U.S. patent application number 12/694551 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for system and method for information gatekeeper based on aggregate profile data.
This patent application is currently assigned to KOTA ENTERPRISES, LLC. Invention is credited to Kenneth Jennings.
Application Number | 20120041983 12/694551 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42398131 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120041983 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jennings; Kenneth |
February 16, 2012 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INFORMATION GATEKEEPER BASED ON AGGREGATE
PROFILE DATA
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for controlling access to
sharable items. In general, a computing device of a user stores a
sharable item. A sharing rule is configured for the sharable item,
where the sharing rule is based on an element of aggregate profile
data for a current location of the user, a crowd characteristic of
one or more crowds that are currently relevant to the current
location of the user, or both. Depending on the embodiment, the
element of the aggregate profile data, the crowd characteristic of
the one or more crowds, or both are obtained and the sharing rule
for the sharable item is resolved. Sharing of the sharable item is
then provided according to a result of the resolution of the
sharing rule for the sharable item.
Inventors: |
Jennings; Kenneth; (Raleigh,
NC) |
Assignee: |
KOTA ENTERPRISES, LLC
Wilmington
DE
|
Family ID: |
42398131 |
Appl. No.: |
12/694551 |
Filed: |
January 27, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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61149205 |
Feb 2, 2009 |
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61227192 |
Jul 21, 2009 |
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61236296 |
Aug 24, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
707/784 ;
707/781; 707/E17.005 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 4/021 20130101;
H04L 67/22 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; G06F 21/6227 20130101;
H04W 64/00 20130101; H04L 67/24 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101;
H04W 4/02 20130101; G06Q 10/10 20130101; H04W 4/029 20180201; G06Q
30/02 20130101; H04L 41/0893 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/784 ;
707/E17.005; 707/781 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A method of operation for a computing device of a user,
comprising: configuring a sharing rule for a sharable item stored
by the computing device, the sharing rule being based on an element
of aggregate profile data for a current location of the user;
obtaining the element of the aggregate profile data for the current
location of the user; resolving the sharing rule for the sharable
item based on the element of the aggregate profile data for the
current location of the user to provide a resolution result; and
sharing the sharable item according to the resolution result for
the sharing rule.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the aggregate profile data is an
aggregate profile for one or more crowds of users currently
relevant to the current location of the user.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the element of the aggregate
profile for the one or more crowds of users is a number of user
matches over all keywords in a user profile of the user.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the element of the aggregate
profile for the one or more crowds of users is a number of user
matches for a keyword in a user profile of the user.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein the element of the aggregate
profile for the one or more crowds of users is ratio of a number of
user matches to a total number of users over all keywords in a user
profile of the user.
6. The method of claim 2 wherein the element of the aggregate
profile for the one or more crowds of users is ratio of a number of
user matches to a total number of users for a keyword in a user
profile of the user.
7. The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more crowds of users
currently relevant to the current location of the user are one or
more crowds that are at least partially within a bounding region
corresponding to the current location of the user.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the aggregate profile data is a
historical aggregate profile for the current location of the
user.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the element of the historical
aggregate profile is an average number of user matches over all
keywords in a user profile of the user for a defined time
window.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the element of the historical
aggregate profile is an average number of user matches for a
keyword in a user profile of the user for a defined time
window.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the element of the historical
aggregate profile is an average ratio of a number of user matches
to a total number of users over all keywords in a user profile of
the user for a defined time window.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the element of the historical
aggregate profile is an average ratio of a number of user matches
to a total number of users for a keyword in a user profile of the
user for a defined time window.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring the sharing rule for
the sharable item comprises enabling the user to manually configure
the sharing rule for the sharable item.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring the sharing rule for
the sharable item comprises automatically configuring the sharing
rule for the sharable item.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein automatically configuring the
sharing rule comprises: identifying one of a plurality of available
elements of the aggregate profile data that corresponds to the
sharable item; and setting the sharing rule for the sharable item
to a default sharing rule for the one of the plurality of available
elements of the aggregate profile data that corresponds to the
sharable item.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the element of the
aggregate profile data for the current location of the user
comprises obtaining the element of the aggregate profile data for
the current location of the user from a remote server.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharing rule is mapped to the
sharable item and comprises a sharing action and a predicate that
defines when the sharing action is to be performed based on the
element of the aggregate profile data.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the sharing rule for the sharable
item is further based on at least one crowd characteristic of one
or more crowds currently relevant to the current location of the
user.
19. A computing device of a user, comprising: a communication
interface enabling the computing device to share a sharable item
stored by the computing device with a computing device of another
user; and a controller associated with the communication interface
and adapted to: configure a sharing rule for the sharable item, the
sharing rule being based on an element of aggregate profile data
for a current location of the user; obtain the element of the
aggregate profile data for the current location of the user;
resolve the sharing rule for the sharable item based on the element
of the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user
to provide a resolution result; and share the sharable item
according to the resolution result for the sharing rule.
20. A computer readable medium storing software for instructing a
controller of a computing device of a user to: configure a sharing
rule for a sharable item stored by the computing device, the
sharing rule being based on an element of aggregate profile data
for a current location of the user; obtain the element of the
aggregate profile data for the current location of the user;
resolve the sharing rule for the sharable item based on the element
of the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user
to provide a resolution result; and share the sharable item
according to the resolution result for the sharing rule.
21. A method of operation for a computing device of a user,
comprising: configuring a sharing rule for a sharable item stored
by the computing device, the sharing rule being based on a crowd
characteristic of one or more crowds of users currently relevant to
a current location of the user; obtaining the crowd characteristic
for the one or more crowds of users; resolving the sharing rule for
the sharable item based on the crowd characteristic of the one or
more crowds of users to provide a resolution result; and sharing
the sharable item according to the resolution result for the
sharing rule.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein the crowd characteristic is a
degree of fragmentation.
23. The method of claim 21 wherein the crowd characteristic is a
best-case average Degree of Separation (DOS).
24. The method of claim 21 wherein the crowd characteristic is a
worst-case average Degree of Separation (DOS).
25. The method of claim 21 wherein the crowd characteristic is
degree of bidirectionality of social network relationship.
26. A computing device of a user, comprising: a communication
interface enabling the computing device to share a sharable item
stored by the computing device with a computing device of another
user; and a controller associated with the communication interface
and adapted to: configure a sharing rule for the sharable item, the
sharing rule being based on a crowd characteristic of one or more
crowds of users currently relevant to a current location of the
user; obtain the crowd characteristic for the one or more crowds of
users; resolve the sharing rule for the sharable item based on the
crowd characteristic of the one or more crowds of users to provide
a resolution result; and share the sharable item according to the
resolution result for the sharing rule.
27. A computer readable medium storing software for instructing a
controller of a computing device of a user to: configure a sharing
rule for a sharable item stored by the computing device, the
sharing rule being based on a crowd characteristic of one or more
crowds of users currently relevant to a current location of the
user; obtain the crowd characteristic for the one or more crowds of
users; resolve the sharing rule for the sharable item based on the
crowd characteristic of the one or more crowds of users to provide
a resolution result; and share the sharable item according to the
resolution result for the sharing rule.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/149,205, filed Feb. 2, 2009, provisional
patent application Ser. No. 61/227,192, filed Jul. 21, 2009, and
provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/236,296, filed Aug. 24,
2009, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference
in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to sharing digital items, and
more particularly relates to an information gatekeeper that
controls access to digital items in a sharing environment.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Social networking applications are becoming prolific in
today's mobile devices. For example, many mobile smart phones
(e.g., the Apple.RTM. iPhone, Windows Mobile devices, and
Blackberry devices) enable users to run social networking
applications. However, sharing of personal information between
devices in such a mobile environment raises privacy issues. Thus,
there is a need for a system and method that controls sharing of
sharable items, such as personal information, in a mobile
environment.
SUMMARY
[0004] Systems and methods are provided for controlling access to
sharable items. In general, a computing device of a user stores a
sharable item. A sharing rule is configured for the sharable item,
where the sharing rule is based on an element of aggregate profile
data for a current location of the user, a crowd characteristic of
one or more crowds that are currently relevant to the current
location of the user, or both. Depending on the embodiment, the
element of the aggregate profile data, the crowd characteristic of
the one or more crowds, or both are obtained and the sharing rule
for the sharable item is resolved. Sharing of the sharable item is
then provided according to a result of the resolution of the
sharing rule for the sharable item.
[0005] In one embodiment, a computing device of a user stores a
sharable item. A sharing rule is configured for the sharable item
and is based on an element of aggregate profile data for a current
location of the user. The element of the aggregate profile data is
either an element of a historical aggregate profile for the current
location of the user or an element of an aggregate profile for one
or more crowds of users currently relevant to the current location
of the user. The element of the aggregate profile data is obtained,
and then the sharing rule for the sharable item is resolved based
on the element of the aggregate profile data. Sharing of the
sharable item is then provided according to a result of the
resolution of the sharing rule for the sharable item.
[0006] In another embodiment, a computing device of a user stores a
sharable item. A sharing rule is configured for the sharable item
and is based on a crowd characteristic of one or more crowds
currently relevant to a current location of the user. The crowd
characteristic of the one or more crowds is obtained, and then the
sharing rule for the sharable item is resolved based on the crowd
characteristic of the one or more crowds. Sharing of the sharable
item is then provided according to a result of the resolution of
the sharing rule for the sharable item.
[0007] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the
present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0008] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming
a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the
invention, and together with the description serve to explain the
principles of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates a Mobile Aggregate Profile (MAP) system
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MAP server of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the MAP client of one of the
mobile devices of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of the system of FIG. 1 to
provide user profiles and current locations of the users of the
mobile devices to the MAP server according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the system of FIG. 1 to
provide user profiles and current locations of the users of the
mobile devices to the MAP server according to another embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0014] FIGS. 6 and 7 graphically illustrate bucketization of users
according to location for purposes of maintaining a historical
record of anonymized user profile data by location according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of a
foreground bucketization process performed by the MAP server to
maintain the lists of users for location buckets for purposes of
maintaining a historical record of anonymized user profile data by
location according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the anonymization and
storage process performed by the MAP server for the location
buckets in order to maintain a historical record of anonymized user
profile data by location according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 10 graphically illustrates anonymization of a user
record according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0018] FIG. 11 is a flow chart for a quadtree based storage process
that may be used to store anonymized user profile data for location
buckets according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a quadtree algorithm
that may be used to process the location buckets for storage of the
anonymized user profile data according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0020] FIGS. 13A through 13E graphically illustrate the process of
FIG. 12 for the generation of a quadtree data structure for one
exemplary base quadtree region;
[0021] FIG. 14 illustrates the operation of the system of FIG. 1
wherein a mobile device is enabled to request and receive
historical data from the MAP server according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0022] FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate a flow chart for a process for
generating historical data in a time context in response to a
historical request from a mobile device according to one embodiment
of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 16 is an exemplary Graphical User Interface (GUI) that
may be provided by the MAP application of one of the mobile devices
of FIG. 1 in order to present historical aggregate profile data in
a time context according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0024] FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate a flow chart for a process for
generating historical data in a geographic context in response to a
historical request from a mobile device according to one embodiment
of the present disclosure;
[0025] FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary GUI that may be provided by
the MAP application of one of the mobile devices of FIG. 1 to
present historical data in the geographic context according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0026] FIG. 19 illustrates the operation of the system of FIG. 1
wherein the subscriber device is enabled to request and receive
historical data from the MAP server according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0027] FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate a process for generating
historical data in a time context in response to a historical
request from a subscriber device according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0028] FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate a process for generating
historical data in a geographic context in response to a historical
request from a subscriber device according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 22 is a flow chart for a spatial crowd formation
process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0030] FIGS. 23A through 23D graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIG. 22 for an exemplary bounding box;
[0031] FIGS. 24A through 24D illustrate a flow chart for a spatial
crowd formation process according to another embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0032] FIGS. 25A through 25D graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D for a scenario where the
crowd formation process is triggered by a location update for a
user having no old location;
[0033] FIGS. 26A through 26F graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D for a scenario where the
new and old bounding boxes overlap;
[0034] FIGS. 27A through 27E graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D in a scenario where the
new and old bounding boxes do not overlap;
[0035] FIG. 28 illustrates the operation the system of FIG. 1 to
enable the mobile devices to request crowd data for currently
formed crowds according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0036] FIG. 29A is a flow chart for a process for generating
aggregate profiles for crowds identified in response to a crowd
request from a mobile device according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0037] FIG. 29B is a flow chart for a process for generating
aggregate profiles for crowds identified in response to a crowd
request from a mobile device according to another embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0038] FIG. 30 illustrates the operation of the system of FIG. 1 to
enable a subscriber device to request crowd data for current crowds
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0039] FIG. 31 is a flow chart for a process for generating
aggregate profiles for crowds identified for a crowd request in
response to a crowd request from a subscriber device according to
one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0040] FIGS. 32A through 32E illustrate a GUI for an exemplary
embodiment of the MAP application of one of the mobile devices of
FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0041] FIGS. 33A through 33C illustrate an exemplary web interface
provided by the MAP server and presented to the subscriber at the
subscriber device according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0042] FIG. 34 is a flow chart illustrating a spatial crowd
fragmentation process according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0043] FIGS. 35A and 35B graphically illustrate the spatial crowd
fragmentation process of FIG. 34 for an exemplary crowd;
[0044] FIG. 36 illustrates a connectivity-based crowd fragmentation
process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0045] FIGS. 37A and 37B graphically illustrate the
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process of FIG. 36 for an
exemplary crowd;
[0046] FIG. 38 is a flow chart illustrating a recursive crowd
fragmentation that uses both spatial crowd formation and
connectivity-based crowd formation according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0047] FIG. 39 is a flow chart illustrating a recursive crowd
fragmentation that uses both spatial crowd formation and
connectivity-based crowd formation according to another embodiment
of the present disclosure;
[0048] FIGS. 40A and 40B illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the degree of fragmentation for a crowd according
to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0049] FIG. 41 is a flow chart for a process for determining a
best-case and worst-case average degree of separation (DOS) for a
crowd fragment of a crowd according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0050] FIG. 42 is a more detailed flow chart illustrating the
process for determining a best-case and worst-case average DOS for
a crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0051] FIGS. 43A through 43D illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the best-case and worst-case average DOS for a
crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0052] FIG. 44 is a flow chart for a process of determining a
degree of bidirectionality of relationships between users in a
crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0053] FIGS. 45A through 45C illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the degree of bidirectionality of friendship
relationships for a crowd fragment according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0054] FIG. 46 is a flow chart for a process for generating a
quality level for an aggregate profile for a crowd according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0055] FIG. 47 illustrates an exemplary GUI for presenting an
aggregate profile for a crowd and a quality level of the aggregate
profile generated using the process of FIG. 46 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0056] FIG. 48 illustrates another exemplary GUI for presenting an
aggregate profile for a crowd and a quality level of the aggregate
profile generated using the process of FIG. 46 according to another
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0057] FIG. 49 illustrates a flow chart for a process for
generating confidence factors for keywords included in an aggregate
profile for a crowd based on confidence levels for current
locations of users in the crowd according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure;
[0058] FIG. 50 illustrates an exemplary GUI for presenting an
aggregate profile for a crowd including an indication of a
confidence level for each of a number of keywords in the aggregate
profile according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0059] FIG. 51 graphically illustrates modification of the
confidence level of the current location of a user according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0060] FIG. 52 illustrates an exemplary third-party application
that control access to sharable items based on data from the MAP
server of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0061] FIG. 53 illustrates the operation of the third-party
application of FIG. 52 to control access to a sharable item based
on data obtained from the MAP server according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0062] FIG. 54 illustrates a process for automatically configuring
sharing rules for sharable media items according to one embodiment
of the present disclosure;
[0063] FIG. 55 is a more detailed illustration of the operation of
the third-party application of FIG. 52 to control access to
sharable items according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0064] FIG. 56 is a block diagram of the MAP server of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0065] FIG. 57 is a block diagram of one of the mobile devices of
FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0066] FIG. 58 is a block diagram of the subscriber device of FIG.
1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0067] FIG. 59 is a block diagram of a computing device operating
to host the third-party service of FIG. 1 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0068] The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary
information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention.
Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying
drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the
concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these
concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood
that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the
disclosure and the accompanying claims.
[0069] FIG. 1 illustrates a Mobile Aggregate Profile (MAP) system
10 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In this
embodiment, the system 10 includes a MAP server 12, one or more
profile servers 14, a location server 16, a number of mobile
devices 18-1 through 18-N having associated users 20-1 through
20-N, a subscriber device 22 having an associated subscriber 24,
and a third-party service 26 communicatively coupled via a network
28. The network 28 may be any type of network or any combination of
networks. Specifically, the network 28 may include wired
components, wireless components, or both wired and wireless
components. In one exemplary embodiment, the network 28 is a
distributed public network such as the Internet, where the mobile
devices 18-1 through 18-N are enabled to connect to the network 28
via local wireless connections (e.g., WiFi or IEEE 802.11
connections) or wireless telecommunications connections (e.g., 3G
or 4G telecommunications connections such as GSM, LTE, W-CDMA, or
WiMAX connections).
[0070] As discussed below in detail, the MAP server 12 operates to
obtain current locations, including location updates, and user
profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N of the mobile devices 18-1
through 18-N. The current locations of the users 20-1 through 20-N
can be expressed as positional geographic coordinates such as
latitude-longitude pairs, and a height vector (if applicable), or
any other similar information capable of identifying a given
physical point in space in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional
coordinate system. Using the current locations and user profiles of
the users 20-1 through 20-N, the MAP server 12 is enabled to
provide a number of features such as, but not limited to,
maintaining a historical record of anonymized user profile data by
location, generating aggregate profile data over time for a Point
of Interest (POI) or Area of Interest (AOI) using the historical
record of anonymized user profile data, identifying crowds of users
using current locations and/or user profiles of the users 20-1
through 20-N, generating aggregate profiles for crowds of users at
a POI or in an AOI using the current user profiles of users in the
crowds, and crowd tracking. Note that while the MAP server 12 is
illustrated as a single server for simplicity and ease of
discussion, it should be appreciated that the MAP server 12 may be
implemented as a single physical server or multiple physical
servers operating in a collaborative manner for purposes of
redundancy and/or load sharing.
[0071] In general, the one or more profile servers 14 operate to
store user profiles for a number of persons including the users
20-1 through 20-N of the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N. For
example, the one or more profile servers 14 may be servers
providing social network services such the Facebook.RTM. social
networking service, the MySpace.RTM. social networking service, the
LinkedIN.RTM. social networking service, or the like. As discussed
below, using the one or more profile servers 14, the MAP server 12
is enabled to directly or indirectly obtain the user profiles of
the users 20-1 through 20-N of the mobile devices 18-1 through
18-N. The location server 16 generally operates to receive location
updates from the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N and make the
location updates available to entities such as, for instance, the
MAP server 12. In one exemplary embodiment, the location server 16
is a server operating to provide Yahoo!'s FireEagle service.
[0072] The mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N may be mobile smart
phones, portable media player devices, mobile gaming devices, or
the like. Some exemplary mobile devices that may be programmed or
otherwise configured to operate as the mobile devices 18-1 through
18-N are the Apple.RTM. iPhone, the Palm Pre, the Samsung Rogue,
the Blackberry Storm, and the Apple.RTM. iPod Touch.RTM. device.
However, this list of exemplary mobile devices is not exhaustive
and is not intended to limit the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0073] The mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N include MAP clients
30-1 through 30-N, MAP applications 32-1 through 32-N, third-party
applications 34-1 through 34-N, and location functions 36-1 through
36-N, respectively. Using the mobile device 18-1 as an example, the
MAP client 30-1 is preferably implemented in software. In general,
in the preferred embodiment, the MAP client 30-1 is a middleware
layer operating to interface an application layer (i.e., the MAP
application 32-1 and the third-party applications 34-1) to the MAP
server 12. More specifically, the MAP client 30-1 enables the MAP
application 32-1 and the third-party applications 34-1 to request
and receive data from the MAP server 12. In addition, the MAP
client 30-1 enables applications, such as the MAP application 32-1
and the third-party applications 34-1, to access data from the MAP
server 12. For example, as discussed below in detail, the MAP
client 30-1 enables the MAP application 32-1 to request anonymized
aggregate profiles for crowds of users located at a POI or within
an AOI and/or request anonymized historical user profile data for a
POI or AOI.
[0074] The MAP application 32-1 is also preferably implemented in
software. The MAP application 32-1 generally provides a user
interface component between the user 20-1 and the MAP server 12.
More specifically, among other things, the MAP application 32-1
enables the user 20-1 to initiate historical requests for
historical data or crowd requests for crowd data (e.g., aggregate
profile data and/or crowd characteristics data) from the MAP server
12 for a POI or AOI. The MAP application 32-1 also enables the user
20-1 to configure various settings. For example, the MAP
application 32-1 may enable the user 20-1 to select a desired
social networking service (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIN, etc.)
from which to obtain the user profile of the user 20-1 and provide
any necessary credentials (e.g., username and password) needed to
access the user profile from the social networking service.
[0075] The third-party applications 34-1 are preferably implemented
in software. The third-party applications 34-1 operate to access
the MAP server 12 via the MAP client 30-1. The third-party
applications 34-1 may utilize data obtained from the MAP server 12
in any desired manner. As an example, one of the third party
applications 34-1 may be a gaming application that utilizes
historical aggregate profile data to notify the user 20-1 of POIs
or AOIs where persons having an interest in the game have
historically congregated.
[0076] The location function 36-1 may be implemented in hardware,
software, or a combination thereof. In general, the location
function 36-1 operates to determine or otherwise obtain the
location of the mobile device 18-1. For example, the location
function 36-1 may be or include a Global Positioning System (GPS)
receiver.
[0077] The subscriber device 22 is a physical device such as a
personal computer, a mobile computer (e.g., a notebook computer, a
netbook computer, a tablet computer, etc.), a mobile smart phone,
or the like. The subscriber 24 associated with the subscriber
device 22 is a person or entity. In general, the subscriber device
22 enables the subscriber 24 to access the MAP server 12 via a web
browser 38 to obtain various types of data, preferably for a fee.
For example, the subscriber 24 may pay a fee to have access to
historical aggregate profile data for one or more POIs and/or one
or more AOIs, pay a fee to have access to crowd data such as
aggregate profiles for crowds located at one or more POIs and/or
located in one or more AOIs, pay a fee to track crowds, or the
like. Note that the web browser 38 is exemplary. In another
embodiment, the subscriber device 22 is enabled to access the MAP
server 12 via a custom application.
[0078] Lastly, the third-party service 26 is a service that has
access to data from the MAP server 12 such as a historical
aggregate profile data for one or more POIs or one or more AOIs,
crowd data such as aggregate profiles for one or more crowds at one
or more POIs or within one or more AOIs, or crowd tracking data.
Based on the data from the MAP server 12, the third-party service
26 operates to provide a service such as, for example, targeted
advertising. For example, the third-party service 26 may obtain
anonymous aggregate profile data for one or more crowds located at
a POI and then provide targeted advertising to known users located
at the POI based on the anonymous aggregate profile data. Note that
while targeted advertising is mentioned as an exemplary third-party
service 26, other types of third-party services 26 may additionally
or alternatively be provided. Other types of third-party services
26 that may be provided will be apparent to one of ordinary skill
in the art upon reading this disclosure.
[0079] Before proceeding, it should be noted that while the system
10 of FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment where the one or more
profile servers 14 and the location server 16 are separate from the
MAP server 12, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In an
alternative embodiment, the functionality of the one or more
profile servers 14 and/or the location server 16 may be implemented
within the MAP server 12.
[0080] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MAP server 12 of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, the MAP server 12 includes an application layer 40, a
business logic layer 42, and a persistence layer 44. The
application layer 40 includes a user web application 46, a mobile
client/server protocol component 48, and one or more data
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) 50. The user web
application 46 is preferably implemented in software and operates
to provide a web interface for users, such as the subscriber 24, to
access the MAP server 12 via a web browser. The mobile
client/server protocol component 48 is preferably implemented in
software and operates to provide an interface between the MAP
server 12 and the MAP clients 30-1 through 30-N hosted by the
mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N. The data APIs 50 enable
third-party services, such as the third-party service 26, to access
the MAP server 12.
[0081] The business logic layer 42 includes a profile manager 52, a
location manager 54, a history manager 56, a crowd analyzer 58, and
an aggregation engine 60, each of which is preferably implemented
in software. The profile manager 52 generally operates to obtain
the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N directly or
indirectly from the one or more profile servers 14 and store the
user profiles in the persistence layer 44. The location manager 54
operates to obtain the current locations of the users 20-1 through
20-N including location updates. As discussed below, the current
locations of the users 20-1 through 20-N may be obtained directly
from the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N and/or obtained from the
location server 16.
[0082] The history manager 56 generally operates to maintain a
historical record of anonymized user profile data by location. The
crowd analyzer 58 operates to form crowds of users. In one
embodiment, the crowd analyzer 58 utilizes a spatial crowd
formation algorithm. However, the present disclosure is not limited
thereto. In addition, the crowd analyzer 58 may further
characterize crowds to reflect degree of fragmentation, best-case
and worst-case degree of separation (DOS), and/or degree of
bi-directionality, as discussed below in more detail. Still
further, the crowd analyzer 58 may also operate to track crowds.
The aggregation engine 60 generally operates to provide aggregate
profile data in response to requests from the mobile devices 18-1
through 18-N, the subscriber device 22, and the third-party service
26. The aggregate profile data may be historical aggregate profile
data for one or more POIs or one or more AOIs or aggregate profile
data for crowd(s) currently at one or more POIs or within one or
more AOIs.
