U.S. patent application number 13/685613 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-01 for methods and systems for managing data.
This patent application is currently assigned to ELWHA LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is ELWHA LLC. Invention is credited to Edward K.Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud.
Application Number | 20140123307 13/685613 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50548470 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140123307 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jung; Edward K.Y. ; et
al. |
May 1, 2014 |
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA
Abstract
Computationally implemented methods and systems include
acquiring data regarding a device having a particular protected
portion for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access, facilitating presentation of an offer to carry out at least
one service, said at least one service at least partly related to
the device, in exchange for access to the particular protected
portion of the device, and facilitating performance of at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to the particular
protected portion of the device. In addition to the foregoing,
other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text.
Inventors: |
Jung; Edward K.Y.;
(Bellevue, WA) ; Levien; Royce A.; (Lexington,
MA) ; Lord; Richard T.; (Tacoma, WA) ; Lord;
Robert W.; (Seattle, WA) ; Malamud; Mark A.;
(Seattle, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ELWHA LLC |
Bellevue |
WA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
ELWHA LLC
Bellevue
WA
|
Family ID: |
50548470 |
Appl. No.: |
13/685613 |
Filed: |
November 26, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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13685491 |
Nov 26, 2012 |
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13685613 |
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13968729 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
726/27 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/2117 20130101;
H04L 41/00 20130101; H04L 63/10 20130101; H04L 67/16 20130101; G06F
2221/2107 20130101; G06F 2221/2149 20130101; H04L 29/06551
20130101; H04L 29/06 20130101; G06F 21/6218 20130101; H04L 29/0602
20130101; G06F 2221/2153 20130101; G06F 2221/2111 20130101; G06F
2221/2141 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; H04L 67/32 20130101; H04L
29/0899 20130101; H04L 69/329 20130101; G06F 21/60 20130101; G06F
21/6254 20130101; H04L 29/08072 20130101; H04L 41/5054
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/27 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/60 20060101
G06F021/60 |
Claims
1-157. (canceled)
158. A device, comprising: a data related to a device having a
particular protected portion for which the device controls access
acquiring module; a presentation of a proposal to assist in
performing at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module; and
a performance of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to data acquired by
the device module.
159. The device of claim 158, wherein said data related to a device
having a particular protected portion for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data related to a device
having a particular protected sensor for which the device controls
access acquiring module.
160. The device of claim 159, wherein said data related to a device
having a particular protected sensor for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a position data related to a
device having a particular protected position sensor for which the
device controls access acquiring module.
161. (canceled)
162. (canceled)
163. (canceled)
164. (canceled)
165. (canceled)
166. The device of claim 158, wherein said data related to a device
having a particular protected portion for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data related to a device
having particular protected data for which the device controls
access acquiring module.
167. The device of claim 166, wherein said data related to a device
having particular protected data for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data related to a device
having protected contact list data for which the device controls
access acquiring module.
168. The device of claim 166, wherein said data related to a device
having particular protected data for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data indicating an amount of
particular protected data for which the device controls access
acquiring module.
169. The device of claim 168, wherein said data indicating an
amount of particular protected data for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data indicating an amount of
particular protected data stored on the device and for which the
device controls access acquiring module.
170. The device of claim 166, wherein said data related to a device
having particular protected data for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a data indicating at least one
characteristic of particular protected data for which the device
controls access acquiring module.
171. The device of claim 170, wherein said data indicating at least
one characteristic of particular protected data for which the
device controls access acquiring module comprises: a data
indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data
meets a predetermined condition, said data having access controlled
by the device acquiring module.
172. The device of claim 171, wherein said data indicating at least
a portion of the particular protected data meets a predetermined
condition, said data having access controlled by the device
acquiring module comprises: a data indicating at least a portion of
the particular protected data is based on greater than a particular
number of data collections, said data having access controlled by
the device acquiring module.
173. (canceled)
174. The device of claim 172, wherein said data indicating at least
a portion of the particular protected data is based on greater than
a particular number of data collections, said data having access
controlled by the device acquiring module comprises: a data
indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data is
based on greater than a particular number of data collections
resulting in data having a particular condition, said data having
access controlled by the device acquiring module.
175. (canceled)
176. The device of claim 171, wherein said data indicating at least
a portion of the particular protected data meets a predetermined
condition, said data having access controlled by the device
acquiring module comprises: a data indicating at least a portion of
the particular protected data is position data indicating that the
device was located at a particular position, said position data
having access controlled by the device acquiring module.
177. (canceled)
178. The device of claim 158, wherein said data related to a device
having a particular protected portion for which the device controls
access acquiring module comprises: a derivation data that is
derived from device data for which the device controls access
acquiring module.
179. The device of claim 178, wherein said derivation data that is
derived from device data for which the device controls access
acquiring module comprises: an anonymized data that is device data
that has been anonymized, said device data for which the device
controls access acquiring module.
180. The device of claim 178, wherein said derivation data that is
derived from device data for which the device controls access
acquiring module comprises: an obscured data that is device data
that has been obscured, said device data for which the device
controls access acquiring module.
181. The device of claim 180, wherein said obscured data that is
device data that has been obscured, said device data for which the
device controls access acquiring module comprises: an obscured data
that is device data that has been obscured by changing device
identifier data, said device data for which the device controls
access acquiring module.
182. The device of claim 178, wherein said derivation data that is
derived from device data for which the device controls access
acquiring module comprises: a locked data that is device data for
which one or more device identifying portions of the device data
that has been modified, said device data access controlled by the
device acquiring module.
183. The device of claim 182, wherein said locked data that is
device data for which one or more device identifying portions of
the device data that has been modified, said device data access
controlled by the device acquiring module comprises: an obscured
data that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier
that has been generated from the particular protected data and a
device identifier, said device identifier configured to be
calculable from the obfuscated identifier acquiring module.
184. The device of claim 183, wherein said obscured data that is
particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that has
been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said device identifier configured to be calculable from
the obfuscated identifier acquiring module comprises: an obscured
data that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier
that has been generated from the particular protected data and a
device identifier, said device identifier configured to be
calculable from the obfuscated identifier only with assistance of a
lookup table acquiring module.
185. The device of claim 183, wherein said obscured data that is
particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that has
been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said device identifier configured to be calculable from
the obfuscated identifier acquiring module comprises: an obscured
data that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier
that has been generated from the particular protected data and a
device identifier, said device identifier configured to be
calculable from the obfuscated identifier only using key data
acquiring module.
186. The device of claim 182, wherein said locked data that is
device data for which one or more device identifying portions of
the device data that has been modified, said device data access
controlled by the device acquiring module comprises: a locked data
that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that
has been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said device identifier configured to be unretrievable
from the locked identifier acquiring module.
187. The device of claim 182, wherein said locked data that is
device data for which one or more device identifying portions of
the device data that has been modified, said device data access
controlled by the device acquiring module comprises: a locked data
that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that
has been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said device identifier configured to be unretrievable
from the obfuscated identifier by the locked data acquiring entity
acquiring module.
188. The device of claim 182, wherein said locked data that is
device data for which one or more device identifying portions of
the device data that has been modified, said device data access
controlled by the device acquiring module comprises: a locked data
that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that
has been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said locked data acquiring entity configured to be
unable to discern a retrievability of the device identifier from
the obfuscated identifier acquiring module.
189. (canceled)
190. (canceled)
191. (canceled)
192. The device of claim 158, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module comprises: a presentation of a proposal
to perform at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion executing module.
193. The device of claim 158, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module comprises: a presentation of a proposal
to assist in delivery of an application configured to operate on
the device at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module.
194. The device of claim 193, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in delivery of an application configured to
operate on the device at least one device-related service in return
for access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module comprises: a presentation of a proposal to assist in
delivery of an application configured to require the particular
protected portion of the device to function in return for access to
the device particular protected portion facilitating module.
195. (canceled)
196. (canceled)
197. (canceled)
198. The device of claim 193, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in delivery of an application configured to
operate on the device at least one device-related service in return
for access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module comprises: a presentation of a proposal to assist in
delivery of an application configured to process data that is part
of the particular protected portion of the device in return for
access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module.
