U.S. patent application number 13/777761 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-12 for system and method for context enhanced messaging.
This patent application is currently assigned to YAHOO! INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is YAHOO! INC.. Invention is credited to Marc Eliot Davis, Nicola Stefano Ghezzi, Christopher William Higgins, Chris Kalaboukis, Ronald Martinez, Christopher T. Paretti, Michael Spiegelman.
Application Number | 20130238727 13/777761 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41697282 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130238727 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Martinez; Ronald ; et
al. |
September 12, 2013 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTEXT ENHANCED MESSAGING
Abstract
A system and method for media enhanced messaging. A message from
a message sender to be delivered to at least one message recipient
is received over a network. The message comprises at least one
delivery criteria and at least one content criteria. When it is
determined, via the network that the delivery criteria of the
message has been satisfied, a query is formulated based on the
content criteria so as to search, via the network, for user profile
data, social network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical
data that is available via the network and relates to the content
criteria and to media files so as to identify at least one media
file that is relevant to the content criteria. The media files are
inserted into the message and the message is transmitted over the
network to the recipient.
Inventors: |
Martinez; Ronald; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Davis; Marc Eliot; (San Francisco,
CA) ; Spiegelman; Michael; (Los Angeles, CA) ;
Paretti; Christopher T.; (San Francisco, CA) ;
Ghezzi; Nicola Stefano; (Santa Monica, CA) ; Higgins;
Christopher William; (Portland, OR) ; Kalaboukis;
Chris; (Los Gatos, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
YAHOO! INC. |
Sunnyvale |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
YAHOO! INC.
Sunnyvale
CA
|
Family ID: |
41697282 |
Appl. No.: |
13/777761 |
Filed: |
February 26, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12195969 |
Aug 21, 2008 |
8386506 |
|
|
13777761 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/00 20130101;
H04L 51/10 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, over a network at a computing
device, a message from a message sender to be delivered to a
message recipient, the message comprising content criteria
comprising spatial, temporal, social and topical criteria; in
response to receiving the message, formulating, via the computing
device, a query based on the content criteria so as to search, via
the network, for user profile data, social network data, spatial
data, temporal data and topical data that is available via the
network and relates to the content criteria and to media files so
as to identify a media file that is relevant to the content
criteria; inserting the media file into the message; and
transmitting the message over the network to the message
recipient.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein user profile data comprises data
that matches a user, and the preferences of the user are used as
part of the query.
3-6. (canceled)
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the content criteria is the
current mood of a person known to the network.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the content criteria is the lyrics
of a song.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the message comprises at least two
content criteria, wherein a first one of the at least two content
criteria is used in formulating the query if the message
transmitted at a first time, and wherein a second one of the at
least two content criteria is used in formulating the query if the
message transmitted at a second time.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein a playlist referencing the media
file is inserted into the message.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein an HTTP link referencing the
media file is inserted into the message.
12-28. (canceled)
29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly
storing thereon computer-readable instructions for a method
comprising: receiving, over a network, a message from a message
sender to be delivered to message recipient, the message comprising
content criteria comprising spatial, temporal, social and topical
criteria; in response to receiving the message, formulating a query
based on the content criteria so as to search, via the network, for
user profile data, social network data, spatial data, temporal data
and topical data that is available via the network and relates to
the content criteria and to media files so as to identify a media
file that is relevant to the content criteria; inserting the media
file into the message; and transmitting the message over the
network to the message recipient.
30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein user profile data comprise data that match user, and the
preferences of the user is used as part of the query.
31-34. (canceled)
35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein the content criteria is the current mood of a person known
to the network.
36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein the content criteria is the lyrics of a song.
37. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein the message comprises at least two content criteria,
wherein a first one of the at least two content criteria is used in
formulating the query if the message transmitted at a first time,
and wherein a second one of the at least two content criteria is
used in formulating the query if the message transmitted at a
second time.
38. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein a playlist referencing the media file is inserted into the
message.
39. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29
wherein an HTTP link referencing the media file is inserted into
the message.
40-56. (canceled)
57. A system comprising: a processor; a storage medium for tangibly
storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the
program logic comprising: context enhanced message receiving logic
executed by the processor for receiving messages from senders, the
requests each comprising recipient, delivery criteria and content
criteria, the content criteria comprising spatial, temporal, social
and topical criteria; delivery criteria evaluation and tracking
logic executed by the processor for determining for each message
received by the context enhanced message receiving module if the
delivery criteria of the message is satisfied; media retrieval
logic executed by the processor for using content criteria on each
message received by the context enhanced message receiving module
to, in response to determining delivery criteria on messages have
been satisfied, formulate a query based on the content criteria so
as to search, via the network, for user profile data, social
network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical data that is
available via the network and relates to the content criteria and
to media files so as to identify a media file that is relevant to
the content criteria; context enhanced message update logic
executed by the processor for inserting, in each message, the media
files identified by the media retrieval module into the message;
and context enhanced message transmission logic executed by the
processor for transmitting each the message updated by the context
enhanced message update module to the recipient of the message.
58. The system of claim 57 wherein if the delivery criteria of a
message is not satisfied when the message is initially evaluated,
the message is retained and the delivery criteria evaluation and
tracking logic tracks data related to delivery criteria of the
message until the delivery criteria of a message are satisfied.
59. (canceled)
60. The system of claim 57 wherein for at least some messages the
delivery criteria specifies the message is to be transmitted
according to at least one of a specific date, a specific time and
when the recipient is in a specific location.
61. The system of claim 57 wherein for at least some messages the
delivery criteria specifies the message is to be transmitted on the
occurrence of a specific event.
62-63. (canceled)
64. The system of claim 57 wherein for at least some messages user
profile data comprise data that match user, and the preferences of
the user is used as part of the query.
65-70. (canceled)
71. The system of claim 57 wherein for at least some messages the
message comprises at least two content criteria, wherein a first
one of the at least two content criteria is used in formulating the
query if the message transmitted at a first time, and wherein a
second one of the at least two content criteria is used in
formulating the query if the message transmitted at a second
time.
72-73. (canceled)
Description
[0001] This application includes material which is subject to
copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the
facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it
appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but
otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to systems and methods for
delivering media enhanced messages on a network and, more
particularly, to systems and methods for messages that include
media which relates to a user defined context using, in part, data
collected and stored by multiple devices on a network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A great deal of information is generated when people use
electronic devices, such as when people use mobile phones and cable
set-top boxes. Such information, such as location, applications
used, social network, physical and online locations visited, to
name a few, could be used to deliver useful services and
information to end users, and provide commercial opportunities to
advertisers and retailers. However, most of this information is
effectively abandoned due to deficiencies in the way such
information can be captured. For example, and with respect to a
mobile phone, information is generally not gathered while the
mobile phone is idle (i.e., not being used by a user). Other
information, such as presence of others in the immediate vicinity,
time and frequency of messages to other users, and activities of a
user's social network are also not captured effectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In one embodiment, the invention is a method. A message from
a message sender to be delivered to at least one message recipient
is received over a network. The message comprises at least one
content criteria. A query is formulated based on the content
criteria so as to search, via the network, for user profile data,
social network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical data
that is available via the network and relates to the content
criteria and to media files so as to identify at least one media
file that is relevant to the content criteria. The media files are
inserted into the message, and the message is transmitted over the
network to the recipient.
[0005] In another embodiment, the invention is a method. A message
from a message sender to be delivered to at least one message
recipient is received over a network. The message comprises at
least one delivery criteria and at least one content criteria. When
it is determined, via the network that the delivery criteria of the
message has been satisfied, a query is formulated based on the
content criteria so as to search, via the network, for user profile
data, social network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical
data that is available via the network and relates to the content
criteria and to media files so as to identify at least one media
file that is relevant to the content criteria. The media files are
inserted into the message and the message is transmitted over the
network to the recipient.
[0006] In another embodiment, the invention is a system comprising:
a context enhanced message receiving module that receives messages
from senders, wherein the requests each contains at least one
recipient, at least one delivery criteria and at least one content
criteria; a delivery criteria evaluation and tracking module that
determines for each message received by the context enhanced
message receiving module if the delivery criteria of the message is
satisfied; a media retrieval module that uses content criteria on
each message received by the context enhanced message receiving
module to formulate a query based on the content criteria so as to
search, via the network, for user profile data, social network
data, spatial data, temporal data and topical data that is
available via the network and relates to the content criteria and
to media files so as to identify at least one media file that is
relevant to the content criteria; a context enhanced message update
module that, for each message, inserts the media files identified
by the media retrieval module into the message; and context
enhanced message transmission module that transmits each the
message updated by the context enhanced message update module to
the at least one recipient of the message.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of
the invention will be apparent from the following more particular
description of preferred embodiments as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, in which reference characters refer to the
same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not
necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon
illustrating principles of the invention.
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates relationships between real-world entities
(RWE) and information objects (IO) on one embodiment of a W4
Communications Network (W4 COMN.)
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates metadata defining the relationships
between RWEs and IOs on one embodiment of a W4 COMN.
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates a conceptual model of one embodiment of a
W4 COMN.