[0083] The persistence layer 44 includes an object mapping layer 62
and a datastore 64. The object mapping layer 62 is preferably
implemented in software. The datastore 64 is preferably a
relational database, which is implemented in a combination of
hardware (i.e., physical data storage hardware) and software (i.e.,
relational database software). In this embodiment, the business
logic layer 42 is implemented in an object-oriented programming
language such as, for example, Java. As such, the object mapping
layer 62 operates to map objects used in the business logic layer
42 to relational database entities stored in the datastore 64. Note
that, in one embodiment, data is stored in the datastore 64 in a
Resource Description Framework (RDF) compatible format.
[0084] In an alternative embodiment, rather than being a relational
database, the datastore 64 may be implemented as an RDF datastore.
More specifically, the RDF datastore may be compatible with RDF
technology adopted by Semantic Web activities. Namely, the RDF
datastore may use the Friend-Of-A-Friend (FOAF) vocabulary for
describing people, their social networks, and their interests. In
this embodiment, the MAP server 12 may be designed to accept raw
FOAF files describing persons, their friends, and their interests.
These FOAF files are currently output by some social networking
services such as Livejournal and Facebook. The MAP server 12 may
then persist RDF descriptions of the users 20-1 through 20-N as a
proprietary extension of the FOAF vocabulary that includes
additional properties desired for the MAP system 10.
[0085] FIG. 3 illustrates the MAP client 30-1 of FIG. 1 in more
detail according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This
discussion is equally applicable to the other MAP clients 30-2
through 30-N. As illustrated, in this embodiment, the MAP client
30-1 includes a MAP access API 66, a MAP middleware component 68,
and a mobile client/server protocol component 70. The MAP access
API 66 is implemented in software and provides an interface by
which the MAP client 30-1 and the third-party applications 34-1 are
enabled to access the MAP client 30-1. The MAP middleware component
68 is implemented in software and performs the operations needed
for the MAP client 30-1 to operate as an interface between the MAP
application 32-1 and the third-party applications 34-1 at the
mobile device 18-1 and the MAP server 12. The mobile client/server
protocol component 70 enables communication between the MAP client
30-1 and the MAP server 12 via a defined protocol.
[0086] FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1
to provide the user profile of the user 20-1 of the mobile device
18-1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This
discussion is equally applicable to user profiles of the other
users 20-2 through 20-N of the other mobile devices 18-2 through
18-N. First, an authentication process is performed (step 1000).
For authentication, in this embodiment, the mobile device 18-1
authenticates with the profile server 14 (step 1000A) and the MAP
server 12 (step 1000B). In addition, the MAP server 12
authenticates with the profile server 14 (step 1000C). Preferably,
authentication is preformed using OpenID or similar technology.
However, authentication may alternatively be performed using
separate credentials (e.g., username and password) of the user 20-1
for access to the MAP server 12 and the profile server 14. Assuming
that authentication is successful, the profile server 14 returns an
authentication succeeded message to the MAP server 12 (step 1000D),
and the profile server 14 returns an authentication succeeded
message to the MAP client 30-1 of the mobile device 18-1 (step
1000E).
[0087] At some point after authentication is complete, a user
profile process is performed such that a user profile of the user
20-1 is obtained from the profile server 14 and delivered to the
MAP server 12 (step 1002). In this embodiment, the MAP client 30-1
of the mobile device 18-1 sends a profile request to the profile
server 14 (step 1002A). In response, the profile server 14 returns
the user profile of the user 20-1 to the mobile device 18-1 (step
1002B). The MAP client 30-1 of the mobile device 18-1 then sends
the user profile of the user 20-1 to the MAP server 12 (step
1002C). Note that while in this embodiment the MAP client 30-1
sends the complete user profile of the user 20-1 to the MAP server
12, in an alternative embodiment, the MAP client 30-1 may filter
the user profile of the user 20-1 according to criteria specified
by the user 20-1. For example, the user profile of the user 20-1
may include demographic information, general interests, music
interests, and movie interests, and the user 20-1 may specify that
the demographic information or some subset thereof is to be
filtered, or removed, before sending the user profile to the MAP
server 12.
[0088] Upon receiving the user profile of the user 20-1 from the
MAP client 30-1 of the mobile device 18-1, the profile manager 52
of the MAP server 12 processes the user profile (step 1002D). More
specifically, in the preferred embodiment, the profile manager 52
includes social network handlers for the social network services
supported by the MAP server 12. Thus, for example, if the MAP
server 12 supports user profiles from Facebook, MySpace, and
LinkedIN, the profile manager 52 may include a Facebook handler, a
MySpace handler, and a LinkedIN handler. The social network
handlers process user profiles to generate user profiles for the
MAP server 12 that include lists of keywords for each of a number
of profile categories. The profile categories may be the same for
each of the social network handlers or different for each of the
social network handlers. Thus, for this example assume that the
user profile of the user 20-1 is from Facebook. The profile manager
52 uses a Facebook handler to process the user profile of the user
20-1 to map the user profile of the user 20-1 from Facebook to a
user profile for the MAP server 12 including lists of keywords for
a number of predefined profile categories. For example, for the
Facebook handler, the profile categories may be a demographic
profile category, a social interaction profile category, a general
interests profile category, a music interests profile category, and
a movie interests profile category. As such, the user profile of
the user 20-1 from Facebook may be processed by the Facebook
handler of the profile manager 52 to create a list of keywords such
as, for example, liberal, High School Graduate, 35-44, College
Graduate, etc. for the demographic profile category, a list of
keywords such as Seeking Friendship for the social interaction
profile category, a list of keywords such as politics, technology,
photography, books, etc. for the general interests profile
category, a list of keywords including music genres, artist names,
album names, or the like for the music interests profile category,
and a list of keywords including movie titles, actor or actress
names, director names, move genres, or the like for the movie
interests profile category. In one embodiment, the profile manager
52 may use natural language processing or semantic analysis. For
example, if the Facebook user profile of the user 20-1 states that
the user 20-1 is 20 years old, semantic analysis may result in the
keyword of 18-24 years old being stored in the user profile of the
user 20-1 for the MAP server 12.
[0089] After processing the user profile of the user 20-1, the
profile manager 52 of the MAP server 12 stores the resulting user
profile for the user 20-1 (step 1002E). More specifically, in one
embodiment, the MAP server 12 stores user records for the users
20-1 through 20-N in the datastore 64 (FIG. 2). The user profile of
the user 20-1 is stored in the user record of the user 20-1. The
user record of the user 20-1 includes a unique identifier of the
user 20-1, the user profile of the user 20-1, and, as discussed
below, a current location of the user 20-1. Note that the user
profile of the user 20-1 may be updated as desired. For example, in
one embodiment, the user profile of the user 20-1 is updated by
repeating step 1002 each time the user 20-1 activates the MAP
application 32-1.
[0090] Note that the while the discussion herein focuses on an
embodiment where the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N
are obtained from the one or more profile servers 14, the user
profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N may be obtained in any
desired manner. For example, in one alternative embodiment, the
user 20-1 may identify one or more favorite websites. The profile
manager 52 of the MAP server 12 may then crawl the one or more
favorite websites of the user 20-1 to obtain keywords appearing in
the one or more favorite websites of the user 20-1. These keywords
may then be stored as the user profile of the user 20-1.
[0091] At some point, a process is performed such that a current
location of the mobile device 18-1 and thus a current location of
the user 20-1 is obtained by the MAP server 12 (step 1004). In this
embodiment, the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1
obtains the current location of the mobile device 18-1 from the
location function 36-1 of the mobile device 18-1. The MAP
application 32-1 then provides the current location of the mobile
device 18-1 to the MAP client 30-1, and the MAP client 30-1 then
provides the current location of the mobile device 18-1 to the MAP
server 12 (step 1004A). Note that step 1004A may be repeated
periodically or in response to a change in the current location of
the mobile device 18-1 in order for the MAP application 32-1 to
provide location updates for the user 20-1 to the MAP server
12.
[0092] In response to receiving the current location of the mobile
device 18-1, the location manager 54 of the MAP server 12 stores
the current location of the mobile device 18-1 as the current
location of the user 20-1 (step 1004B). More specifically, in one
embodiment, the current location of the user 20-1 is stored in the
user record of the user 20-1 maintained in the datastore 64 of the
MAP server 12. Note that only the current location of the user 20-1
is stored in the user record of the user 20-1. In this manner, the
MAP server 12 maintains privacy for the user 20-1 since the MAP
server 12 does not maintain a historical record of the location of
the user 20-1. As discussed below in detail, historical data
maintained by the MAP server 12 is anonymized in order to maintain
the privacy of the users 20-1 through 20-N.
[0093] In addition to storing the current location of the user
20-1, the location manager 54 sends the current location of the
user 20-1 to the location server 16 (step 1004C). In this
embodiment, by providing location updates to the location server
16, the MAP server 12 in return receives location updates for the
user 20-1 from the location server 16. This is particularly
beneficial when the mobile device 18-1 does not permit background
processes, which is the case for the Apple.RTM. iPhone. As such, if
the mobile device 18-1 is an Apple.RTM. iPhone or similar device
that does not permit background processes, the MAP application 32-1
will not be able to provide location updates for the user 20-1 to
the MAP server 12 unless the MAP application 32-1 is active.
[0094] Therefore, when the MAP application 32-1 is not active,
other applications running on the mobile device 18-1 (or some other
device of the user 20-1) may directly or indirectly provide
location updates to the location server 16 for the user 20-1. This
is illustrated in step 1006 where the location server 16 receives a
location update for the user 20-1 directly or indirectly from
another application running on the mobile device 18-1 or an
application running on another device of the user 20-1 (step
1006A). The location server 16 then provides the location update
for the user 20-1 to the MAP server 12 (step 1006B). In response,
the location manager 54 updates and stores the current location of
the user 20-1 in the user record of the user 20-1 (step 1006C). In
this manner, the MAP server 12 is enabled to obtain location
updates for the user 20-1 even when the MAP application 32-1 is not
active at the mobile device 18-1.
[0095] FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1
to provide the user profile of the user 20-1 of the mobile device
18-1 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
This discussion is equally applicable to user profiles of the other
users 20-2 through 20-N of the other mobile devices 18-2 through
18-N. First, an authentication process is performed (step 1100).
For authentication, in this embodiment, the mobile device 18-1
authenticates with the MAP server 12 (step 1100A), and the MAP
server 12 authenticates with the profile server 14 (step 1100B).
Preferably, authentication is performed using OpenID or similar
technology. However, authentication may alternatively be performed
using separate credentials (e.g., username and password) of the
user 20-1 for access to the MAP server 12 and the profile server
14. Assuming that authentication is successful, the profile server
14 returns an authentication succeeded message to the MAP server 12
(step 1100C), and the MAP server 12 returns an authentication
succeeded message to the MAP client 30-1 of the mobile device 18-1
(step 1100D).
[0096] At some point after authentication is complete, a user
profile process is performed such that a user profile of the user
20-1 is obtained from the profile server 14 and delivered to the
MAP server 12 (step 1102). In this embodiment, the profile manager
52 of the MAP server 12 sends a profile request to the profile
server 14 (step 1102A). In response, the profile server 14 returns
the user profile of the user 20-1 to the profile manager 52 of the
MAP server 12 (step 1102B). Note that while in this embodiment the
profile server 14 returns the complete user profile of the user
20-1 to the MAP server 12, in an alternative embodiment, the
profile server 14 may return a filtered version of the user profile
of the user 20-1 to the MAP server 12. The profile server 14 may
filter the user profile of the user 20-1 according to criteria
specified by the user 20-1. For example, the user profile of the
user 20-1 may include demographic information, general interests,
music interests, and movie interests, and the user 20-1 may specify
that the demographic information or some subset thereof is to be
filtered, or removed, before sending the user profile to the MAP
server 12.
[0097] Upon receiving the user profile of the user 20-1, the
profile manager 52 of the MAP server 12 processes to the user
profile (step 1102C). More specifically, as discussed above, in the
preferred embodiment, the profile manager 52 includes social
network handlers for the social network services supported by the
MAP server 12. The social network handlers process user profiles to
generate user profiles for the MAP server 12 that include lists of
keywords for each of a number of profile categories. The profile
categories may be the same for each of the social network handlers
or different for each of the social network handlers.
[0098] After processing the user profile of the user 20-1, the
profile manager 52 of the MAP server 12 stores the resulting user
profile for the user 20-1 (step 1102D). More specifically, in one
embodiment, the MAP server 12 stores user records for the users
20-1 through 20-N in the datastore 64 (FIG. 2). The user profile of
the user 20-1 is stored in the user record of the user 20-1. The
user record of the user 20-1 includes a unique identifier of the
user 20-1, the user profile of the user 20-1, and, as discussed
below, a current location of the user 20-1. Note that the user
profile of the user 20-1 may be updated as desired. For example, in
one embodiment, the user profile of the user 20-1 is updated by
repeating step 1102 each time the user 20-1 activates the MAP
application 32-1.
[0099] Note that the while the discussion herein focuses on an
embodiment where the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N
are obtained from the one or more profile servers 14, the user
profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N may be obtained in any
desired manner. For example, in one alternative embodiment, the
user 20-1 may identify one or more favorite websites. The profile
manager 52 of the MAP server 12 may then crawl the one or more
favorite websites of the user 20-1 to obtain keywords appearing in
the one or more favorite websites of the user 20-1. These keywords
may then be stored as the user profile of the user 20-1.
[0100] At some point, a process is performed such that a current
location of the mobile device 18-1 and thus a current location of
the user 20-1 is obtained by the MAP server 12 (step 1104). In this
embodiment, the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1
obtains the current location of the mobile device 18-1 from the
location function 36-1 of the mobile device 18-1. The MAP
application 32-1 then provides the current location of the user
20-1 of the mobile device 18-1 to the location server 16 (step
1104A). Note that step 1104A may be repeated periodically or in
response to changes in the location of the mobile device 18-1 in
order to provide location updates for the user 20-1 to the MAP
server 12. The location server 16 then provides the current
location of the user 20-1 to the MAP server 12 (step 1104B). The
location server 16 may provide the current location of the user
20-1 to the MAP server 12 automatically in response to receiving
the current location of the user 20-1 from the mobile device 18-1
or in response to a request from the MAP server 12.
[0101] In response to receiving the current location of the mobile
device 18-1, the location manager 54 of the MAP server 12 stores
the current location of the mobile device 18-1 as the current
location of the user 20-1 (step 1104C). More specifically, in one
embodiment, the current location of the user 20-1 is stored in the
user record of the user 20-1 maintained in the datastore 64 of the
MAP server 12. Note that only the current location of the user 20-1
is stored in the user record of the user 20-1. In this manner, the
MAP server 12 maintains privacy for the user 20-1 since the MAP
server 12 does not maintain a historical record of the location of
the user 20-1. As discussed below in detail, historical data
maintained by the MAP server 12 is anonymized in order to maintain
the privacy of the users 20-1 through 20-N.
[0102] As discussed above, the use of the location server 16 is
particularly beneficial when the mobile device 18-1 does not permit
background processes, which is the case for the Apple.RTM. iPhone.
As such, if the mobile device 18-1 is an Apple.RTM. iPhone or
similar device that does not permit background processes, the MAP
application 32-1 will not provide location updates for the user
20-1 to the location server 16 unless the MAP application 32-1 is
active. However, other applications running on the mobile device
18-1 (or some other device of the user 20-1) may provide location
updates to the location server 16 for the user 20-1 when the MAP
application 32-1 is not active. This is illustrated in step 1106
where the location server 16 receives a location update for the
user 20-1 from another application running on the mobile device
18-1 or an application running on another device of the user 20-1
(step 1106A). The location server 16 then provides the location
update for the user 20-1 to the MAP server 12 (step 1106B). In
response, the location manager 54 updates and stores the current
location of the user 20-1 in the user record of the user 20-1 (step
1106C). In this manner, the MAP server 12 is enabled to obtain
location updates for the user 20-1 even when the MAP application
32-1 is not active at the mobile device 18-1.
[0103] Using the current locations of the users 20-1 through 20-N
and the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N, the MAP
server 12 can provide a number of features. A first feature that
may be provided by the MAP server 12 is historical storage of
anonymized user profile data by location. This historical storage
of anonymized user profile data by location is performed by the
history manager 56 of the MAP server 12. More specifically, as
illustrated in FIG. 6, in the preferred embodiment, the history
manager 56 maintains lists of users located in a number of
geographic regions, or "location buckets." Preferably, the location
buckets are defined by floor(latitude, longitude) to a desired
resolution. The higher the resolution, the smaller the size of the
location buckets. For example, in one embodiment, the location
buckets are defined by floor(latitude, longitude) to a resolution
of 1/10,000.sup.th of a degree such that the lower left-hand
corners of the squares illustrated in FIG. 6 are defined by the
floor(latitude, longitude) values at a resolution of
1/10,000.sup.th of a degree. In the example of FIG. 6, users are
represented as dots, and location buckets 72 through 88 have lists
of 1, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, and 3 users, respectively.
[0104] As discussed below in detail, at a predetermined time
interval such as, for example, 15 minutes, the history manager 56
makes a copy of the lists of users in the location buckets,
anonymizes the user profiles of the users in the lists to provide
anonymized user profile data for the corresponding location
buckets, and stores the anonymized user profile data in a number of
history objects. In one embodiment, a history object is stored for
each location bucket having at least one user. In another
embodiment, a quadtree algorithm is used to efficiently create
history objects for geographic regions (i.e., groups of one or more
adjoining location buckets).
[0105] FIG. 7 graphically illustrates a scenario where a user moves
from one location bucket to another, namely, from the location
bucket 74 to the location bucket 76. As discussed below in detail,
assuming that the movement occurs during the time interval between
persistence of the historical data by the history manager 56, the
user is included on both the list for the location bucket 74 and
the list for the location bucket 76. However, the user is flagged
or otherwise marked as inactive for the location bucket 74 and
active for the location bucket 76. As discussed below, after making
a copy of the lists for the location buckets to be used to persist
the historical data, users flagged as inactive are removed from the
lists of users for the location buckets. Thus, in sum, once a user
moves from the location bucket 74 to the location bucket 76, the
user remains in the list for the location bucket 74 until the
predetermined time interval has expired and the anonymized user
profile data is persisted. The user is then removed from the list
for the location bucket 74.
[0106] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of a
foreground "bucketization" process performed by the history manager
56 to maintain the lists of users for location buckets according to
one embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the history
manager 56 receives a location update for a user (step 1200). For
this discussion, assume that the location update is received for
the user 20-1. The history manager 56 then determines a location
bucket corresponding to the updated location (i.e., the current
location) of the user 20-1 (step 1202). In the preferred
embodiment, the location of the user 20-1 is expressed as latitude
and longitude coordinates, and the history manager 56 determines
the location bucket by determining floor values of the latitude and
longitude coordinates, which can be written as floor(latitude,
longitude) at a desired resolution. As an example, if the latitude
and longitude coordinates for the location of the user 20-1 are
32.24267381553987 and -111.9249213502935, respectively, and the
floor values are to be computed to a resolution of 1/10,000.sup.th
of a degree, then the floor values for the latitude and longitude
coordinates are 32.2426 and -111.9249. The floor values for the
latitude and longitude coordinates correspond to a particular
location bucket.
[0107] After determining the location bucket for the location of
the user 20-1, the history manager 56 determines whether the user
20-1 is new to the location bucket (step 1204). In other words, the
history manager 56 determines whether the user 20-1 is already on
the list of users for the location bucket. If the user 20-1 is new
to the location bucket, the history manager 56 creates an entry for
the user 20-1 in the list of users for the location bucket (step
1206). Returning to step 1204, if the user 20-1 is not new to the
location bucket, the history manager 56 updates the entry for the
user 20-1 in the list of users for the location bucket (step 1208).
At this point, whether proceeding from step 1206 or 1208, the user
20-1 is flagged as active in the list of users for the location
bucket (step 1210).
[0108] The history manager 56 then determines whether the user 20-1
has moved from another location bucket (step 1212). More
specifically, the history manager 56 determines whether the user
20-1 is included in the list of users for another location bucket
and is currently flagged as active in that list. If the user 20-1
has not moved from another location bucket, the process proceeds to
step 1216. If the user 20-1 has moved from another location bucket,
the history manager 56 flags the user 20-1 as inactive in the list
of users for the other location bucket from which the user 20-1 has
moved (step 1214).
[0109] At this point, whether proceeding from step 1212 or 1214,
the history manager 56 determines whether it is time to persist
(step 1216). More specifically, as mentioned above, the history
manager 56 operates to persist history objects at a predetermined
time interval such as, for example, every 15 minutes. Thus, the
history manager 56 determines that it is time to persist if the
predetermined time interval has expired. If it is not time to
persist, the process returns to step 1200 and is repeated for a
next received location update, which will typically be for another
user. If it is time to persist, the history manager 56 creates a
copy of the lists of users for the location buckets and passes the
copy of the lists to an anonymization and storage process (step
1218). In this embodiment, the anonymization and storage process is
a separate process performed by the history manager 56. The history
manager 56 then removes inactive users from the lists of users for
the location buckets (step 1220). The process then returns to step
300 and is repeated for a next received location update, which will
typically be for another user.
[0110] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the anonymization and
storage process performed by the history manager 56 at the
predetermined time interval according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. First, the anonymization and storage process
receives the copy of the lists of users for the location buckets
passed to the anonymization and storage process by the
bucketization process of FIG. 8 (step 1300). Next, anonymization is
performed for each of the location buckets having at least one user
in order to provide anonymized user profile data for the location
buckets (step 1302). Anonymization prevents connecting information
stored in the history objects stored by the history manager 56 back
to the users 20-1 through 20-N or at least substantially increases
a difficulty of connecting information stored in the history
objects stored by the history manager 56 back to the users 20-1
through 20-N. Lastly, the anonymized user profile data for the
location buckets is stored in a number of history objects (step
1304). In one embodiment, a separate history object is stored for
each of the location buckets, where the history object of a
location bucket includes the anonymized user profile data for the
location bucket. In another embodiment, as discussed below, a
quadtree algorithm is used to efficiently store the anonymized user
profile data in a number of history objects such that each history
object stores the anonymized user profile data for one or more
location buckets.
[0111] FIG. 10 graphically illustrates one embodiment of the
anonymization process of step 1302 of FIG. 9. In this embodiment,
anonymization is performed by creating anonymous user records for
the users in the lists of users for the location buckets. The
anonymous user records are not connected back to the users 20-1
through 20-N. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 10, each
user in the lists of users for the location buckets has a
corresponding user record 90. The user record 90 includes a unique
user identifier (ID) for the user, the current location of the
user, and the user profile of the user. The user profile includes
keywords for each of a number of profile categories, which are
stored in corresponding profile category records 92-1 through 92-M.
Each of the profile category records 92-1 through 92-M includes a
user ID for the corresponding user which may be the same user ID
used in the user record 90, a category ID, and a list of keywords
for the profile category.
[0112] For anonymization, an anonymous user record 94 is created
from the user record 90. In the anonymous user record 94, the user
ID is replaced with a new user ID that is not connected back to the
user, which is also referred to herein as an anonymous user ID.
This new user ID is different than any other user ID used for
anonymous user records created from the user record of the user for
any previous or subsequent time periods. In this manner, anonymous
user records for a single user created over time cannot be linked
to one another.
[0113] In addition, anonymous profile category records 96-1 through
96-M are created for the profile category records 92-1 through
92-M. In the anonymous profile category records 96-1 through 96-M,
the user ID is replaced with a new user ID, which may be the same
new user ID included in the anonymous user record 94. The anonymous
profile category records 96-1 through 96-M include the same
category IDs and lists of keywords as the corresponding profile
category records 92-1 through 92-M. Note that the location of the
user is not stored in the anonymous user record 94. With respect to
location, it is sufficient that the anonymous user record 94 is
linked to a location bucket.
[0114] In another embodiment, the history manager 56 performs
anonymization in a manner similar to that described above with
respect to FIG. 10. However, in this embodiment, the profile
category records for the group of users in a location bucket, or
the group of users in a number of location buckets representing a
node in a quadtree data structure (see below), may be selectively
randomized among the anonymous user records of those users. In
other words, each anonymous user record would have a user profile
including a selectively randomized set of profile category records
(including keywords) from a cumulative list of profile category
records for all of the users in the group.
[0115] In yet another embodiment, rather than creating anonymous
user records 94 for the users in the lists maintained for the
location buckets, the history manager 56 may perform anonymization
by storing an aggregate user profile for each location bucket, or
each group of location buckets representing a node in a quadtree
data structure (see below). The aggregate user profile may include
a list of all keywords and potentially the number of occurrences of
each keyword in the user profiles of the corresponding group of
users. In this manner, the data stored by the history manager 56 is
not connected back to the users 20-1 through 20-N.
[0116] FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the storing step (step
1304) of FIG. 9 in more detail according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. First, the history manager 56 processes the
location buckets using a quadtree algorithm to produce a quadtree
data structure, where each node of the quadtree data structure
includes one or more of the location buckets having a combined
number of users that is at most a predefined maximum number of
users (step 1400). The history manager 56 then stores a history
object for each node in the quadtree data structure having at least
one user (step 1402).
[0117] Each history object includes location information, timing
information, data, and quadtree data structure information. The
location information included in the history object defines a
combined geographic area of the location bucket(s) forming the
corresponding node of the quadtree data structure. For example, the
location information may be latitude and longitude coordinates for
a northeast corner of the combined geographic area of the node of
the quadtree data structure and a southwest corner of the combined
geographic area for the node of the quadtree data structure. The
timing information includes information defining a time window for
the history object, which may be, for example, a start time for the
corresponding time interval and an end time for the corresponding
time interval. The data includes the anonymized user profile data
for the users in the list(s) maintained for the location bucket(s)
forming the node of the quadtree data structure for which the
history object is stored. In addition, the data may include a total
number of users in the location bucket(s) forming the node of the
quadtree data structure. Lastly, the quadtree data structure
information includes information defining a quadtree depth of the
node in the quadtree data structure.