199. The device of claim 193, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in delivery of an application configured to
operate on the device at least one device-related service in return
for access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module comprises: a presentation of a proposal to assist in
delivery of an application configured to operate on the device at
least one device-related service in return for access to the device
particular protected portion for purposes unrelated to the
application facilitating module.
200. The device of claim 158, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module comprises: an at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data module; and an
access to data acquired by the device as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module.
201. The device of claim 200, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data module comprises:
an at least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired
data regarding the particular protected portion of the device
module.
202. The device of claim 201, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data regarding the
particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired data
indicating an amount of data stored in the particular protected
portion of the device module.
203. The device of claim 201, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data regarding the
particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired data
indicating a type of data stored in the particular protected
portion of the device module.
204. The device of claim 201, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data regarding the
particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired data
describing one or more sensors that are a portion of the particular
protected portion of the device module.
205. The device of claim 201, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data regarding the
particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired data
including sample data from one or more sensors that are a portion
of the particular protected portion of the device module.
206. (canceled)
207. The device of claim 201, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data regarding the
particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired
anonymized data including data stored on at least part of the
particular protected portion that has been anonymized device
module.
208. The device of claim 158, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module comprises: an at least one service
selecting at least partly based on anonymized version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device module; and an
access to data that will enable deanonymization of at least a
portion of the data from the particular protected portion acquired
by the device as negotiated result of facilitating a presentation
of an offer to provide the at least one selected services
module.
209. The device of claim 208, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on anonymized version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an
at least one service selecting at least partly based on version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device without
device uniquely identifying information module.
210. The device of claim 208, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on anonymized version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an
at least one service selecting at least partly based on version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device for which
device uniquely identifying information has been modified
module.
211. (canceled)
212. The device of claim 210, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on version of data from the
particular protected portion of the device for which device
uniquely identifying information has been modified module
comprises: an at least one service selecting at least partly based
on version of data from the particular protected portion of the
device for which device uniquely identifying information has been
substituted for data that is not device uniquely identifying
module.
213. The device of claim 158, wherein said presentation of a
proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module comprises: an at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device module; and a
deobscuring of at least a portion of the data from the particular
protected portion acquired by the device as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module.
214. The device of claim 212, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device module comprises: an
at least one service selecting at least partly based on obscured
version of data from the particular protected portion of the device
that cannot solely identify the device module.
215. The device of claim 213, wherein said at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device that cannot solely
identify the device module comprises: an at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device that cannot identify
the device without access to a private lookup table module.
216. (canceled)
217. (canceled)
218. (canceled)
219. (canceled)
220. (canceled)
221. The device of claim 212, wherein said deobscuring of at least
a portion of the data from the particular protected portion
acquired by the device as negotiated result of facilitating a
presentation of an offer to provide the at least one selected
services module comprises: a receiving data enabling conversion of
obscured data from the particular protected portion acquired by the
device into device identifying data as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module.
222. (canceled)
223. (canceled)
224. (canceled)
225. (canceled)
226. The device of claim 158, wherein said performance of at least
a portion of the one or more services facilitating in response to a
grant of access to data acquired by the device module comprises: a
providing one or more resources to a device to aid in performance
of the one or more services facilitating in response to a grant of
access to data acquired by the device module.
227. (canceled)
228. (canceled)
229. The device of claim 158, wherein said performance of at least
a portion of the one or more services facilitating in response to a
grant of access to data acquired by the device module comprises: a
providing one or more data manipulation services to a device to aid
in performance of the one or more services facilitating in response
to a grant of access to data acquired by the device module.
230. The device of claim 158, wherein said performance of at least
a portion of the one or more services facilitating in response to a
grant of access to data acquired by the device module comprises: a
performance of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to a protected sensor
of the device module.
231. (canceled)
232. The device of claim 230, wherein said performance of at least
a portion of the one or more services facilitating in response to a
grant of access to a protected sensor of the device module
comprises: a performance of at least a portion of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to a
protected sensor of the device to which a root-level program must
explicitly grant access module.
233. (canceled)
234. (canceled)
235. A device, comprising: one or more general purpose integrated
circuits configured to receive instructions to configure as a data
related to a device having a particular protected portion for which
the device controls access acquiring module at one or more first
particular times; one or more general purpose integrated circuits
configured to receive instructions to configure as a presentation
of a proposal to assist in performing at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module at one or more second particular times;
and one or more general purpose integrated circuits configured to
receive instructions to configure as a performance of at least a
portion of the one or more services facilitating in response to a
grant of access to data acquired by the device module at one or
more third particular times.
236. (canceled)
237. (canceled)
238. (canceled)
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] If an Application Data Sheet (ADS) has been filed on the
filing date of this application, it is incorporated by reference
herein. Any applications claimed on the ADS for priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn..sctn.119, 120, 121, or 365(c), and any and all
parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of such
applications, are also incorporated by reference, including any
priority claims made in those applications and any material
incorporated by reference, to the extent such subject matter is not
inconsistent herewith.
[0002] The present application is related to and/or claims the
benefit of the earliest available effective filing date(s) from the
following listed application(s) (the "Priority Applications"), if
any, listed below (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates
for other than provisional patent applications or claims benefits
under 35 USC .sctn.119(e) for provisional patent applications, for
any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.
applications of the Priority Application(s)). In addition, the
present application is related to the "Related Applications," if
any, listed below.
PRIORITY APPLICATIONS
[0003] For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the
present application claims benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 61/720,245 titled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR
DATA SERVICES, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Richard
T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A. Malamud as inventors, filed 30
Oct. 2012, which was filed within the twelve months preceding the
filing date of the present application or is an application of
which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit
of the filing date.
[0004] For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the
present application claims benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 61/720,874 titled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR
DATA SERVICES, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Richard
T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A. Malamud as inventors, filed 31
Oct. 2012, which was filed within the twelve months preceding the
filing date of the present application or is an application of
which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit
of the filing date.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0005] U.S. patent application Ser. No. To Be Assigned, entitled
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,
Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.
Malamud as inventors, filed 26 Nov. 2012 with attorney docket no.
0712-003-013-000000, is related to the present application.
[0006] U.S. patent application Ser. No. To Be Assigned, entitled
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,
Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.
Malamud as inventors, filed 26 Nov. 2012 with attorney docket no.
0712-003-013-000001, is related to the present application.
[0007] U.S. patent application Ser. No. To Be Assigned, entitled
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,
Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.
Malamud as inventors, filed 26 Nov. 2012 with attorney docket no.
0712-003-014-000000, is related to the present application.
[0008] U.S. patent application Ser. No. To Be Assigned, entitled
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,
Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.
Malamud as inventors, filed 26 Nov. 2012 with attorney docket no.
0712-003-014-000001, is related to the present application.
[0009] U.S. patent application Ser. No. To Be Assigned, entitled
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,
Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.
Malamud as inventors, filed 26 Nov. 2012 with attorney docket no.
0712-003-015-000001, is related to the present application.
[0010] The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a
notice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require
that patent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate
whether an application is a continuation, continuation-in-part, or
divisional of a parent application. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit of
Prior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003. The
USPTO further has provided forms for the Application Data Sheet
which allow automatic loading of bibliographic data but which
require identification of each application as a continuation,
continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parent application. The
present Applicant Entity (hereinafter "Applicant") has provided
above a specific reference to the application(s) from which
priority is being claimed as recited by statute. Applicant
understands that the statute is unambiguous in its specific
reference language and does not require either a serial number or
any characterization, such as "continuation" or
"continuation-in-part," for claiming priority to U.S. patent
applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicant understands
that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entry
requirements, and hence Applicant has provided designation(s) of a
relationship between the present application and its parent
application(s) as set forth above and in any ADS filed in this
application, but expressly points out that such designation(s) are
not to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or
admission as to whether or not the present application contains any
new matter in addition to the matter of its parent
application(s).