[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates the functional layers of one embodiment
of the W4 COMN architecture.
[0012] FIG. 5 illustrates the analysis components of one embodiment
of a W4 engine as shown in FIG. 2.
[0013] FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a W4 engine showing
different components within the sub-engines shown in FIG. 5.
[0014] FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a data model showing
how a W4 COMN can store media files and relate such files to RWEs,
such as persons and places, and IOs, such as topics and other types
of metadata.
[0015] FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a system capable of
supporting context-enhanced messaging between users known to a
network.
[0016] FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a process of how a
network containing temporal, spatial, and social network and
topical data for a plurality of users, devices, and media, such as
a W4 COMN, can be used to enable media enhanced messages having
complex user contexts having delivery and content criteria.
[0017] FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a context enhanced
message engine capable of supporting the process illustrated in
FIG. 9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The present invention is described below with reference to
block diagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices
to select and present media related to a specific topic. It is
understood that each block of the block diagrams or operational
illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or
operational illustrations, can be implemented by means of analog or
digital hardware and computer program instructions.
[0019] These computer program instructions can be provided to a
processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,
ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that
the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer
or other programmable data processing apparatus, implements the
functions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block
or blocks.
[0020] In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted
in the blocks can occur out of the order noted in the operational
illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in
fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality/acts involved.
[0021] For the purposes of this disclosure the term "server" should
be understood to refer to a service point which provides
processing, database, and communication facilities. By way of
example, and not limitation, the term "server" can refer to a
single, physical processor with associated communications and data
storage and database facilities, or it can refer to a networked or
clustered complex of processors and associated network and storage
devices, as well as operating software and one or more database
systems and applications software which support the services
provided by the server.
[0022] For the purposes of this disclosure the term "end user" or
"user" should be understood to refer to a consumer of data supplied
by a data provider. By way of example, and not limitation, the term
"end user" can refer to a person who receives data provided by the
data provider over the Internet in a browser session, or can refer
to an automated software application which receives the data and
stores or processes the data.
[0023] For the purposes of this disclosure the term "media" and
"media content" should be understood to refer to binary data which
contains content which can be of interest to an end user. By way of
example, and not limitation, the term "media" and "media content"
can refer to multimedia data, such as video data or audio data, or
any other form of data capable of being transformed into a form
perceivable by an end user. Such data can, furthermore, be encoded
in any manner currently known, or which can be developed in the
future, for specific purposes. By way of example, and not
limitation, the data can be encrypted, compressed, and/or can
contained embedded metadata.
[0024] For the purposes of this disclosure, a computer readable
medium stores computer data in machine readable form. By way of
example, and not limitation, a computer readable medium can
comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer
storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and
non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for
storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data
structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media
includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash
memory or other solid-state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, or
other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic
disk storage or other mass storage devices, or any other medium
which can be used to store the desired information and which can be
accessed by the computer.
[0025] For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software,
hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or
functionality, or component thereof, that performs or facilitates
the processes, features, and/or functions described herein (with or
without human interaction or augmentation). A module can include
sub-modules. Software components of a module may be stored on a
computer readable medium. Modules may be integral to one or more
servers, or be loaded and executed by one or more servers. One or
more modules may grouped into an engine or an application.
[0026] For the purposes of this disclosure an engine is a software,
hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or
functionality that performs or facilitates the processes, features,
and/or functions described herein (with or without human
interaction or augmentation).
[0027] Embodiments of the present invention utilize information
provided by a network which is capable of providing data collected
and stored by multiple devices on a network. Such information may
include, without limitation, temporal information, spatial
information, and user information relating to a specific user or
hardware device. User information may include, without limitation,
user demographics, user preferences, user social networks, and user
behavior. One embodiment of such a network is a W4 Communications
Network.
[0028] A "W4 Communications Network" or W4 COMN, provides
information related to the "Who, What, When and Where" of
interactions within the network. In one embodiment, the W4 COMN is
a collection of users, devices and processes that foster both
synchronous and asynchronous communications between users and their
proxies providing an instrumented network of sensors providing data
recognition and collection in real-world environments about any
subject, location, user or combination thereof.
[0029] In one embodiment, the W4 COMN can handle the
routing/addressing, scheduling, filtering, prioritization,
replying, forwarding, storing, deleting, privacy, transacting,
triggering of a new message, propagating changes, transcoding and
linking Furthermore, these actions can be performed on any
communication channel accessible by the W4 COMN.
[0030] In one embodiment, the W4 COMN uses a data modeling strategy
for creating profiles for not only users and locations, but also
any device on the network and any kind of user-defined data with
user-specified conditions. Using Social, Spatial, Temporal and
Logical data available about a specific user, topic or logical data
object, every entity known to the W4 COMN can be mapped and
represented against all other known entities and data objects in
order to create both a micro graph for every entity as well as a
global graph that relates all known entities with one another. In
one embodiment, such relationships between entities and data
objects are stored in a global index within the W4 COMN.
[0031] In one embodiment, a W4 COMN network relates to what may be
termed "real-world entities", hereinafter referred to as RWEs. A
RWE refers to, without limitation, a person, device, location, or
other physical thing known to a W4 COMN. In one embodiment, each
RWE known to a W4 COMN is assigned a unique W4 identification
number that identifies the RWE within the W4 COMN.
[0032] RWEs can interact with the network directly or through
proxies, which can themselves be RWEs. Examples of RWEs that
interact directly with the W4 COMN include any device such as a
sensor, motor, or other piece of hardware connected to the W4 COMN
in order to receive or transmit data or control signals. RWE may
include all devices that can serve as network nodes or generate,
request and/or consume data in a networked environment or that can
be controlled through a network. Such devices include any kind of
"dumb" device purpose-designed to interact with a network (e.g.,
cell phones, cable television set top boxes, fax machines,
telephones, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags,
sensors, etc.).
[0033] Examples of RWEs that may use proxies to interact with W4
COMN network include non-electronic entities including physical
entities, such as people, locations (e.g., states, cities, houses,
buildings, airports, roads, etc.) and things (e.g., animals, pets,
livestock, gardens, physical objects, cars, airplanes, works of
art, etc.), and intangible entities such as business entities,
legal entities, groups of people or sports teams. In addition,
"smart" devices (e.g., computing devices such as smart phones,
smart set top boxes, smart cars that support communication with
other devices or networks, laptop computers, personal computers,
server computers, satellites, etc.) may be considered RWE that use
proxies to interact with the network, where software applications
executing on the device that serve as the devices' proxies.
[0034] In one embodiment, a W4 COMN may allow associations between
RWEs to be determined and tracked. For example, a given user (an
RWE) can be associated with any number and type of other RWEs
including other people, cell phones, smart credit cards, personal
data assistants, email and other communication service accounts,
networked computers, smart appliances, set top boxes and receivers
for cable television and other media services, and any other
networked device. This association can be made explicitly by the
user, such as when the RWE is installed into the W4 COMN.
[0035] An example of this is the set up of a new cell phone, cable
television service or email account in which a user explicitly
identifies an RWE (e.g., the user's phone for the cell phone
service, the user's set top box and/or a location for cable
service, or a username and password for the online service) as
being directly associated with the user. This explicit association
can include the user identifying a specific relationship between
the user and the RWE (e.g., this is my device, this is my home
appliance, this person is my friend/father/son/etc., this device is
shared between me and other users, etc.). RWEs can also be
implicitly associated with a user based on a current situation. For
example, a weather sensor on the W4 COMN can be implicitly
associated with a user based on information indicating that the
user lives or is passing near the sensor's location.
[0036] In one embodiment, a W4 COMN network may additionally
include what may be termed "information-objects", hereinafter
referred to as IOs. An information object (IO) is a logical object
that may store, maintain, generate or otherwise provides data for
use by RWEs and/or the W4 COMN. In one embodiment, data within in
an IO can be revised by the act of an RWE An IO within in a W4 COMN
can be provided a unique W4 identification number that identifies
the IO within the W4 COMN.
[0037] In one embodiment, IOs include passive objects such as
communication signals (e.g., digital and analog telephone signals,
streaming media and interprocess communications), email messages,
transaction records, virtual cards, event records (e.g., a data
file identifying a time, possibly in combination with one or more
RWEs such as users and locations, that can further be associated
with a known topic/activity/significance such as a concert, rally,
meeting, sporting event, etc.), recordings of phone calls, calendar
entries, web pages, database entries, electronic media objects
(e.g., media files containing songs, videos, pictures, images,
audio messages, phone calls, etc.), electronic files and associated
metadata.
[0038] In one embodiment, IOs include any executing process or
application that consumes or generates data such as an email
communication application (such as OUTLOOK by MICROSOFT, or YAHOO!
MAIL by YAHOO!), a calendaring application, a word processing
application, an image editing application, a media player
application, a weather monitoring application, a browser
application and a web page server application. Such active IOs can
or can not serve as a proxy for one or more RWEs. For example,
voice communication software on a smart phone can serve as the
proxy for both the smart phone and for the owner of the smart
phone.