[0118] FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a quadtree algorithm
that may be used to process the location buckets to form the
quadtree data structure in step 1400 of FIG. 11 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure. Initially, a geographic area
served by the MAP server 12 is divided into a number of geographic
regions, each including multiple location buckets. These geographic
regions are also referred to herein as base quadtree regions. The
geographic area served by the MAP server 12 may be, for example, a
city, a state, a country, or the like. Further, the geographic area
may be the only geographic area served by the MAP server 12 or one
of a number of geographic areas served by the MAP server 12.
Preferably, the base quadtree regions have a size of
2.sup.n.times.2.sup.n location buckets, where n is an integer
greater than or equal to 1.
[0119] In order to form the quadtree data structure, the history
manager 56 determines whether there are any more base quadtree
regions to process (step 1500). If there are more base quadtree
regions to process, the history manager 56 sets a current node to
the next base quadtree region to process, which for the first
iteration is the first base quadtree region (step 1502). The
history manager 56 then determines whether the number of users in
the current node is greater than a predefined maximum number of
users and whether a current quadtree depth is less than a maximum
quadtree depth (step 1504). In one embodiment, the maximum quadtree
depth may be reached when the current node corresponds to a single
location bucket. However, the maximum quadtree depth may be set
such that the maximum quadtree depth is reached before the current
node reaches a single location bucket.
[0120] If the number of users in the current node is greater than
the predefined maximum number of users and the current quadtree
depth is less than a maximum quadtree depth, the history manager 56
creates a number of child nodes for the current node (step 1506).
More specifically, the history manager 56 creates a child node for
each quadrant of the current node. The users in the current node
are then assigned to the appropriate child nodes based on the
location buckets in which the users are located (step 1508), and
the current node is then set to the first child node (step 1510).
At this point, the process returns to step 1504 and is
repeated.
[0121] Once the number of users in the current node is not greater
than the predefined maximum number of users or the maximum quadtree
depth has been reached, the history manager 56 determines whether
the current node has any more sibling nodes (step 1512). Sibling
nodes are child nodes of the same parent node. If so, the history
manager 56 sets the current node to the next sibling node of the
current node (step 1514), and the process returns to step 1504 and
is repeated. Once there are no more sibling nodes to process, the
history manager 56 determines whether the current node has a parent
node (step 1516). If so, since the parent node has already been
processed, the history manager 56 determines whether the parent
node has any sibling nodes that need to be processed (step 1518).
If the parent node has any sibling nodes that need to be processed,
the history manager 56 sets the next sibling node of the parent
node to be processed as the current node (step 1520). From this
point, the process returns to step 1504 and is repeated. Returning
to step 1516, if the current node does not have a parent node, the
process returns to step 1500 and is repeated until there are no
more base quadtree regions to process. Once there are no more base
quadtree regions to process, the finished quadtree data structure
is returned to the process of FIG. 11 such that the history manager
56 can then store the history objects for nodes in the quadtree
data structure having at least one user (step 1522).
[0122] FIGS. 13A through 13E graphically illustrate the process of
FIG. 12 for the generation of the quadtree data structure for one
exemplary base quadtree region 98. FIG. 13A illustrates the base
quadtree region 98. As illustrated, the base quadtree region 98 is
an 8.times.8 square of location buckets, where each of the small
squares represents a location bucket. First, the history manager 56
determines whether the number of users in the base quadtree region
98 is greater than the predetermined maximum number of users. In
this example, the predetermined maximum number of users is 3. Since
the number of users in the base quadtree region 98 is greater than
3, the history manager 56 divides the base quadtree region 98 into
four child nodes 100-1 through 100-4, as illustrated in FIG.
13B.
[0123] Next, the history manager 56 determines whether the number
of users in the child node 100-1 is greater than the predetermined
maximum, which again for this example is 3. Since the number of
users in the child node 100-1 is greater than 3, the history
manager 56 divides the child node 100-1 into four child nodes 102-1
through 102-4, as illustrated in FIG. 13C. The child nodes 102-1
through 102-4 are children of the child node 100-1. The history
manager 56 then determines whether the number of users in the child
node 102-1 is greater than the predetermined maximum number of
users, which again is 3. Since there are more than 3 users in the
child node 102-1, the history manager 56 further divides the child
node 102-1 into four child nodes 104-1 through 104-N, as
illustrated in FIG. 13D.
[0124] The history manager 56 then determines whether the number of
users in the child node 104-1 is greater than the predetermined
maximum number of users, which again is 3. Since the number of
users in the child node 104-1 is not greater than the predetermined
maximum number of users, the child node 104-1 is identified as a
node for the finished quadtree data structure, and the history
manager 56 proceeds to process the sibling nodes of the child node
104-1, which are the child nodes 104-2 through 104-4. Since the
number of users in each of the child nodes 104-2 through 104-4 is
less than the predetermined maximum number of users, the child
nodes 104-2 through 104-4 are also identified as nodes for the
finished quadtree data structure.
[0125] Once the history manager 56 has finished processing the
child nodes 104-1 through 104-4, the history manager 56 identifies
the parent node of the child nodes 104-1 through 104-4, which in
this case is the child node 102-1. The history manager 56 then
processes the sibling nodes of the child node 102-1, which are the
child nodes 102-2 through 102-4. In this example, the number of
users in each of the child nodes 102-2 through 102-4 is less than
the predetermined maximum number of users. As such, the child nodes
102-2 through 102-4 are identified as nodes for the finished
quadtree data structure.
[0126] Once the history manager 56 has finished processing the
child nodes 102-1 through 102-4, the history manager 56 identifies
the parent node of the child nodes 102-1 through 102-4, which in
this case is the child node 100-1. The history manager 56 then
processes the sibling nodes of the child node 100-1, which are the
child nodes 100-2 through 100-4. More specifically, the history
manager 56 determines that the child node 100-2 includes more than
the predetermined maximum number of users and, as such, divides the
child node 100-2 into four child nodes 106-1 through 106-4, as
illustrated in FIG. 13E. Because the number of users in each of the
child nodes 106-1 through 106-4 is not greater than the
predetermined maximum number of users, the child nodes 106-1
through 106-4 are identified as nodes for the finished quadtree
data structure. Then, the history manager 56 proceeds to process
the child nodes 100-3 and 100-4. Since the number of users in each
of the child nodes 100-3 and 100-4 is not greater than the
predetermined maximum number of users, the child nodes 100-3 and
100-4 are identified as nodes for the finished quadtree data
structure. Thus, at completion, the quadtree data structure for the
base quadtree region 98 includes the child nodes 104-1 through
104-4, the child nodes 102-2 through 102-4, the child nodes 106-1
through 106-4, and the child nodes 100-3 and 100-4, as illustrated
in FIG. 13E.
[0127] As discussed above, the history manager 56 stores a history
object for each of the nodes in the quadtree data structure
including at least one user. As such, in this example, the history
manager 56 stores history objects for the child nodes 104-2 and
104-3, the child nodes 102-2 and 102-4, the child nodes 106-1 and
106-4, and the child node 100-3. However, no history objects are
stored for the nodes that do not have any users (i.e., the child
nodes 104-1 and 104-4, the child node 102-3, the child nodes 106-2
and 106-3, and the child node 100-4).
[0128] FIG. 14 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1
wherein a mobile device is enabled to request and receive
historical data from the MAP server 12 according to one embodiment
of the present disclosure. As illustrated, in this embodiment, the
MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1 sends a historical
request to the MAP client 30-1 of the mobile device 18-1 (step
1600). In one embodiment, the historical request identifies either
a POI or an AOI and a time window. A POI is a geographic point
whereas an AOI is a geographic area. In one embodiment, the
historical request is for a POI and a time window, where the POI is
a POI corresponding to the current location of the user 20-1, a POI
selected from a list of POIs defined by the user 20-1 of the mobile
device 18-1, a POI selected from a list of POIs defined by the MAP
application 32-1 or the MAP server 12, a POI selected by the user
20-1 from a map, a POI implicitly defined via a separate
application (e.g., POI is implicitly defined as the location of the
nearest Starbucks coffee house in response to the user 20-1
performing a Google search for "Starbucks"), or the like. If the
POI is selected from a list of POIs, the list of POIs may include
static POIs which may be defined by street addresses or latitude
and longitude coordinates, dynamic POIs which may be defined as the
current locations of one or more friends of the user 20-1, or
both.
[0129] In another embodiment, the historical request is for an AOI
and a time window, where the AOI may be an AOI of a geographic area
of a predefined shape and size centered at the current location of
the user 20-1, an AOI selected from a list of AOIs defined by the
user 20-1, an AOI selected from a list of AOIs defined by the MAP
application 32-1 or the MAP server 12, an AOI selected by the user
20-1 from a map, an AOI implicitly defined via a separate
application (e.g., AOI is implicitly defined as an area of a
predefined shape and size centered at the location of the nearest
Starbucks coffee house in response to the user 20-1 performing a
Google search for "Starbucks"), or the like. If the AOI is selected
from a list of AOIs, the list of AOIs may include static AOIs,
dynamic AOIs which may be defined as areas of a predefined shape
and size centered at the current locations of one or more friends
of the user 20-1, or both. Note that the POI or AOI of the
historical request may be selected by the user 20-1 via the MAP
application 32-1. In yet another embodiment, the MAP application
32-1 automatically uses the current location of the user 20-1 as
the POI or as a center point for an AOI of a predefined shape and
size.
[0130] The time window for the historical request may be relative
to the current time. For example, the time window may be the last
hour, the last day, the last week, the last month, or the like.
Alternatively, the time window may be an arbitrary time window
selected by the user 20-1 such as, for example, yesterday from 7
pm-9 pm, last Friday, last week, or the like. Note that while in
this example the historical request includes a single POI or AOI
and a single time window, the historical request may include
multiple POIs or AOIs and/or multiple time windows.
[0131] In one embodiment, the historical request is made in
response to user input from the user 20-1 of the mobile device
18-1. For instance, in one embodiment, the user 20-1 selects either
a POI or an AOI and a time window and then instructs the MAP
application 32-1 to make the historical request by, for example,
selecting a corresponding button on a graphical user interface. In
another embodiment, the historical request is made automatically in
response to some event such as, for example, opening the MAP
application 32-1.
[0132] Upon receiving the historical request from the MAP
application 32-1, the MAP client 30-1 forwards the historical
request to the MAP server 12 (step 1602). Note that the MAP client
30-1 may, in some cases, process the historical request from the
MAP application 32-1 before forwarding the historical request to
the MAP server 12. For example, if the historical request from the
MAP application 32-1 is for multiple POIs/AOIs and/or for multiple
time windows, the MAP client 30-1 may process the historical
request from the MAP application 32-1 to produce multiple
historical requests to be sent to the MAP server 12. For instance,
a separate historical request may be produced for each POI/AOI and
time window combination. However, for this discussion, the
historical request is for a single POI or AOI for a single time
window.
[0133] Upon receiving the historical request from the MAP client
30-1, the MAP server 12 processes the historical request (step
1604). More specifically, the historical request is processed by
the history manager 56 of the MAP server 12. First, the history
manager 56 obtains history objects that are relevant to the
historical request from the datastore 64 of the MAP server 12. The
relevant history objects are those recorded for locations relevant
to the POI or AOI and the time window for the historical request.
The history manager 56 then processes the relevant history objects
to provide historical aggregate profile data for the POI or AOI in
a time context and/or a geographic context. In this embodiment, the
historical aggregate profile data is based on the user profiles of
the anonymous user records in the relevant history objects as
compared to the user profile of the user 20-1 or a select subset
thereof. In another embodiment, the historical aggregate profile
data is based on the user profiles of the anonymous user records in
the relevant history objects as compared to a target user profile
defined or otherwise specified by the user 20-1.
[0134] As discussed below in detail, for the time context, the
history manager 56 divides the time window for the historical
request into a number of time bands. Each time band is a fragment
of the time window. Then, for each time band, the history manager
56 identifies a subset of the relevant history objects that are
relevant to the time band (i.e., history objects recorded for time
periods within the time band or that overlap the time band) and
generates an aggregate profile for each of those history objects
based on the user profiles of the anonymous user records in the
history objects and the user profile, or a select subset of the
user profile, of the user 20-1. Then, the history manager 56
averages or otherwise combines the aggregate profiles for the
history objects relevant to the time band. The resulting data for
the time bands forms historical aggregate profile data that is to
be returned to the MAP client 30-1, as discussed below.
[0135] For the geographic context, the history manager 56 generates
an average aggregate profile for each of a number of grids
surrounding the POI or within the AOI. More specifically, history
objects relevant to the POI or the AOI and the time window of the
historical request are obtained. Then, the user profiles of the
anonymous users in the relevant history objects are used to
generate average aggregate profiles for a number of grids, or
geographic regions, at or surrounding the POI or the AOI. These
average aggregate profiles for the grids form historical aggregate
profile data that is to be returned to the MAP client 30-1, as
discussed below.
[0136] Once the MAP server 12 has processed the historical request,
the MAP server 12 returns the resulting historical aggregate
profile data to the MAP client 30-1 (step 1606). As discussed
above, the historical aggregate profile data may be in a time
context or a geographic context. In an alternative embodiment, the
data returned to the MAP client 30-1 may be raw historical data.
The raw historical data may be the relevant history objects or data
from the relevant history objects such as, for example, the user
records in the relevant history objects, the user profiles of the
anonymous user records in the relevant history objects, or the
like.
[0137] Upon receiving the historical aggregate profile data, the
MAP client 30-1 passes the historical aggregate profile data to the
MAP application 32-1 (step 1608). Note that in an alternative
embodiment where the data returned by the MAP server 12 is raw
historical data, the MAP client 30-1 may process the raw historical
data to provide desired data. For example, the MAP client 30-1 may
process the raw historical data in order to generate average
aggregate profiles for time bands within the time window of the
historical request and/or to generate average aggregate profiles
for regions near the POI or within the AOI of the historical
request in a manner similar to that described above. The MAP
application 32-1 then presents the historical aggregate profile
data to the user 20-1 (step 1610).
[0138] FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate a flow chart for a process for
generating historical aggregate profile data in a time context
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. First, upon
receiving a historical request, the history manager 56 establishes
a bounding box for the historical request based on the POI or the
AOI for the historical request (step 1700). Note that while a
bounding box is used in this example, other geographic shapes may
be used to define a bounding region for the historical request
(e.g., a bounding circle). In this embodiment, the historical
request is from a mobile device of a requesting user, which in this
example is the user 20-1. If the historical request is for a POI,
the bounding box is a geographic region corresponding to or
surrounding the POI. For example, the bounding box may be a square
geographic region of a predefined size centered on the POI. If the
historical request is for an AOI, the bounding box is the AOI. In
addition to establishing the bounding box, the history manager 56
establishes a time window for the historical request (step 1702).
For example, if the historical request is for the last week and the
current date and time are Sep. 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm, the history
manager 56 may generate the time window as Sep. 10, 2009 at 10:00
pm through Sep. 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm.
[0139] Next, the history manager 56 obtains history objects
relevant to the bounding box and the time window for the historical
request from the datastore 64 of the MAP server 12 (step 1704). The
relevant history objects are history objects recorded for time
periods within or intersecting the time window and for locations,
or geographic areas, within or intersecting the bounding box for
the historical request. The history manager 56 also determines an
output time band size (step 1706). In one exemplary embodiment, the
output time band size is 1/100.sup.th of the amount of time from
the start of the time window to the end of the time window for the
historical request. For example, if the amount of time in the time
window for the historical request is one week, the output time band
size may be set to 1/100.sup.th of a week, which is 1.68 hours or 1
hour and 41 minutes.
[0140] The history manager 56 then sorts the relevant history
objects into the appropriate output time bands of the time window
for the historical request. More specifically, in this embodiment,
the history manager 56 creates an empty list for each of output
time band of the time window (step 1708). Then, the history manager
56 gets the next history object from the history objects identified
in step 1704 as being relevant to the historical request (step
1710) and adds that history object to the list(s) for the
appropriate output time band(s) (step 1712). Note that if the
history object is recorded for a time period that overlaps two or
more of the output time bands, then the history object may be added
to all of the output time bands to which the history object is
relevant. The history manager 56 then determines whether there are
more relevant history objects to sort into the output time bands
(step 1714). If so, the process returns to step 1710 and is
repeated until all of the relevant history objects have been sorted
into the appropriate output time bands.
[0141] Once sorting is complete, the history manager 56 determines
an equivalent depth of the bounding box (D.sub.BB) within the
quadtree data structures used to store the history objects (step
1716). More specifically, the area of the base quadtree region
(e.g., the base quadtree region 98) is referred to as A.sub.BASE.
Then, at each depth of the quadtree, the area of the corresponding
quadtree nodes is (1/4).sup.D*A.sub.BASE. In other words, the area
of a child node is 1/4.sup.th of the area of the parent node of
that child node. The history manager 56 determines the equivalent
depth of the bounding box (D.sub.BB) by determining a quadtree
depth at which the area of the corresponding quadtree nodes most
closely matches an area of the bounding box (A.sub.BB).
[0142] Note that equivalent quadtree depth of the bounding box
(D.sub.BB) determined in step 1716 is used below in order to
efficiently determine the ratios of the area of the bounding box
(A.sub.BB) to areas of the relevant history objects (A.sub.HO).
However, in an alternative embodiment, the ratios of the area of
the bounding box (A.sub.BB) to the areas of the relevant history
objects (A.sub.HO) may be otherwise computed, in which case step
1716 would not be needed.
[0143] At this point, the process proceeds to FIG. 15B where the
history manager 56 gets the list for the next output time band of
the time window for the historical request (step 1718). The history
manager 56 then gets the next history object in the list for the
output time band (step 1720). Next, the history manager 56 sets a
relevancy weight for the history object, where the relevancy weight
is indicative of a relevancy of the history object to the bounding
box (step 1722). For instance, a history object includes anonymized
user profile data for a corresponding geographic area. If that
geographic area is within or significantly overlaps the bounding
box, then the history object will have a high relevancy weight.
However, if the geographic area only overlaps the bounding box
slightly, then the history object will have a low relevancy weight.
In this embodiment, the relevancy weight for the history object is
set to an approximate ratio of the area of the bounding box
(A.sub.BB) to an area of the history object (A.sub.HO) computed
based on a difference between the quadtree depth of the history
object (D.sub.HO) and the equivalent quadtree depth of the bounding
box (D.sub.EQ). The quadtree depth of the history object (D.sub.HO)
is stored in the history object. More specifically, in one
embodiment, the relevancy weight of the history object is set
according to the following:
relevancy = A BB A HO .apprxeq. ( 1 4 ) D HO - D BB , for D HO >
D BB , and ##EQU00001## relevancy = 1 , for D HO .ltoreq. D BB .
##EQU00001.2##
[0144] Next, the history manager 56 generates an aggregate profile
for the history object using the user profile of the requesting
user, which for this example is the user 20-1, or a select subset
thereof (step 1724). Note that the requesting user 20-1 may be
enabled to select a subset of his user profile to be compared to
the user profiles of the anonymous user records in the history
objects by, for example, selecting one or more desired profile
categories. In order to generate the aggregate profile for the
history object, the history manager 56 compares the user profile of
the user 20-1, or the select subset thereof, to the user profiles
of the anonymous user records stored in the history object. The
resulting aggregate profile for the history object includes a
number of user matches and a total number of users. In the
embodiment where user profiles include lists of keywords for a
number of profile categories, the number of user matches is the
number of anonymous user records in the history object having user
profiles that include at least one keyword that matches at least
one keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1 or at least one
keyword in the select subset of the user profile of the user 20-1.
The total number of users is the total number of anonymous user
records in the history object. In addition or alternatively, the
aggregate profile for the history object may include a list of
keywords from the user profile of the user 20-1 or the select
subset of the user profile of the user 20-1 having at least one
user match. Still further, the aggregate profile for the history
object may include the number of user matches for each of the
keywords from the user profile of the user 20-1 or the select
subset of the user profile of the user 20-1 having at least one
user match.
[0145] The history manager 56 then determines whether there are
more history objects in the list for the output time band (step
1726). If so, the process returns to step 1720 and is repeated
until all of the history objects in the list for the output time
band have been processed. Once all of the history objects in the
list for the output time band have been processed, the history
manager 56 combines the aggregate profiles of the history objects
in the output time band to provide a combined aggregate profile for
the output time band. More specifically, in this embodiment, the
history manager 56 computes a weighted average of the aggregate
profiles for the history objects in the output time band using the
relevancy weights of the history objects (step 1728). In one
embodiment, the aggregate profile of each of the history objects
includes the number of user matches for the history object and the
total number of users for the history object. In this embodiment,
the weighted average of the aggregate profiles of the history
objects in the output time band (i.e., the average aggregate
profile for the output time band) includes the weighted average of
the number of user matches for all of the history objects in the
output time band, which may be computed as:
user_ matches AVG = i = 1 n ( relevancy i number_of _user _ matches
i ) i = 1 n relevancy i , ##EQU00002##
where relevancy.sub.i is the relevancy weight computed in step 1722
for the i-th history object, number_of_user_matches.sub.i is the
number of user matches from the aggregate profile of the i-th
history object, and n is the number of history objects in the list
for the output time band. In a similar manner, in this embodiment,
the average aggregate profile for the output time band includes the
weighted average of the total number of users for all of the
history objects in the output time band, which may be computed
as:
total_ users AVG = i = 1 n ( relevancy i total_ users i ) i = 1 n
relevancy i , ##EQU00003##
where relevancy.sub.i is the relevancy weight computed in step 1722
for the i-th history object, total_users.sub.i is the total number
of users from the aggregate profile of the i-th history object, and
n is the number of history objects in the list for the output time
band. In addition or alternatively, the average aggregate profile
for the output time band may include the weighted average of the
ratio of user matches to total users for all of the history objects
in the output time band, which may be computed as:
user_matches total_ users AVG = i = 1 n ( relevancy i number_of
_user _ matches i total_ users i ) i = 1 n relevancy i ,
##EQU00004##
where relevancy.sub.i is the relevancy weight computed in step 1722
for the i-th history object, number_of_user_matches.sub.i is the
number of user matches from the aggregate profile of the i-th
history object, total_users.sub.i is the total number of users from
the aggregate profile of the i-th history object, and n is the
number of history objects in the list for the output time band.
[0146] In addition or alternatively, if the aggregate profiles for
the history objects in the output time band include the number of
user matches for each keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1,
or the select subset thereof, having at least one user match, the
average aggregate profile for the output time band may include a
weighted average of the number of user matches for each of those
keywords, which may be computed as:
user_ matches KEYWORD_j , AVG = i = 1 n ( relevancy i number_of
_user _ matches KEYWORD_j , i ) i = 1 n relevancy i ,
##EQU00005##
where relevancy.sub.i is the relevancy weight computed in step 1722
for the i-th history object,
number_of_user_matches.sub.KEYWORD.sub.--.sub.j,i is the number of
user matches for the j-th keyword for the i-th history object, and
n is the number of history objects in the list for the output time
band. In addition or alternatively, the average aggregate profile
for the output time band may include the weighted average of the
ratio of the user matches to total users for each keyword, which
may be computed as:
user_matches total_ users KEYWORD_j , AVG = i = 1 n ( relevancy i
number_of _user _ matches KEYWORD_j , i total_ users i ) i = 1 n
relevancy i , ##EQU00006##
where relevancy.sub.i is the relevancy weight computed in step 1722
for the i-th history object,
number_of_user_matches.sub.KEYWORD.sub.--.sub.j,i is the number of
user matches for the j-th keyword for the i-th history object,
total_users.sub.i is the total number of users from the aggregate
profile of the i-th history object, and n is the number of history
objects in the list for the output time band.
[0147] Next, the history manager 56 determines whether there are
more output time bands to process (step 1730). If so, the process
returns to step 1718 and is repeated until the lists for all output
time bands have been processed. Once all of the output time bands
have been processed, the history manager 56 outputs the combined
aggregate profiles for the output time bands. More specifically, in
this embodiment, the history manager 56 outputs the weighted
average aggregate profiles computed in step 1728 for the output
time bands as the historical aggregate profile data to be returned
to the mobile device 18-1 (step 1732).
[0148] FIG. 16 is an exemplary Graphical User Interface (GUI) 108
that may be provided by the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile
device 18-1 (FIG. 1) in order to present historical aggregate
profile data in a time context according to one embodiment of this
disclosure. In operation, the MAP application 32-1 issues a
historical request for a POI 110 in the manner described above. In
response, the MAP server 12 uses the process of FIGS. 15A and 15B
to generate historical aggregate profile data in response to the
historical request in the time context. More specifically, the
historical aggregate profile data includes an average aggregate
profile for each of a number of output time bands within a time
window established for the historical request. In this example, the
time window is a four week period extending from the week of July
5.sup.th to the week of July 26.sup.th.
[0149] Using the average aggregate profiles for the output time
bands included in the historical aggregate profile data, the MAP
application 32-1 generates a timeline 112 for the time window of
the historical request. The timeline 112 is a graphical
illustration of the average aggregate profiles for the output time
bands. For example, if the average aggregate profile for each of
the output time bands includes a weighted average of the number of
user matches and a weighted average of the number of total users
for the output time band, the timeline 112 may be indicative of the
ratio of the weighted average of user matches to the weighted
average of total users for each of the output time bands. In this
example, the output time bands having a ratio of weighted average
of user matches to weighted average of total users that is less
than 0.25 are represented as having a low similarity, the output
time bands having a ratio of weighted average of user matches to
weighted average of total users that is in the range of 0.25-0.75
are represented as having varying degrees of intermediate
similarity, and the output time bands having a ratio of weighted
average of user matches to weighted average of total users that is
greater than 0.75 are represented as having a high similarity. Note
that output time bands for which there are no history objects may
be grayed-out or otherwise indicated.