[0011] If the listings of applications provided above are
inconsistent with the listings provided via an ADS, it is the
intent of the Applicant to claim priority to each application that
appears in the Priority Applications section of the ADS and to each
application that appears in the Priority Applications section of
this application.
[0012] All subject matter of the Priority Applications and the
Related Applications and of any and all parent, grandparent,
great-grandparent, etc. applications of the Priority Applications
and the Related Applications, including any priority claims, is
incorporated herein by reference to the extent such subject matter
is not inconsistent herewith.
BACKGROUND
[0013] This application is related to data services.
SUMMARY
[0014] In one or more various aspects, a method includes but is not
limited to acquiring data regarding a device having a particular
protected portion for which the device is configured to selectively
allow access, facilitating presentation of an offer to carry out at
least one service, said at least one service at least partly
related to the device, in exchange for access to the particular
protected portion of the device, and facilitating performance of at
least a portion of the at least one service that is at least partly
related to the device, in response to a grant of access to the
particular protected portion of the device. In addition to the
foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims,
drawings, and text forming a part of the disclosure set forth
herein.
[0015] In one or more various aspects, one or more related systems
may be implemented in machines, compositions of matter, or
manufactures of systems, limited to patentable subject matter under
35 U.S.C. 101. The one or more related systems may include, but are
not limited to, circuitry and/or programming for effecting the
herein-referenced method aspects. The circuitry and/or programming
may be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or
firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects
depending upon the design choices of the system designer, and
limited to patentable subject matter under 35 USC 101.
[0016] In one or more various aspects, a system includes, but is
not limited to, means for acquiring data regarding a device having
a particular protected portion for which the device is configured
to selectively allow access, means for facilitating presentation of
an offer to carry out at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
access to the particular protected portion of the device, and means
for facilitating performance of at least a portion of the at least
one service that is at least partly related to the device, in
response to a grant of access to the particular protected portion
of the device. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects
are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of
the disclosure set forth herein.
[0017] In one or more various aspects, a system includes, but is
not limited to, circuitry for acquiring data regarding a device
having a particular protected portion for which the device is
configured to selectively allow access, circuitry for facilitating
presentation of an offer to carry out at least one service, said at
least one service at least partly related to the device, in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device, and circuitry for facilitating performance of at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to the particular
protected portion of the device. In addition to the foregoing,
other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and
text forming a part of the disclosure set forth herein.
[0018] In one or more various aspects, a computer program product,
comprising a signal bearing medium, bearing one or more
instructions including, but not limited to, one or more
instructions for acquiring data regarding a device having a
particular protected portion for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access, one or more instructions for facilitating
presentation of an offer to carry out at least one service, said at
least one service at least partly related to the device, in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device, and one or more instructions for facilitating performance
of at least a portion of the at least one service that is at least
partly related to the device, in response to a grant of access to
the particular protected portion of the device. In addition to the
foregoing, other computer program product aspects are described in
the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the disclosure set
forth herein.
[0019] In one or more various aspects, a device is defined by a
computational language, such that the device comprises one or more
interchained physical machines ordered for acquiring data regarding
a device having a particular protected portion for which the device
is configured to selectively allow access, one or more interchained
physical machines ordered for facilitating presentation of an offer
to carry out at least one service, said at least one service at
least partly related to the device, in exchange for access to the
particular protected portion of the device, and one or more
interchained physical machines ordered for facilitating performance
of at least a portion of the at least one service that is at least
partly related to the device, in response to a grant of access to
the particular protected portion of the device.
[0020] In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or
system and/or program product aspects are set forth and described
in the teachings such as text (e.g., claims and/or detailed
description) and/or drawings of the present disclosure.
[0021] The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain
simplifications, generalizations, inclusions, and/or omissions of
detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that
the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any
way limiting. Other aspects, features, and advantages of the
devices and/or processes and/or other subject matter described
herein will become apparent by reference to the detailed
description, the corresponding drawings, and/or in the teachings
set forth herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0022] For a more complete understanding of embodiments, reference
now is made to the following descriptions taken in connection with
the accompanying drawings. The use of the same symbols in different
drawings typically indicates similar or identical items, unless
context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described
in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to
be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes
may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the
subject matter presented here.
[0023] FIG. 1A shows a high-level block diagram of an exemplary
environment 100, according to an embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 1B shows a high-level block diagram of a computing
device 130 operating in an exemplary environment 100, according to
an embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 1C shows a high level block diagram of a computing
device 130A operating in an exemplary embodiment 100', according to
an embodiment.
[0026] FIG. 1D shows a high-level block diagram of a computing
device 130B operating in an exemplary embodiment 100'', according
to an embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 2, including FIGS. 2A-2E, shows a particular
perspective of the data related to a device having a particular
protected portion for which the device controls access acquiring
module 152 of processing module 150 of computing device 130 of FIG.
1B, according to an embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 3, including FIGS. 3A-3F, shows a particular
perspective of the presentation of a proposal to assist in
performing at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module 154
of processing module 150 of computing device 130 of FIG. 1B,
according to an embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 4, including FIGS. 4A-4B, shows a particular
perspective of the performance of at least a portion of the one or
more services facilitating in response to a grant of access to data
acquired by the device module 156 of processing module 150 of
computing device 130 of FIG. 1B, according to an embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 5 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process, e.g.,
operational flow 500, according to an embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 6A is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0032] FIG. 6B is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0033] FIG. 6C is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0034] FIG. 6D is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0035] FIG. 6E is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0036] FIG. 6F is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a data acquiring operation
502, according to one or more embodiments.
[0037] FIG. 7A is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0038] FIG. 7B is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0039] FIG. 7C is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0040] FIG. 7D is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0041] FIG. 7E is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0042] FIG. 7F is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0043] FIG. 7G is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0044] FIG. 7H is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0045] FIG. 7I is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of an offer to carry out a
service presentation facilitating operation 504, according to one
or more embodiments.
[0046] FIG. 8A is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a service performance
facilitating operation 506, according to one or more
embodiments.
[0047] FIG. 8B is a high-level logic flow chart of a process
depicting alternate implementations of a service performance
facilitating operation 506, according to one or more
embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0048] In the following detailed description, reference is made to
the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the
drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar or identical
components or items, unless context dictates otherwise. The
illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description,
drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other
embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without
departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented
here.
[0049] Thus, in accordance with various embodiments,
computationally implemented methods, systems, circuitry, articles
of manufacture, ordered chains of matter, and computer program
products are designed to, among other things, provide an interface
for acquiring data regarding a device having a particular protected
portion for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access, facilitating presentation of an offer to carry out at least
one service, said at least one service at least partly related to
the device, in exchange for access to the particular protected
portion of the device, and facilitating performance of at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to the particular
protected portion of the device.
[0050] The claims, description, and drawings of this application
may describe one or more of the instant technologies in
operational/functional language, for example as a set of operations
to be performed by a computer. Such operational/functional
description in most instances would be understood by one skilled
the art as specifically-configured hardware (e.g., because a
general purpose computer in effect becomes a special purpose
computer once it is programmed to perform particular functions
pursuant to instructions from program software).
[0051] Importantly, although the operational/functional
descriptions described herein are understandable by the human mind,
they are not abstract ideas of the operations/functions divorced
from computational implementation of those operations/functions.
Rather, the operations/functions represent a specification for the
massively complex computational machines or other means. As
discussed in detail below, the operational/functional language must
be read in its proper technological context, i.e., as concrete
specifications for physical implementations.
[0052] The logical operations/functions described herein are a
distillation of machine specifications or other physical mechanisms
specified by the operations/functions such that the otherwise
inscrutable machine specifications may be comprehensible to the
human mind. The distillation also allows one of skill in the art to
adapt the operational/functional description of the technology
across many different specific vendors' hardware configurations or
platforms, without being limited to specific vendors' hardware
configurations or platforms.
[0053] Some of the present technical description (e.g., detailed
description, drawings, claims, etc.) may be set forth in terms of
logical operations/functions. As described in more detail in the
following paragraphs, these logical operations/functions are not
representations of abstract ideas, but rather representative of
static or sequenced specifications of various hardware elements.
