing
function may be calculated to provide a low probability of
collision with other generated values.
[0130] The W-AT may use the same random number for subsequent
queries to allow external servers to associate multiple queries
from the same client. The use of the random number can help to
prevent external servers (or unauthorized agents) from doing a
reverse lookup on a subscriber base to determine a user's
identity.
[0131] Once a hashed value is generated, the hashed value may be
used as an alternate user identifier for the W-AT and provided,
along with geographic information or some or items of information
from a user profile, and provided to a remote apparatus.
[0132] Subsequently, one or more targeted content messages can be
received from the remote apparatus based on the alternate user
identifier and first advertisement-related information to the
remote apparatus and/or other information capable of supplementing
a user profile. Such information can be incorporated into the user
profile of the W-AT.
[0133] In order to further maintain user privacy, a proxy server at
the wireless access point (W-AP) side (see, e.g., FIG. 1) may be
used. FIG. 9 depicts a particular communication scheme employing a
proxy server for securely communicating in a mobile
advertising-enabled network. As shown in FIG. 9, a W-AT 910 (the
"Mobile Advertising-Enabled Client") can send a request (or other
message, such as a report or reply) related to a number of
services, such as for refinement of user profile information or a
request for advertising content, to a wireless application protocol
(WAP) proxy 920. The WAP proxy 920, in turn, can forward the
request to a secure proxy server 930, which may then create a
transaction ID, change out the header to remove the W-AT's
identification information in favor of the transaction ID, and
forward the request to a mobile advertising server 940 while
creating a look-up table containing that information, e.g., the
W-AT's IP address, useful to relay a reply.
[0134] Once the mobile advertising server 940 receives and replies
to the request, the proxy server 930 may use the appropriate
transaction ID to forward the mobile advertising server's reply.
Later, the proxy server 930 may delete the look up table entry.
[0135] Note that the scheme depicted in FIG. 9 can be employed to
disallow the mobile advertising server 940 access to the user's
W-AT IP address.
[0136] In order to alleviate concerns of users that their location
is possibly being tracked in real-time by their W-ATs, the W-ATs
may elect not to query the server for refinement of location data
in real-time. Note that such queries can be sent anonymously and
sparsely over an extended period of time (e.g., once a month). A
typical schedule could be, for example, to collect location
information every 5 minutes for 72 hours. The most frequented
location during this time frame or during specific time frames can
be used to query the demographic profile of the user from the
server at a randomly selected time between 30 and 40 days or by
some other schedule specified by a the system operator.
[0137] The above case is an example of a hybrid approach using both
the rule driven operation of the user profile generation agent
along with the server-assisted mode to generate profile elements
for the user while maintaining the user's privacy.
[0138] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram shown depicting an
exemplary operation of such a hybrid approach using a user profile
generation agent 210 having a user behavior synthesizer 522 and a
profile element refiner 524. While the majority of functionality of
the various devices of FIG. 5 has already been discussed above,
further functionality will be described below with respect to the
following flowcharts.
[0139] FIG. 6 is a flowchart outlining an exemplary operation for
generating and using a user profile. The operation starts in step
602 as a number of user profile inference rules (basic and/or
qualified rules) can be received (and subsequently stored) by a
W-AT from a system operator or other party.
[0140] As discussed above, basic rules may include pre-scheduled
events, e.g., performing a query of the user at a specific time.
Similarly, a respective qualified rule might require the same query
to be preceded by a condition and/or event, such as physical status
information or operational status information.
[0141] Next, in step 604, the received rules can be used to collect
raw data, and in step 606 the raw data may be processed/synthesized
into user profile elements or attributes noting that while all such
processing/synthesizing may occur on board the W-AT, some
refinement may occur using external devices, such as the profile
attribute processors discussed above. That is, as discussed above
raw data and/or synthesized data may be incorporated to form a user
profile for the W-AT's user. For example, a rule relating to
monitoring SMS messages may be used to change a dynamic property of
a user profile when applied to collect raw data and synthesize
profile attributes/elements regarding SMS messages. Static data,
e.g., a user's birth date, may be likewise collected using a rule
to query the user, and then applied as an element in a user
profile.