[0150] In addition, in this example, the GUI 108 also includes a
second timeline 114 that zooms in on an area of the timeline 112
that includes the most activity or that includes the greatest
number of output time bands having a high or medium similarity.
Lastly, in this example, the GUI 108 includes an aggregate profile
116 for a crowd that is currently at the POI. Note that crowds and
aggregate profiles for the crowds are discussed below in
detail.
[0151] FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate a flow chart of a process for
generating historical aggregate profile data in a geographic
context according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
First, upon receiving a historical request, the history manager 56
establishes a bounding box for the historical request based on the
POI or the AOI for the historical request (step 1800). Note that
while a bounding box is used in this example, other geographic
shapes may be used to define a bounding region for the historical
request (e.g., a bounding circle). In this embodiment, the
historical request is from a mobile device of a requesting user,
which in this example is the user 20-1. If the historical request
is for a POI, the bounding box is a geographic region corresponding
to or surrounding the POI. For example, the bounding box may be a
square geographic region of a predefined size centered on the POI.
If the historical request is for an AOI, the bounding box is the
AOI. In addition to establishing the bounding box, the history
manager 56 establishes a time window for the historical request
(step 1802). For example, if the historical request is for the last
week and the current date and time are Sep. 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm,
the history manager 56 may generate the time window as Sep. 10,
2009 at 10:00 pm through Sep. 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm.
[0152] Next, the history manager 56 obtains history objects
relevant to the bounding box and the time window of the historical
request from the datastore 64 of the MAP server 12 (step 1804). The
relevant history objects are history objects recorded for time
periods within or intersecting the time window and for locations,
or geographic areas, within or intersecting the bounding box for
the historical request. The history manager 56 then sorts the
relevant history objects into base quadtree regions. More
specifically, in this embodiment, the history manager 56 creates an
empty list for each relevant base quadtree region (step 1806). A
relevant base quadtree region is a base quadtree region within
which all or at least a portion of the bounding box is located.
Therefore, for example, if a bounding box is located at the
intersection of four base quadtree regions such that the bounding
box overlaps a portion of each of the four base quadtree regions,
then all four of the bounding boxes would be identified as relevant
base quadtree regions. In contrast, if the bounding box is
contained within a single base quadtree region, then that base
quadtree region is the only relevant base quadtree region.
[0153] The history manager 56 then gets the next history object
from the history objects identified in step 1804 as being relevant
to the historical request (step 1808) and adds that history object
to the list for the appropriate base quadtree region (step 1810).
The history manager 56 then determines whether there are more
relevant history objects to sort (step 1812). If so, the process
returns to step 1808 and is repeated until all of the relevant
history objects have been sorted into the appropriate base quadtree
regions.
[0154] Once sorting is complete, the process proceeds to FIG. 17B.
The following steps generally operate to divide each base quadtree
region into a grid, where a size of each grid location is set to a
smallest history record size of all the history objects sorted into
the list for that base quadtree region. Using the history objects
in the base quadtree region, aggregate profiles are generated for
each of the grid locations covered by the history object. Then, a
combined aggregate profile is generated for each grid location
based on the aggregate profiles generated using the corresponding
history objects.
[0155] More specifically, the history manager 56 gets the list for
the next base quadtree region (step 1814). The history manager 56
then gets the next history object in the list for the base quadtree
region (step 1816). Next, the history manager 56 creates an
aggregate profile for the history object using the user profile of
the requesting user, which in this example is the user 20-1, or a
select subset of the user profile of the requesting user (step
1818). Note that the user 20-1 may be enabled to select a subset of
his user profile to be used for aggregate profile creation by, for
example, selecting one or more profile categories. In order to
generate the aggregate profile for the history object, the history
manager 56 compares the user profile of the user 20-1, or the
select subset thereof, to the user profiles of the anonymous user
records stored in the history object. The resulting aggregate
profile for the history object includes a number of user matches
and a total number of users. In the embodiment where user profiles
include lists of keywords for a number of profile categories, the
number of user matches is the number of anonymous user records in
the history object having user profiles that include at least one
keyword that matches at least one keyword in the user profile of
the user 20-1 or at least one keyword in the select subset of the
user profile of the user 20-1. The total number of users is the
total number of anonymous user records in the history object.
[0156] Next, the history manager 56 determines whether a size of
the history object is greater than the smallest history object size
in the list of history objects for the base quadtree region (step
1820). If not, the aggregate profile for the history object is
added to an output list for the corresponding grid location for the
base quadtree region (step 1822) and the process proceeds to step
1830. If the size of the history object is greater than the
smallest history object size, the history manager 56 splits the
geographic area, or location, of the history object into a number
of grid locations each of the smallest history object size of all
the history objects in the list for the base quadtree region (step
1824). The history manager 56 then divides the aggregate profile of
the history object evenly over the grid locations for the history
object (step 1826) and adds resulting aggregate profiles for the
grid locations to output lists for those grid locations (step
1828). For example, if the geographic area of the history object is
split into four grid locations and the aggregate profile for the
history object includes eight user matches and sixteen total users,
then the aggregate profile is divided evenly over the four grid
locations such that each of the four grid locations is given an
aggregate profile of two user matches and four total users.
[0157] The history manager 56 then determines whether there are
more history objects to process for the base quadtree region (step
1830). If so, the process returns to step 1816 and is repeated
until all of the history objects for the base quadtree region are
processed. At that point, for each grid location in the base
quadtree region having at least one aggregate profile in its output
list, the history manager 56 combines the aggregate profiles in the
output list for the grid location to provide a combined aggregate
profile for the grid location. More specifically, in this
embodiment, the history manager 56 computes average aggregate
profiles for the grid locations for the base quadtree region (step
1832). In one embodiment, for each grid location, the average
aggregate profile for the grid location includes an average number
of user matches and an average total number of users for all of the
aggregate profiles in the output list for that grid location.
[0158] Next, the history manager 56 determines whether there are
more relevant base quadtree regions to process (step 1834). If so,
the process returns to step 1814 and is repeated until all of the
relevant base quadtree regions have been processed. At that point,
the history manager 56 outputs the grid locations and the average
aggregate profiles for the grid locations in each of the relevant
base quadtree regions (step 1836). The grid locations and their
corresponding average aggregate profiles form the historical
aggregate profile data that is returned to the mobile device 18-1
of the user 20-1 in response to the historical request.
[0159] FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary GUI 118 that may be
provided by the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1
(FIG. 1) to present historical aggregate profile data in the
geographic context to the user 20-1 in response to a historical
request. As illustrated, the GUI 118 includes a map 120 including a
grid 122. The grid 122 provides graphical information indicative of
aggregate profiles for grid locations returned by the MAP server 12
in response to a historical request. The GUI 118 also includes
buttons 124 and 126 enabling the user 20-1 to zoom in or zoom out
on the map 120, buttons 128 and 130 enabling the user 20-1 to
toggle between the traditional map view as shown or a satellite map
view, buttons 132 and 134 enabling the user 20-1 to switch between
historical mode and a current mode (i.e., a view of current crowd
data as discussed below in detail), and buttons 136 and 138
enabling the user 20-1 to hide or show POIs on the map 120.
[0160] It should be noted that while the aggregate profiles in
FIGS. 15A through 18 are generated based on the user profile of the
user 20-1 or a select subset of the user profile of the user 20-1,
the aggregate profiles may alternatively be generated based on a
target user profile defined or otherwise specified by the user
20-1. For example, the user 20-1 may define a target profile for a
type of person with which the user 20-1 would like to interact.
Then, by making a historical request with the target profile, the
user 20-1 can learn whether people matching the target profile are
historically located at a POI or an AOI.
[0161] FIG. 19 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1
wherein the subscriber device 22 is enabled to request and receive
historical aggregate profile data from the MAP server 12 according
to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that, in a
similar manner, the third-party service 26 may send historical
requests to the MAP server 12. As illustrated, in this embodiment,
the subscriber device 22 sends a historical request to the MAP
server 12 (step 1900). The subscriber device 22 sends the
historical request to the MAP server 12 via the web browser 38. In
one embodiment, the historical request identifies either a POI or
an AOI and a time window. The historical request may be made in
response to user input from the subscriber 24 of the subscriber
device 22 or made automatically in response to an event such as,
for example, navigation to a website associated with a POI (e.g.,
navigation to a website of a restaurant).
[0162] Upon receiving the historical request, the MAP server 12
processes the historical request (step 1902). More specifically, as
discussed above, the historical request is processed by the history
manager 56 of the MAP server 12. First, the history manager 56
obtains history objects that are relevant to the historical request
from the datastore 64 of the MAP server 12. The relevant history
objects are those relevant to the POI or the AOI and the time
window for the historical request. The history manager 56 then
processes the relevant history objects to provide historical
aggregate profile data for the POI or the AOI in a time context
and/or a geographic context. In this embodiment, the historical
aggregate profile data is based on comparisons of the user profiles
of the anonymous user records in the relevant history objects to
one another. In another embodiment, the aggregate profile data is
based on comparisons of the user profiles of the anonymous user
records in the relevant history objects and a target user
profile.
[0163] Once the MAP server 12 has processed the historical request,
the MAP server 12 returns the resulting historical aggregate
profile data to the subscriber device 22 (step 1904). The
historical aggregate profile data may be in the time context or the
geographic context. In this embodiment where the historical
aggregate profile data is to be presented via the web browser 38 of
the subscriber device 22, the MAP server 12 formats the historical
aggregate profile data in a suitable format before sending the
historical aggregate profile data to the web browser 38 of the
subscriber device 22. Upon receiving the historical aggregate
profile data, the web browser 38 of the subscriber device 22
presents the historical aggregate profile data to the user 20-1
(step 1906).
[0164] FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate a process for generating
historical aggregate profile data in a time context in response to
a historical request from the subscriber 24 at the subscriber
device 22 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
The process of FIGS. 20A and 20B is substantially the same as that
described above with respect to FIGS. 15A and 15B. More
specifically, steps 2000 through 2022 are substantially the same as
steps 1700 through 1722 of FIGS. 15A and 15B. Likewise, steps 2026
through 2032 are substantially the same as steps 1726 through 1732
of FIG. 15B. However, step 2024 of FIG. 20B is different from step
1724 of FIG. 15B with respect to the manner in which the aggregate
profiles for the relevant history objects are computed.
[0165] More specifically, in this embodiment, since the historical
request is from the subscriber 24, the aggregate profile for the
history object is generated by comparing the user profiles of the
anonymous user records in the history object to one another. In
this embodiment, the aggregate profile for the history object
includes an aggregate list of keywords from the user profiles of
the anonymous user records, the number of occurrences of each of
those keywords in the user profiles of the anonymous user records,
and the total number of anonymous user records in the history
object. As such, in step 2028, the weighted average of the
aggregate profiles for the history objects in the output time band
may provide an average aggregate profile including, for each
keyword occurring in the aggregate profile of at least one of the
history objects, a weighted average of the number of occurrences of
the keyword. In addition, the average aggregate profile may include
a weighted average of the total number of anonymous user records in
the history objects. In addition or alternatively, the average
aggregate profile may include, for each keyword, a weighted average
of the number of occurrences of the keyword to the total number of
anonymous user records.
[0166] FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate a process for generating
historical aggregate profile data in a geographic context in
response to a historical request from the subscriber 24 at the
subscriber device 22 according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. The process of FIGS. 21A and 21B is substantially the
same as that described above with respect to FIGS. 17A and 17B.
More specifically, steps 2100 through 2116 and 2120 through 2136
are substantially the same as steps 1800 through 1816 and 1820
through 1836 of FIGS. 17A and 17B. However, step 2118 of FIG. 21B
is different from step 1818 of FIG. 17B with respect to the manner
in which the aggregate profiles for the history objects are
computed.
[0167] More specifically, in this embodiment, since the historical
request is from the subscriber 24, the aggregate profile for the
history object is generated by comparing the user profiles of the
anonymous user records in the history object to one another. In
this embodiment, the aggregate profile for the history object
includes an aggregate list of keywords from the user profiles of
the anonymous user records, the number of occurrences of each of
those keywords in the user profiles of the anonymous user records,
and the total number of anonymous user records in the history
object. As such, in step 2132, the weighted average of the
aggregate profiles for the each of the grid locations may provide
an average aggregate profile including, for each keyword, a
weighted average of the number of occurrences of the keyword. In
addition, the average aggregate profile for each grid location may
include a weighted average of the total number of anonymous user
records. In addition or alternatively, the average aggregate
profile for each grid location may include, for each keyword, a
weighted average of the number of occurrences of the keyword to the
total number of anonymous user records.
[0168] FIG. 22 begins a discussion of the operation of the crowd
analyzer 58 to form crowds of users according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 22 is a flow chart for a
spatial crowd formation process according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. Note that, in one embodiment, this process is
performed in response to a request for crowd data for a POI or an
AOI. In another embodiment, this process may be performed
proactively by the crowd analyzer 58 as, for example, a background
process.
[0169] First, the crowd analyzer 58 establishes a bounding box for
the crowd formation process (step 2200). Note that while a bounding
box is used in this example, other geographic shapes may be used to
define a bounding region for the crowd formation process (e.g., a
bounding circle). In one embodiment, if crowd formation is
performed in response to a specific request, the bounding box is
established based on the POI or the AOI of the request. If the
request is for a POI, then the bounding box is a geographic area of
a predetermined size centered at the POI. If the request is for an
AOI, the bounding box is the AOI. Alternatively, if the crowd
formation process is performed proactively, the bounding box is a
bounding box of a predefined size.
[0170] The crowd analyzer 58 then creates a crowd for each
individual user in the bounding box (step 2202). More specifically,
the crowd analyzer 58 queries the datastore 64 of the MAP server 12
to identify users currently located within the bounding box. Then,
a crowd of one user is created for each user currently located
within the bounding box. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines the
two closest crowds in the bounding box (step 2204) and determines a
distance between the two crowds (step 2206). The distance between
the two crowds is a distance between crowd centers of the two
crowds. Note that the crowd center of a crowd of one is the current
location of the user in the crowd. The crowd analyzer 58 then
determines whether the distance between the two crowds is less than
an optimal inclusion distance (step 2208). In this embodiment, the
optimal inclusion distance is a predefined static distance. If the
distance between the two crowds is less than the optimal inclusion
distance, the crowd analyzer 58 combines the two crowds (step 2210)
and computes a new crowd center for the resulting crowd (step
2212). The crowd center may be computed based on the current
locations of the users in the crowd using a center of mass
algorithm. At this point the process returns to step 2204 and is
repeated until the distance between the two closest crowds is not
less than the optimal inclusion distance. At that point, the crowd
analyzer 58 discards any crowds with less than three users (step
2214). Note that throughout this disclosure crowds are only
maintained if the crowds include three or more users. However,
while three users is the preferred minimum number of users in a
crowd, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The minimum
number of users in a crowd may be defined as any number greater
than or equal to two users.
[0171] FIGS. 23A through 23D graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIG. 22 for an exemplary bounding box 139. In
FIGS. 23A through 23D, crowds are noted by dashed circles, and the
crowd centers are noted by cross-hairs (+). As illustrated in FIG.
23A, initially, the crowd analyzer 58 creates crowds 140 through
148 for the users in the geographic area, where, at this point,
each of the crowds 140 through 148 includes one user. The current
locations of the users are the crowd centers of the crowds 140
through 148. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines the two closest
crowds and a distance between the two closest crowds. In this
example, at this point, the two closest crowds are crowds 142 and
144, and the distance between the two closest crowds 142 and 144 is
less than the optimal inclusion distance. As such, the two closest
crowds 142 and 144 are combined by merging crowd 144 into crowd
142, and a new crowd center (+) is computed for the crowd 142, as
illustrated in FIG. 23B. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 again
determines the two closest crowds, which are now crowds 140 and
142. The crowd analyzer 58 then determines a distance between the
crowds 140 and 142. Since the distance is less than the optimal
inclusion distance, the crowd analyzer 58 combines the two crowds
140 and 142 by merging the crowd 140 into the crowd 142, and a new
crowd center (+) is computed for the crowd 142, as illustrated in
FIG. 23C. At this point, there are no more crowds separated by less
than the optimal inclusion distance. As such, the crowd analyzer 58
discards crowds having less than three users, which in this example
are crowds 146 and 148. As a result, at the end of the crowd
formation process, the crowd 142 has been formed with three users,
as illustrated in FIG. 23D.
[0172] FIGS. 24A through 24D illustrate a flow chart for a spatial
crowd formation process according to another embodiment of the
present disclosure. In this embodiment, the spatial crowd formation
process is triggered in response to receiving a location update for
one of the users 20-1 through 20-N and is preferably repeated for
each location update received for the users 20-1 through 20-N. As
such, first, the crowd analyzer 58 receives a location update, or a
new location, for a user (step 2300). Assume that, for this
example, the location update is received for the user 20-1. In
response, the crowd analyzer 58 retrieves an old location of the
user 20-1, if any (step 2302). The old location is the current
location of the user 20-1 prior to receiving the new location. The
crowd analyzer 58 then creates a new bounding box of a
predetermined size centered at the new location of the user 20-1
(step 2304) and an old bounding box of a predetermined size
centered at the old location of the user 20-1, if any (step 2306).
The predetermined size of the new and old bounding boxes may be any
desired size. As one example, the predetermined size of the new and
old bounding boxes is 40 meters by 40 meters. Note that if the user
20-1 does not have an old location (i.e., the location received in
step 2300 is the first location received for the user 20-1), then
the old bounding box is essentially null. Also note that while
bounding "boxes" are used in this example, the bounding areas may
be of any desired shape.
[0173] Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the new and
old bounding boxes overlap (step 2308). If so, the crowd analyzer
58 creates a bounding box encompassing the new and old bounding
boxes (step 2310). For example, if the new and old bounding boxes
are 40.times.40 meter regions and a 1.times.1 meter square at the
northeast corner of the new bounding box overlaps a 1.times.1 meter
square at the southwest corner of the old bounding box, the crowd
analyzer 58 may create a 79.times.79 meter square bounding box
encompassing both the new and old bounding boxes.
[0174] The crowd analyzer 58 then determines the individual users
and crowds relevant to the bounding box created in step 2310 (step
2312). The crowds relevant to the bounding box are crowds that are
within or overlap the bounding box (e.g., have at least one user
located within the bounding box). The individual users relevant to
the bounding box are users that are currently located within the
bounding box and not already part of a crowd. Next, the crowd
analyzer 58 computes an optimal inclusion distance for individual
users based on user density within the bounding box (step 2314).
More specifically, in one embodiment, the optimal inclusion
distance for individuals, which is also referred to herein as an
initial optimal inclusion distance, is set according to the
following equation:
initial_optimal _inclusion _dist = a A BoundingBox number_of _users
, ##EQU00007##
where a is a number between 0 and 1, A.sub.BoundingBox is an area
of the bounding box, and number_of_users is the total number of
users in the bounding box. The total number of users in the
bounding box includes both individual users that are not already in
a crowd and users that are already in a crowd. In one embodiment, a
is 2/3.
[0175] The crowd analyzer 58 then creates a crowd for each
individual user within the bounding box that is not already
included in a crowd and sets the optimal inclusion distance for the
crowds to the initial optimal inclusion distance (step 2316). At
this point, the process proceeds to FIG. 24B where the crowd
analyzer 58 analyzes the crowds relevant to the bounding box to
determine whether any of the crowd members (i.e., users in the
crowds) violate the optimal inclusion distance of their crowds
(step 2318). Any crowd member that violates the optimal inclusion
distance of his or her crowd is then removed from that crowd (step
2320). The crowd analyzer 58 then creates a crowd of one user for
each of the users removed from their crowds in step 2320 and sets
the optimal inclusion distance for the newly created crowds to the
initial optimal inclusion distance (step 2322).
[0176] Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines the two closest
crowds for the bounding box (step 2324) and a distance between the
two closest crowds (step 2326). The distance between the two
closest crowds is the distance between the crowd centers of the two
closest crowds. The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the
distance between the two closest crowds is less than the optimal
inclusion distance of a larger of the two closest crowds (step
2328). If the two closest crowds are of the same size (i.e., have
the same number of users), then the optimal inclusion distance of
either of the two closest crowds may be used. Alternatively, if the
two closest crowds are of the same size, the optimal inclusion
distances of both of the two closest crowds may be used such that
the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the distance between the
two closest crowds is less than the optimal inclusion distances of
both of the two closest crowds. As another alternative, if the two
closest crowds are of the same size, the crowd analyzer 58 may
compare the distance between the two closest crowds to an average
of the optimal inclusion distances of the two closest crowds.
[0177] If the distance between the two closest crowds is less than
the optimal inclusion distance, the two closest crowds are combined
or merged (step 2330), and a new crowd center for the resulting
crowd is computed (step 2332). Again, a center of mass algorithm
may be used to compute the crowd center of a crowd. In addition, a
new optimal inclusion distance for the resulting crowd is computed
(step 2334). In one embodiment, the new optimal inclusion distance
for the resulting crowd is computed as:
average = 1 n + 1 ( initial_optimal _inclusion _dist + i = 1 n d i
) , optimial_inclusion _dist = average + ( 1 n i = 1 n ( d i -
average ) 2 ) , ##EQU00008##
where n is the number of users in the crowd and d.sub.i is a
distance between the ith user and the crowd center. In other words,
the new optimal inclusion distance is computed as the average of
the initial optimal inclusion distance and the distances between
the users in the crowd and the crowd center plus one standard
deviation.
[0178] At this point, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether a
maximum number of iterations have been performed (step 2336). The
maximum number of iterations is a predefined number that ensures
that the crowd formation process does not indefinitely loop over
steps 2318 through 2334 or loop over steps 2318 through 2334 more
than a desired maximum number of times. If the maximum number of
iterations has not been reached, the process returns to step 2318
and is repeated until either the distance between the two closest
crowds is not less than the optimal inclusion distance of the
larger crowd or the maximum number of iterations has been reached.
At that point, the crowd analyzer 58 discards crowds with less than
three users, or members (step 2338) and the process ends.
[0179] Returning to step 2308 in FIG. 24A, if the new and old
bounding boxes do not overlap, the process proceeds to FIG. 24C and
the bounding box to be processed is set to the old bounding box
(step 2340). In general, the crowd analyzer 58 then processes the
old bounding box in much the same manner as described above with
respect to steps 2312 through 2338. More specifically, the crowd
analyzer 58 determines the individual users and crowds relevant to
the bounding box (step 2342). The crowds relevant to the bounding
box are crowds that are within or overlap the bounding box (e.g.,
have at least one user located within the bounding box). The
individual users relevant to the bounding box are users that are
currently located within the bounding box and not already part of a
crowd. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 computes an optimal inclusion
distance for individual users based on user density within the
bounding box (step 2344). More specifically, in one embodiment, the
optimal inclusion distance for individuals, which is also referred
to herein as an initial optimal inclusion distance, is set
according to the following equation:
initial_optimal _inclusion _dist = a A BoundingBox number_of _users
, ##EQU00009##
where a is a number between 0 and 1, A.sub.BoundingBox is an area
of the bounding box, and number_of_users is the total number of
users in the bounding box. The total number of users in the
bounding box includes both individual users that are not already in
a crowd and users that are already in a crowd. In one embodiment, a
is 2/3.
[0180] The crowd analyzer 58 then creates a crowd of one user for
each individual user within the bounding box that is not already
included in a crowd and sets the optimal inclusion distance for the
crowds to the initial optimal inclusion distance (step 2346). At
this point, the crowd analyzer 58 analyzes the crowds for the
bounding box to determine whether any crowd members (i.e., users in
the crowds) violate the optimal inclusion distance of their crowds
(step 2348). Any crowd member that violates the optimal inclusion
distance of his or her crowd is then removed from that crowd (step
2350). The crowd analyzer 58 then creates a crowd of one user for
each of the users removed from their crowds in step 2350 and sets
the optimal inclusion distance for the newly created crowds to the
initial optimal inclusion distance (step 2352).
[0181] Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines the two closest
crowds in the bounding box (step 2354) and a distance between the
two closest crowds (step 2356). The distance between the two
closest crowds is the distance between the crowd centers of the two
closest crowds. The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the
distance between the two closest crowds is less than the optimal
inclusion distance of a larger of the two closest crowds (step
2358). If the two closest crowds are of the same size (i.e., have
the same number of users), then the optimal inclusion distance of
either of the two closest crowds may be used. Alternatively, if the
two closest crowds are of the same size, the optimal inclusion
distances of both of the two closest crowds may be used such that
the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the distance between the
two closest crowds is less than the optimal inclusion distances of
both of the two closest crowds. As another alternative, if the two
closest crowds are of the same size, the crowd analyzer 58 may
compare the distance between the two closest crowds to an average
of the optimal inclusion distances of the two closest crowds.
[0182] If the distance between the two closest crowds is less than
the optimal inclusion distance, the two closest crowds are combined
or merged (step 2360), and a new crowd center for the resulting
crowd is computed (step 2362). Again, a center of mass algorithm
may be used to compute the crowd center of a crowd. In addition, a
new optimal inclusion distance for the resulting crowd is computed
(step 2364). As discussed above, in one embodiment, the new optimal
inclusion distance for the resulting crowd is computed as:
average = 1 n + 1 ( initial_optimal _inclusion _dist + i = 1 n d i
) , optimal_inclusion _dist = average + ( 1 n i = 1 n ( d i -
average ) 2 ) , ##EQU00010##
where n is the number of users in the crowd and d.sub.i is a
distance between the ith user and the crowd center. In other words,
the new optimal inclusion distance is computed as the average of
the initial optimal inclusion distance and the distances between
the users in the crowd and the crowd center plus one standard
deviation.