Differently stated, unless context dictates otherwise, the logical
operations/functions will be understood by those of skill in the
art to be representative of static or sequenced specifications of
various hardware elements. This is true because tools available to
one of skill in the art to implement technical disclosures set
forth in operational/functional formats--tools in the form of a
high-level programming language (e.g., C, java, visual basic),
etc.), or tools in the form of Very high speed Hardware Description
Language ("VHDL," which is a language that uses text to describe
logic circuits)--are generators of static or sequenced
specifications of various hardware configurations. This fact is
sometimes obscured by the broad term "software," but, as shown by
the following explanation, those skilled in the art understand that
what is termed "software" is a shorthand for a massively complex
interchaining/specification of ordered-matter elements. The term
"ordered-matter elements" may refer to physical components of
computation, such as assemblies of electronic logic gates,
molecular computing logic constituents, quantum computing
mechanisms, etc.
[0054] For example, a high-level programming language is a
programming language with strong abstraction, e.g., multiple levels
of abstraction, from the details of the sequential organizations,
states, inputs, outputs, etc., of the machines that a high-level
programming language actually specifies. See, e.g., Wikipedia,
High-level programming language,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-level_programming_language (as of
Jun. 5, 2012, 21:00 GMT). In order to facilitate human
comprehension, in many instances, high-level programming languages
resemble or even share symbols with natural languages. See, e.g.,
Wikipedia, Natural language,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_language (as of Jun. 5, 2012,
21:00 GMT).
[0055] It has been argued that because high-level programming
languages use strong abstraction (e.g., that they may resemble or
share symbols with natural languages), they are therefore a "purely
mental construct." (e.g., that "software"--a computer program or
computer programming--is somehow an ineffable mental construct,
because at a high level of abstraction, it can be conceived and
understood in the human mind). This argument has been used to
characterize technical description in the form of
functions/operations as somehow "abstract ideas." In fact, in
technological arts (e.g., the information and communication
technologies) this is not true.
[0056] The fact that high-level programming languages use strong
abstraction to facilitate human understanding should not be taken
as an indication that what is expressed is an abstract idea. In
fact, those skilled in the art understand that just the opposite is
true. If a high-level programming language is the tool used to
implement a technical disclosure in the form of
functions/operations, those skilled in the art will recognize that,
far from being abstract, imprecise, "fuzzy," or "mental" in any
significant semantic sense, such a tool is instead a near
incomprehensibly precise sequential specification of specific
computational machines--the parts of which are built up by
activating/selecting such parts from typically more general
computational machines over time (e.g., clocked time). This fact is
sometimes obscured by the superficial similarities between
high-level programming languages and natural languages. These
superficial similarities also may cause a glossing over of the fact
that high-level programming language implementations ultimately
perform valuable work by creating/controlling many different
computational machines.
[0057] The many different computational machines that a high-level
programming language specifies are almost unimaginably complex. At
base, the hardware used in the computational machines typically
consists of some type of ordered matter (e.g., traditional
electronic devices (e.g., transistors), deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA), quantum devices, mechanical switches, optics, fluidics,
pneumatics, optical devices (e.g., optical interference devices),
molecules, etc.) that are arranged to form logic gates. Logic gates
are typically physical devices that may be electrically,
mechanically, chemically, or otherwise driven to change physical
state in order to create a physical reality of Boolean logic.
[0058] Logic gates may be arranged to form logic circuits, which
are typically physical devices that may be electrically,
mechanically, chemically, or otherwise driven to create a physical
reality of certain logical functions. Types of logic circuits
include such devices as multiplexers, registers, arithmetic logic
units (ALUs), computer memory, etc., each type of which may be
combined to form yet other types of physical devices, such as a
central processing unit (CPU)--the best known of which is the
microprocessor. A modern microprocessor will often contain more
than one hundred million logic gates in its many logic circuits
(and often more than a billion transistors). See, e.g., Wikipedia,
Logic gates, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_gates (as of Jun.
5, 2012, 21:03 GMT).
[0059] The logic circuits forming the microprocessor are arranged
to provide a microarchitecture that will carry out the instructions
defined by that microprocessor's defined Instruction Set
Architecture. The Instruction Set Architecture is the part of the
microprocessor architecture related to programming, including the
native data types, instructions, registers, addressing modes,
memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external
Input/Output. See, e.g., Wikipedia, Computer architecture,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_architecture (as of Jun. 5,
2012, 21:03 GMT).
[0060] The Instruction Set Architecture includes a specification of
the machine language that can be used by programmers to use/control
the microprocessor. Since the machine language instructions are
such that they may be executed directly by the microprocessor,
typically they consist of strings of binary digits, or bits. For
example, a typical machine language instruction might be many bits
long (e.g., 32, 64, or 128 bit strings are currently common). A
typical machine language instruction might take the form
"11110000101011110000111100111111" (a 32 bit instruction).
[0061] It is significant here that, although the machine language
instructions are written as sequences of binary digits, in
actuality those binary digits specify physical reality. For
example, if certain semiconductors are used to make the operations
of Boolean logic a physical reality, the apparently mathematical
bits "1" and "0" in a machine language instruction actually
constitute shorthand that specifies the application of specific
voltages to specific wires. For example, in some semiconductor
technologies, the binary number "1" (e.g., logical "1") in a
machine language instruction specifies around +5 volts applied to a
specific "wire" (e.g., metallic traces on a printed circuit board)
and the binary number "0" (e.g., logical "0") in a machine language
instruction specifies around -5 volts applied to a specific "wire."
In addition to specifying voltages of the machines' configuration,
such machine language instructions also select out and activate
specific groupings of logic gates from the millions of logic gates
of the more general machine. Thus, far from abstract mathematical
expressions, machine language instruction programs, even though
written as a string of zeros and ones, specify many, many
constructed physical machines or physical machine states.
[0062] Machine language is typically incomprehensible by most
humans (e.g., the above example was just ONE instruction, and some
personal computers execute more than two billion instructions every
second). See, e.g., Wikipedia, Instructions per second,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_per_second (as of Jun. 5,
2012, 21:04 GMT). Thus, programs written in machine language--which
may be tens of millions of machine language instructions long--are
incomprehensible. In view of this, early assembly languages were
developed that used mnemonic codes to refer to machine language
instructions, rather than using the machine language instructions'
numeric values directly (e.g., for performing a multiplication
operation, programmers coded the abbreviation "mult," which
represents the binary number "011000" in MIPS machine code). While
assembly languages were initially a great aid to humans controlling
the microprocessors to perform work, in time the complexity of the
work that needed to be done by the humans outstripped the ability
of humans to control the microprocessors using merely assembly
languages.
[0063] At this point, it was noted that the same tasks needed to be
done over and over, and the machine language necessary to do those
repetitive tasks was the same. In view of this, compilers were
created. A compiler is a device that takes a statement that is more
comprehensible to a human than either machine or assembly language,
such as "add 2+2 and output the result," and translates that human
understandable statement into a complicated, tedious, and immense
machine language code (e.g., millions of 32, 64, or 128 bit length
strings). Compilers thus translate high-level programming language
into machine language.
[0064] This compiled machine language, as described above, is then
used as the technical specification which sequentially constructs
and causes the interoperation of many different computational
machines such that humanly useful, tangible, and concrete work is
done. For example, as indicated above, such machine language--the
compiled version of the higher-level language--functions as a
technical specification which selects out hardware logic gates,
specifies voltage levels, voltage transition timings, etc., such
that the humanly useful work is accomplished by the hardware.
[0065] Thus, a functional/operational technical description, when
viewed by one of skill in the art, is far from an abstract idea.
Rather, such a functional/operational technical description, when
understood through the tools available in the art such as those
just described, is instead understood to be a humanly
understandable representation of a hardware specification, the
complexity and specificity of which far exceeds the comprehension
of most any one human. With this in mind, those skilled in the art
will understand that any such operational/functional technical
descriptions--in view of the disclosures herein and the knowledge
of those skilled in the art--may be understood as operations made
into physical reality by (a) one or more interchained physical
machines, (b) interchained logic gates configured to create one or
more physical machine(s) representative of sequential/combinatorial
logic(s), (c) interchained ordered matter making up logic gates
(e.g., interchained electronic devices (e.g., transistors), DNA,
quantum devices, mechanical switches, optics, fluidics, pneumatics,
molecules, etc.) that create physical reality representative of
logic(s), or (d) virtually any combination of the foregoing.