[0142] Then, in step 608, confidence levels for user profile data
can be determined. Note that confidence levels can have a variety
of forms, such as a range of numbers, variance statistic, or
distribution profile.
[0143] In step 610, various received rules plus raw data and
synthesized data relating to various user profile elements and
attributes, which may form all of a user profile, may be used to
receive targeted advertisements. That is, as discussed above, in
various embodiments a used/usable rule on a W-AT may be used to
generate a user profile--along with collected raw data and
synthesized data--to provide any number of static or dynamic
properties of the user profile, and such information may be used to
receive content, such as advertisements, sports scores, weather
reports and news directed to subjects of likely interest.
[0144] Note that in various embodiments where user profile data can
have confidence levels associated with them, rules may be applied
to the confidence levels and targeted content messages may be
received and displayed based on such confidence information.
[0145] Continuing, control of the operation may jump back to step
602 where new/more rules may be received and used to collect data
and modify the user's profile.
[0146] Note that, as referenced above rules may be used based on
physical configuration of an W-AT so as to utilize W-AT information
to tailor content display in a manner suited for the W-AT to create
suitable displays, such as menu layouts having linear,
hierarchical, animated, popup and/or softkey attributes.
[0147] FIG. 7 is a flowchart outlining another exemplary operation
for generating and using a user profile. The operation starts in
step 702 as a number of user profile inference rules are received
by a W-AT from a system operator or other party. Next, in step 704,
the received rules can be used to collect raw data, and in step 706
the raw data may be processed/synthesized into user profile
elements or attributes using onboard resources. Again note that any
item of user profile information may have confidence level
information processed and synthesized along with the basic
data.
[0148] Continuing to step 710, a determination may be made as to
whether further information or processing is required that may not
be practical on a W-AT. For example, assuming that a W-AT has
accrued a series of locations for which the W-AT regularly has
visited using a GPS, a software agent on the W-AT using one or more
rules may determine the need to query a large external database,
such as a geographic information service or a national census
database on a remote server, to determine a likely ethnicity (or
other demographics) of the user. If further information or
processing is required, control continues to step 712; otherwise,
control of the operation may jump back to the step 720 where
profile attributes are used to generate/modify the user's
profile.
[0149] For instances where further information or processing is
required, a request may be made of an external device (step 712),
such as by the profile attribute processor discussed above
(optionally using hashing functions and/or proxy servers) to
protect user information.
[0150] Next, in step 714, the external device can perform any
number of refinement steps, such as query large databases, to
produce refined user profile attributes. Then, in step 718, refined
user profile attributes may then be provided to the appropriate
W-AT, where (in step 720) they may be used to generate, modify or
otherwise incorporated in a user profile. Note that when confidence
levels are available for processing, unified confidence levels may
be determined based on individual confidence levels. Control of the
operation may then jump back to the step 702 where new/more rules
may be received and used to collect data and modify the user's
profile.
[0151] Jumping forward to FIG. 10, a first communication protocol
for advertisement distribution in a mobile advertising-enabled
network is depicted. This exemplary figure illustrates a possible
data flow during a multicast "push" of advertisements from an ad
server. Note that the User Profile Generation Agent (in the Mobile
Device (W-AT) 100 of FIG. 10) can retrieve advertisements, then and
select one or more of the received the advertisements by internal
filtering.
[0152] In operation, a network system operator 280 (and/or a third
party) may provide profile attribute processing rules to the
profile attribute processor 270. The profile attribute processor
270 may also receive a profile attribute process request from
modules on the W-AT 100 and provide an appropriate response through
modules on the W-AT 100.
[0153] Additionally, multicast or broadcast advertisements may be
received by the W-AT 100. In this configuration, the W-AT 100 (or
other Mobile Device) can be able to receive all advertisements and
determine which advertisements are to be stored and presented to
the user in accordance with the user profile generated at the W-AT
100 and the filter rules also received from an ad server, such as
the multicast/broadcast distribution server 1010 of FIG. 10.
[0154] FIG. 11 depicts a second communication protocol for
advertisement distribution in a mobile advertising-enabled network.
As with the example of FIG. 10, a network system operator 280
(and/or a third party) may provide profile attribute processing
rules to the profile attribute processor 270, and the profile
attribute processor 270 may also receive a profile attribute
process request from modules on the W-AT 100 to provide an
appropriate response through modules on the W-AT 100.