[0039] In one embodiment, for every IO there are at least three
classes of associated RWEs. The first is the RWE that owns or
controls the IO, whether as the creator or a rights holder (e.g.,
an RWE with editing rights or use rights to the IO). The second is
the RWE(s) that the IO relates to, for example by containing
information about the RWE or that identifies the RWE. The third are
any RWEs that access the IO in order to obtain data from the IO for
some purpose.
[0040] Within the context of a W4 COMN, "available data" and "W4
data" means data that exists in an IO or data that can be collected
from a known IO or RWE such as a deployed sensor. Within the
context of a W4 COMN, "sensor" means any source of W4 data
including PCs, phones, portable PCs or other wireless devices,
household devices, cars, appliances, security scanners, video
surveillance, RFID tags in clothes, products and locations, online
data or any other source of information about a real-world
user/topic/thing (RWE) or logic-based agent/process/topic/thing
(IO).
[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of relationships between
RWEs and IOs on a W4 COMN. A user 102 is a RWE provided with a
unique network ID. The user 102 may be a human that communicates
with the network using proxy devices 104, 106, 108, 110 associated
with the user 102, all of which are RWEs having a unique network
ID. These proxies can communicate directly with the W4 COMN or can
communicate with the W4 COMN using IOs such as applications
executed on or by a proxy device.
[0042] In one embodiment, the proxy devices 104, 106, 108, 110 can
be explicitly associated with the user 102. For example, one device
104 can be a smart phone connected by a cellular service provider
to the network and another device 106 can be a smart vehicle that
is connected to the network. Other devices can be implicitly
associated with the user 102.
[0043] For example, one device 108 can be a "dumb" weather sensor
at a location matching the current location of the user's cell
phone 104, and thus implicitly associated with the user 102 while
the two RWEs 104, 108 are co-located. Another implicitly associated
device 110 can be a sensor 110 for physical location 112 known to
the W4 COMN. The location 112 is known, either explicitly (through
a user-designated relationship, e.g., this is my home, place of
employment, parent, etc.) or implicitly (the user 102 is often
co-located with the RWE 112 as evidenced by data from the sensor
110 at that location 112), to be associated with the first user
102.
[0044] The user 102 can be directly associated with one or more
persons 140, and indirectly associated with still more persons 142,
144 through a chain of direct associations. Such associations can
be explicit (e.g., the user 102 can have identified the associated
person 140 as his/her father, or can have identified the person 140
as a member of the user's social network) or implicit (e.g., they
share the same address). Tracking the associations between people
(and other RWEs as well) allows the creation of the concept of
"intimacy", where intimacy may be defined as a measure of the
degree of association between two people or RWEs. For example, each
degree of removal between RWEs can be considered a lower level of
intimacy, and assigned lower intimacy score. Intimacy can be based
solely on explicit social data or can be expanded to include all W4
data including spatial data and temporal data.
[0045] In one embodiment, each RWE 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112,
140, 142, 144 of a W4 COMN can be associated with one or more IOs
as shown. FIG. 1 illustrates two IOs 122, 124 as associated with
the cell phone device 104. One IO 122 can be a passive data object
such as an event record that is used by scheduling/calendaring
software on the cell phone, a contact IO used by an address book
application, a historical record of a transaction made using the
device 104 or a copy of a message sent from the device 104. The
other IO 124 can be an active software process or application that
serves as the device's proxy to the W4 COMN by transmitting or
receiving data via the W4 COMN. Voice communication software,
scheduling/calendaring software, an address book application or a
text messaging application are all examples of IOs that can
communicate with other IOs and RWEs on the network. IOs may
additionally relate to topics of interest to one or more RWEs, such
topics including, without limitation, musical artists, genre of
music, a location and so forth.
[0046] The IOs 122, 124 can be locally stored on the device 104 or
stored remotely on some node or datastore accessible to the W4
COMN, such as a message server or cell phone service datacenter.
The IO 126 associated with the vehicle 108 can be an electronic
file containing the specifications and/or current status of the
vehicle 108, such as make, model, identification number, current
location, current speed, current condition, current owner, etc. The
IO 128 associated with sensor 108 can identify the current state of
the subject(s) monitored by the sensor 108, such as current weather
or current traffic. The IO 130 associated with the cell phone 110
can be information in a database identifying recent calls or the
amount of charges on the current bill.
[0047] RWEs which can only interact with the W4 COMN through
proxies, such as people 102, 140, 142, 144, computing devices 104,
106 and locations 112, can have one or more IOs 132, 134, 146, 148,
150 directly associated with them which contain RWE-specific
information for the associated RWE. For example, IOs associated
with a person 132, 146, 148, 150 can include a user profile
containing email addresses, telephone numbers, physical addresses,
user preferences, identification of devices and other RWEs
associated with the user. The IOs may additionally include records
of the user's past interactions with other RWE's on the W4 COMN
(e.g., transaction records, copies of messages, listings of time
and location combinations recording the user's whereabouts in the
past), the unique W4 COMN identifier for the location and/or any
relationship information (e.g., explicit user-designations of the
user's relationships with relatives, employers, co-workers,
neighbors, service providers, etc.).
[0048] Another example of IOs associated with a person 132, 146,
148, 150 includes remote applications through which a person can
communicate with the W4 COMN such as an account with a web-based
email service such as Yahoo! Mail. A location's IO 134 can contain
information such as the exact coordinates of the location, driving
directions to the location, a classification of the location
(residence, place of business, public, non-public, etc.),
information about the services or products that can be obtained at
the location, the unique W4 COMN identifier for the location,
businesses located at the location, photographs of the location,
etc.
[0049] In one embodiment, RWEs and IOs are correlated to identify
relationships between them. RWEs and IOs may be correlated using
metadata. For example, if an IO is a music file, metadata for the
file can include data identifying the artist, song, etc., album
art, and the format of the music data. This metadata can be stored
as part of the music file or in one or more different IOs that are
associated with the music file or both. W4 metadata can
additionally include the owner of the music file and the rights the
owner has in the music file. As another example, if the IO is a
picture taken by an electronic camera, the picture can include in
addition to the primary image data from which an image can be
created on a display, metadata identifying when the picture was
taken, where the camera was when the picture was taken, what camera
took the picture, who, if anyone, is associated (e.g., designated
as the camera's owner) with the camera, and who and what are the
subjects of/in the picture. The W4 COMN uses all the available
metadata in order to identify implicit and explicit associations
between entities and data objects.
[0050] FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of metadata defining the
relationships between RWEs and IOs on the W4 COMN. In the
embodiment shown, an IO 202 includes object data 204 and five
discrete items of metadata 206, 208, 210, 212, 214. Some items of
metadata 208, 210, 212 can contain information related only to the
object data 204 and unrelated to any other IO or RWE. For example,
a creation date, text or an image that is to be associated with the
object data 204 of the IO 202.
[0051] Some of items of metadata 206, 214, on the other hand, can
identify relationships between the IO 202 and other RWEs and IOs.
As illustrated, the IO 202 is associated by one item of metadata
206 with an RWE 220 that RWE 220 is further associated with two IOs
224, 226 and a second RWE 222 based on some information known to
the W4 COMN. For example, could describe the relations between an
image (IO 202) containing metadata 206 that identifies the
electronic camera (the first RWE 220) and the user (the second RWE
224) that is known by the system to be the owner of the camera 220.
Such ownership information can be determined, for example, from one
or another of the IOs 224, 226 associated with the camera 220.
[0052] FIG. 2 also illustrates metadata 214 that associates the IO
202 with another IO 230. This IO 230 is itself associated with
three other IOs 232, 234, 236 that are further associated with
different RWEs 242, 244, 246. This part of FIG. 2, for example,
could describe the relations between a music file (IO 202)
containing metadata 206 that identifies the digital rights file
(the first IO 230) that defines the scope of the rights of use
associated with this music file 202. The other IOs 232, 234, 236
are other music files that are associated with the rights of use
and which are currently associated with specific owners (RWEs 242,
244, 246).
[0053] FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a conceptual model of a
W4 COMN. The W4 COMN 300 creates an instrumented messaging
infrastructure in the form of a global logical network cloud
conceptually sub-divided into networked-clouds for each of the 4Ws:
Who, Where, What and When. In the Who cloud 302 are all users
whether acting as senders, receivers, data points or
confirmation/certification sources as well as user proxies in the
forms of user-program processes, devices, agents, calendars,
etc.
[0054] In the Where cloud 304 are all physical locations, events,
sensors or other RWEs associated with a spatial reference point or
location. The When cloud 306 is composed of natural temporal events
(that is events that are not associated with particular location or
person such as days, times, seasons) as well as collective user
temporal events (holidays, anniversaries, elections, etc.) and
user-defined temporal events (birthdays, smart-timing
programs).
[0055] The What cloud 308 is comprised of all known data--web or
private, commercial or user--accessible to the W4 COMN, including
for example environmental data like weather and news, RWE-generated
data, IOs and IO data, user data, models, processes and
applications. Thus, conceptually, most data is contained in the
What cloud 308.
[0056] Some entities, sensors or data may potentially exist in
multiple clouds either disparate in time or simultaneously.