Indeed, any physical object which has a stable, measurable, and
changeable state may be used to construct a machine based on the
above technical description. Charles Babbage, for example,
constructed the first computer out of wood and powered by cranking
a handle.
[0066] Thus, far from being understood as an abstract idea, those
skilled in the art will recognize a functional/operational
technical description as a humanly-understandable representation of
one or more almost unimaginably complex and time sequenced hardware
instantiations. The fact that functional/operational technical
descriptions might lend themselves readily to high-level computing
languages (or high-level block diagrams for that matter) that share
some words, structures, phrases, etc. with natural language simply
cannot be taken as an indication that such functional/operational
technical descriptions are abstract ideas, or mere expressions of
abstract ideas. In fact, as outlined herein, in the technological
arts this is simply not true. When viewed through the tools
available to those of skill in the art, such functional/operational
technical descriptions are seen as specifying hardware
configurations of almost unimaginable complexity.
[0067] As outlined above, the reason for the use of
functional/operational technical descriptions is at least twofold.
First, the use of functional/operational technical descriptions
allows near-infinitely complex machines and machine operations
arising from interchained hardware elements to be described in a
manner that the human mind can process (e.g., by mimicking natural
language and logical narrative flow). Second, the use of
functional/operational technical descriptions assists the person of
skill in the art in understanding the described subject matter by
providing a description that is more or less independent of any
specific vendor's piece(s) of hardware.
[0068] The use of functional/operational technical descriptions
assists the person of skill in the art in understanding the
described subject matter since, as is evident from the above
discussion, one could easily, although not quickly, transcribe the
technical descriptions set forth in this document as trillions of
ones and zeroes, billions of single lines of assembly-level machine
code, millions of logic gates, thousands of gate arrays, or any
number of intermediate levels of abstractions. However, if any such
low-level technical descriptions were to replace the present
technical description, a person of skill in the art could encounter
undue difficulty in implementing the disclosure, because such a
low-level technical description would likely add complexity without
a corresponding benefit (e.g., by describing the subject matter
utilizing the conventions of one or more vendor-specific pieces of
hardware). Thus, the use of functional/operational technical
descriptions assists those of skill in the art by separating the
technical descriptions from the conventions of any vendor-specific
piece of hardware.
[0069] In view of the foregoing, the logical operations/functions
set forth in the present technical description are representative
of static or sequenced specifications of various ordered-matter
elements, in order that such specifications may be comprehensible
to the human mind and adaptable to create many various hardware
configurations. The logical operations/functions disclosed herein
should be treated as such, and should not be disparagingly
characterized as abstract ideas merely because the specifications
they represent are presented in a manner that one of skill in the
art can readily understand and apply in a manner independent of a
specific vendor's hardware implementation.
[0070] Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state
of the art has progressed to the point where there is little
distinction left between hardware, software, and/or firmware
implementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware,
software, and/or firmware is generally (but not always, in that in
certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can
become significant) a design choice representing cost vs.
efficiency tradeoffs. Those having skill in the art will appreciate
that there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems
and/or other technologies described herein can be effected (e.g.,
hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred
vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes and/or
systems and/or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an
implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the
implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle;
alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt
for a mainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively,
the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software,
and/or firmware in one or more machines, compositions of matter,
and articles of manufacture, limited to patentable subject matter
under 35 USC 101. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by
which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies
described herein may be effected, none of which is inherently
superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is a
choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be
deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or
predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those
skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of
implementations will typically employ optically-oriented hardware,
software, and or firmware.
[0071] In some implementations described herein, logic and similar
implementations may include software or other control structures.
Electronic circuitry, for example, may have one or more paths of
electrical current constructed and arranged to implement various
functions as described herein. In some implementations, one or more
media may be configured to bear a device-detectable implementation
when such media hold or transmit device detectable instructions
operable to perform as described herein. In some variants, for
example, implementations may include an update or modification of
existing software or firmware, or of gate arrays or programmable
hardware, such as by performing a reception of or a transmission of
one or more instructions in relation to one or more operations
described herein. Alternatively or additionally, in some variants,
an implementation may include special-purpose hardware, software,
firmware components, and/or general-purpose components executing or
otherwise invoking special-purpose components. Specifications or
other implementations may be transmitted by one or more instances
of tangible transmission media as described herein, optionally by
packet transmission or otherwise by passing through distributed
media at various times.
[0072] Alternatively or additionally, implementations may include
executing a special-purpose instruction sequence or invoking
circuitry for enabling, triggering, coordinating, requesting, or
otherwise causing one or more occurrences of virtually any
functional operations described herein. In some variants,
operational or other logical descriptions herein may be expressed
as source code and compiled or otherwise invoked as an executable
instruction sequence. In some contexts, for example,
implementations may be provided, in whole or in part, by source
code, such as C++, or other code sequences. In other
implementations, source or other code implementation, using
commercially available and/or techniques in the art, may be
compiled/implemented/translated/converted into a high-level
descriptor language (e.g., initially implementing described
technologies in C or C++ programming language and thereafter
converting the programming language implementation into a
logic-synthesizable language implementation, a hardware description
language implementation, a hardware design simulation
implementation, and/or other such similar mode(s) of expression).
For example, some or all of a logical expression (e.g., computer
programming language implementation) may be manifested as a
Verilog-type hardware description (e.g., via Hardware Description
Language (HDL) and/or Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware
Descriptor Language (VHDL)) or other circuitry model which may then
be used to create a physical implementation having hardware (e.g.,
an Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Those skilled in the
art will recognize how to obtain, configure, and optimize suitable
transmission or computational elements, material supplies,
actuators, or other structures in light of these teachings.
[0073] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common
within the art to implement devices and/or processes and/or
systems, and thereafter use engineering and/or other practices to
integrate such implemented devices and/or processes and/or systems
into more comprehensive devices and/or processes and/or systems.
That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes and/or
systems described herein can be integrated into other devices
and/or processes and/or systems via a reasonable amount of
experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that
examples of such other devices and/or processes and/or systems
might include--as appropriate to context and application--all or
part of devices and/or processes and/or systems of (a) an air
conveyance (e.g., an airplane, rocket, helicopter, etc.), (b) a
ground conveyance (e.g., a car, truck, locomotive, tank, armored
personnel carrier, etc.), (c) a building (e.g., a home, warehouse,
office, etc.), (d) an appliance (e.g., a refrigerator, a washing
machine, a dryer, etc.), (e) a communications system (e.g., a
networked system, a telephone system, a Voice over IP system,
etc.), (f) a business entity (e.g., an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) entity such as Comcast Cable, Qwest, Southwestern Bell,
etc.), or (g) a wired/wireless services entity (e.g., Sprint,
Cingular, Nextel, etc.), etc.
[0074] In certain cases, use of a system or method may occur in a
territory even if components are located outside the territory. For
example, in a distributed computing context, use of a distributed
computing system may occur in a territory even though parts of the
system may be located outside of the territory (e.g., relay,
server, processor, signal-bearing medium, transmitting computer,
receiving computer, etc. located outside the territory).