[0183] At this point, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether a
maximum number of iterations have been performed (step 2366). If
the maximum number of iterations has not been reached, the process
returns to step 2348 and is repeated until either the distance
between the two closest crowds is not less than the optimal
inclusion distance of the larger crowd or the maximum number of
iterations has been reached. At that point, the crowd analyzer 58
discards crowds with less than three users, or members (step 2368).
The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the crowd formation
process for the new and old bounding boxes is done (step 2370). In
other words, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether both the new
and old bounding boxes have been processed.
[0184] If not, the bounding box is set to the new bounding box
(step 2372), and the process returns to step 2342 and is repeated
for the new bounding box. Once both the new and old bounding box
have been processed, the crowd formation process ends.
[0185] FIGS. 25A through 25D graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D for a scenario where the
crowd formation process is triggered by a location update for a
user having no old location. In this scenario, the crowd analyzer
58 creates a new bounding box 150 for the new location of the user,
and the new bounding box 150 is set as the bounding box to be
processed for crowd formation. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 25A,
the crowd analyzer 58 identifies all individual users currently
located within the bounding box 150 and all crowds located within
or overlapping the bounding box. In this example, crowd 152 is an
existing crowd relevant to the bounding box 150. Crowds are
indicated by dashed circles, crowd centers are indicated by
cross-hairs (+), and users are indicated as dots. Next, as
illustrated in FIG. 25B, the crowd analyzer 58 creates crowds 154
through 158 of one user for the individual users, and the optional
inclusion distances of the crowds 154 through 158 are set to the
initial optimal inclusion distance. As discussed above, the initial
optimal inclusion distance is computed by the crowd analyzer 58
based on a density of users within the bounding box 150.
[0186] The crowd analyzer 58 then identifies the two closest crowds
154 and 156 in the bounding box 150 and determines a distance
between the two closest crowds 154 and 156. In this example, the
distance between the two closest crowds 154 and 156 is less than
the optimal inclusion distance. As such, the two closest crowds 154
and 156 are merged and a new crowd center and new optimal inclusion
distance are computed, as illustrated in FIG. 25C. The crowd
analyzer 58 then repeats the process such that the two closest
crowds 154 and 158 in the bounding box 150 are again merged, as
illustrated in FIG. 23D. At this point, the distance between the
two closest crowds 152 and 154 is greater than the appropriate
optimal inclusion distance. As such, the crowd formation process is
complete.
[0187] FIGS. 26A through 26F graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D for a scenario where the
new and old bounding boxes overlap. As illustrated in FIG. 26A, a
user moves from an old location to a new location, as indicated by
an arrow. The crowd analyzer 58 receives a location update for the
user giving the new location of the user. In response, the crowd
analyzer 58 creates an old bounding box 160 for the old location of
the user and a new bounding box 162 for the new location of the
user. Crowd 164 exists in the old bounding box 160, and crowd 166
exists in the new bounding box 162.
[0188] Since the old bounding box 160 and the new bounding box 162
overlap, the crowd analyzer 58 creates a bounding box 168 that
encompasses both the old bounding box 160 and the new bounding box
162, as illustrated in FIG. 26B. In addition, the crowd analyzer 58
creates crowds 170 through 176 for individual users currently
located within the bounding box 168. The optimal inclusion
distances of the crowds 170 through 176 are set to the initial
optimal inclusion distance computed by the crowd analyzer 58 based
on the density of users in the bounding box 168.
[0189] Next, the crowd analyzer 58 analyzes the crowds 164, 166,
and 170 through 176 to determine whether any members of the crowds
164, 166, and 170 through 176 violate the optimal inclusion
distances of the crowds 164, 166, and 170 through 176. In this
example, as a result of the user leaving the crowd 164 and moving
to his new location, both of the remaining members of the crowd 164
violate the optimal inclusion distance of the crowd 164. As such,
the crowd analyzer 58 removes the remaining users from the crowd
164 and creates crowds 178 and 180 of one user each for those
users, as illustrated in FIG. 26C.
[0190] The crowd analyzer 58 then identifies the two closest crowds
in the bounding box 168, which in this example are the crowds 174
and 176. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 computes a distance between
the two crowds 174 and 176. In this example, the distance between
the two crowds 174 and 176 is less than the initial optimal
inclusion distance and, as such, the two crowds 174 and 176 are
combined. In this example, crowds are combined by merging the
smaller crowd into the larger crowd. Since the two crowds 174 and
176 are of the same size, the crowd analyzer 58 merges the crowd
176 into the crowd 174, as illustrated in FIG. 26D. A new crowd
center and new optimal inclusion distance are then computed for the
crowd 174.
[0191] At this point, the crowd analyzer 58 repeats the process and
determines that the crowds 166 and 172 are now the two closest
crowds. In this example, the distance between the two crowds 166
and 172 is less than the optimal inclusion distance of the larger
of the two crowds 166 and 172, which is the crowd 166. As such, the
crowd 172 is merged into the crowd 166 and a new crowd center and
optimal inclusion distance are computed for the crowd 166, as
illustrated in FIG. 26E. At this point, there are no two crowds
closer than the optimal inclusion distance of the larger of the two
crowds. As such, the crowd analyzer 58 discards any crowds having
less than three members, as illustrated in FIG. 26F. In this
example, the crowds 170, 174, 178, and 180 have less than three
members and are therefore removed. The crowd 166 has three or more
members and, as such, is not removed. At this point, the crowd
formation process is complete.
[0192] FIGS. 27A through 27E graphically illustrate the crowd
formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D in a scenario where the
new and old bounding boxes do not overlap. As illustrated in FIG.
27A, in this example, the user moves from an old location to a new
location. The crowd analyzer 58 creates an old bounding box 182 for
the old location of the user and a new bounding box 184 for the new
location of the user. Crowds 186 and 188 exist in the old bounding
box 182, and crowd 190 exists in the new bounding box 184. In this
example, since the old and new bounding boxes 182 and 184 do not
overlap, the crowd analyzer 58 processes the old and new bounding
boxes 182 and 184 separately.
[0193] More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 27B, as a result
of the movement of the user from the old location to the new
location, the remaining users in the crowd 186 no longer satisfy
the optimal inclusion distance for the crowd 186. As such, the
remaining users in the crowd 186 are removed from the crowd 186,
and crowds 192 and 194 of one user each are created for the removed
users as shown in FIG. 26C. In this example, no two crowds in the
old bounding box 182 are close enough to be combined. As such,
processing of the old bounding box 182 is complete, and the crowd
analyzer 58 proceeds to process the new bounding box 184.
[0194] As illustrated in FIG. 27D, processing of the new bounding
box 184 begins by the crowd analyzer 58 creating a crowd 196 of one
user for the user. The crowd analyzer 58 then identifies the crowds
190 and 196 as the two closest crowds in the new bounding box 184
and determines a distance between the two crowds 190 and 196. In
this example, the distance between the two crowds 190 and 196 is
less than the optimal inclusion distance of the larger crowd, which
is the crowd 190. As such, the crowd analyzer 58 combines the
crowds 190 and 196 by merging the crowd 196 into the crowd 190, as
illustrated in FIG. 27E. A new crowd center and new optimal
inclusion distance are then computed for the crowd 190. At this
point, the crowd formation process is complete.
[0195] Before proceeding, a variation of the spatial formation
process discussed above with respect to FIGS. 24A through 24D, 25A
through 25D, 26A through 26F, and 27A through 27E will be
described. In this alternative embodiment, a location accuracy of
the location update from the user received in step 2300 is
considered. More specifically, in step 2300, the location update
received by the MAP server 12 includes the updated location of the
user 20-1 as well as a location accuracy for the location of the
user 20-1, which may be expressed as, for example, a radius in
meters from the location of the user 20-1. In the embodiment where
the location of the user 20-1 is obtained from a GPS receiver of
the mobile device 18-1, the location accuracy of the location of
the user 20-1 may be provided by the GPS receiver or derived from
data from the GPS receiver as well be appreciated by one having
ordinary skill in the art.
[0196] Then, in steps 2302 and 2304, sizes of the new and old
bounding boxes centered at the new and old locations of the user
20-1 are set as a function of the location accuracy of the new and
old locations of the user 20-1. If the new location of the user
20-1 is inaccurate, then the new bounding box will be large. If the
new location of the user 20-1 is accurate, then the new bounding
box will be small. For example, the length and width of the new
bounding box may be set to M times the location accuracy of the new
location of the user 20-1, where the location accuracy is expressed
as a radius in meters from the new location of the user 20-1. The
number M may be any desired number. For example, the number M may
be 5. In a similar manner, the location accuracy of the old
location of the user 20-1 may be used to set the length and width
of the old bounding box.
[0197] In addition, the location accuracy may be considered when
computing the initial optimal inclusion distances used for crowds
of one user in steps 2314 and 2344. As discussed above, the initial
optimal inclusion distance is computed based on the following
equation:
initial_optimal _inclusion _dist = a A BoundingBox number_of _users
, ##EQU00011##
where a is a number between 0 and 1, A.sub.BoundingBox is an area
of the bounding box, and number_of_users is the total number of
users in the bounding box. The total number of users in the
bounding box includes both individual users that are not already in
a crowd and users that are already in a crowd. In one embodiment, a
is 2/3. However, if the computed initial optimal inclusion distance
is less than the location accuracy of the current location of the
individual user in a crowd, then the location accuracy, rather than
the computed value, is used for the initial optimal inclusion
distance for that crowd. As such, as location accuracy decreases,
crowds become larger and more inclusive. In contrast, as location
accuracy increases, crowds become smaller and less inclusive. In
other words, the granularity with which crowds are formed is a
function of the location accuracy.
[0198] Likewise, when new optimal inclusion distances for crowds
are recomputed in steps 2334 and 2364, location accuracy may also
be considered. As discussed above, the new optimal inclusion
distance may first be computed based on the following equation:
average = 1 n + 1 ( initial_optimal _inclusion _dist + i = 1 n d i
) , optimial_inclusion _dist = average + ( 1 n i = 1 n ( d i -
average ) 2 ) , ##EQU00012##
where n is the number of users in the crowd and d.sub.i is a
distance between the ith user and the crowd center. In other words,
the new optimal inclusion distance is computed as the average of
the initial optimal inclusion distance and the distances between
the users in the crowd and the crowd center plus one standard
deviation. However, if the computed value for the new optimal
inclusion distance is less than an average location accuracy of the
users in the crowd, the average location accuracy of the users in
the crowd, rather than the computed value, is used as the new
optimal inclusion distance.
[0199] FIG. 28 illustrates the operation the system 10 of FIG. 1 to
enable the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N to request crowd data
for currently formed crowds according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. Note that while in this example the request is
initiated by the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1,
this discussion is equally applicable to the MAP applications 32-2
through 32-N of the other mobile devices 18-2 through 18-N. In
addition, in a similar manner, requests may be received from the
third-party applications 34-1 through 34-N.
[0200] First, the MAP application 32-1 sends a crowd request to the
MAP client 30-1 (step 2400). The crowd request is a request for
crowd data for crowds currently formed near a specified POI or
within a specified AOI. The crowd request may be initiated by the
user 20-1 of the mobile device 18-1 via the MAP application 32-1 or
may be initiated automatically by the MAP application 32-1 in
response to an event such as, for example, start-up of the MAP
application 32-1, movement of the user 20-1, or the like. In one
embodiment, the crowd request is for a POI, where the POI is a POI
corresponding to the current location of the user 20-1, a POI
selected from a list of POIs defined by the user 20-1, a POI
selected from a list of POIs defined by the MAP application 32-1 or
the MAP server 12, a POI selected by the user 20-1 from a map, a
POI implicitly defined via a separate application (e.g., POI is
implicitly defined as the location of the nearest Starbucks coffee
house in response to the user 20-1 performing a Google search for
"Starbucks"), or the like. If the POI is selected from a list of
POIs, the list of POIs may include static POIs which may be defined
by street addresses or latitude and longitude coordinates, dynamic
POIs which may be defined as the current locations of one or more
friends of the user 20-1, or both. Note that in some embodiments,
the user 20-1 may be enabled to define a POI by selecting a crowd
center of a crowd as a POI, where the POI would thereafter remain
static at that point and would not follow the crowd.
[0201] In another embodiment, the crowd request is for an AOI,
where the AOI may be an AOI of a predefined shape and size centered
at the current location of the user 20-1, an AOI selected from a
list of AOIs defined by the user 20-1, an AOI selected from a list
of AOIs defined by the MAP application 32-1 or the MAP server 12,
an AOI selected by the user 20-1 from a map, an AOI implicitly
defined via a separate application (e.g., AOI is implicitly defined
as an area of a predefined shape and size centered at the location
of the nearest Starbucks coffee house in response to the user 20-1
performing a Google search for "Starbucks"), or the like. If the
AOI is selected from a list of AOIs, the list of AOIs may include
static AOIs, dynamic AOIs which may be defined as areas of a
predefined shape and size centered at the current locations of one
or more friends of the user 20-1, or both. Note that in some
embodiments, the user 20-1 may be enabled to define an AOI by
selecting a crowd such that an AOI is created of a predefined shape
and size centered at the crowd center of the selected crowd. The
AOI would thereafter remain static and would not follow the crowd.
The POI or the AOI of the crowd request may be selected by the user
20-1 via the MAP application 32-1. In yet another embodiment, the
MAP application 32-1 automatically uses the current location of the
user 20-1 as the POI or as a center point for an AOI of a
predefined shape and size.
[0202] Upon receiving the crowd request, the MAP client 30-1
forwards the crowd request to the MAP server 12 (step 2402). Note
that in some embodiments, the MAP client 30-1 may process the crowd
request before forwarding the crowd request to the MAP server 12.
For example, in some embodiments, the crowd request may include
more than one POI or more than one AOI. As such, the MAP client
30-1 may generate a separate crowd request for each POI or each
AOI.
[0203] In response to receiving the crowd request from the MAP
client 30-1, the MAP server 12 identifies one or more crowds
relevant to the crowd request (step 2404). More specifically, in
one embodiment, the crowd analyzer 58 performs a crowd formation
process such as that described above in FIG. 22 to form one or more
crowds relevant to the POI or the AOI of the crowd request. In
another embodiment, the crowd analyzer 58 proactively forms crowds
using a process such as that described above in FIGS. 24A through
24D and stores corresponding crowd records in the datastore 64 of
the MAP server 12. Then, rather than forming the relevant crowds in
response to the crowd request, the crowd analyzer 58 queries the
datastore 64 to identify the crowds that are relevant to the crowd
request. The crowds relevant to the crowd request may be those
crowds within or intersecting a bounding region, such as a bounding
box, for the crowd request. If the crowd request is for a POI, the
bounding region is a geographic region of a predefined shape and
size centered at the POI. If the crowd request is for an AOI, the
bounding region is the AOI.
[0204] Once the crowd analyzer 58 has identified the crowds
relevant to the crowd request, the MAP server 12 generates crowd
data for the identified crowds (step 2406). As discussed below in
detail, the crowd data for the identified crowds may include
aggregate profiles for the crowds, information characterizing the
crowds, or both. In addition, the crowd data may include spatial
information defining the locations of the crowds, the number of
users in the crowds, the amount of time the crowds have been
located at or near the POI or within the AOI of the crowd request,
or the like. The MAP server 12 then returns the crowd data to the
MAP client 30-1 (step 2408).
[0205] Upon receiving the crowd data, the MAP client 30-1 forwards
the crowd data to the MAP application 32-1 (step 2410). Note that
in some embodiments the MAP client 30-1 may process the crowd data
before sending the crowd data to the MAP application 32-1. The MAP
application 32-1 then presents the crowd data to the user 20-1
(step 2412). The manner in which the crowd data is presented
depends on the particular implementation of the MAP application
32-1. In one embodiment, the crowd data is overlaid upon a map. For
example, the crowds may be represented by corresponding indicators
overlaid on a map. The user 20-1 may then select a crowd in order
to view additional crowd data regarding that crowd such as, for
example, the aggregate profile of that crowd, characteristics of
that crowd, or the like.
[0206] Note that in one embodiment, the MAP application 32-1 may
operate to roll-up the aggregate profiles for multiple crowds into
a rolled-up aggregate profile for those crowds. The rolled-up
aggregate profile may be the average of the aggregate profiles of
the crowds. For example, the MAP application 32-1 may roll-up the
aggregate profiles for multiple crowds at a POI and present the
rolled-up aggregate profile for the multiple crowds at the POI to
the user 20-1. In a similar manner, the MAP application 32-1 may
provide a rolled-up aggregate profile for an AOI. In another
embodiment, the MAP server 12 may roll-up crowds for a POI or an
AOI and provide the rolled-up aggregate profile in addition to or
as an alternative to the aggregate profiles for the individual
crowds.
[0207] FIG. 29A is a flow chart illustrating step 2406 of FIG. 28
in more detail according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. In this embodiment, the crowd data returned by the MAP
server 12 includes aggregate profiles for the crowds identified for
the POI or the AOI. In this embodiment, upon receiving the crowd
request, the MAP server 12 triggers the crowd analyzer 58 to
identify crowds relevant to the current request, and then passes
the identified crowds to the aggregation engine 60 in order to
generate aggregate profiles for the identified crowds.
[0208] More specifically, after the crowd analyzer 58 has
identified the crowds relevant to the current request, the
identified crowds are passed to the aggregation engine 60. The
aggregation engine 60 selects a next crowd to process, which for
the first iteration is the first crowd (step 2500-A). The
aggregation engine 60 then selects the next user in the crowd (step
2502-A). Next, the aggregation engine 60 compares the user profile
of the user in the crowd to the user profile of the requesting
user, which for this example is the user 20-1 of the mobile device
18-1, or a select subset of the user profile of the requesting user
(step 2504-A). In some embodiments, the user 20-1 may be enabled to
select a subset of his user profile to be used for generation of
the aggregate profile. For example, in the embodiment where user
profiles are expressed as keywords in a number of profile
categories, the user 20-1 may select one or more of the profile
categories to be used for aggregate profile generation. When
comparing the user profile of the user in the crowd to the user
profile of the user 20-1, the aggregation engine 60 identifies
matches between the user profile of the user in the crowd and the
user profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user
profile of the user 20-1. In one embodiment, the user profiles are
expressed as keywords in a number of profile categories. The
aggregation engine 60 may then make a list of keywords from the
user profile of the user in the crowd that match keywords in user
profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile
of the user 20-1.
[0209] Next, the aggregation engine 60 determines whether there are
more users in the crowd (step 2506-A). If so, the process returns
to step 2502-A and is repeated for the next user in the crowd. Once
all of the users in the crowd have been processed, the aggregation
engine 60 generates an aggregate profile for the crowd based on
data resulting from the comparisons of the user profiles of the
users in the crowd to the user profile of the user 20-1 or the
select subset of the user profile of the user 20-1 (step 2508-A).
In an alternative embodiment, the aggregation engine 60 generates
an aggregate profile for the crowd based on data resulting from the
comparisons of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to a
target user profile defined or otherwise specified by the user
20-1. In one embodiment, the data resulting from the comparisons is
a list of matching keywords for each of the users in the crowd. The
aggregate profile may then include a number of user matches over
all keywords and/or a ratio of the number of user matches over all
keywords to the number of users in the crowd. The number of user
matches over all keywords is a number of users in the crowd having
at least one keyword in their user profile that matches a keyword
in the user profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the
user profile of the user 20-1. The aggregate profile may
additionally or alternatively include, for each keyword in the user
profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile
of the user 20-1, a number of user matches for the keyword or a
ratio of the number of user matches for the keyword to the number
of users in the crowd. Note that keywords in the user profile of
the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile of the user
20-1 that have no user matches may be excluded from the aggregate
profile. In addition, the aggregate profile for the crowd may
include a total number of users in the crowd.
[0210] The aggregate profile for the crowd may additionally or
alternatively include a match strength that is indicative of a
degree of similarity between the user profiles of the users in the
crowd and the user profile of the user 20-1. The match strength may
be computed as a ratio of the number of user matches to the total
number of users in the crowd. Alternatively, the match strength may
be computed as a function of the number of user matches per keyword
and keyword weights assigned to the keywords. The keyword weights
may be assigned by the user 20-1.
[0211] Once the aggregate profile of the crowd is generated, the
aggregation engine 60 determines whether there are more crowds to
process (step 2510-A). If so, the process returns to step 2500-A
and is repeated for the next crowd. Once aggregate profiles have
been generated for all of the crowds relevant to the current
request, the aggregate profiles for the crowds are returned (step
2512-A). More specifically, the aggregate profiles are included in
the crowd data returned to the MAP client 30-1 in response to the
current request.
[0212] Note that in some embodiments the user 20-1 is enabled to
activate a "nearby POIs" feature. If this feature is enabled, the
crowds identified by the crowd analyzer 58 and processed by the
aggregation engine 60 to produce corresponding aggregate profiles
may also include crowds located at or near any nearby POIs. The
nearby POIs may be POIs predefined by the user 20-1, the MAP
application 32-1, and/or the MAP server 12 that are within a
predefined distance from the POI or the AOI of the current
request.
[0213] FIG. 29B is a flow chart illustrating step 2406 of FIG. 28
in more detail according to another embodiment of the present
disclosure. In this embodiment, the crowd data returned by the MAP
server 12 includes aggregate profiles for the crowds identified for
the POI or the AOI. In this embodiment, upon receiving the crowd
request, the MAP server 12 triggers the crowd analyzer 58 to
identify crowds relevant to the current request, and then passes
the identified crowds to the aggregation engine 60 in order to
generate aggregate profiles for the identified crowds.
[0214] More specifically, after the crowd analyzer 58 has
identified the crowds relevant to the current request, the
identified crowds are passed to the aggregation engine 60. The
aggregation engine 60 selects a next crowd to process, which for
the first iteration is the first crowd (step 2500-B). The
aggregation engine 60 then selects the next user in the crowd (step
2502-B). Next, the aggregation engine 60 compares the user profile
of the user in the crowd to the user profile of the requesting
user, which for this example is the user 20-1 of the mobile device
18-1, or a select subset of the user profile of the requesting user
(step 2504-B). In some embodiments, the user 20-1 may be enabled to
select a subset of his user profile to be used for generation of
the aggregate profile. For example, in the embodiment where user
profiles are expressed as keywords in a number of profile
categories, the user 20-1 may select one or more of the profile
categories to be used for aggregate profile generation. When
comparing the user profile of the user in the crowd to the user
profile of the user 20-1, the aggregation engine 60 identifies
matches between the user profile of the user in the crowd and the
user profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user
profile of the user 20-1. In this embodiment, the user profiles are
expressed as keywords in a number of profile categories. The
aggregation engine 60 may then make a list of keywords from the
user profile of the user in the crowd that match keywords in user
profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile
of the user 20-1.
[0215] Next, the aggregation engine 60 determines whether there are
more users in the crowd (step 2506-B). If so, the process returns
to step 2502-B and is repeated for the next user in the crowd. Once
all of the users in the crowd have been processed, the aggregation
engine 60 generates an aggregate profile for the crowd based on
data resulting from the comparisons of the user profiles of the
users in the crowd to the user profile of the user 20-1 or the
select subset of the user profile of the user 20-1 (step 2508-B).
In an alternative embodiment, the aggregation engine 60 generates
an aggregate profile for the crowd based on data resulting from the
comparisons of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to a
target user profile defined or otherwise specified by the user
20-1. In this embodiment, the data resulting from the comparisons
is a list of matching keywords for each of the users in the crowd.
The aggregate profile may then include a number of user matches
over all keywords and/or a ratio of the number of user matches over
all keywords to the number of users in the crowd. The number of
user matches over all keywords is a number of users in the crowd
having at least one keyword in their user profile that matches a
keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset
of the user profile of the user 20-1. The aggregate profile may
additionally or alternatively include, for each keyword in the user
profile of the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile
of the user 20-1, a number of user matches for the keyword or a
ratio of the number of user matches for the keyword to the number
of users in the crowd. Note that keywords in the user profile of
the user 20-1 or the select subset of the user profile of the user
20-1 that have no user matches may be excluded from the aggregate
profile. In addition, the aggregate profile for the crowd may
include a total number of users in the crowd.
[0216] The aggregate profile for the crowd may additionally or
alternatively include a match strength that is indicative of a
degree of similarity between the user profiles of the users in the
crowd and the user profile of the user 20-1. The match strength may
be computed as a ratio of the number of user matches to the total
number of users in the crowd. Alternatively, the match strength may
be computed as a function of the number of user matches per keyword
and keyword weights assigned to the keywords. The keyword weights
may be assigned by the user 20-1.
[0217] Once the aggregate profile of the crowd is generated, in
this embodiment, the aggregation engine 60 compares the user
profiles of the users in the crowd to one another to determine N
keywords having the highest number of user matches among the users
in the crowd (step 2510-B). Here, N may be, for example, five. The
aggregation engine 60 then adds any of the N keywords that are not
already in the aggregate profile to the aggregate profile and flags
those keywords as non-matching keywords (step 2512-B). These
keywords are flagged as non-matching because they do not match any
of the keywords in the user profile, or select subset thereof, of
the user 20-1. The non-matching keywords are preferably
differentiated from the matching keywords in the aggregate profile
when presented to the user 20-1. The non-matching keywords are
particularly beneficial where there are few or no matching keywords
between the user profile of the user 20-1 and the user profiles of
the users in the crowd. In this situation, the non-matching
keywords would allow the user 20-1 to gain some understanding of
the interests of the users in the crowd.