Additionally, some IOs and RWEs can be composites in that they
combine elements from one or more clouds. Such composites can be
classified as appropriate to facilitate the determination of
associations between RWEs and IOs. For example, an event consisting
of a location and time could be equally classified within the When
cloud 306, the What cloud 308 and/or the Where cloud 304.
[0057] In one embodiment, a W4 engine 310 is center of the W4
COMN's intelligence for making all decisions in the W4 COMN. The W4
engine 310 controls all interactions between each layer of the W4
COMN and is responsible for executing any approved user or
application objective enabled by W4 COMN operations or
interoperating applications. In an embodiment, the W4 COMN is an
open platform with standardized, published APIs for requesting
(among other things) synchronization, disambiguation, user or topic
addressing, access rights, prioritization or other value-based
ranking, smart scheduling, automation and topical, social, spatial
or temporal alerts.
[0058] One function of the W4 COMN is to collect data concerning
all communications and interactions conducted via the W4 COMN,
which can include storing copies of IOs and information identifying
all RWEs and other information related to the IOs (e.g., who, what,
when, where information). Other data collected by the W4 COMN can
include information about the status of any given RWE and IO at any
given time, such as the location, operational state, monitored
conditions (e.g., for an RWE that is a weather sensor, the current
weather conditions being monitored or for an RWE that is a cell
phone, its current location based on the cellular towers it is in
contact with) and current status.
[0059] The W4 engine 310 is also responsible for identifying RWEs
and relationships between RWEs and IOs from the data and
communication streams passing through the W4 COMN. The function of
identifying RWEs associated with or implicated by IOs and actions
performed by other RWEs may be referred to as entity extraction.
Entity extraction can include both simple actions, such as
identifying the sender and receivers of a particular IO, and more
complicated analyses of the data collected by and/or available to
the W4 COMN, for example determining that a message listed the time
and location of an upcoming event and associating that event with
the sender and receiver(s) of the message based on the context of
the message or determining that an RWE is stuck in a traffic jam
based on a correlation of the RWE's location with the status of a
co-located traffic monitor.
[0060] It should be noted that when performing entity extraction
from an IO, the IO can be an opaque object with only where only W4
metadata related to the object is visible, but internal data of the
IO (i.e., the actual primary or object data contained within the
object) are not, and thus metadata extraction is limited to the
metadata. Alternatively, if internal data of the IO is visible, it
can also be used in entity extraction, e.g. strings within an email
are extracted and associated as RWEs to for use in determining the
relationships between the sender, user, topic or other RWE or IO
impacted by the object or process.
[0061] In the embodiment shown, the W4 engine 310 can be one or a
group of distributed computing devices, such as a general-purpose
personal computers (PCs) or purpose built server computers,
connected to the W4 COMN by communication hardware and/or software.
Such computing devices can be a single device or a group of devices
acting together. Computing devices can be provided with any number
of program modules and data files stored in a local or remote mass
storage device and local memory (e.g., RAM) of the computing
device. For example, as mentioned above, a computing device can
include an operating system suitable for controlling the operation
of a networked computer, such as the WINDOWS XP or WINDOWS SERVER
operating systems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION.
[0062] Some RWEs can also be computing devices such as, without
limitation, smart phones, web-enabled appliances, PCs, laptop
computers, and personal data assistants (PDAs). Computing devices
can be connected to one or more communications networks such as the
Internet, a publicly switched telephone network, a cellular
telephone network, a satellite communication network, a wired
communication network such as a cable television or private area
network. Computing devices can be connected any such network via a
wired data connection or wireless connection such as a wi-fi, a
WiMAX (802.36), a Bluetooth or a cellular telephone connection.
[0063] Local data structures, including discrete IOs, can be stored
on a computer-readable medium (not shown) that is connected to, or
part of, any of the computing devices described herein including
the W4 engine 310. For example, in one embodiment, the data
backbone of the W4 COMN, discussed below, includes multiple mass
storage devices that maintain the IOs, metadata and data necessary
to determine relationships between RWEs and IOs as described
herein.
[0064] FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the functional layers
of a W4 COMN architecture. At the lowest layer, referred to as the
sensor layer 402, is the network 404 of the actual devices, users,
nodes and other RWEs. Sensors include known technologies like web
analytics, GPS, cell-tower pings, use logs, credit card
transactions, online purchases, explicit user profiles and implicit
user profiling achieved through behavioral targeting, search
analysis and other analytics models used to optimize specific
network applications or functions.
[0065] The data layer 406 stores and catalogs the data produced by
the sensor layer 402. The data can be managed by either the network
404 of sensors or the network infrastructure 406 that is built on
top of the instrumented network of users, devices, agents,
locations, processes and sensors. The network infrastructure 408 is
the core under-the-covers network infrastructure that includes the
hardware and software necessary to receive that transmit data from
the sensors, devices, etc. of the network 404. It further includes
the processing and storage capability necessary to meaningfully
categorize and track the data created by the network 404.
[0066] The user profiling layer 410 performs the W4 COMN's user
profiling functions. This layer 410 can further be distributed
between the network infrastructure 408 and user
applications/processes 412 executing on the W4 engine or disparate
user computing devices. Personalization is enabled across any
single or combination of communication channels and modes including
email, IM, texting (SMS, etc.), photobloging, audio (e.g. telephone
call), video (teleconferencing, live broadcast), games, data
confidence processes, security, certification or any other W4 COMM
process call for available data.
[0067] In one embodiment, the user profiling layer 410 is a
logic-based layer above all sensors to which sensor data are sent
in the rawest form to be mapped and placed into the W4 COMN data
backbone 420. The data (collected and refined, related and
deduplicated, synchronized and disambiguated) are then stored in
one or a collection of related databases available applications
approved on the W4 COMN. Network-originating actions and
communications are based upon the fields of the data backbone, and
some of these actions are such that they themselves become records
somewhere in the backbone, e.g. invoicing, while others, e.g. fraud
detection, synchronization, disambiguation, can be done without an
impact to profiles and models within the backbone.
[0068] Actions originating from outside the network, e.g., RWEs
such as users, locations, proxies and processes, come from the
applications layer 414 of the W4 COMN. Some applications can be
developed by the W4 COMN operator and appear to be implemented as
part of the communications infrastructure 408, e.g. email or
calendar programs because of how closely they operate with the
sensor processing and user profiling layer 410. The applications
412 also serve as a sensor in that they, through their actions,
generate data back to the data layer 406 via the data backbone
concerning any data created or available due to the applications
execution.
[0069] In one embodiment, the applications layer 414 can also
provide a user interface (UI) based on device, network, carrier as
well as user-selected or security-based customizations. Any UI can
operate within the W4 COMN if it is instrumented to provide data on
user interactions or actions back to the network. In the case of W4
COMN enabled mobile devices, the UI can also be used to confirm or
disambiguate incomplete W4 data in real-time, as well as
correlation, triangulation and synchronization sensors for other
nearby enabled or non-enabled devices.
[0070] At some point, the network effects enough enabled devices
allow the network to gather complete or nearly complete data
(sufficient for profiling and tracking) of a non-enabled device
because of its regular intersection and sensing by enabled devices
in its real-world location.
[0071] Above the applications layer 414, or hosted within it, is
the communications delivery network 416. The communications
delivery network can be operated by the W4 COMN operator or be
independent third-party carrier service. Data may be delivered via
synchronous or asynchronous communication. In every case, the
communication delivery network 414 will be sending or receiving
data on behalf of a specific application or network infrastructure
408 request.
[0072] The communication delivery layer 418 also has elements that
act as sensors including W4 entity extraction from phone calls,
emails, blogs, etc. as well as specific user commands within the
delivery network context. For example, "save and prioritize this
call" said before end of call can trigger a recording of the
previous conversation to be saved and for the W4 entities within
the conversation to analyzed and increased in weighting
prioritization decisions in the personalization/user profiling
layer 410.
[0073] FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the analysis components
of a W4 engine as shown in FIG. 3. As discussed above, the W4
Engine is responsible for identifying RWEs and relationships
between RWEs and IOs from the data and communication streams
passing through the W4 COMN.
[0074] In one embodiment the W4 engine connects, interoperates and
instruments all network participants through a series of
sub-engines that perform different operations in the entity
extraction process. The attribution engine 504 tracks the
real-world ownership, control, publishing or other conditional
rights of any RWE in any IO. Whenever a new IO is detected by the
W4 engine 502, e.g., through creation or transmission of a new
message, a new transaction record, a new image file, etc.,
ownership is assigned to the IO. The attribution engine 504 creates
this ownership information and further allows this information to
be determined for each IO known to the W4 COMN.
[0075] The correlation engine 506 can operates two capacities:
first, to identify associated RWEs and IOs and their relationships
(such as by creating a combined graph of any combination of RWEs
and IOs and their attributes, relationships and reputations within
contexts or situations) and second, as a sensor analytics
pre-processor for attention events from any internal or external
source.
[0076] In one embodiment, the identification of associated RWEs and
IOs function of the correlation engine 506 is done by graphing the
available data, using, for example, one or more histograms A
histogram is a mapping technique that counts the number of
observations that fall into various disjoint categories (i.e.
bins.). By selecting each IO, RWE, and other known parameters
(e.g., times, dates, locations, etc.) as different bins and mapping
the available data, relationships between RWEs, IOs and the other
parameters can be identified. A histogram of all RWEs and IOs is
created, from which correlations based on the graph can be
made.