[0075] A sale of a system or method may likewise occur in a
territory even if components of the system or method are located
and/or used outside the territory. Further, implementation of at
least part of a system for performing a method in one territory
does not preclude use of the system in another territory
[0076] In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize
that the various embodiments described herein can be implemented,
individually and/or collectively, by various types of
electro-mechanical systems having a wide range of electrical
components such as hardware, software, firmware, and/or virtually
any combination thereof, limited to patentable subject matter under
35 U.S.C. 101; and a wide range of components that may impart
mechanical force or motion such as rigid bodies, spring or
torsional bodies, hydraulics, electro-magnetically actuated
devices, and/or virtually any combination thereof. Consequently, as
used herein "electro-mechanical system" includes, but is not
limited to, electrical circuitry operably coupled with a transducer
(e.g., an actuator, a motor, a piezoelectric crystal, a Micro
Electro Mechanical System (MEMS), etc.), electrical circuitry
having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical
circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical
circuitry having at least one application specific integrated
circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing
device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose
computer configured by a computer program which at least partially
carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a
microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least
partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),
electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of memory
(e.g., random access, flash, read only, etc.)), electrical
circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem,
communications switch, optical-electrical equipment, etc.), and/or
any non-electrical analog thereto, such as optical or other analogs
(e.g., graphene based circuitry). Those skilled in the art will
also appreciate that examples of electro-mechanical systems include
but are not limited to a variety of consumer electronics systems,
medical devices, as well as other systems such as motorized
transport systems, factory automation systems, security systems,
and/or communication/computing systems. Those skilled in the art
will recognize that electro-mechanical as used herein is not
necessarily limited to a system that has both electrical and
mechanical actuation except as context may dictate otherwise.
[0077] In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize
that the various aspects described herein which can be implemented,
individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware,
software, firmware, and/or any combination thereof can be viewed as
being composed of various types of "electrical circuitry."
Consequently, as used herein "electrical circuitry" includes, but
is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one
discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least
one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one
application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry
forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer
program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer
program which at least partially carries out processes and/or
devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a
computer program which at least partially carries out processes
and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a
memory device (e.g., forms of memory (e.g., random access, flash,
read only, etc.)), and/or electrical circuitry forming a
communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch,
optical-electrical equipment, etc.). Those having skill in the art
will recognize that the subject matter described herein may be
implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combination
thereof.
[0078] Those skilled in the art will recognize that at least a
portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be
integrated into an image processing system. Those having skill in
the art will recognize that a typical image processing system
generally includes one or more of a system unit housing, a video
display device, memory such as volatile or non-volatile memory,
processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors,
computational entities such as operating systems, drivers,
applications programs, one or more interaction devices (e.g., a
touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna, etc.), control systems
including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for
sensing lens position and/or velocity; control motors for
moving/distorting lenses to give desired focuses). An image
processing system may be implemented utilizing suitable
commercially available components, such as those typically found in
digital still systems and/or digital motion systems.
[0079] Those skilled in the art will recognize that at least a
portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be
integrated into a data processing system. Those having skill in the
art will recognize that a data processing system generally includes
one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device,
memory such as volatile or non-volatile memory, processors such as
microprocessors or digital signal processors, computational
entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user
interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction
devices (e.g., a touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna, etc.),
and/or control systems including feedback loops and control motors
(e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control
motors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A
data processing system may be implemented utilizing suitable
commercially available components, such as those typically found in
data computing/communication and/or network computing/communication
systems.
[0080] Those skilled in the art will recognize that at least a
portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be
integrated into a mote system. Those having skill in the art will
recognize that a typical mote system generally includes one or more
memories such as volatile or non-volatile memories, processors such
as microprocessors or digital signal processors, computational
entities such as operating systems, user interfaces, drivers,
sensors, actuators, applications programs, one or more interaction
devices (e.g., an antenna USB ports, acoustic ports, etc.), control
systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback
for sensing or estimating position and/or velocity; control motors
for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A mote
system may be implemented utilizing suitable components, such as
those found in mote computing/communication systems. Specific
examples of such components entail such as Intel Corporation's
and/or Crossbow Corporation's mote components and supporting
hardware, software, and/or firmware.
[0081] For the purposes of this application, "cloud" computing may
be understood as described in the cloud computing literature. For
example, cloud computing may be methods and/or systems for the
delivery of computational capacity and/or storage capacity as a
service. The "cloud" may refer to one or more hardware and/or
software components that deliver or assist in the delivery of
computational and/or storage capacity, including, but not limited
to, one or more of a client, an application, a platform, an
infrastructure, and/or a server The cloud may refer to any of the
hardware and/or software associated with a client, an application,
a platform, an infrastructure, and/or a server. For example, cloud
and cloud computing may refer to one or more of a computer, a
processor, a storage medium, a router, a switch, a modem, a virtual
machine (e.g., a virtual server), a data center, an operating
system, a middleware, a firmware, a hardware back-end, a software
back-end, and/or a software application. A cloud may refer to a
private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, and/or a community
cloud. A cloud may be a shared pool of configurable computing
resources, which may be public, private, semi-private,
distributable, scaleable, flexible, temporary, virtual, and/or
physical. A cloud or cloud service may be delivered over one or
more types of network, e.g., a mobile communication network, and
the Internet.
[0082] As used in this application, a cloud or a cloud service may
include one or more of infrastructure-as-a-service ("IaaS"),
platform-as-a-service ("PaaS"), software-as-a-service ("SaaS"),
and/or desktop-as-a-service ("DaaS"). As a non-exclusive example,
IaaS may include, e.g., one or more virtual server instantiations
that may start, stop, access, and/or configure virtual servers
and/or storage centers (e.g., providing one or more processors,
storage space, and/or network resources on-demand, e.g., EMC and
Rackspace). PaaS may include, e.g., one or more software and/or
development tools hosted on an infrastructure (e.g., a computing
platform and/or a solution stack from which the client can create
software interfaces and applications, e.g., Microsoft Azure). SaaS
may include, e.g., software hosted by a service provider and
accessible over a network (e.g., the software for the application
and/or the data associated with that software application may be
kept on the network, e.g., Google Apps, SalesForce). DaaS may
include, e.g., providing desktop, applications, data, and/or
services for the user over a network (e.g., providing a
multi-application framework, the applications in the framework, the
data associated with the applications, and/or services related to
the applications and/or the data over the network, e.g., Citrix).
The foregoing is intended to be exemplary of the types of systems
and/or methods referred to in this application as "cloud" or "cloud
computing" and should not be considered complete or exhaustive.
[0083] One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein
described components (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the
discussion accompanying them are used as examples for the sake of
conceptual clarity and that various configuration modifications are
contemplated. Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars
set forth and the accompanying discussion are intended to be
representative of their more general classes. In general, use of
any specific exemplar is intended to be representative of its
class, and the non-inclusion of specific components (e.g.,
operations), devices, and objects should not be taken limiting.
[0084] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates
different components contained within, or connected with, different
other components. It is to be understood that such depicted
architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other
architectures may be implemented which achieve the same
functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components
to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such
that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two
components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality
can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired
functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or
intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated
can also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably
coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and
any two components capable of being so associated can also be
viewed as being "operably couplable," to each other to achieve the
desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable
include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or
physically interacting components, and/or wirelessly interactable,
and/or wirelessly interacting components, and/or logically
interacting, and/or logically interactable components.
[0085] To the extent that formal outline headings are present in
this application, it is to be understood that the outline headings
are for presentation purposes, and that different types of subject
matter may be discussed throughout the application (e.g.,
device(s)/structure(s) may be described under
process(es)/operations heading(s) and/or process(es)/operations may
be discussed under structure(s)/process(es) headings; and/or
descriptions of single topics may span two or more topic headings).
Hence, any use of formal outline headings in this application is
for presentation purposes, and is not intended to be in any way
limiting.
[0086] Throughout this application, examples and lists are given,
with parentheses, the abbreviation "e.g.," or both. Unless
explicitly otherwise stated, these examples and lists are merely
exemplary and are non-exhaustive. In most cases, it would be
prohibitive to list every example and every combination. Thus,
smaller, illustrative lists and examples are used, with focus on
imparting understanding of the claim terms rather than limiting the
scope of such terms.
[0087] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or
singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate
from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the
plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The
various singular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth
herein for sake of clarity.
[0088] One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein
described components (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the
discussion accompanying them are used as examples for the sake of
conceptual clarity and that various configuration modifications are
contemplated. Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars
set forth and the accompanying discussion are intended to be
representative of their more general classes. In general, use of
any specific exemplar is intended to be representative of its
class, and the non-inclusion of specific components (e.g.,
operations), devices, and objects should not be taken limiting.