[0218] Next, the aggregation engine 60 determines whether there are
more crowds to process (step 2514-B). If so, the process returns to
step 2500-B and is repeated for the next crowd. Once aggregate
profiles have been generated for all of the crowds relevant to the
current request, the aggregate profiles for the crowds are returned
(step 2516-B). More specifically, the aggregate profiles are
included in the crowd data returned to the MAP client 30-1 in
response to the current request.
[0219] Note that in some embodiments the user 20-1 is enabled to
activate a "nearby POIs" feature. If this feature is enabled, the
crowds identified by the crowd analyzer 58 and processed by the
aggregation engine 60 to produce corresponding aggregate profiles
may also include crowds located at or near any nearby POIs. The
nearby POIs may be POIs predefined by the user 20-1, the MAP
application 32-1, and/or the MAP server 12 that are within a
predefined distance from the POI or the AOI of the current
request.
[0220] FIG. 30 illustrates the operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1
to enable the subscriber device 22 to request information regarding
current crowds according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. First, subscriber device 22 sends a crowd request to
the MAP client 30-1 (step 2600). The crowd request is a request for
current crowds at a specified POI or AOI. The crowd request may be
initiated by the subscriber 24 at the subscriber device 22 via the
web browser 38 or a custom application enabled to access the MAP
server 12. Preferably, the subscriber 24 is enabled to identify the
POI or the AOI for the crowd request by, for example, selecting the
POI or the AOI on a map, selecting a crowd center of an existing
crowd as a POI, selecting a crowd location of an existing crowd as
a center of an AOI, selecting the POI or the AOI from a predefined
list of POIs and/or AOIs, or the like. The predefined list of POIs
and/or AOIs may be defined by, for example, the subscriber 24
and/or the MAP server 12.
[0221] In response to receiving the crowd request from the
subscriber device 22, the MAP server 12 identifies one or more
crowds relevant to the crowd request (step 2602). More
specifically, in one embodiment, the crowd analyzer 58 performs a
crowd formation process such as that described above in FIG. 22 to
form one or more crowds relevant to the POI or the AOI of the crowd
request. In another embodiment, the crowd analyzer 58 proactively
forms crowds using a process such as that described above in FIGS.
24A through 24C and stores corresponding crowd records in the
datastore 64 of the MAP server 12. Then, rather than forming the
relevant crowds in response to the crowd request, the crowd
analyzer 58 queries the datastore 64 to identify the crowds that
are relevant to the crowd request. The crowds relevant to the crowd
request may be those crowds within or overlapping a bounding
region, such as a bounding box, for the crowd request. If the crowd
request is for a POI, the bounding region is a geographic region of
a predefined shape and size centered at the POI. If the crowd
request is for an AOI, the bounding region is the AOI.
[0222] Once the crowd analyzer 58 has identified the crowds
relevant to the crowd request, the MAP server 12 generates crowd
data for the identified crowds (step 2604). The crowd data for the
identified crowds may include aggregate profiles for the crowds,
information characterizing the crowds, or both. In addition, the
crowd data may include the locations of the crowds, the number of
users in the crowds, the amount of time the crowds have been
located at or near the POI or within the AOI, or the like. The MAP
server 12 then returns the crowd data to the MAP client 30-1 (step
2606). In the embodiment where the subscriber 24 accesses the MAP
server 12 via the web browser 38 at the subscriber device 22, the
MAP server 12 formats the crowd data into a suitable web format
before sending the crowd data to the subscriber device 22. The
manner in which the crowd data is formatted depends on the
particular implementation. In one embodiment, the crowd data is
overlaid upon a map. For example, in one embodiment, the MAP server
12 may provide the crowd data to the subscriber device 22 via one
or more web pages. Using the one or more web pages, crowd
indicators representative of the locations of the crowds may be
overlaid on a map. The subscriber 24 may then select a crowd in
order to view additional crowd data regarding that crowd such as,
for example, the aggregate profile of that crowd, characteristics
of that crowd, or the like. Upon receiving the crowd data, the
subscriber device 22 presents the crowd data to the subscriber 24
(step 2608). Note that in one embodiment, the MAP server 12 may
roll-up the aggregate profiles for multiple crowds at a POI or in
an AOI to provide a rolled-up aggregate profile that may be
returned in addition to or as an alternative to the aggregate
profiles of the individual crowds.
[0223] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the subscriber
24 may be enabled to specify filtering criteria via the web browser
38 or a custom application for interacting with the MAP server 12.
For example, the subscriber 24 may specify filtering criteria
regarding types of crowds in which the subscriber 24 is or is not
interested. For instance, the crowd data may be presented to the
subscriber 24 via one or more web pages that enable the subscriber
24 to select a filtering feature. In response, a list of keywords
appearing in the user profiles of the crowds identified as being
relevant to the current request may be presented to the subscriber
24. The subscriber 24 may then specify one or more keywords from
the list such that crowds having users with user profiles that do
not include any of the specified keywords are filtered, or removed,
and are therefore not considered when generating the crowd data in
response to a crowd request.
[0224] FIG. 31 is a flow chart illustrating step 2604 of FIG. 30 in
more detail according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
In this embodiment, the crowd data returned by the MAP server 12
includes aggregate profiles for the crowds identified for the POI
or the AOI. In this embodiment, upon receiving the crowd request,
the MAP server 12 triggers the crowd analyzer 58 to identify crowds
relevant to the crowd request, and then passes the identified
crowds to the aggregation engine 60 in order to generate aggregate
profiles for the identified crowds.
[0225] More specifically, after the crowd analyzer 58 has
identified the crowds relevant to the crowd request, the identified
crowds are passed to the aggregation engine 60. The aggregation
engine 60 selects a next crowd to process, which for the first
iteration is the first crowd (step 2700). The aggregation engine 60
then generates an aggregate profile for the crowd based on a
comparison of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to one
another (step 2702). Note that in an alternative embodiment, the
aggregation engine 60 then generates an aggregate profile for the
crowd based on a comparison of the user profiles of the users in
the crowd to a target user profile defined by the subscriber
24.
[0226] In one embodiment, in order to generate the aggregate
profile for the crowd, the user profiles are expressed as keywords
for each of a number of profile categories. Then, the aggregation
engine 60 may determine an aggregate list of keywords for the
crowd. The aggregate list of keywords is a list of all keywords
appearing in the user profiles of the users in the crowd. The
aggregate profile for the crowd may then include a number of user
matches for each keyword in the aggregate list of keywords for the
crowd. The number of user matches for a keyword is the number of
users in the crowd having a user profile that includes that
keyword. The aggregate profile may include the number of user
matches for all keywords in the aggregate list of keywords for the
crowd or the number of user matches for keywords in the aggregate
list of keywords for the crowd having more than a predefined number
of user matches (e.g., more than 1 user match). The aggregate
profile may also include the number of users in the crowd. In
addition or alternatively, the aggregate profile may include, for
each keyword in the aggregate list or each keyword in the aggregate
list having more than a predefined number of user matches, a ratio
of the number of user matches for the keyword to the number of
users in the crowd.
[0227] Once the aggregate profile of the crowd is generated, the
aggregation engine 60 determines whether there are more crowds to
process (step 2704). If so, the process returns to step 2700 and is
repeated for the next crowd. Once aggregate profiles have been
generated for all of the crowds relevant to the crowd request, the
aggregate profiles for the crowds are returned (step 2706). Note
that in some embodiments the subscriber 24 is enabled to activate a
"nearby POIs" feature. If this feature is enabled, the crowds
identified by the crowd analyzer 58 and processed by the
aggregation engine 60 to produce corresponding aggregate profiles
may also include crowds located at or near any nearby POIs. The
nearby POIs may be POIs predefined by the subscriber 24 and/or the
MAP server 12 that are within a predefined distance from the POI or
the AOI of the crowd request.
[0228] FIGS. 32A through 32E illustrate a GUI 198 for an exemplary
embodiment of the MAP application 32-1 of the mobile device 18-1
(FIG. 1). As illustrated in FIG. 32A, the GUI 198 includes a
settings screen 198-1 that is presented in response to selection of
a corresponding settings button 200 by the user 20-1. A navigation
button 202 may be selected to view a map and perform navigation
functions such as obtaining directions to a desired location. A
list button 204 enables the user 20-1 to view a list of friends,
crowds, POIs, and AOIs, as discussed below. Regarding the settings
displayed in the settings screen 198-1 of the GUI 198, the user
20-1 is enabled to provide his Facebook.RTM. login information
which, as described above, enables the user profile of the user
20-1 to be obtained from the Facebook.RTM. social networking
service. In this example, the user 20-1 has already been logged in
to Facebook. As such, the user 20-1 may logout of Facebook by
selecting a logout button 206. In addition, by selecting a profile
setting 208, the user 20-1 is enabled to view his profile and
select one or more profile categories to be used for aggregate
profile generation.
[0229] The settings screen 198-1 also enables the user 20-1 to
configure a number of privacy settings. Namely, the settings screen
198-1 enables the user 20-1 to set a stealth mode switch 210 to
either an on position or an off position. When the stealth mode
switch 210 is in the on position, the location of the user 20-1 is
not reported to the friends of the user 20-1. However, the location
of the user 20-1 is still reported for use by the MAP server 12.
The privacy settings also include a location refresh setting 212
that enables the user 20-1 to configure how often location updates
are to be sent by the MAP application 32-1. Lastly, the settings
screen 198-1 includes an alerts setting 214 that enables the user
20-1 to configure one or more alerts. As discussed below, an alert
can be tied to a particular POI or AOI such that the user 20-1 is
alerted, or notified, when a crowd at the particular POI or AOI
satisfies one or more specified criteria. Alternatively, an alert
can be tied to a particular crowd such that the user 20-1 is
alerted, or notified, when the crowd satisfies one or more
specified criteria.
[0230] Returning to the profile setting 208, if the user 20-1
selects the profile setting 208, a user profile screen 198-2 is
presented to the user 20-1 via the GUI 198, as illustrated in FIG.
32B. The user profile screen 198-2 shows a number of profile
categories 216A through 216E and corresponding lists of keywords
218A through 218E, which form the user profile of the user 20-1.
The user 20-1 is enabled to select one or more of the profile
categories 216A through 216E to be used for aggregate profile
generation (i.e., comparison to user profiles for history objects
and crowds to create corresponding aggregate profiles for the user
20-1). In this example, the user 20-1 has selected his "My
Interests" profile category 216C, where the corresponding list of
keywords 218C define general interests of the user 20-1. In the
user profile screen 198-2, the user 20-1 can return to the settings
screen 198-1 by selecting a settings button 220.
[0231] FIGS. 32C and 32D illustrate a list screen 198-3 that is
presented to the user 20-1 via the GUI 198 in response to selecting
the list button 204. The list screen 198-3 includes a friends
button 222, a crowds button 224, a POI button 226, an areas button
228, and an all button 230. The list screen 198-3 enables the user
20-1 to view a list of his friends by selecting the friends button
222, a list of crowds at POIs or within AOIs of the user 20-1 by
selecting the crowds button 224, a list of POIs of the user 20-1 by
selecting the POI button 226, or a list of AOIs of the user 20-1 by
selecting the areas button 228. In addition, the list screen 198-3
enables the user 20-1 to view a list that includes the friends of
the user, the crowds at POIs or within AOIs of the user 20-1, the
POIs of the user 20-1, and the AOIs of the user 20-1 by selecting
the all button 230.
[0232] In this example, the user 20-1 has selected the all button
230. As such, the list screen 198-3 presents an AOI list 232 that
includes a number of AOIs previously defined by the user 20-1. Note
that each of the AOIs may be a static AOI defining a static
geographic area or a dynamic AOI that is defined relative to a
dynamic location such as a location of a friend of the user 20-1.
For instance, in this example, the "Near Jack Shephard" AOI is a
geographic area of a defined shape and size that is centered at the
current location of the user's friend Jack Shephard. Note that in
one embodiment, persons whose current locations may be used for
dynamic AOIs are limited to the friends of the user 20-1. The user
20-1 may select an AOI from the AOI list 232 in order to view crowd
data for the AOI. For example, by selecting the My Neighborhood
AOI, the GUI 198 may present a map including the My Neighborhood
AOI. Crowds relevant to the My Neighborhood AOI are presented on
the map. The user 20-1 may then select a desired crowd in order to
view detailed information regarding that crowd such as, for
example, the aggregate profile of the crowd, characteristics of the
crowd, or both.
[0233] The list screen 198-3 also presents a crowds list 234 that
includes a number of crowds that are at the POIs or within the AOIs
of the user 20-1. In this example, there are twelve crowds. The GUI
198 enables the user 20-1 to select a crowd from the crowds list
234 in order to view additional information regarding the crowd.
For example, by selecting the Crowd of 6, the user 20-1 may be
presented with a map showing the current location of the Crowd of 6
and detailed information regarding the Crowd of 6 such as, for
example, the aggregate profile of the Crowd of 6, characteristics
of the Crowd of 6, or both.
[0234] The list screen 198-3 also includes a friends list 236, as
illustrated in FIG. 32D. The user 20-1 may select a friend from the
friends list 236 in order to view crowds nearby that friend. In
other words, the current locations of the friends of the user 20-1
are treated as temporary or dynamic POIs such that crowd data for
current locations of the friends of the user 20-1 is obtained from
the MAP server 12. In addition, the user 20-1 may choose to define
an AOI centered at the current location of a friend to create a
dynamic AOI, as discussed above. The friends list 236 also presents
the current location of the friends of the user 20-1 relative to
the current location of the user 20-1.
[0235] The list screen 198-3 also includes a POI list 238 that
includes a number of POIs of the user 20-1. The user 20-1 may
select a POI from the POI list 238 in order to view crowd data for
the POI. For example, by selecting the Steve's house POI, the GUI
198 may present a map including the Steve's house POI. Crowds at or
near the Steve's house POI are presented on the map. The user 20-1
may then select a desired crowd in order to view detailed
information regarding that crowd such as, for example, the
aggregate profile of the crowd, characteristics of the crowd, or
both. Lastly, returning to FIG. 32C, the list screen 198-3 includes
a You item 240 that may be selected by the user 20-1 to access the
user profile screen 198-2 (FIG. 32B).
[0236] FIG. 32E is a crowd data display screen 198-4 presented by
the GUI 198. In this example, the user 20-1 has selected the Around
You AOI from the AOI list 232 (FIG. 32C). As a result, the GUI 198
presents the crowd data display screen 198-4 for the Around You
AOI. The crowd data display screen 198-4 includes a map area 242.
In this example, the current location of the user 20-1 is used as
the center of the Around You AOI. The current location of the user
20-1 is represented in the map area 242 by a corresponding
indicator 244. Crowds in the Around You AOI are represented in the
map area by crowd indicators 246 through 250. In this embodiment,
the crowd indictors 246 through 250 show the locations of the
crowds as well as match strengths for the crowds. The locations of
the crowds are included in the crowd data. The match strengths for
the crowds may be included in the aggregate profiles for the crowds
or may be determined based on the aggregate profiles for the
crowds. In this embodiment, the match strength of a crowd is
computed as a ratio of the number of user matches over all keywords
to the number of users in the crowd. A ratio of one results in a
highest match strength, and a ratio of zero results in a lowest
match strength.
[0237] Using the GUI 198, the user 20-1 is enabled to select a
particular crowd in the map area 242 to view more detailed
information for that crowd in a crowd detail area 252 of the crowd
data display screen 198-4. In this example, the user 20-1 has
selected the crowd indicator 246. As a result, more detailed
information for the crowd represented by the crowd indicator 246 is
presented in the crowd detail area 252. The more detailed
information for the crowd is from the crowd data for the crowd or
derived from the crowd data for the crowd. In this example, the
aggregate profile of the crowd is used to derive the match strength
for the crowd, and the match strength is presented in the crowd
detail area 252. In addition, the crowd size and number of user
matches over all keywords are obtained from the aggregate profile
for the crowd and presented in the crowd detail area 252. In this
example, a quality factor for the crowd is also presented. As
discussed below in detail, the quality factor of the crowd may be
an average of a quality or confidence of the current locations of
the users in the crowd. Still further, the crowd data display
screen 198-4 includes a keyword matches area 254 for presenting
keyword matches for the selected crowd. In this example, a font
size of the keywords in the keyword matches area 254 reflects the
number of user matches for that keyword. Therefore, in this
example, the number of user matches for the keyword "technology" is
greater than the number of user matches for the keyword
"books."
[0238] FIGS. 33A through 33C illustrate an exemplary web interface
256 provided by the MAP server 12 and presented to the subscriber
24 at the subscriber device 22. The web interface 256 includes a
number of tabs 258 through 272, namely, a home tab 258, a realtime
tab 260, a historical tab 262, a watch zones tab 264, an alerts tab
266, a filters tab 268, a reports tab 270, and an account tab 272.
The home tab 258 enables the subscriber 24 to view a home screen.
The home screen may include any desired information such as, for
example, a link to a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page,
instructions on how to use the web interface 256, or the like. The
realtime tab 260 enables the subscriber to view realtime crowd data
for POIs and/or AOIs of the subscriber 24. The historical tab 262
enables the subscriber 24 to view historical data for a POI or an
AOI in a time context and/or a geographic context in the manner
described above. The watch zones tab 264 enables the subscriber 24
to select POIs and/or AOIs of interest to the subscriber 24. The
alerts tab 266 enables the subscriber 24 to configure one or more
alerts. The filters tab 268 enables the subscriber 24 to configure
filters and/or select filters to be applied to the crowd data in
the realtime or historical view. The reports tab 270 enables the
subscriber 24 to access reports previously generated for crowds of
interest, POIs, and/or AOIs. Lastly, the account tab 272 enables
the subscriber 24 to manage the subscriber's account.
[0239] More specifically, FIG. 33A illustrates the web interface
256 when the realtime tab 260 has been selected by the subscriber
24. When the realtime tab 260 is selected, the web interface 256
presents a map area 274 that shows an AOI 276 and a number of
crowds 278 through 282 currently located within the AOI 276. In
addition, in this exemplary embodiment, crowds 284 and 286 that are
outside the AOI 276 are also illustrated. The crowds 284 and 286
are crowds located at other POIs or within other AOIs of the
subscriber 24 that are not currently being viewed by the subscriber
24. The subscriber 24 may view another POI or AOI by selecting the
desired POI or AOI from a list presented in response to selection
of a button 288. In this example, POIs and AOIs are generically
referred to as watch zones.
[0240] In this example, the subscriber 24 selects the crowd 278. In
response, the web interface 256 presents an aggregate profile
window 290 to the subscriber 24, as illustrated in FIG. 33B. The
aggregate profile window 290 presents an aggregate profile of the
crowd 278, where in this embodiment the aggregate profile is in the
form of an interest histogram showing the number of user matches in
the crowd 278 for each of a number of keywords. The subscriber 24
may be enabled to create an alert for the crowd 278 by selecting a
create an alert button 292. In response, the subscriber 24 may be
enabled to utilize the keywords in the aggregate profile window 290
to create an alert. For example, the subscriber 24 may create an
alert such that the subscriber 24 is notified when the number of
user matches for the keyword "Sushi" in the crowd 278 reaches one
hundred. The subscriber 24 may also be enabled to create a report
for the crowd 278 by selecting a create a report button 294. The
report may, for example, include details about the crowd 278 such
as, for example, the location of the crowd 278, the size of the
crowd 278, the aggregate profile of the crowd 278, the current time
and date, or the like, where the report may be saved or printed by
the subscriber 24.
[0241] In addition, the subscriber 24 may be enabled to create a
filter by selecting a create a filter button 296. In response to
selecting the create a filter button 296, a new filter screen 298
is presented to the subscriber 24, as illustrated in FIG. 33C. The
subscriber 24 may then select keywords from the interest histogram
for the crowd 278 to be used for the filter. In addition, the
subscriber 24 may be enabled to add new keywords to the filter by
selecting an add keywords button 300. Once the subscriber 24 has
configured the filter, the subscriber 24 is enabled to create the
filter by selecting a create button 302. Once the filter is
created, the filter may be used to filter crowds for any AOI or POI
of the subscriber 24.
[0242] FIGS. 34 through 45 describe the operation of the crowd
analyzer 58 of the MAP server 12 to characterize crowds according
to another embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically,
the crowd analyzer 58 may determine a degree-of-fragmentation, best
and worst case average DOS, and/or a degree of bidirectionality for
crowds. This information may then be included in crowd data for
those crowds returned to the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N
and/or the subscriber device 22. In addition or alternatively, the
data characterizing crowds may be used to filter crowds. For
example, a filter may be applied such that crowds having a
worst-case average DOS greater than a defined threshold are not
presented to a user/subscriber. The filtering may be performed by
the MAP server 12 before returning crowd data to the requesting
device (i.e., one of the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N, the
subscriber device 22, or a device hosting the third-party service
26). Alternatively, the filtering may be performed by the mobile
devices 18-1 through 18-N, the subscriber device 22, or a device
hosting the third-party service 26.
[0243] FIG. 34 is a flow chart illustrating a spatial crowd
fragmentation process according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. This process is similar to the spatial crowd formation
process discussed above with respect to FIG. 22. First, the crowd
analyzer 58 creates a crowd fragment of one user for each user in a
crowd (step 2800). Note that this spatial crowd fragmentation
process may be performed reactively in response to a current
request for crowd data for a POI or an AOI or performed
proactively. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines the two closest
crowd fragments in the crowd (step 2802) and a distance between the
two closest crowd fragments (step 2804). The distance between the
two closest crowd fragments is the distance between the crowd
fragment centers of the two closest crowd fragments. The crowd
fragment center for a crowd fragment having only one user is the
current location of that one user.
[0244] The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the distance
between the two closest crowd fragments is less than an optimal
inclusion distance for a crowd fragment (step 2806). In one
embodiment, the optimal inclusion distance for a crowd fragment is
a predefined static value. In another embodiment, the optimal
inclusion distance of the crowd may vary. For example, if the
spatial crowd formation process of FIGS. 24A through 24D is used
for proactive crowd formation, then the optimal inclusion distance
for the crowd may vary. As such, the optimal inclusion distance for
a crowd fragment within the crowd may be defined as a fraction of
the optimal inclusion distance of the crowd such that the optimal
inclusion distance for a crowd fragment within the crowd varies
along with the optimal inclusion distance for the crowd itself.
[0245] If the distance between the two closest crowd fragments is
less than the optimal inclusion distance for a crowd fragment, then
the two closest crowd fragments are combined (step 2808) and a new
crowd fragment center is computed for the resulting crowd fragment
(step 2810). The crowd fragment center may be computed using, for
example, a center of mass algorithm. At this point the process
returns to step 2802 and is repeated. Once the two closest crowd
fragments in the crowd are separated by more than the optimal
inclusion distance for a crowd fragment, the process ends. At this
point, the crowd analyzer 58 has created the crowd fragments or
defined the crowd fragments for the crowd. The crowd analyzer 58
may then represent the degree of fragmentation of the crowd based
on the number of crowd fragments in the crowd and, optionally, an
average number of users per crowd fragment. The degree of
fragmentation of the crowd may be included in the crowd data
returned to the requesting device in response to a crowd request
for a POI or an AOI to which the crowd is relevant.
[0246] FIGS. 35A and 35B graphically illustrate the spatial crowd
fragmentation process of FIG. 34 for an exemplary crowd 304 having
bounding box 305. FIG. 35A illustrates the crowd 304 before spatial
crowd fragmentation. FIG. 35B illustrates the crowd 304 after
spatial crowd fragmentation. As illustrated, after spatial crowd
fragmentation, the crowd 304 includes a number of crowd fragments
306 through 314. As such, the crowd 304 has a degree of
fragmentation of five crowd fragments with an average of
approximately 2 users per crowd fragment. Thus, the crowd 304 has a
moderately high degree of fragmentation. The highest degree of
fragmentation for the crowd 304 would be to have eleven crowd
fragments with an average of one user per crowd fragment. The
lowest degree of fragmentation for the crowd 304 would be to have
one crowd fragment with an average of eleven users per crowd
fragment.
[0247] FIG. 36 illustrates a connectivity-based crowd fragmentation
process according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
First, the crowd analyzer 58 creates a crowd fragment for each user
in the crowd (step 2900). Note that this connectivity-based crowd
fragmentation process may be performed reactively in response to a
current request for crowd data for a POI or an AOI or performed
proactively. Next, the crowd analyzer 58 selects a next pair of
crowd fragments in the crowd (step 2902) and then selects one user
from each of those crowd fragments (step 2904). The crowd analyzer
58 then determines a DOS between the users from the pair of crowd
fragments (step 2906). More specifically, as will be appreciated by
one of ordinary skill in the art, DOS is a measure of the degree to
which the two users are related in a social network (e.g., the
Facebook.RTM. social network, the MySpace.RTM. social network, or
the LinkedIN.RTM. social network). The two users have a DOS of one
if one of the users is a friend of the other user, a DOS of two if
one of the users is a friend of a friend of the other user, a DOS
of three if one of the users is a friend of a friend of a friend of
the other user, etc. If the two users are not related in a social
network or have an unknown DOS, the DOS for the two users is set to
a value equal to or greater than the maximum DOS for a crowd
fragment.
[0248] The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the DOS
between the two users is less than a predefined maximum DOS for a
crowd fragment (step 2908). For example, the predefined maximum DOS
may be three. However, other maximum DOS values may be used to
achieve the desired crowd fragmentation. If the DOS between the two
users is not less than the predefined maximum DOS, the process
proceeds to step 2916. If the DOS between the two users is less
than the predefined maximum DOS, the crowd analyzer 58 determines
whether a bidirectionality requirement is satisfied (step 2910).
The bidirectionality requirement specifies whether the relationship
between the two users must be bidirectional (i.e., the first user
must directly or indirectly know the second user and the second
user must directly or indirectly know the first user).