[0077] As a pre-processor, the correlation engine 506 monitors the
information provided by RWEs in order to determine if any
conditions are identified that can trigger an action on the part of
the W4 engine 502. For example, if a delivery condition has been
associated with a message, when the correlation engine 506
determines that the condition is met, it can transmit the
appropriate trigger information to the W4 engine 502 that triggers
delivery of the message.
[0078] The attention engine 508 instruments all appropriate network
nodes, clouds, users, applications or any combination thereof and
includes close interaction with both the correlation engine 506 and
the attribution engine 504.
[0079] FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a W4 engine showing
different components within the sub-engines described above with
reference to FIG. 4. In one embodiment the W4 engine 602 includes
an attention engine 608, attribution engine 604 and correlation
engine 606 with several sub-managers based upon basic function.
[0080] The attention engine 608 includes a message intake and
generation manager 610 as well as a message delivery manager 612
that work closely with both a message matching manager 614 and a
real-time communications manager 616 to deliver and instrument all
communications across the W4 COMN.
[0081] The attribution engine 604 works within the user profile
manager 618 and in conjunction with all other modules to identify,
process/verify and represent ownership and rights information
related to RWEs, IOs and combinations thereof.
[0082] The correlation engine 606 dumps data from both of its
channels (sensors and processes) into the same data backbone 620
which is organized and controlled by the W4 analytics manager 622.
The data backbone 620 includes both aggregated and individualized
archived versions of data from all network operations including
user logs 624, attention rank place logs 626, web indices and
environmental logs 618, e-commerce and financial transaction
information 630, search indexes and logs 632, sponsor content or
conditionals, ad copy and any and all other data used in any W4COMN
process, IO or event. Because of the amount of data that the W4
COMN will potentially store, the data backbone 620 includes
numerous database servers and datastores in communication with the
W4 COMN to provide sufficient storage capacity.
[0083] The data collected by the W4 COMN includes spatial data,
temporal data, RWE interaction data, IO content data (e.g., media
data), and user data including explicitly-provided and deduced
social and relationship data. Spatial data can be any data
identifying a location associated with an RWE. For example, the
spatial data can include any passively collected location data,
such as cell tower data, global packet radio service (GPRS) data,
global positioning service (GPS) data, WI-FI data, personal area
network data, IP address data and data from other network access
points, or actively collected location data, such as location data
entered by the user.
[0084] Temporal data is time based data (e.g., time stamps) that
relate to specific times and/or events associated with a user
and/or the electronic device. For example, the temporal data can be
passively collected time data (e.g., time data from a clock
resident on the electronic device, or time data from a network
clock), or the temporal data can be actively collected time data,
such as time data entered by the user of the electronic device
(e.g., a user maintained calendar).
[0085] Logical and IO data refers to the data contained by an IO as
well as data associated with the IO such as creation time, owner,
associated RWEs, when the IO was last accessed, the topic or
subject of the IO (from message content or "re" or subject line, as
some examples) etc. For example, an IO may relate to media data.
Media data can include any data relating to presentable media, such
as audio data, visual data, and audiovisual data. Audio data can be
data relating to downloaded music, such as genre, artist, album and
the like, and includes data regarding ringtones, ringbacks, media
purchased, playlists, and media shared, to name a few. The visual
data can be data relating to images and/or text received by the
electronic device (e.g., via the Internet or other network). The
visual data can be data relating to images and/or text sent from
and/or captured at the electronic device.
[0086] Audiovisual data can be data associated with any videos
captured at, downloaded to, or otherwise associated with the
electronic device. The media data includes media presented to the
user via a network, such as use of the Internet, and includes data
relating to text entered and/or received by the user using the
network (e.g., search terms), and interaction with the network
media, such as click data (e.g., advertisement banner clicks,
bookmarks, click patterns and the like). Thus, the media data can
include data relating to the user's RSS feeds, subscriptions, group
memberships, game services, alerts, and the like.
[0087] The media data can include non-network activity, such as
image capture and/or video capture using an electronic device, such
as a mobile phone. The image data can include metadata added by the
user, or other data associated with the image, such as, with
respect to photos, location when the photos were taken, direction
of the shot, content of the shot, and time of day, to name a few.
Media data can be used, for example, to deduce activities
information or preferences information, such as cultural and/or
buying preferences information.
[0088] Relationship data can include data relating to the
relationships of an RWE or IO to another RWE or IO. For example,
the relationship data can include user identity data, such as
gender, age, race, name, social security number, photographs and
other information associated with the user's identity. User
identity information can also include e-mail addresses, login names
and passwords. Relationship data can further include data
identifying explicitly associated RWEs. For example, relationship
data for a cell phone can indicate the user that owns the cell
phone and the company that provides the service to the phone. As
another example, relationship data for a smart car can identify the
owner, a credit card associated with the owner for payment of
electronic tolls, those users permitted to drive the car and the
service station for the car.
[0089] Relationship data can also include social network data.
Social network data includes data relating to any relationship that
is explicitly defined by a user or other RWE, such as data relating
to a user's friends, family, co-workers, business relations, and
the like. Social network data can include, for example, data
corresponding with a user-maintained electronic address book.
Relationship data can be correlated with, for example, location
data to deduce social network information, such as primary
relationships (e.g., user-spouse, user-children and user-parent
relationships) or other relationships (e.g., user-friends,
user-co-worker, user-business associate relationships).
Relationship data also can be utilized to deduce, for example,
activities information.
[0090] Interaction data can be any data associated with user
interaction of the electronic device, whether active or passive.
Examples of interaction data include interpersonal communication
data, media data, relationship data, transactional data and device
interaction data, all of which are described in further detail
below. Table 1, below, is a non-exhaustive list including examples
of electronic data.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Examples of Electronic Data Spatial Data
Temporal Data Interaction Data Cell tower Time stamps Interpersonal
GPRS Local clock communications GPS Network clock Media WiFi User
input of time Relationships Personal area network Transactions
Network access points Device interactions User input of location
Geo-coordinates
[0091] Interaction data includes communication data between any
RWEs that is transferred via the W4 COMN. For example, the
communication data can be data associated with an incoming or
outgoing short message service (SMS) message, email message, voice
call (e.g., a cell phone call, a voice over IP call), or other type
of interpersonal communication related to an RWE. Communication
data can be correlated with, for example, temporal data to deduce
information regarding frequency of communications, including
concentrated communication patterns, which can indicate user
activity information.
[0092] The interaction data can also include transactional data.
The transactional data can be any data associated with commercial
transactions undertaken by or at the mobile electronic device, such
as vendor information, financial institution information (e.g.,
bank information), financial account information (e.g., credit card
information), merchandise information and costs/prices information,
and purchase frequency information, to name a few. The
transactional data can be utilized, for example, to deduce
activities and preferences information. The transactional
information can also be used to deduce types of devices and/or
services the user owns and/or in which the user can have an
interest.
[0093] The interaction data can also include device or other RWE
interaction data. Such data includes both data generated by
interactions between a user and a RWE on the W4 COMN and
interactions between the RWE and the W4 COMN. RWE interaction data
can be any data relating to an RWE's interaction with the
electronic device not included in any of the above categories, such
as habitual patterns associated with use of an electronic device
data of other modules/applications, such as data regarding which
applications are used on an electronic device and how often and
when those applications are used. As described in further detail
below, device interaction data can be correlated with other data to
deduce information regarding user activities and patterns
associated therewith. Table 2, below, is a non-exhaustive list
including examples of interaction data.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Examples of Interaction Data Type of Data
Example(s) Interpersonal Text-based communications, such as SMS and
e- communication mail data Audio-based communications, such as
voice calls, voice notes, voice mail Media-based communications,
such as multimedia messaging service (MMS) communications Unique
identifiers associated with a communication, such as phone numbers,
e-mail addresses, and network addresses Media data Audio data, such
as music data (artist, genre, track, album, etc.) Visual data, such
as any text, images and video data, including Internet data,
picture data, podcast data and playlist data Network interaction
data, such as click patterns and channel viewing patterns
Relationship User identifying information, such as name, age, data
gender, race, and social security number Social network data
Transactional Vendors data Financial accounts, such as credit cards
and banks data Type of merchandise/services purchased Cost of
purchases Inventory of purchases Device interaction Any data not
captured above dealing with user data interaction of the device,
such as patterns of use of the device, applications utilized, and
so forth
Context Enhanced Messaging
[0094] One of the most important functions of many communications
and data networks is the ability for users to send messages to one
another. Methods of communication include, among others, email,
instant messaging, photo messaging, video conferencing and
telephonic or cellular voice communications. Such methods of
communication are, however, inherently limited. There is often more
that a network user wishes to communicate than can be readily
expressed in words. Messages can be significantly enhanced by
including highly personalized media content such as music and
images that are fine tuned to both the sender's message and the
recipient's personal preferences.