[0089] Although user 105 is shown/described herein, e.g., in FIG.
1, and other places, as a single illustrated figure, those skilled
in the art will appreciate that user 105 may be representative of
one or more human users, robotic users (e.g., computational
entity), and/or substantially any combination thereof (e.g., a user
may be assisted by one or more robotic agents) unless context
dictates otherwise. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that,
in general, the same may be said of "sender" and/or other
entity-oriented terms as such terms are used herein unless context
dictates otherwise.
[0090] In some instances, one or more components may be referred to
herein as "configured to," "configured by," "configurable to,"
"operable/operative to," "adapted/adaptable," "able to,"
"conformable/conformed to," etc. Those skilled in the art will
recognize that such terms (e.g. "configured to") generally
encompass active-state components and/or inactive-state components
and/or standby-state components, unless context requires
otherwise.
[0091] In known systems, devices that are associated with one or
more users, e.g., phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, cars, game
systems, appliances, and the like, may collect data regarding the
user. This data may be desired by third parties. The following
describes, among other implementations, methods and systems of
managing user data collected by one or more devices that may also
be useful to entities that are not the user, and which entities may
not necessarily have access to the data.
[0092] Referring now to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates an example
environment 100 in which the methods, systems, circuitry, articles
of manufacture, and computer program products and architecture, in
accordance with various embodiments, may be implemented by one or
more computing devices 30 As shown in FIG. 1A, one or more personal
devices 20, one or more service providers 70, one or more service
developers 60, and one or more computing devices 30 may communicate
via one or more communication networks 40. In an embodiment,
service provider 70 may have one or more services that personal
device 20 may want. In an embodiment, computing device 30, which
may be a remote or local server, or distributed set of servers, may
manage data that is gathered, stored, controlled, accessed,
restricted, monitored, under the control of, checked, examined,
verified, authenticated, authorized, manipulated, updated, altered,
filtered, or otherwise acted upon, whether passively or actively,
by personal device 20. In an embodiment, as described in more
detail herein, computing device 30 may have access to some or all
of the data on personal device 20. In another embodiment, computing
device 30 may have access to only a portion of the data on personal
device 20. In still another embodiment, computing device 30 may
have access to a modified version of the data on personal device
20. Specifically, in an embodiment, computing device 20 may have
access to the data stored on personal device 20, but in anonymous
form.
[0093] In an embodiment, computing device 30 may offer one or more
services to personal device 20. In an embodiment, the offer of one
or more services may be conditional on a grant of access to part or
all of the data stored and/or collected by personal device 20. In
an embodiment, computing device 30 may receive one or more services
from service provider 70 and/or service developer 60, and may
select one or more of the received services for presentation to the
personal device 20. In an embodiment, the data from personal device
20 may be shared with one or more of service provider 70 and
service developer 60. In an embodiment, the data from personal
device 20 may be anonymized prior to sharing with service developer
60 and/or service developer 70.
[0094] Referring again to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1A shows a personal device
120. Personal device 120 may be any electronic device, portable or
not, that may be operated by or associated with one or more users.
Personal device 120 is shown as interacting with a user 105. As set
forth above, user 105 may be a person, or a group of people, or
another entity that mimics the operations of a user. In some
embodiments, user 105 may be a computer or a computer-controlled
device. Personal device 120 may be, but is not limited to, a
cellular phone, a network phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a music
player, a walkie-talkie, a radio, a USB drive, a portable solid
state drive, a portable disc-type hard drive, an augmented reality
device (e.g., augmented reality glasses and/or headphones),
earphones, headphones, audio/visual equipment, media player,
television, projection screen, flat screen, monitor, clock,
appliance (e.g., microwave, convection oven, stove, refrigerator,
freezer), a navigation system (e.g., a Global Positioning System
("GPS") system), a medical alert device, a remote control, a
peripheral, an electronic safe, an electronic lock, an electronic
security system, a video camera, a personal video recorder, a
personal audio recorder, and the like.
[0095] Referring again to FIG. 1A, personal device 120 may include
an operating system 124. In this context, operating system 124
refers to any hardware, software, firmware, and combination thereof
which is considered at the core or baseline of a device. For
example, applications that interact directly with hardware may be
considered to be part of an operating system. In some embodiments,
operating system 124 may be an FPGA, printed circuit board, or
other wired device. In an embodiment, operating system 124 may
include one or more of Google's Android, Apple's iOS, Microsoft's
Windows, various implementations of Linux, and the like. In some
embodiments, operating system 124 may include a root menu for one
or more televisions, stereo systems, media players, and the like.
In some embodiments, operating system 124 may be a "home" screen of
a device.
[0096] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, personal
device 20 may include a user interface 122. User interface 122 may
include any hardware, software, firmware, and combination thereof
that allows a user 105 to interact with a personal device 120, and
for a personal device 120 to interact with a user 105. In some
embodiments, user interface 122 may include a monitor, screen,
touchscreen, liquid crystal display ("LCD") screen, light emitting
diode ("LED") screen, speaker, handset, earpiece, keyboard, keypad,
touchpad, mouse, trackball, remote control, button set, microphone,
video camera, still camera, a charge-coupled device ("CCD")
element, a photovoltaic element, and the like.
[0097] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in some embodiments, personal
device 120 may include a device memory 126. In some embodiments,
device memory 126 may include memory, random access memory ("RAM"),
read only memory ("ROM"), flash memory, hard drives, disk-based
media, disc-based media, magnetic storage, optical storage,
volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, and any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, device memory 126 may be separated from the
device, e.g., available on a different device on a network, or over
the air. For example, in a networked system, there may be many
personal devices 120 whose device memory 126 is located at a
central server that may be a few feet away or located across an
ocean.
[0098] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in some embodiments, device
memory 126 may include one or more of protected data 126A and
unprotected data 126B. Not all embodiments include each or both of
these, but protected data 126A and unprotected data 126B may be
present in one or more embodiments. Protected data 126A may include
any data, including data stored on personal device 120, data for
which personal device 120 maintains at least partial control of,
data for which personal device 120 monitors or provides the ability
to monitor, and the like, for which some form of authorization is
required to access the data. The authorization may take any form
and relate to any sub-unit, including both internally and
externally to the device. For example, in an embodiment, protected
data 126A may include data which is not available to at least one
application running on a computing device. For another example, in
an embodiment, protected data 126A may be available to one
application at any time, and to another application at specific
times, or at times when the first application is not using the
data. In an embodiment, protected data 126A includes data for which
an application must be authenticated (e.g., a Microsoft operating
system certification, or a user flag set to true) in order to
access the protected data 126A.
[0099] In an embodiment, protected data 126A includes data that a
user, e.g., user 105, cannot view until the user 105 verifies their
identity, e.g., through a password input or biometric
identification. In an embodiment, protected data 126A is limited to
the device, and is not transmitted to any other system not under
the direct control of the personal device 120. In an embodiment,
protected data 126A is limited to the personal device 120, and only
applications originating at the personal device 120, or originating
with the user 105, are allowed to read protected data 126A. In an
embodiment, personal device 120 modifies or directs to be modified
protected data 126A, so at least a portion of the protected data
126A is altered or obscured. In an embodiment, personal device 120
allows protected data 126A to be transmitted to an external entity
under the condition that the external entity will alter or obscure
at least a portion of the protected data 126A.
[0100] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, personal
device 120 may include device memory 126, which, in some
embodiments, may include unprotected data 26B. In an embodiment,
unprotected data 126B may have no protections or limitations. In
another embodiment, unprotected data 126B may have protections and
limitations, but be less protected and/or less limited than
protected data 126B. In an embodiment, unprotected data 126B is
broadcasted or otherwise transmitted upon request. In an
embodiment, unprotected data 126B cannot be accessed by an entity
external to personal device 120 due to device design or other
factors, but there is no specific protection on unprotected data
126B from access by one or more entities external to personal
device 20.