Bidirectionality may or may not be required depending on the
particular embodiment. If the two users satisfy the
bidirectionality requirement, the crowd analyzer 58 combines the
pair of crowd fragments (step 2912) and computes a new crowd
fragment center for the resulting crowd fragment (step 2914). The
process then returns to step 2902 and is repeated for a next pair
of crowd fragments. If the two users do not satisfy the
bidirectionality requirement, the process proceeds to step
2916.
[0249] At this point, whether proceeding from step 2908 or step
2910, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether all user pairs from
the two crowd fragments have been processed (step 2916). If not,
the process returns to step 2904 and is repeated for a new pair of
users from the two crowd fragments. If all user pairs from the two
crowd fragments have been processed, the crowd analyzer 58 then
determines whether all crowd fragments have been processed (step
2918). If not, the process returns to step 2902 and is repeated
until all crowd fragments have been processed. Once this process is
complete, the crowd analyzer 58 has determined the number of crowd
fragments in the crowd. The degree of fragmentation of the crowd
may then be provided as the number of crowd fragments and the
average number of users per crowd fragment.
[0250] FIGS. 37A and 37B graphically illustrate the
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process of FIG. 36. FIG. 37A
illustrates a crowd 316 having a number of users and a bounding box
317. FIG. 37B illustrates the crowd 316 after the
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process has been performed.
As illustrated, there are three crowd fragments resulting from the
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process. Namely, crowd
fragment A has four users marked as "A," crowd fragment B has five
users marked as "B," and crowd fragment C has three users marked as
"C." As illustrated, the users in a particular crowd fragment may
not be close to one another spatially since, in this embodiment,
there is no spatial requirement for users of the crowd fragment
other than that the users of the crowd fragment are in the same
crowd.
[0251] FIG. 38 is a flow chart illustrating a recursive crowd
fragmentation process that uses both spatial crowd fragmentation
and connectivity-based crowd fragmentation according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the crowd analyzer 58
performs a spatial crowd fragmentation process to create a number
of crowd fragments for a crowd (step 3000). The spatial crowd
fragmentation process may be the spatial crowd fragmentation
process of FIG. 34. The crowd analyzer 58 then selects a next crowd
fragment of the crowd fragments created for the crowd (step 3002).
Next, the crowd analyzer 58 performs a connectivity-based crowd
fragmentation process to create a number of sub-fragments for the
crowd fragment of the crowd (step 3004). The connectivity-based
crowd fragmentation process may be the connectivity-based crowd
fragmentation process of FIG. 36. The crowd analyzer 58 then
determines whether the last crowd fragment of the crowd has been
processed (step 3006). If not, the process returns to step 3002 and
is repeated until the last crowd fragment of the crowd has been
processed. At that point, the process is complete. The degree of
fragmentation for the crowd may then include the number of
sub-fragments and average number of users per sub-fragment for each
crowd fragment.
[0252] FIG. 39 is a flow chart illustrating a recursive crowd
fragmentation process that uses both spatial crowd fragmentation
and connectivity-based crowd fragmentation according to another
embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the crowd analyzer 58
performs a connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process to create
a number of crowd fragments for a crowd (step 3100). The
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process may be the
connectivity-based crowd fragmentation process of FIG. 36. The
crowd analyzer 58 then selects a next crowd fragment of the crowd
fragments created for the crowd (step 3102). Next, the crowd
analyzer 58 performs a spatial crowd fragmentation process to
create a number of sub-fragments for the crowd fragment of the
crowd (step 3104). The spatial crowd fragmentation process may be
the spatial crowd fragmentation process of FIG. 34. The crowd
analyzer 58 then determines whether the last crowd fragment of the
crowd has been processed (step 3106). If not, the process returns
to step 3102 and is repeated until the last crowd fragment of the
crowd has been processed. At that point, the process is complete.
The degree of fragmentation for the crowd may then include the
number of sub-fragments and average number of users per
sub-fragment for each crowd fragment.
[0253] FIGS. 40A and 40B illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the degree of fragmentation for a crowd. This
exemplary graphical representation may be presented by the MAP
application 32-1 based on corresponding crowd data provided by the
MAP server 12 in response to a crowd request or presented by the
MAP server 12 to the subscriber 24 via the web browser 38 of the
subscriber device 22. FIG. 40A illustrates a graphical
representation of the degree of fragmentation for a crowd having
two crowd fragments with an average of twenty-five users per crowd
fragment. FIG. 40B illustrates a graphical representation of the
degree of fragmentation for a crowd having twenty-five crowd
fragments with an average of two users per crowd fragment.
[0254] FIG. 41 is a flow chart for a process for determining a
best-case and worst-case average DOS for a crowd fragment of a
crowd according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The
crowd analyzer 58 counts the number of 1 DOS, 2 DOS, . . . , M DOS
relationships in a crowd fragment (step 3200) and the number of
user pairs in the crowd fragment for which explicit relationships
are not defined or known (step 3202). More specifically, for each
pair of users in the crowd fragment, the crowd analyzer 58
determines the DOS between the pair of users if the DOS between the
pair of user is known or determines that the DOS between the pair
of users is not defined or known if the DOS between the pair of
users is in fact not defined or known. Based on these
determinations, the crowd analyzer 58 counts the number of user
pairs having a DOS of 1, the number of user pairs having a DOS of
2, etc. In addition, the crowd analyzer 58 counts the number of
user pairs for which no relationship is defined or known.
[0255] The crowd analyzer 58 then computes a best-case average DOS
for the crowd fragment using a best-case DOS for the user pairs in
the crowd fragment for which explicit relationships are not defined
(step 3204). In this embodiment, the best-case average DOS is 1.
The best-case average DOS may computed as:
AverageDOS BestCase = i = 1 M ( i DOS_ count i ) + DOS BestCase
Num_Unknown i = 1 M ( DOS_ count i ) + Num_Unknown ,
##EQU00013##
[0256] where AverageDOS.sub.BestCase is the best-case average DOS
for the crowd fragment, DOS_count.sub.i is the number of user pairs
for the ith DOS, DOS.sub.BestCase is the best-case DOS, and
Num_Unknown is the number of user pairs for which a relationship is
not defined or is unknown.
[0257] The crowd analyzer 58 also computes the worst-case average
DOS for the crowd fragment using a worst-case DOS for the user
pairs in the crowd fragment for which explicit relationships are
not defined (step 3206). In this embodiment, the worst-case DOS is
a greatest possible DOS that the crowd analyzer 58 considers, which
may be, for example, a DOS of greater than or equal to 7. For
instance, the worst-case DOS may be 10. However, other values for
the worst-case DOS may be used. The worst-case average DOS may
computed as:
AverageDOS WorstCase = i = 1 M ( i DOS_ count i ) + DOS WorstCase
Num_Unknown i = 1 M ( DOS_ count i ) + Num_Unknown ,
##EQU00014##
where AverageDOS.sub.WorstCase is the worst-case average DOS for
the crowd fragment, DOS_count.sub.i is the number of user pairs for
the ith DOS, DOS.sub.WorstCase is the worst-case DOS, and
Num_Unknown is the number of user pairs for which a relationship is
not defined or is unknown.
[0258] FIG. 42 is a more detailed flow chart illustrating the
process for determining a best-case and worst-case average DOS for
a crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. First, the crowd analyzer 58 selects the next user in
the crowd fragment, which for the first iteration is the first user
in the crowd fragment (step 3300), and clears a found member list
(step 3302). The crowd analyzer 58 then sets a current DOS to one
(step 3304). Next, the crowd analyzer 58 selects a next friend of
the user (step 3306). Note that, in one embodiment, information
identifying the friends of the user are obtained from the one or
more profile servers 14 along with the user profile of the user.
The crowd analyzer 58 then determines whether the friend of the
user is also a member of the crowd fragment (step 3308). If not,
the process proceeds to step 3314. If the friend is also a member
of the crowd fragment, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the
friend is already in the found member list (step 3310). If so, the
process proceeds to step 3314. If the friend is also a member of
the crowd fragment and is not already in the found member list, the
crowd analyzer 58 increments a found count for the current DOS and
adds the friend to the found member list (step 3312). At this
point, whether proceeding from step 3308 or step 3310, the crowd
analyzer 58 then determines whether the user has more friends to
process (step 3314). If so, the process returns to step 3306 and is
repeated for the next friend of the user.
[0259] Once all of the friends of the user have been processed, the
crowd analyzer 58 performs steps 3306 through 3314 recursively for
each newly found friend, incrementing the current DOS for each
recursion, up to a maximum number of recursions (step 3316). Newly
found friends are friends added to the found member list in the
iteration or recursion of steps 3306 through 3314 just completed.
In more general terms, steps 3306 through 3316 operate to find
friends of the user selected in step 3300 that are also members of
the crowd fragment and increment the found count for a DOS of 1 for
each of the found friends of the user. Then, for each friend of the
user that was found to also be a member of the crowd fragment, the
crowd analyzer 58 finds friends of that friend of the user that are
also members of the crowd fragment and increments the found count
for a DOS of 2 for each of the found friends of the friend of the
user. The process continues in this manner to count the number of
user relationships between the user selected in step 3300 and other
members in the crowd fragment up to the Mth DOS.
[0260] Next, the crowd analyzer 58 determines a count of users in
the crowd fragment that were not found as being directly or
indirectly related to the user selected in step 3300 (step 3318).
More specifically, by looking at the found member list and the
total number of users in the crowd fragment, the crowd analyzer 58
is enabled to determine the count of users in the crowd fragment
that were not found as being directly or indirectly related to the
user.
[0261] At this point, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether
there are more users in the crowd fragment to process (step 3320).
If so, the process returns to step 3300 and is repeated for the
next user in the crowd fragment. Once all of the users in the crowd
fragment have been processed, the crowd analyzer 58 computes a
best-case average DOS for the crowd fragment (step 3322). Again, in
one embodiment, the best-case average DOS for the crowd fragment is
computed as:
AverageDOS BestCase = i = 1 M ( i found_ count DOSi ) + DOS
BestCase Num_Unknown i = 1 M ( found_ count DOSi ) + Num_Unknown ,
##EQU00015##
where AverageDOS.sub.BestCase is the best-case average DOS for the
crowd fragment, found_count.sub.DOSi is the found count for the ith
DOS, DOS.sub.BestCase is the best-case DOS which may be set to, for
example, 1, and Num_Unknown is the total count of user pairs in the
crowd fragment that were not found as being directly or indirectly
related.
[0262] In addition, the crowd analyzer 58 computes a worst-case
average DOS for the crowd fragment (step 3324). Again, in one
embodiment, the worst-case average DOS for the crowd fragment is
computed as:
AverageDOS WorstCase = i = 1 M ( i found_ count DOSi ) + DOS
WorstCase Num_Unknown i = 1 M ( found_ count DOSi ) + Num_Unknown ,
##EQU00016##
where AverageDOS.sub.WorstCase is the worst-case average DOS for
the crowd fragment, found_count.sub.DOSi is the found count for the
ith DOS, DOS.sub.WorstCase is the worst-case DOS which may be set
to, for example, 10, and Num_Unknown is the total count of user
pairs in the crowd fragment that were not found as being directly
or indirectly related. At this point the process is complete and
the best-case and worst-case average DOS for the crowd fragment may
be returned as part of the crowd data for the corresponding crowd.
It should be noted that while the processes of FIGS. 41 and 42 were
described above as being performed on a crowd fragment, the same
processes may be performed on a crowd in order to determine a
best-case and worst-case average DOS for the crowd.
[0263] FIGS. 43A through 43D illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the best-case and worst-case average DOS for a
crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. Such graphical representations may be presented to the
mobile users 20-1 through 20-N by the MAP applications 32-1 through
32-N or presented to the subscriber 24 by the MAP server 12 via the
web browser 38 at the subscriber device 22 based on data included
in the crowd data for corresponding crowds. FIG. 43A illustrates
the graphical representation for a crowd fragment wherein all users
in the crowd fragment are friends with one another. As such, both
the best-case and worst-case average DOS for the crowd fragment are
1. FIG. 43B illustrates the graphical representation for a crowd
fragment wherein the best-case average DOS is 2 and the worst-case
average DOS is 3. FIG. 43C illustrates the graphical representation
for a crowd fragment wherein the best-case average DOS is 4 and the
worst-case average DOS is greater than 7. Lastly, FIG. 43D
illustrates the graphical representation for a crowd fragment
wherein the best-case average DOS is 6 and the worst-case average
DOS is 7. Again, while in these examples the graphical
representations are for the best-case and worst-case average DOS
for a crowd fragment, best-case and worst-case average DOS for a
crowd may additionally or alternatively be computed by the MAP
server 12 and presented to the users 20-1 through 20-N or the
subscriber 24.
[0264] FIG. 44 is a flow chart for a process of determining a
degree of bidirectionality of relationships between users in a
crowd fragment according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure. Note, however, that this same process may be used to
determine a degree of bidirectionality of relationships between
users in a crowd. First, the crowd analyzer 58 selects the next
user in a crowd fragment, which for the first iteration is the
first user in the crowd fragment (step 3400). The crowd analyzer 58
then selects the next friend of the user (step 3402). Again, note
that friends of the users 20-1 through 20-N may have been
previously been obtained from the one or more profile servers 14
along with the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N and
provided to the MAP server 12. The crowd analyzer 58 then
determines whether the friend of the user is a member of the crowd
fragment (step 3404). If not, the process proceeds to step 3412. If
the friend of the user is a member of the crowd fragment, the crowd
analyzer 58 increments a connection count (step 3406). In addition,
the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the relationship between
the user and the friend is bidirectional (step 3408). In other
words, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the user is also a
friend of that friend. If not, the process proceeds to step 3412.
If so, the crowd analyzer 58 increments a bidirectional count (step
3410).
[0265] At this point, whether proceeding from step 3404, step 3408,
or step 3410, the crowd analyzer 58 determines whether the user has
more friends to process (step 3412). If so, the process returns to
step 3402 and is repeated for the next friend of the user. Once all
of the friends of the user have been processed, the crowd analyzer
58 determines whether there are more users in the crowd fragment
(step 3414). If so, the process returns to step 3400 and is
repeated for the next user in the crowd fragment. Once steps 3402
through 3412 have been performed for all of the users in the crowd
fragment, the crowd analyzer 58 computes a ratio of the
bidirectional count (i.e., the number of bidirectional friend
relationships) over the connection count (i.e., the number of
unidirectional and bidirectional friend relationships) for the
crowd fragment (step 3416). At this point, the process ends. In
this embodiment, the ratio of the bidirectionality count to the
connection count reflects the degree of bidirectionality of
friendship relationships for the crowd fragment and may be returned
to the requesting user or subscriber in the crowd data for the
corresponding crowd.
[0266] FIGS. 45A through 45C illustrate an exemplary graphical
representation of the degree of bidirectionality of friendship
relationships for a crowd fragment according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure. Note that this graphical representation may
also be used to present the degree of bidirectionality of
friendship relationships for a crowd. FIG. 45A illustrates the
graphical representation for a crowd having a ratio of
bidirectional friend relationships to total friend relationships of
approximately 0.5. FIG. 45B illustrates the graphical
representation for a crowd having a ratio of bidirectional friend
relationships to total friend relationships of approximately 0.2.
FIG. 45C illustrates the graphical representation for a crowd
having a ratio of bidirectional friend relationships to total
friend relationships of approximately 0.95. Graphical
representations such as those in FIGS. 45A through 45C may be
presented to the mobile users 20-1 through 20-N by the MAP
applications 32-1 through 32-N or presented to the subscriber 24 by
the MAP server 12 via the web browser 38 at the subscriber device
22 based on data included in the crowd data for corresponding
crowds.
[0267] FIGS. 46 through 51 describe embodiments of the present
disclosure where confidence levels for the current locations of
users in a crowd are determined and utilized to provide a quality
level for the aggregate profile for the crowd and/or confidence
levels for individual keywords included in the aggregate profile
for the crowd. In general, in many implementations, the current
locations of the users 20-1 through 20-N are not updated
instantaneously or even substantially instantaneously. There are
many reasons why the current locations of the users 20-1 through
20-N are not and possibly cannot be updated instantaneously. For
example, battery life and performance limitations, non-continuous
network connectivity, platform limitations such as the inability to
run applications in the background, and security architectures
(e.g., J2ME MIDP2.0 security architecture) may all limit the
ability of the mobile devices 18-1 through 18-N to provide
continuous location updates to the MAP server 12. As a result, the
users 20-1 through 20-N may move from their current locations
stored by the MAP server 12 well before corresponding location
updates are received by the MAP server 12. For instance, if the
user 20-1 turns the mobile device 18-1 off, then the mobile device
18-1 is unable to send location updates for the user 20-1. As such,
the current location stored for the user 20-1 at the MAP server 12
will no longer be accurate if the user 20-1 moves to a new location
while the mobile device 18-1 is off.
[0268] FIGS. 46 through 51 describe embodiments where the
contribution of the user profiles of the users 20-1 through 20-N to
aggregate profiles of corresponding crowds is modified based on an
amount of time that has expired since receiving location updates
for the users 20-1 through 20-N. More specifically, FIG. 46 is a
flow chart for a process for generating a quality level for an
aggregate profile for a crowd according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. As discussed above, the crowd analyzer 58 of
the MAP server 12 creates an aggregate profile for one or more
crowds relevant to a POI or an AOI in response to a crowd request
from a requestor (i.e., one of the users 20-1 through 20-N, the
subscriber 24, or the third-party service 26). Depending on the
particular embodiment, the aggregate profile may be generated based
on comparisons of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to a
user profile or a select subset of the user profile of a requesting
user (e.g., one of the users 20-1 through 20-N for which the
aggregate profile is generated), comparisons of the user profiles
of the users in the crowd to a target user profile, or comparisons
of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to one another.
Using the following process, the crowd analyzer 58 can generate a
quality level for the aggregate profile for one or more such
crowds. Note that the quality level for the aggregate profile of a
crowd may also be viewed as a quality level for the crowd itself
particularly where a spatial crowd formation process has been used
to form the crowd.
[0269] First, the crowd analyzer 58 of the MAP server 12 computes
confidence levels for the current locations of the users in the
crowd (step 3500). In one embodiment, the confidence level for the
current location of a user ranges from 0 to 1, where the confidence
level is set to 1 when the current location is updated and then
linearly decreases to 0 over some desired period of time. As such,
the confidence level of the current location of a user may be
computed based on the following equation:
CL.sub.LOCATION=-.DELTA.tDR+CL.sub.LOCATION,PREVIOUS,
where CL.sub.LOCATION is the confidence level of the current
location of the user, .DELTA.t is an amount of time that has
elapsed since the confidence level of the current location of the
user was last computed, DR is a predefined decrease rate or rate at
which the confidence level is to decrease over time, and
CL.sub.LOCATION,PREVIOUS is the previous confidence level of the
current location of the user. The decrease rate (DR) is preferably
selected such that the confidence level (CL) of the current
location of the user will decrease from 1 to 0 over a desired
amount of time. Note that the decrease rate (DR) may be defined
separately for each user or may be the same for all users. If
defined separately, the decrease rate (DR) for a user may be
defined once and re-used or defined on a case-by-case basis based
on the user's current and past locations, profile, history, or the
like. The desired amount of time may be any desired amount of time
such as, but not limited to, a desired number of hours. As an
example, the desired amount of time may be 12 hours, and the
corresponding decrease rate (DR) is 1/12 if time is measured in
hours and 1/(12.times.60.times.60.times.1000) if time is measures
in milliseconds. Note that the MAP server 12 stores the confidence
level (CL) of the user, a timestamp indicating when the confidence
level (CL) was computed, and optionally a timestamp indicating when
the current location of the user was last updated. This information
may be stored in the user record for the user. Alternatively, only
the timestamp of the last location update is stored in the user
record for the user. If the initial confidence level (CL) varies
per user, the initial confidence level (CL) is also stored in the
user record. The current confidence level (CL) is determined
whenever it is needed by retrieving the last location update
timestamp from the user record, determining an amount of elapsed
time between the current time and the time of the last location
update, and calculating the new confidence level based on the
decrease rate (DR) and the initial confidence level (CL). Also note
that while the confidence levels of the current locations of the
users in the crowd are computed using a linear algorithm in the
exemplary embodiment described above, nonlinear algorithms may
alternatively be used.
[0270] When computing the confidence levels for the current
locations of the users in the crowds, the crowd analyzer 58 may
also consider location confidence events. Note that timestamps of
such location confidence events and the location confidence events
themselves may also be stored to enable correct calculation of the
confidence levels. The location confidence events may include
negative location confidence events such as, but not limited to,
the passing of a known closing time of a business (e.g.,
restaurant, bar, shopping mall, etc.) at which a user is located or
movement of a crowd with which a user has a high affinity. The
location confidence events may additionally or alternatively
include positive location confidence events such as, but not
limited to, frequent interaction with the corresponding MAP
application by the user. Frequent interaction with the MAP
application by the user may be indicated by reception of frequent
location updates for the user. Note that, in addition to or as an
alternative to using location confidence events, other information
such as location profiles, event information (e.g., live music
event, open-mic night, etc.), current as past crowd histories, or
the like may be used when computing the confidence levels for the
current locations of the users in the crowds.
[0271] The manner in which the crowd analyzer 58 handles positive
and/or negative location confidence events when computing the
confidence levels of the users in the crowd may vary. In one
embodiment, in response to detecting a negative location confidence
event with respect to a user, the crowd analyzer 58 may increase
the decrease rate (DR) used to compute the confidence level (CL) of
the current location of the user. Similarly, in response to
detecting a positive location confidence event with respect to a
user, the crowd analyzer 58 may decrease the decrease rate (DR)
used to compute the confidence level (CL) of the current location
of the user or replace the decrease rate (DR) with an increase rate
such that the confidence level of the user increases in response to
the location confidence event or while the location confidence
event continues (e.g., increase while the user frequently interacts
with the MAP application).
[0272] In another embodiment, in response to detecting a negative
location confidence event with respect to a user, the crowd
analyzer 58 may decrease the confidence level (CL) of the current
location of the user by a predefined amount. For example, if the
negative location event is the passing of a closing time of a
business at which the user is located, the crowd analyzer 58 may
decrease the confidence level (CL) of the user to zero. Similarly,
in response to detecting a positive location confidence event with
respect to a user, the crowd analyzer 58 may increase the
confidence level (CL) of the current location of the user by a
predefined amount. For example, in response to detecting that the
user is frequently interacting with the MAP application at his
mobile device, the crowd analyzer 58 may increase the confidence
level (CL) of the current location of the user by 0.1.
[0273] Once the confidence levels of the current locations of the
users in the crowd are computed, the crowd analyzer 58 determines a
quality level for the aggregate profile of the crowd (step 3502).
In one embodiment, the quality level for the crowd is computed as
an average of the confidence levels of the current locations of the
users in the crowd. The quality level of the aggregate profile may
then be provided along with the aggregate profile in the crowd data
for the crowd returned to the requestor.
[0274] FIG. 47 illustrates an exemplary GUI 318 for presenting an
aggregate profile 320 for a crowd and a quality level 322 of the
aggregate profile 320 generated using the process of FIG. 46
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 48
illustrates another exemplary GUI 324 for presenting an aggregate
profile 326 for a crowd and a quality level 328 of the aggregate
profile 326 generated using the process of FIG. 46 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure. However, in the GUI 324, the
aggregate profile 326 also indicates a relative number of user
matches for each of a number of keywords in the aggregate profile
326. More specifically, in a keyword area 330 of the GUI 324, the
sizes of the keywords indicate the relative number of user matches
for the keywords. Therefore, in this example, the keyword "books"
has a larger number of user matches that the keyword "politics," as
indicated by the size, or font size, of the two keywords in the
keyword area 330 of the GUI 324.
[0275] FIG. 49 illustrates a flow chart for a process for
generating confidence factors for keywords included in an aggregate
profile for a crowd based on confidence levels for current
locations of users in the crowd according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. As discussed above, the crowd analyzer 58
creates an aggregate profile for one or more crowds relevant to a
POI or an AOI in response to a crowd request from a requestor
(i.e., one of the users 20-1 through 20-N, the subscriber 24, or
the third-party service 26). Depending on the particular
embodiment, the aggregate profile may be generated based on
comparisons of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to a
user profile or a select subset of the user profile of a requesting
user (e.g., one of the users 20-1 through 20-N for which the
aggregate profile is generated), comparisons of the user profiles
of the users in the crowd to a target user profile, or comparisons
of the user profiles of the users in the crowd to one another. As
also discussed above, in one embodiment, the aggregate profile for
a crowd includes a number of user matches for each of a number of
keywords and/or a ratio of the number of user matches to the total
number of users in the crowd for each of a number of keywords.
[0276] In order to generate confidence factors for each keyword in
an aggregate profile for a crowd, the crowd analyzer 58 of the MAP
server 12 computes confidence levels for the current locations of
the users in the crowd (step 3600). The confidence levels for the
current locations of the users may be computed as discussed above
with respect to step 3500 of FIG. 46. In general, the confidence
levels for the current locations of the users may be computed based
on an amount of time since the current location of the user was
last updated, location confidence events, or both. Once the
confidence levels of the current locations of the users in the
crowd are computed, the crowd analyzer 58 determines a confidence
level for each keyword in the aggregate profile of the crowd based
on the confidence levels for the current locations of the
corresponding users (step 3602). In one embodiment, for each
keyword, the confidence level for the keyword is computed as an
average of the confidence levels of the current locations of the
users in the crowd having user profiles including the keyword. In
other words, for each keyword, there are a number of user matches.
The confidence levels of the current locations of the users
corresponding to the user matches for the keyword are averaged to
provide the confidence level for the keyword.