[0095] The right media can evoke deep seated memories in users and
create a picture, an impression, a feeling, of a time or place, a
person or a group of persons, or even an abstract idea to users
that evokes a call to action of some kind, commercial and/or
personal. It is simple enough to retrieve a playlist or list of
videos for a single musical artist. But a person may wish to
capture a more complex concept, for example, a person may wish to
create a playlist of songs representing the favorite music of the
recipient that relates to a subject, time, place or a mood.
Furthermore, messaging can be further enhanced by fine-tuning the
delivery of the message to correspond to a specific time or time
and date.
[0096] When a user creates an enhanced message, the user may be
said to have a specific context in mind for the content or delivery
of the message. In one embodiment, the message context can be
defined as a set of criteria that describe or circumscribe one or
more related ideas central to the message, the sender and the
recipient in that context, and which can thus be used to create a
model of for message content and delivery options for that
instance. The criteria can be conceptually divided into four
categories: Who, What, When and Where.
[0097] "Who" criteria are persons, devices, or proxies who are
related to the ideas embodied in the context. "Who" may be a known
person, such as the message sender, the message recipients, or a
specific person known by the user. "Who" may also be a list of
specific persons, such as the contact list stored on the PDA of a
user, the guest list of a party, or persons listed on a user's
social network profile as friends. Alternatively, "Who" can be a
general description of persons of interest, such as persons who are
interested in surfing, single women in their 40's who drive
motorcycles and like yoga, men who like football and commute by
bus, persons who pass by a billboard more than three times a week
and/or customers of a specific restaurant who also drive BMWs.
[0098] "What" criteria are objects or topics, concrete or abstract
that relate to the ideas embodied in the context. "What" may be the
form of media the message sender or the message recipients are
interested in, such as photos, music or videos. "What" may be an
object such as a car, a piece of jewelry or other object of shared
interest. "What" may be a genre of music or video, such as country
or rock. "What" may be subject matter addressed in media, such as
love songs or even specific lyrical phrases. Alternatively, "What"
may be a mood or atmosphere, such as happy, sad, energetic, or
relaxed. As an indicator of topical relevance, "What" criteria are
an unbounded set of things determined by human creation, attention
and association or tagging.
[0099] "When" criteria are temporal constructs such as dates and
times which are related to the ideas embodied in the context.
"When" may be the current date and time. "When" may also be a
specific date and time in the past or the future, or a range of
dates and times in the past or the future, such as a duration, e.g.
two hours, four weeks, one year. "When" may be a conditional
occurrence if specified conditions or criteria are met. "When" may
be an offset from a specific date, for example, ten days in the
past, or an offset from a conditional occurrence, ten days after a
mortgage payment is late. Alternatively, "When" can be an event on
a calendar, such as a birthday, a season or a holiday, or an event
of personal or societal/social importance, such as the last time a
favorite sports team won a championship.
[0100] "Where" criteria are physical locations which are related to
the ideas embodied in the context. "Where" may be a user's current
location. "Where" may be specific places, such as a country, a
state, a city, a neighborhood. "Where" may be defined as the
location of an event, such as a concert or some other newsworthy
occurrence, or alternatively the personal location of a user when
they learned of an event, e.g. where were you when you heard about
9/11. Alternatively, "Where" can be a general description of places
of interest, such as blues or jazz clubs, or a conditional location
depending on the satisfaction or resolution of specified criteria.
For example, "where" can be the real-time most popular club for
24-35 year olds, or "where" can be the research lab where breast
cancer is finally cured.
[0101] In one embodiment, a context-enhanced message comprises four
elements: a recipient, a message body, delivery criteria, and
content criteria. The recipient is one or more real world entities
that are to receive the message. The recipient may be, without
limitation, one or more specific persons, may be a group email
address, or may be a general description of a type of recipient,
such as parents of children on my child's soccer team, or everyone
in a person's social network. The recipient may be, or may include,
the message sender, such as, for example, a message reminder to
one's self The message body is a text or media object that
expresses a specific message. For example, if a context-enhanced
message is an email, the message body will typically contain some
kind of text message of arbitrary length such as "Meet me @ 7:00
PM" or "Happy Birthday." The message body may include an audio file
containing, for example, a voice message. The message body may
include an image file containing, for example, a picture of the
sender, or a video message from the user.
[0102] Delivery criteria are the conditions under which the message
is to be delivered to the recipients. Such conditions may include
"Where" or spatial conditions such as, for example, when a
recipient is at a specific location, within a certain proximity of
a location, person or object. Such conditions may include "When" or
temporal conditions such as a specific time or date or when a
specific event occurs. Such criteria may also include "Who" or
social criteria, such as, for example, music preferred by one or
more of the sender's social network. Such criteria may also utilize
"What" or topical criteria, such as, for example, when the
recipient's mood as judged, for example, by the content of recent
messages sent by the recipient, appears to be sad.
[0103] Content criteria describe the media files that are to be
included with the message. Such messages may contain criteria keyed
to the recipient's or sender's context at the time the message is
sent, the context of the subject of the message or the context when
the message is to be delivered. Such criteria may include spatial
criteria, for example, different media files are included in the
message depending on the sender's or recipient's physical location
at the time the message is sent or received. Such criteria may
include temporal criteria, for example, different media files are
included in the message depending on the time of day, the day of
the week, or if it is the recipient's birthday. Such criteria may
include social criteria, for example, different media files are
included in the message depending on the recipient's favorite
music. Such criteria may include topical criteria, for example,
different media files are included in the message depending on the
recipient's mood.
[0104] Content criteria may also contain any combination of
criteria spatial, temporal, social or topical criteria that are
unrelated to the recipient's or sender's context at the time the
message is sent or delivered. For example, the message may include
a criteria describing the type of media files to be delivered. For
example, the criteria may define a playlist for songs in the top 10
in the 1970's whose lyrics reference New York City.
[0105] The embodiments of the present invention discussed below
illustrate application of the present invention within a W4 COMN.
Nevertheless, it is understood that the invention can be
implemented using any networked system, virtual or real, integrated
or distributed through multiple parties, that is capable of
collecting, storing accessing and/or processing user profile data,
as well as temporal, spatial, topical and social data relating to
users and their devices. Thus, the term W4 COMN is used herein for
convenience to describe a system and/or network having the
features, functions and/or components described herein
throughout.
[0106] FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a data model showing
how a W4 COMN can store media files and relate such files to RWEs,
such as persons and places, and IOs, such as topics and other types
of metadata.
[0107] In the illustrated embodiment, media is stored as media
objects 710. Media objects are passive IOs relating to media files
containing audio content, visual content, or both. Such media files
can contain content such as songs, videos, pictures, images, audio
messages, phone calls, and so forth. The media objects themselves
contain metadata 712. Such data may be specific to the to the
object data 710 and unrelated to any other IO or RWE. At the
simplest level, such metadata may relate to basic file properties
such as creation date, text or an image that is associated with a
media file to which an IO relates.
[0108] Additionally, there are existing databases 720 which can
reside within or outside of the network that can provide an
extensive set of descriptive metadata relating to specific songs,
videos and other types of media. For example, the Allmusic database
(formerly the All Music Guide, owned by All Media Guide) provides
metadata which includes: [0109] Basic metadata such as names,
genres, credits, copyright information, product numbers. [0110]
Descriptive content such as styles, tones, moods, themes,
nationalities, etc. [0111] Relational content such as similar
artists and albums, influences, etc. [0112] Editorial content such
as biographies, reviews, rankings, etc.
[0113] Other types of databases that can be used as sources for
metadata relating to songs and video include: [0114] Historical
billboard rankings at a local, regional, or national level, or on
foreign billboards. [0115] Music and video industry news. [0116]
Music lyrics. [0117] Music blogs or industry data aggregation
services [0118] Music consumption transactions and trends data from
both online and offline sources
[0119] In one embodiment, metadata originating from such databases
can be extracted from source databases and embedded 712 in the
media objects 710 themselves. Alternatively or additionally, the
media objects may be related to IOs that contain or relate to
metadata 740. Metadata can include one or more keywords or topics
that describe or classify data including rating or ranking
information for one or more users. For example, an IO relating to
metadata can be topics that relate to all songs within a genre,
such as rock, or all songs performed at a specific festival, such
as Woodstock. Topic IOs relating to metadata can be associated with
IOs relating to higher level topics 742. For example, a composer
may be associated with a topic such as baroque music, which is
itself associated with a higher-level IO for classical music.
[0120] Alternatively or additionally, a metadata server with its
associated databases can be defined as an RWE 722 within the W4
COMN, and media objects and other IOs can be associated with the
RWE 722. In one embodiment, metadata relating to a media object can
be retrieved on demand, rather than being stored in static metadata
or in a persistent IO. Metadata retrieved on demand can be chosen
based on needs of users who have a potential interest in the media
object. For example, a user who initially selects a media object
based on a topic can then retrieve metadata on demand relating to
tone or mood of the music associated with the media object.
[0121] If a user wishes to select media objects using a topic for
which no topics exists, for example, the top 10 hits in the U.K. in
1975, a metadata server which is capable of providing such
information can be queried to retrieve a list of such songs. In one
embodiment, the list of songs can be used to create an IO relating
to a topic, such as IO 740, by associating media objects relating
to the list of songs with a newly created IO. In one embodiment,
such an IO is created by a correlation engine within a W4 engine
(see above and FIGS. 4 through 6, for example). The IO can then be
used in subsequent queries.