[0155] However, in this embodiment unicast advertisements may be
requested by the W-AT 100 from the ad distribution server 1110. The
W-AT 100 may be able to receive all advertisements over a unicast
communication link and determine which advertisements are to be
stored and presented to the user in accordance with the user
profile generated at the W-AT 100 and the filter rules also
received from the ad server 1110.
[0156] FIG. 12 depicts a third communication protocol for
advertisement distribution in a mobile advertising-enabled network.
Again, as with the previous examples, a network system operator 280
(and/or a third party) may provide profile attribute processing
rules to the profile attribute processor 270, and the profile
attribute processor 270 may also receive a profile attribute
process request from modules on the W-AT 100 to provide an
appropriate response through modules on the W-AT 100.
[0157] However, in this embodiment, the ad distribution server 1210
may receive user profile information provided by the W-AT 100,
process the received user profile information, and then provide the
appropriate targeted ads to the W-AT 100.
[0158] FIG. 13 depicts a fourth communication protocol for
advertisement distribution in a mobile advertising-enabled network.
This example may work much the same as the previous examples with
respect to the profile attribute processor side of operation.
However, the ad retrieval over the unicast communication link is
substantially different.
[0159] In operation, the W-AT 100 may send a request for
advertisements where after the W-AT 100 can receive a set of
metadata representative of the various advertisements available in
the ad distribution server 1310. The W-AT 100 may then select a
number of advertisements based on the metadata and on the filtering
rules within the W-AT 100, and provide the selection information to
the ad distribution server 1310. Accordingly, the selected
advertisements can then be provided to the W-AT 100 and presented
to the user in accordance with the user profile rules.
[0160] The above approach keeps the user profile local on the W-AT
while using optimal network bandwidth when delivering
advertisements to the W-AT over the unicast communication link.
[0161] FIG. 14 depicts a timeline for a first communication
protocol for downloading advertising content according to "contact
windows" (see exemplary windows 1410-1416) approach. This may be
used to permit downloading of advertisements at an opportune time
without burdening other functions of the W-AT. In various
embodiments, the W-AT may be able to adjust its sleep mode, if
engaged, to the contact windows. In operation, a W-AT can be put
into a sleep mode to optimize energy consumption on the platform
during content message delivery. It is possible that in a sleep
mode, the W-AT may be engaged in other useful operations. That is,
a W-AT may be able to be put into a sleep mode while various timing
circuitry (not shown) may be programmed or otherwise manipulated to
respond to the sleep mode and a contact window or other schedule by
dis-engaging the sleep mode before/during the contact window, and
possible re-engaging sleep mode subsequent to receiving targeted
content messages or at the end of the relative contact window.
[0162] FIG. 15 depicts an alternate timeline for a first
communication protocol for downloading advertising or other
targeted-content-message information according to a defined time
schedule. See, exemplary windows 1510-1520. This approach may be
used to permit downloading of advertisements at an opportune time
without burdening other functions of the W-AT. The defined time
schedule permits the W-AT to remain in sleep mode except during the
defined time schedule. Again, various timing/clock circuitry may be
employed to engage and dis-engage a W-AT to/from sleep mode.
Additionally, it is possible that when the W-AT wakes up to receive
targeted-content-message information, it can receive targeting
meta-data and reception times for future targeted-content-messages,
which can then be used to determine whether to receive a future
targeted-content-message based on the user profile and the
targeting meta-data, and to schedule an appropriate wakeup time
prior to the reception time for a future
targeted-content-message.
[0163] The techniques and modules described herein may be
implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be
implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a
hardware implementation, the processing units within an access
point or an access terminal may be implemented within one or more
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal
processors (DSPs), digital signal processing W-ATs (DSPDs),
programmable logic W-ATs (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays
(FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,
microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the
functions described herein, or a combination thereof.
[0164] For a software implementation, the techniques described
herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures,
functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.
The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by
processors or demodulators. The memory unit may be implemented
within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it
can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various
means.
[0165] The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
features, functions, operations, and embodiments disclosed herein.
Various modifications to these embodiments may be readily apparent
to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined
herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from
their spirit or scope. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended
to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded
the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features
disclosed herein.
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