[0277] FIG. 50 illustrates an exemplary GUI 332 for presenting an
aggregate profile 334 for a crowd including an indication of a
confidence level for each of a number of keywords in the aggregate
profile 334 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
More specifically, in this embodiment, the aggregate profile 334
includes a quality level 336 of the aggregate profile 334 generated
using the process of FIG. 46. However, the quality level 336 of the
aggregate profile 334 is optional. The GUI 332 includes a keyword
area 338 that graphically illustrates the keywords in the aggregate
profile 334 and the confidence levels of the keywords. In this
embodiment, the confidence levels of the keywords are graphically
indicated via opacity of the keywords in the keyword area 338. The
lighter the text of the keyword, the lesser the confidence level of
the keyword. Conversely, the darker the text of the keyword, the
greater the confidence level of the keyword. Thus, in this example,
the confidence level for the keyword "books" is greater than the
confidence level of the keyword "politics," and the confidence
level of the keyword "photography" is greater than the confidence
levels of the keywords "books" and "politics." In addition, in this
embodiment, the size of the keywords in the keyword area 338 is
indicative of the number of user matches for the keywords, as
discussed above with respect to FIG. 48. Note that in an
alternative embodiment, the size of the keywords in the keyword
area 338 may be indicative of the confidence levels of the keywords
rather than the number of user matches for the keywords.
[0278] FIG. 51 graphically illustrates modification of the
confidence level of the current location of a user according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, at time 0, a
location update for the user is received by the MAP server 12 and,
as such, the confidence level of the current location of the user
is set to 1. At time 1, a positive location confidence event is
detected. This positive location confidence event may be detected
when, for example, the crowd analyzer 58 is generating an aggregate
profile for a crowd in which the user is included and the user has
been frequently interacting with the MAP application of his mobile
device. As a result of the positive location confidence event, in
this embodiment, the confidence level for the current location of
the user at time 1 is computed using an increase rate (i.e., a
positive rate of change) rather than a decrease rate (DR). As such,
the confidence level of the current location of the user increases
from time 0 to time 1 as shown. Alternatively, in response to the
positive location confidence event, the confidence level for the
current location of the user at time 1 may be increased by a
predefined amount such as, for example, 0.1 points. Next, at time
2, another positive location confidence event is detected. As a
result of this second positive location confidence event, in this
embodiment, the increase rate is further increased, and the
confidence level for the current location of the user at time 2 is
computed using the new increase rate. As such, the confidence level
of the current location of the user further increases from time 1
to time 2. Alternatively, in response to the positive location
confidence event, the confidence level for the current location of
the user at time 2 may be further increased by the predefined
amount such as, for example, 0.1 points.
[0279] At time 3, the confidence level of the current location of
the user is updated. The confidence level of the current location
of the user may be updated by the crowd analyzer 58 before
generating an aggregate profile for a crowd in which the user is
included. In this example, since a location confidence event is not
detected at time 3, the confidence level for the current location
of the user is computed based on the previous confidence level
computed at time 3 and a predefined decrease rate. As such, the
confidence level for the current location of the user at time 3 is
less than the confidence level for the current location of the user
at time 2.
[0280] At time 4, a negative location confidence event is detected.
As a result, in this example, the decrease rate is increased, and
the confidence level for the current location of the user at time 4
is computed based on the new decrease rate. As such, the confidence
level for the current location of the user at time 4 is less than
the confidence level for the current location of the user at time
3. Based on the new decrease rate, the confidence level for the
current location of the user continues to decrease until reaching 0
at approximately 4.5 hours after time 0. Alternatively, in response
to the negative location confidence event, the confidence level for
the current location of the user at time 4 may be decreased by a
predefined amount in addition to or as an alternative to decreasing
the confidence level by an amount determined by the amount of time
that has elapsed between time 3 and time 4 and the decrease
rate.
[0281] FIG. 52 illustrates an exemplary third-party application
34-1 that utilizes data from the MAP server 12 to control sharing
of a number of sharable items 340 according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the third-party
application 34-1 is generally any type of application that enables
sharing of the sharable items 340 and is preferably implemented in
software. As illustrated, the third-party application 34-1 includes
the sharable items 340 and a MAP gatekeeper module 342 (hereinafter
"gatekeeper module 342"). The sharable items 340 may be any type of
digital item such as, for example, a user profile of the user 20-1,
a component of a user profile of the user 20-1, a media item, or
the like. Here, the user profile of the user 20-1 may be the same
user profile used by the MAP server 12 for the user 20-1, the same
user profile of the user 20-1 that is obtained from the profile
server 14 and processed by the MAP server 12 to provide the user
profile used by the MAP server 12, or a different user profile
defined by the user 20-1 for the third-party application 34-1. As
used herein, a media item is a video item such as, for example, a
user-generated video, a television program, a movie, or a video
clip; an audio item such as, for example, a song, a podcast, or an
audio clip; a picture (i.e., a digital image); or the like.
[0282] The gatekeeper module 342 is preferably implemented in
software. In general, the gatekeeper module 342 enables the
third-party application 34-1 to control sharing of the sharable
items 340 based on data obtained from the MAP server 12, where this
data is also referred to herein as MAP data. In this embodiment,
the gatekeeper module 342 includes a number of sharing rules 344
and a MAP resolution component 346 (hereinafter referred to as
"resolution component 346"). The sharing rules 344 may be manually
defined by the user 20-1 or automatically configured by the
third-party application 34-1. Each of the sharing rules 344 is
associated with, or mapped to, one or more of the sharable items
340 and defines conditions under which the sharable item(s) 340 to
which it is mapped are to be shared. At least one of the sharing
rules 344, but potentially all of the sharing rules 344, is based
on MAP data obtained from the MAP server 12. As used herein, the
MAP data includes historical aggregate profile data relevant to the
current location of the user 20-1, aggregate profile data for
current crowds relevant to the current location of the user 20-1,
crowd characteristics of current crowds relevant to the current
location of the user 20-1, or any combination thereof.
[0283] Specifically, in one embodiment, each of the sharing rules
344 identifies the sharable item 340 to which the sharing rule 344
applies, a sharing action, and a predicate that defines when the
sharing action is to be performed. Note that while the discussion
herein primarily focuses on the embodiment where each of the
sharing rules 344 is mapped to one of the sharable items 340, the
sharing rules 344 are not limited thereto. Each of the sharing
rules 344 may be mapped to one or more of the sharable items 340.
The sharing action may be, for example, permit sharing, deny
sharing, or prompt the user 20-1 for a decision as to whether the
corresponding sharable item 344 is to be shared. The predicate of
at least one, but potentially all, of the sharing rules 344 is
based on one or more MAP data elements from the MAP server 12.
Thus, as an example, one of the sharing rules 344 may be:
[0284] First Name; Permit Sharing; if the best-case average DOS
<5, where First Name is the first name of the user 20-1 and is
the sharable item 340 for which the sharing rule 344 is defined,
Permit Sharing is the sharing action, and the best-case average DOS
<5 is the predicate for the sharing rule 344. According to this
sharing rule 344, the first name of the user 20-1 (i.e., the
sharable item 340) will be shared if the best-case average DOS for
the crowd(s) currently located at or near the current location of
the user 20-1 is less than five (5). The best-case average DOS is
referred to herein as the MAP data, or more specifically the MAP
data element, upon which the sharing rule 344 is based. Note that
while the predicate in this example is based on a single MAP data
element, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The
predicate may be based on or more MAP data elements.
[0285] While some of the sharing rules 344 are based on MAP data,
some of the other sharing rules 344 may be based on other types of
data provided by or otherwise accessible to the third-party
application 34-1. For example, the third-party application 34-1 may
be a social networking application, and the sharing rule 344 for
one of the sharable items 340 may state that the sharable item 340
is to be shared with a particular sharing partner if that sharing
partner is within three DOS from the user 20-1 in the social
network associated with the social networking application. Still
further, some of the sharing rules 344 may be based on both MAP
data and other data provided by or otherwise accessible to the
third-party application 34-1.
[0286] Note that the sharing rules 344 do not necessarily include
sharing rules for all of the sharable items 340. A default sharing
action (e.g., permit sharing, deny sharing, or prompt user) may be
used for any of the sharable items 340 for which a sharing rule is
not defined. It should also be noted that a particular sharable
item 340 may have more than one sharing rule 344 in which case the
sharing rules 344 for the sharable item 340 are preferably
prioritized.
[0287] The resolution component 346 is preferably implemented in
software. In general, the resolution component 346 operates to
resolve the sharing rules 344. Specifically, for the sharing rules
344 that are based on MAP data, the resolution component 346
operates to obtain the MAP data needed for the sharing rules 344
from the MAP server 12 and resolve the sharing rules 344 based on
the MAP data. In this embodiment, the resolution component 346
obtains the MAP data needed to resolve the sharing rules 344 from
the MAP server 12 via the MAP client 30-1. However, in another
embodiment, the functionality of the MAP client 30-1 needed to
obtain the MAP data from the MAP server 12 may be incorporated into
the resolution component 346 such that the resolution component 346
may obtain the MAP data directly from the MAP server 12 via the
network 28.
[0288] As stated above, in this embodiment, the third-party
application 34-1 is generally any type of application that shares
the sharable items 340 with other users such as, for example, the
users 20-2 through 20-N of the other mobile devices 18-2 through
18-N. As an example, the third-party application 34 may be a social
networking application, where the sharable items 340 include a user
profile of the user 20-1 or components of the user profile of the
user 20-1. As another example, the third-party application 34 may
be a media sharing application, where the sharable items 340 are
media items such as, for example, video items (e.g., user-generated
videos, television programs, movies, or video clips), audio items
(e.g., songs, podcasts, or audio clips), pictures (i.e., digital
images), or the like.
[0289] FIG. 53 illustrates the operation of the third-party
application 34-1 of FIG. 52 within the system 10 of FIG. 1
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, first, the third-party application 34-1 configures the
sharing rules 344 (step 3700). In one embodiment, the sharing rules
344 are configured manually by the user 20-1. More specifically,
the third-party application 34-1 may enable the user 20-1 to
configure the sharing rule 344 for the sharable item 340 by
selecting a desired sharing action and defining a desired predicate
for the sharing rule 344. The desired sharing action may be
manually defined by the user 20-1 or selected from a system-defined
list of possible sharing actions. The desired predicate may be
defined by enabling the user 20-1 to select a desired MAP data
element from a system-defined list of available MAP data elements
and a logical condition for when the desired sharing action is to
be performed based on the desired MAP data element. The available
MAP data elements may vary depending on the particular
implementation. In general, the available MAP data elements may
include crowd characteristics such as degree of fragmentation,
worst-base average DOS, best-case average DOS, degree of
bidirectionality of social network relationships, or the like. In
addition or alternatively, the available MAP data elements may
include elements of a historical aggregate profile generated for
the current location of the user 20-1 such as, for example, an
average number of user matches over all keywords in the user
profile of the user 20-1, an average ratio of user matches to a
total number of users over all keywords in the user profile of the
user 20-1, an average number of user matches for each individual
keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1, an average ratio of
user matches to total users for each individual keyword in the user
profile of the user 20-1, or the like. Still further, the available
MAP data elements may additionally or alternatively include
elements of aggregate profile data for current crowds relevant to
the current location of the user 20-1 such as, for example, a
number of user matches over all keywords in the user profile of the
user 20-1, a ratio of user matches to a total number of users over
all keywords in the user profile of the user 20-1, a number of user
matches for each individual keyword in the user profile of the user
20-1, a ratio of user matches to total users for each individual
keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1, or the like.
[0290] In another embodiment, the sharing rules 344 may be
configured automatically by the third-party application 34-1. The
details automatically configuring the sharing rules 344 are
provided below with respect to FIG. 54. Once automatically
configured, the sharing rules 344 may be modified by the user 20-1
as desired. In yet another embodiment, some of the sharing rules
344 may be manually configured by the user 20-1 while others are
automatically configured by the third-party application 34-1.
[0291] At some point after the sharing rules 344 are configured,
the third-party application 34-1, and specifically the resolution
component 346, sends a MAP data request to the MAP client 30-1
(step 3702). More specifically, when the third-party application
34-1 desires to resolve one or more of the sharing rules 344, the
resolution component 346 then determines whether the one or more
sharing rules 344 are based on MAP data. If so, the resolution
component 346 sends a request (i.e., the MAP data request) to the
MAP client 30-1 for the particular MAP data elements needed to
resolve the one or more sharing rules 344. The MAP client 30-1 then
sends the MAP data request to the MAP server 12 (step 3704).
[0292] In response to the MAP data request, the MAP server 12
obtains the requested MAP data (step 3706). The MAP server 12
obtains the requested MAP data in the manner described above. For
example, if the requested MAP data is historical aggregate profile
data for the current location of the user 20-1, the MAP server 12
generates the historical aggregate profile in the manner described
above. Once the MAP server 12 has obtained the requested MAP data,
the MAP server 12 returns the MAP data to the MAP client 30-1 (step
3708). The MAP client 30-1 then returns the MAP data to the
third-party application 34-1 (step 3710).
[0293] Upon receiving the MAP data, the third-party application
34-1, and specifically the resolution component 346, resolves the
one or more sharing rules 344 based on the MAP data to provide
corresponding resolution results (step 3712). For each of the one
or more sharing rules 344, resolving the sharing rule 344 generally
refers to determining whether the corresponding sharable item 340
is to be shared based on the MAP data according to the sharing rule
344. More specifically, in one embodiment, resolving the sharing
rule 344 includes determining whether the sharing action defined by
the sharing rule 344 is to be performed based on the MAP data and
the predicate defined by the sharing rule 344. The results of
resolving the one or more sharing rules 344 identify whether
sharing of the corresponding sharable items 340 is permitted or
denied or whether the user 20-1 is to be prompted for a final
decision by the user 20-1 regarding whether the corresponding
sharable items 340 are to be shared.
[0294] Lastly, the third-party application 34-1 controls sharing of
the one or more sharable items 340 for which the one or more
sharing rules 344 were resolved based on the results of resolving
the one or more sharing rules 344 (step 3714). Thus, for example,
if the results of resolving the one or more sharing rules 344
indicate that a particular sharable item 344 is not to be shared,
then the third-party application 34-1 does not share that sharable
item 344. In contrast, if the results indicate that the sharable
item 344 is to be shared, then the third-party application 34-1
permits sharing of that sharable item 344. Lastly, if the results
indicate that the user 20-1 is to be prompted, then the third-party
application 34-1 prompts the user 20-1 for a decision as to whether
sharing of the sharable item is permitted. If the user 20-1 chooses
to permit sharing, then the third-party application 34-1 permits
sharing of the sharable item 340. Otherwise, the third-party
application 34-1 does not permit sharing of the sharable item
340.
[0295] FIG. 54 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the
third-party application 34-1 to automatically configure the sharing
rules 344 for the sharable items 340 according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure. As illustrated, first, the third-party
application 34-1, and more specifically the gatekeeper module 342,
retrieves one of the sharable items 340 (step 3800). For this
retrieval step, the gatekeeper module 342 may obtain the sharable
item 344 and/or, if available, metadata describing the sharable
item 340. In general, the metadata describing the sharable item 340
may include any data describing the sharable item 340 that may be
used to configure, or create, a sharing rule 344 for the sharable
item 340.
[0296] Next, the gatekeeper module 342 determines whether the
sharable item 340 corresponds to, or matches, any of the available
MAP data elements based on the sharable item 340 itself, metadata
describing the sharable item, or both (step 3802). If not, the
process proceeds to step 3806. If the sharable item 340 corresponds
to an available MAP data element, the gatekeeper module 342 creates
a sharing rule 344 for the sharable item 340 based on the
corresponding MAP data element (step 3804). More specifically, for
this automatic sharing rule configuration process, the available
MAP data elements preferably include: (1) historical aggregate
profile data elements for the average number of user matches for
each individual keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1, (2)
historical aggregate profile data elements for an average ratio of
user matches to total users for each individual keyword in the user
profile of the user 20-1, (3) aggregate profile data elements for
the number of user matches for each individual keyword in the user
profile of the user 20-1 for crowd(s) located at or near the
current location of the user 20-1, and/or (4) aggregate profile
data elements for the ratio of user matches or total users for each
individual keyword in the user profile of the user 20-1 for
crowd(s) located at or near the current location of the user 20-1.
The gatekeeper module 342 compares the sharable item 340 and/or the
metadata describing the sharable item 340 to the available MAP data
elements to determine whether the sharable item 340 matches any of
the available MAP data elements. If so, the gatekeeper module 342
then creates the sharing rule 344 for the sharable item 340 based
on the matching MAP data element(s). For instance, the sharing rule
344 for the sharable item 340 may be set to a predefined default
sharing rule for the matching MAP data element(s).
[0297] As an example, assume that the sharable item 340 is the
keyword NCSU (North Carolina State University) from a user profile
of the user 20-1 used by the third-party application 34-1, which
may or may not be the same as the user profile of the user 20-1
used by the MAP server 12. Then, in this example, the gatekeeper
module 342 compares the keyword NCSU to the available MAP data
elements. If the user profile of the user 20-1 used by the MAP
server 12 also includes the keyword NCSU and the available MAP data
elements include a number of user matches for the keyword NCSU for
crowd(s) located at or near the current location of the user 20-1,
then there is a match. As such, a sharing rule 344 will be
automatically configured for the keyword NCSU such that a default
sharing action (e.g., Permit Sharing) will be performed in response
to satisfaction of a default predicate (e.g., if number of user
matches >5).
[0298] As another example, assume that the sharable item 340 is the
song "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas and that the song is
legally sharable. Then, in this example, the gatekeeper module 342
compares metadata describing the song (e.g., title and artist) to
the available MAP data elements. Then, if any of the available MAP
data elements match the song, then a sharing rule 344 for the song
will be automatically configure. So, if, for example, the user
profile of the user 20-1 used by the MAP server 12 includes the
keyword Black Eyed Peas and the available MAP data includes the
number of user matches for the keyword Black Eyed Peas for crowd(s)
currently located at or near the current location of the user 20-1,
then there is a match. As such, a sharing rule 344 for the song is
automatically configured, or created, using a default sharing
action (e.g., Permit Sharing) and a default predicate (e.g., if
ratio of user matches to total users >50%).
[0299] Note that while exact matching between the sharable item 340
and a MAP data element is used in the examples above, the present
disclosure is not limited thereto. A match may also occur if the
sharable item 340 is sufficiently related to a MAP data element.
For example, if the sharable item 340 is a song by Fergie and the
available MAP data elements include a number of user matches for
Black Eyed Peas, then a determination may be made that there is a
match. In order to determine that closely related terms match for
purposes of this automatic sharing rule configuration process, an
ontology or similar data structure that defines relationships
between terms and processing such as, for example, natural language
processing may be used. Using such techniques, the sharable item
340 and a MAP data element may be determined to be matching if
there is a direct match or if they are related within a predefined
number of DOS within the ontology.
[0300] At this point, whether proceeding from step 3802 or 3804,
the gatekeeper module 342 determines whether there are more
sharable items 340 to be processed (step 3806). If so, the process
returns to step 3800 and is repeated for the next sharable item
340. Once all of the sharable items 340 have been processed, the
process ends.
[0301] FIG. 55 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the
third-party application 34-1 of FIG. 52 according to one embodiment
of the present disclosure. Once the sharing rules 344 have been
configured, the third-party application 34-1 checks for sharing
partners (step 3900). A used herein, a sharing partner is a user of
another device with which the user 20-1 is enabled to share the
sharable items 340 via the third-party application 34-1. The
third-party application 34-1 then determines whether a sharing
partner has been found (step 3902). If not, the process returns to
step 3900 and is repeated.
[0302] If a sharing partner is found, the gatekeeper module 342
utilizes the sharing rules 344 to determine which, if any, of the
sharable items 340 are permitted to be shared at this time. More
specifically, the resolution component 346 retrieves or otherwise
obtains one of the sharing rules 344 (step 394). Next, the
resolution component 346 determines whether the sharing rule 344 is
based on MAP data from the MAP server 12 (step 3906). If not, the
process proceeds to step 3910. If the sharing rule 344 is based on
MAP data, the resolution component 346 obtains the MAP data needed
to resolve the sharing rule 344 (step 3908). More specifically, in
one embodiment, the resolution component 346 obtains the MAP data
needed to resolve the sharing rule 344 from the MAP server 12 via
the MAP client 30-1.
[0303] At this point, whether proceeding from step 3906 or 3908,
the resolution component 346 resolves the sharing rule 344 to
provide a corresponding result and adds the result to a set of
complied results for the resolutions of the sharing rules 3444
(steps 3910 and 3912). Generally, the result of resolving the
sharing rule 344 indicates whether sharing of the sharable item 340
is permitted or denied. In some embodiments, the result may state
that the user 20-1 is to be prompted for a decision as to whether
sharing is permitted or denied.
[0304] Next, the resolution component 346 determines whether there
are more sharing rules 344 to process (step 3914). If so, the
process returns to step 3904 and is repeated for the next sharing
rule 344. Once all of the sharing rules 344 have been processed,
the resolution component 346 reports the compiled results for the
resolutions of the sharing rules 344 to the third-party application
34-1 (step 3916). The third-party application 34-1 then shares the
sharable items 340 according to the results of the resolutions of
the sharing rules 344 (step 3918). Thus, for example, if the result
of the sharing rule 344 for one of the sharable items 340 is to
permit sharing, then the third-party application 34-1 permits
sharing of the sharable item 340. The process then returns to step
3900 and is repeated when a new sharing partner is found, or
detected.
[0305] FIG. 56 is a block diagram of the MAP server 12 according to
one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the MAP
server 12 includes a controller 348 connected to memory 350, one or
more secondary storage devices 352, and a communication interface
354 by a bus 356 or similar mechanism. The controller 348 is a
microprocessor, digital Application Specific Integrated Circuit
(ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or the like. In this
embodiment, the controller 348 is a microprocessor, and the
application layer 40, the business logic layer 42, and the object
mapping layer 62 (FIG. 2) are implemented in software and stored in
the memory 350 for execution by the controller 348. Further, the
datastore 64 (FIG. 2) may be implemented in the one or more
secondary storage devices 352. The secondary storage devices 352
are digital data storage devices such as, for example, one or more
hard disk drives. The communication interface 354 is a wired or
wireless communication interface that communicatively couples the
MAP server 12 to the network 28 (FIG. 1). For example, the
communication interface 354 may be an Ethernet interface, local
wireless interface such as a wireless interface operating according
to one of the suite of IEEE 802.11 standards, or the like.
[0306] FIG. 57 is a block diagram of the mobile device 18-1
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This
discussion is equally applicable to the other mobile devices 18-2
through 18-N. As illustrated, the mobile device 18-1 includes a
controller 358 connected to memory 360, a communication interface
362, one or more user interface components 364, and the location
function 36-1 by a bus 366 or similar mechanism. The controller 358
is a microprocessor, digital ASIC, FPGA, or the like. In this
embodiment, the controller 358 is a microprocessor, and the MAP
client 30-1, the MAP application 32-1, and the third-party
application(s) 34-1 are implemented in software and stored in the
memory 360 for execution by the controller 358. In this embodiment,
the location function 36-1 is a hardware component such as, for
example, a GPS receiver. The communication interface 362 is a
wireless communication interface that communicatively couples the
mobile device 18-1 to the network 28 (FIG. 1). For example, the
communication interface 362 may be a local wireless interface such
as a wireless interface operating according to one of the suite of
IEEE 802.11 standards, a mobile communications interface such as a
cellular telecommunications interface, or the like. The one or more
user interface components 364 include, for example, a touchscreen,
a display, one or more user input components (e.g., a keypad), a
speaker, or the like, or any combination thereof.
[0307] FIG. 58 is a block diagram of the subscriber device 22
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, the subscriber device 22 includes a controller 368
connected to memory 370, one or more secondary storage devices 372,
a communication interface 374, and one or more user interface
components 376 by a bus 378 or similar mechanism. The controller
368 is a microprocessor, digital ASIC, FPGA, or the like. In this
embodiment, the controller 368 is a microprocessor, and the web
browser 38 (FIG. 1) is implemented in software and stored in the
memory 370 for execution by the controller 368. The one or more
secondary storage devices 372 are digital storage devices such as,
for example, one or more hard disk drives. The communication
interface 374 is a wired or wireless communication interface that
communicatively couples the subscriber device 22 to the network 28
(FIG. 1). For example, the communication interface 374 may be an
Ethernet interface, local wireless interface such as a wireless
interface operating according to one of the suite of IEEE 802.11
standards, a mobile communications interface such as a cellular
telecommunications interface, or the like. The one or more user
interface components 376 include, for example, a touchscreen, a
display, one or more user input components (e.g., a keypad), a
speaker, or the like, or any combination thereof.
[0308] FIG. 59 is a block diagram of a computing device 380
operating to host the third-party service 26 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing device 380 may
be, for example, a physical server. As illustrated, the computing
device 380 includes a controller 382 connected to memory 384, one
or more secondary storage devices 386, a communication interface
388, and one or more user interface components 390 by a bus 392 or
similar mechanism. The controller 382 is a microprocessor, digital
ASIC, FPGA, or the like. In this embodiment, the controller 382 is
a microprocessor, and the third-party service 26 is implemented in
software and stored in the memory 384 for execution by the
controller 382. The one or more secondary storage devices 386 are
digital storage devices such as, for example, one or more hard disk
drives. The communication interface 388 is a wired or wireless
communication interface that communicatively couples the computing
device 380 to the network 28 (FIG. 1). For example, the
communication interface 388 may be an Ethernet interface, local
wireless interface such as a wireless interface operating according
to one of the suite of IEEE 802.11 standards, a mobile
communications interface such as a cellular telecommunications
interface, or the like. The one or more user interface components
390 include, for example, a touchscreen, a display, one or more
user input components (e.g., a keypad), a speaker, or the like, or
any combination thereof.
[0309] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and
modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present
invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered
within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims
that follow.
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