[0122] In one embodiment, media objects are associated with other
RWEs, such as musical rights holders 730 (i.e. owners and
licensees), and interested listeners 750. In one embodiment, where
an owner 730 of a media object can be identified, an attribution
engine within a W4 engine tracks the real-world ownership, control,
publishing or other conditional rights of any RWE in any media IO
whenever a new object is detected.
[0123] In one embodiment, users 750, 752, and 754 can be identified
as having an interest in a specific song 710 or a topic IO 740 or
742 by a correlation engine within a W4 engine. In one embodiment,
the correlation engine identifies relationships between user RWEs
and media or IOs relating to metadata by creating a combined graph
of the RWEs and IOs and their attributes, relationships and
reputations. For example, a user can explicitly state in a user
profile that they have an interest in a specific musical artist.
Alternatively, the correlation engine can determine a user's
interest in a topic or a song or view based on the content of the
user's interaction data, sensing attention events from any internal
or external source including transaction history, online path and
browsing history as well as physical real-world path and attention
data.
[0124] In one embodiment, the W4 COMN builds a profile of a user
over time by collecting data from the user or from information
sources available to the network so as to gain an understanding of
where they were born, where they have lived, and where they live
today. Using social data, the W4 COMN can also create an
overlapping social network profile which places the user in a
temporal, geographic and social graph, thus determining where a
user lived when and with whom. User RWEs can be also be associated
with other RWEs through interaction data, co-location data or
co-presence data. Users who are interested in the same time/place
can declare their interests and be connected to a topic-based
social network through, for example, an IO relating to that topic.
In the illustrated embodiment in FIG. 7, users 750 and 752 are
identified as being within a social network, 760.
[0125] Thus, media objects can be stored and associated with
temporal, spatial, social network and topical data derived from,
without limitation, traditional metadata sources, user profile
data, social networks, and interaction data, building a network of
relationships across the universe of media and users. Such
relationships may be built on demand, if necessary, or
alternatively constantly updated based upon real-time receipt of a
continuous stream of data related to the user, their proxies,
declared and implied interests and the rest of the real and online
worlds. Such relationships can then enable queries for media that
satisfy the criteria of simple or complex contexts.
[0126] FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a system 800 capable of
supporting context-enhanced messaging between users known to a
network.
[0127] The hub of the system is a W4 COMN 850 or similar network
that provides data storage, processing, and real-time tracking
capabilities. Within the W4 COMN are servers that provide
context-based messaging facilities as will be described in greater
detail below. The data relationships described in FIG. 7 above are
stored within the W4 COMN. In one embodiment, data relationships
between all real world entities and logical data are stored in a
global index within the W4 COMN 850 which is maintained by
processes within the W4 COMN.
[0128] Media objects may be stored by servers within the W4 COMN
850, may be stored in a distributed manner on end user devices, or
may be stored by third party data providers 840, or all of the
above. Third party data providers 840 may provide additional data
to the network 850, such as metadata providers or social networking
sites known to the network.
[0129] A message sender 802 who wishes to send a context enhanced
message to a recipient enters a message with context criteria
including delivery criteria and content criteria into a user proxy
device 804 which transmits the message to the network 850. The
message is processed by servers within the network to add context
specified content to the message and the enhanced message is
delivered to the message recipient's 810 proxy device 812 under
conditions satisfying the delivery criteria.
[0130] Real world entities which include the message sender 802,
the message recipient 810, the message sender's and message
recipient's proxy devices 804 and 812 respectively, the message
sender's friends 826 and 830, a retail location 820, a restaurant
824 and a friend's home 828 are known to the network. For each of
the entities, the network, without limitation, tracks the physical
location of the entity, builds and stores profile data and stores
and analyzes interaction data. The network also receives data from
remote sensors 832, which can include traffic sensors, GPS devices,
weather sensors, video surveillance, cell towers, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
and so forth.
[0131] FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a process of how a
network containing temporal, spatial, and social network and
topical data for a plurality of users, devices, and media, such as
a W4 COMN, can be used to enable media enhanced messages having
complex user contexts having delivery and content criteria.
[0132] The process begins when a message is received 910 from a
message sender containing at least one recipient, and delivery
criteria and content criteria. The message sender may enter the
message, delivery and content criteria using any type of proxy
device such as, for example, a portable media player, PDA,
computer, or cell phone. The delivery criteria and the content
criteria can be any combination of spatial, temporal, social or
topical criteria.
[0133] In one embodiment, the criteria can be related to one
another using standard relational or set operators. In one
embodiment, the criteria can be stated as a natural language query.
In one embodiment, criteria can be ranked in relative importance
for each request and prioritized appropriately in the resulting
population of enhanced content. The request can be regarded as
containing, by default, criteria which specifies the requesting
user (i.e. the request is taken from the point of view of the
requesting user.) The message need not contain both delivery
criteria and content criteria, but may contain only content
criteria or only delivery criteria. Multiple recipients may also
have multiple divergent or overlapping sets of content and delivery
criteria. For example, a requesting user may send a message for a
party with instructions for the system to enhance the content of
the invitation with each recipients current favorite "party" mood
music. Thus, each recipient may receive a different song added to
their invitation, and yet each is created by the singular criteria
request.
[0134] The process then determines if delivery criteria have been
satisfied 920 using data available to the network, which includes
network databases 922 and sensors 924. Where delivery criteria are
not initially met 930, the process retains the message for a fixed
length of time and periodically, or continuously reevaluates
delivery criteria until delivery conditions are satisfied. The
process can monitor any spatial, temporal, social or topical data
known to the network using databases 920 and sensors 924 available
to the network.
[0135] When delivery conditions are satisfied 930, the process
retrieves media related to content criteria 940. The criteria are
used to search, via the network, for user profile data, social
network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical data that is
available via the network 922 and 924 and relates to the content
criteria and to media files so as to identify at least one media
file that is relevant to the content criteria. The media files are
then inserted into the message 950 and the message is then
transmitted to the message recipient 960. In alternative
embodiments, media files related to the content criteria can be
retrieved before delivery conditions are evaluated, and the message
can be updated and transmitted when delivery conditions are
satisfied.
[0136] FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a context enhanced
message engine capable of supporting the process illustrated in
FIG. 9.
[0137] A context enhanced message engine 1000 resides on a server
within the W4 COMN. The context query engine 1000 can be defined to
the W4 COMN as an RWE, or alternatively, an active IO. The context
query engine can be a component of a W4 engine, or, alternatively,
may use services provided by components of a W4 engine or any of
its constituent engines.
[0138] The context enhanced message engine 1000 includes: a content
enhanced message receiving module 1100 that receives messages from
message senders containing delivery and content criteria; a
delivery criteria evaluation and tracking module 1200 that that
determines if delivery criteria are satisfied and tracks data
related to delivery criteria; a media retrieval module 1400 that
retrieves media related to content criteria; a context enhanced
message update module 1500 that inserts media files into messages;
and a context enhanced message transmission module 1600 that
transmits the updated messages to the intended recipient. Any of
the aforementioned modules or the communications between modules
(e.g. the delivery or context criteria) can be stored on computer
readable media, for transient, temporary or permanent storage.
[0139] The coxtent enhanced message receiving module 1100 can
provide a user interface for message senders to enter context
enhanced message requests. The interface provided may be a
graphical user interface displayable on mobile phones, gaming
devices, computers or PDAs, including HTTP documents accessible
over the Internet. Such interfaces may also take other forms,
including text files, such as SMS, emails, and APIs usable by
software applications located on computing devices. The interface
provides for entry of delivery or content criteria that include
spatial, temporal, social, or topical criteria.
[0140] In one embodiment, delivery and content criteria can be
related to one another using standard relational or set operators.
In one embodiment, temporal and spatial data obtained from sensors
within user devices can be included in the delivery or content
criteria. For example, the current location of a device associated
with a user can be automatically identified and included in the
criteria, the current time and date, etc. The message sender
creating the context can be automatically identified through the
association of the proxy device with a user within the network and
automatically included in the context.
[0141] The delivery criteria evaluation and tracking module 1200
uses all data known to the network to evaluate delivery conditions.
Such data may include network databases 1220 and real-time sensors
1240. Sensor data can include data relating to the physical
position of any real-world entity and can include the message
sender and the message recipient as well as any other known RWEs
who may be specified in the delivery conditions. The end user
devices may contain positioning or other sensors that detect
various aspects of the physical environment surrounding the user,
such as, for example, the user's geographical location, altitude
and directional vector. Sensors can also include other
environmental sensors such as temperature and lighting sensors, or
can also include biometric sensors such as heart-rate, brain waves,
etc.
[0142] The delivery criteria may relate to any combination of
spatial, temporal, social or topical data available to the network.
In one embodiment, where delivery criteria are not immediately
satisfied, the delivery criteria evaluation and tracking module
1200 tracks data related to the delivery criteria in the message.
In one embodiment, the delivery criteria are periodically
reevaluated. In another embodiment, data relating to delivery
conditions are tracked in real-time, and a change in value triggers
reevaluation of the delivery conditions.
[0143] For example, delivery criteria can specify that the message
be processed at a future point in time, periodically, or on the
occurrence of a specific event. For example, a delivery may specify
that the message be reprocessed on the occurrence of a trigger
condition, such as hourly, when the physical location of the entity
associated with the delivery condition changes, when a calendared
event occurs (e.g. an anniversary), when a news event occurs (e.g.
a favorite sports team wins a game), where a spatial, social,
temporal or topical intersection occurs (e.g. when two or more
friends arrive at favorite bar to watch football) or when the
sender's or recipient's mood changes.
[0144] The media retrieval module 1400 searches one or more network
databases 1220 and sensors 1240, for user profile data, social
network data, spatial data, temporal data and topical data that is
available via the network and relates to the context and to media
files so as to identify at least one media file that is relevant to
the content criteria. Such searches are performed using the
capabilities of the network databases 1220 and their supporting
infrastructure.
[0145] In one embodiment, the criteria are interpreted to take
advantage of the best available data within the network. For
example, if data relevant to the context resides on a relational
database, the query module can execute a series of SQL statements
for retrieving data from a relational database or a procedural
language containing embedded SQL. Queries may be nested or
otherwise constructed to retrieve data from one set of entities,
and to use the result set to drive additional queries against other
entities, or to use recursive data retrieval.
[0146] In the case of a W4 COMN, the content criteria can be mapped
and represented against all other known entities and data objects
in order to create both a micro graph for every entity as well as a
global graph that relates all known entities with one another, and
media objects relevant to the context are thereby identified. In
one embodiment, such relationships between entities and data
objects are stored in a global index within the W4 COMN.
[0147] Where query criteria relate to simple descriptive matter,
such as date and time of creation, relationships can be identified
using metadata embedded in media objects. Where criteria relate to
a topic, such as a genre of music, relationships can be identified
through IOs (whether currently existing or dynamically generated)
relating to the topic which may then be used to identify media
objects associated with the topic.
[0148] Where criteria relate to relationships between two or more
IOs or RWEs, such as all friends of a particular user, related IOs
and RWEs can be identified using social network relationships
supported by the W4 COMN. When a specific media object is selected,
the media search module can further determine if the message
recipient or the message recipient's proxy receiving the context is
permitted to access the content of the media file using ownership
data in or associated with the media object.
[0149] The context enhanced message update module 1500 can update
the context enhanced message in any manner that allows the message
recipient to access the selected media files. In one embodiment,
the actual media files are inserted into the message and open or
begin playing upon opening of the enhanced message by the
recipient. In one embodiment, the inserted files comprise links to
the media files. In one embodiment, the media files comprise one or
more playlists of multiple objects or files. In an alternative
implementation, the content criteria are inserted into the message
and are not evaluated until the message recipient opens the
message. In one such embodiment, media retrieval module 1400 does
not process the content criteria until the message recipient opens
the message.
[0150] The context enhanced message transmission module 1600 can
transmit message to a single recipient or a group of recipients
having a set of characteristics that define a finite set users
known to the network. For example, a message may be sent to users
in the sender's social network that are single and like rock music,
or to fans of last night's band, who were at the show and also have
their own blog.
[0151] In one embodiment, an enhanced message can contain an
advertisement with enhanced content criteria relating to the
advertisement. Thus, an advertisement may supplement basic ad
content with media tailored for a specific user. For example, an
advertisement for a sports car may be associated with a context
specifying the users favorite musical artist and songs with a fast
tempo or explicit references to speed, or the year 1975 when the
user last owned a sports car.
[0152] Context enhanced messages can provide additional data on
message senders and recipients to the network. Gathering
interaction data contained in context enhanced messages on the
preferences and communications patterns between individuals and
groups can provide data that can inform advertiser communications
to the pair or group or the individuals within that pair or group.
For example, a context enhanced message may reveal a user loves
butterflies, and an advertiser with butterfly themed merchandise
may wish to contact the user.
[0153] Specific Examples of Contexts
[0154] The disclosure will now discuss specific examples of the
above principles. The examples given below are intended to be
illustrative, and not limiting.
[0155] In one example, if a user wished to send a message
containing a song which automatically plays for a recipient at a
specified time (e.g. a musical wakeup call.), the message sender
could create a message having a delivery criteria of a specific
time and a content criteria specifying a specific song. The
delivery criteria evaluation and tracking module would track the
current time and pass the message on to the media retrieval module
for processing when the specified time arrives. The media retrieval
module would retrieve the specific song for insertion into the
message.
[0156] In another example, if a message sender wished to send a
message that plays a media object when the recipient reaches a
specific location, (e.g. a message that plays a shopping list audio
file when the recipient reaches the grocery store), the message
sender could create a message having a delivery criteria that
specifies delivery when the recipient is in a specific location and
a content criteria specifying a specific media object. The delivery
criteria evaluation and tracking module would track the recipient's
current location and pass the message on to the media retrieval
module for processing when the user arrives at the location. The
media retrieval module would retrieve the specific media object for
insertion into the message.
[0157] Alternatively, a message sender may wish to send a message
containing a romantic song that plays when the recipient drives
past a place that has a romantic meaning to the sender and
recipient, such as where they were engaged. The message sender
could create a message having delivery criteria that specify
delivery when the recipient is in a specific location and a content
criteria specifying a romantic song. The delivery criteria
evaluation and tracking module would track the recipient's current
location and pass the message on to the media retrieval module for
processing when the user arrives at the location. The media
retrieval module could then search, for example, the recipient's
profile data and recent playlists for songs having metadata
indicating a romantic or sentimental song.
[0158] In another example, a message sender wishes to send a
message including an event-based set of tracks to play for the
recipient which varies based on actions or locations of the
recipient at various times of the day. A message sender could
create a message wherein the delivery criteria specify delivery on
certain days, such as the recipient's birthday, and content
criteria that specify different sets of tracks for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. Content criteria could further specify that the
tracks that are played vary with the recipient's location. For
example, content criteria could specify one track if the recipient
goes to a That restaurant for lunch, and another track if the
recipient eats at a French restaurant.
[0159] In each case, the delivery criteria evaluation and tracking
module would track the current date and time, as well as the
recipient's current location and pass the message on to the media
retrieval module for processing when the delivery criteria are
satisfied. The media retrieval module could then search, for
example, for media satisfying content criteria, such as, for
example, music that relates to food and Thailand or France.
[0160] A sender may wish to emote using context enhanced messaging.
The message sender could create a message for immediate delivery
that specifies content criteria that selects a song reflecting the
sender's current mood. The media retrieval module could attempt to
determine the sender's current mood by scanning text in their
recent emails and text messages. The media retrieval module could
then select a song from the sender's favorite songs (e.g. in the
user's profile, or most frequent historical play's) that has
associations suggesting it is responsive to that mood.
[0161] Such a context could define a push or a pull operation. The
sender may wish to express his mood to his fiance with a media
enhanced message the system sends on his behalf as described above,
or, alternatively, the sender's fiance may wish to poll his mood.
For example, the sender's fiance could send herself a message that
contains content criteria that specifies her fiance's mood. For
example, if he misses her, the system could respond with a song
that expresses that emotion in both of them.
[0162] In another example, suppose a message sender wishes to send
a message incorporating text matching of lyrics of songs in order
to express an emotional connection between the sender and the
recipient. For example, a sender knows that the recipient loves
butterflies. The message sender could create a message for
immediate delivery with content criteria specifying a romantic song
with lyrics containing the word "butterfly." The media retrieval
module could then search, for example, songs whose lyrics includes
"butterfly" or "butterflies" and having metadata indicating a
romantic or sentimental song and then rank them personally for this
specific user based upon their user profile and past consumption
data.
[0163] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and
systems of the present disclosure may be implemented in many
manners and as such are not to be limited by the foregoing
exemplary embodiments and examples. In other words, functional
elements being performed by single or multiple components, in
various combinations of hardware and software or firmware, and
individual functions, may be distributed among software
applications at either the client level or server level or both. In
this regard, any number of the features of the different
embodiments described herein may be combined into single or
multiple embodiments, and alternate embodiments having fewer than,
or more than, all of the features described herein are possible.
Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed among
multiple components, in manners now known or to become known. Thus,
myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations are possible in
achieving the functions, features, interfaces and preferences
described herein. Moreover, the scope of the present disclosure
covers conventionally known manners for carrying out the described
features and functions and interfaces, as well as those variations
and modifications that may be made to the hardware or software or
firmware components described herein as would be understood by
those skilled in the art now and hereafter.
[0164] Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented and
described as flowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way of
example in order to provide a more complete understanding of the
technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations
and logical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are
contemplated in which the order of the various operations is
altered and in which sub-operations described as being part of a
larger operation are performed independently.
[0165] While various embodiments have been described for purposes
of this disclosure, such embodiments should not be deemed to limit
the teaching of this disclosure to those embodiments. Various
changes and modifications may be made to the elements and
operations described above to obtain a result that remains within
the scope of the systems and processes described in this
disclosure.
* * * * *