[0101] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, personal
device 120 may include device interface component 128. In an
embodiment, device interface component 128 includes any component
that allows the device to interact with its environment. For
example, in an embodiment, device interface component 128 includes
one or more sensors, e.g., a camera, a microphone, an
accelerometer, a thermometer, a satellite positioning system (SPS)
sensor, a barometer, a humidity sensor, a compass, a gyroscope, a
magnetometer, a pressure sensor, an oscillation detector, a light
sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a tactile sensor, a
touch sensor, a flexibility sensor, a microelectromechanical system
(MEMS), a radio, including a wireless radio, a transmitter, a
receiver, an emitter, a broadcaster, and the like. In an
embodiment, device interface component 128 also may include one or
more user interface components, e.g., user interface 122 (e.g.,
although they are drawn separately, in some embodiments, user
interface 122 is a type of device interface component 128), and in
some embodiments including one or more user input receiving
components and output presenting components.
[0102] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, device
interface component 128 may include protected component 128A.
Protected component 128A may include any device interface component
128, of which some non-limiting examples previously were
enumerated, for which some form of authorization and/or
authentication is required to access the data. The authorization
may take any form and relate to any sub-unit, including both
internally and externally to the device. In an embodiment,
protected component 128A is similar to protected data 126A. For
example, in an embodiment, a personal device 120, e.g., a smart
phone, may have twelve applications running on the smartphone. In
an embodiment, six of those applications may have access to a
protected component 128A, e.g., a positioning sensor, and the other
six may not. In some embodiments, data collected by a protected
component 128A is part of the protected component 128A. In some
embodiments, data collected by a protected component 128A becomes
protected data 126A. In some embodiments, data collected by a
protected component 128A becomes protected data 126A some of the
time, or none of the time. In some embodiments, data collected by a
protected component 128A may be part of protected component 128A
for a particular amount of time, e.g., two weeks, and then may
transition to unprotected data or data that is not considered
protected or unprotected. In some embodiments, a protected
component 128A may be accessible to everyone at particular times
and/or circumstances. For example, a protected component 128A,
e.g., a wireless radio, may be accessible to any entity between the
hours of 7 and 8 pm, and only accessible to specific entities
and/or applications at other times. In some embodiments, a
protected component 128A, e.g., an image capturing component, may
be accessible to any entity when one or more conditions are met,
which conditions may or may not be related to the protected
component 128A or the personal device 120, e.g., when the personal
device 120 is at a particular location.
[0103] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in some embodiments, computing
device 30 may include personal device interface module 132. In some
embodiments, personal device interface module 132 may communicate
with one or more personal devices 120. In some embodiments,
personal device interface module 132 may receive data 131 received
from a personal device 120. Acquired personal device data 131 may
include any data gathered from personal device 120, in any manner.
In some embodiments, computing device 30 may request data from
personal device 120. In some embodiments, computing device 30 may
receive data from personal device 120 on a schedule. In some
embodiments, computing device 130 may retrieve data from personal
device 120 when certain conditions are met. In some embodiments,
personal device 120 is broadcasting data, and computing device 130
gathers the broadcasted data. In some embodiments, personal device
120 broadcasts data that only computing device 130 can use (e.g.,
decrypt, interpret, or the like). In some embodiments, personal
device 120 may transmit acquired personal device data 131 to
computing device 30 using one or more communication networks 140,
which will be described in more detail herein.
[0104] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in some embodiments, the
acquired personal device data 131 may be anonymous data 131A. In an
embodiment, anonymous data refers to data from which the origin of
the data cannot be uniquely identified. In some embodiments, the
origin of the data may refer to the personal device 120, e.g., a
unique identifier, e.g., a MAC address. In some embodiments, the
origin of the data may refer to a user 105 associated with the
data, either through ownership, use, or other relationship with the
device, e.g., a username, a user's name, or a user's social
security or other identifying number, or network address or
identification. It is noted that, in some embodiments, the device
may be able to recognize the origin of the data, e.g., an identity
of personal device 120, that is transmitting the data due to the
nature of the data transmission, but be unable to deduce the origin
of the data through the data itself, in which case, in some
embodiments, this data is still considered anonymous data 131A.
[0105] Anonymous data 131A may include data for which uniquely
identifying information has been removed, or data for which
uniquely identifying information has been concealed, obscured, made
uncertain, made ambiguous, screened, camouflaged, masked, veiled,
shrouded, hidden, encoded, encrypted, or otherwise altered. In some
embodiments, the received anonymous data 131A never included
uniquely identifying information. In some embodiments, anonymous
data 131A may partially or non-uniquely identify its origin, e.g.,
the user 105 or the personal device 120 from which the anonymous
data came. In some embodiments, uniquely identifying information
may be extracted from anonymous data 131A using additional
information, e.g., a lookup table, hash, or other known algorithm.
In some embodiments, uniquely identifying information may be
deduced from anonymous data 131A without additional information. In
some embodiments, uniquely identifying information may not be
retrieved from anonymous data 131A once the data is in its
anonymous format.
[0106] In an embodiment, acquired personal device data 131 may
include non-anonymous data 131B. In some embodiments, non-anonymous
data 131B may identify, either explicitly or implicitly, the origin
of the data. In some embodiments, the origin of the data may refer
to the personal device 120, e.g., a unique identifier, e.g., a MAC
address. In some embodiments, the origin of the data may refer to a
user 105 associated with the data, either through ownership, use,
or other relationship with the device, e.g., a username, a user's
name, or a user's social security or other identifying number, or
network address or identification.
[0107] Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D, in an embodiment, computing device
130 may include a data anonymizer module 134A that converts
non-anonymous data 131B into anonymized data, in a process
described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 1C and 1D. In an
embodiment, depending on the type of anonymization, there may be
additional data that can be used to return the anonymized data into
non-anonymous data, e.g., a lookup table. In some such embodiments,
the additional data, e.g., de-anonymization data, may be stored in
data de-anonymization information storing module 135.
[0108] Referring again to FIGS. 1A-1D, in an embodiment, computing
device 130 may include a data obscuring module 134B. For example,
in an embodiment, data obscuring module 134B may obscure the
non-anonymous data 131B, similarly to the data anonymizer module
134A. For example, in an embodiment, data obscuring module 134B may
apply data masking. In an embodiment, data obscuring module 134B
may obscure by addition, e.g., by adding false identification
information to the true identification information, so that the
false identification information may not be distinguished from the
true identification information. Data de-anonymization information
storing module 135, data anonymizer module 134A, and data obscuring
module 134B may be absent in some embodiments.
[0109] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, computing
device 130 may include service developer interface module 136.
Service developer interface module 136 may communicate with service
developer 160, e.g., via communication network 140. Specifically,
in an embodiment, service developer interface module 136 may
provide limited information regarding the acquired personal device
data 131. In an embodiment, for example, service developer
interface module 136 may provide information to service developer
160 regarding the type of data collected. In an embodiment, for
example, service developer interface module 136 may provide
information to service developer 160 regarding an aggregate
synopsis of the data collected. In an embodiment, service developer
160 may receive such information and make a decision about what
types of services to develop, e.g., using development decision
module 162.
[0110] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, computing
device 130 may include service provider interface module 138. In an
embodiment, service provider interface module 138 may communicate
with service provider 170, e.g., via communication network 140.
[0111] In an embodiment, service provider interface module 138 may
include data rights management module 138A. In an embodiment, data
rights management module 138A may keep track of which services have
rights to which personal device data. For example, in an
embodiment, service 172A may have rights to certain anonymous data
131A. For another example, in an embodiment, service 172B may have
rights to data that has been processed through the data anonymizer
134A.
[0112] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, service
provider interface module 138 may include service information
module 138B. Service information module 138B may include a list of
services that are provided from service provider 170, so that such
information may be delivered to personal device 120, in an
embodiment. In an embodiment, computing device 130 may present one
or more of the services listed in service information module 138B
to personal device 120, either upon request, or upon detecting that
personal device 120 may be interested in one or more of the
services.
[0113] Referring again to FIG. 1A, in an embodiment, service
provider 170 may provide services to a personal device 120. In an
embodiment, these services may be delivered to directly to personal
device 120. In an embodiment, service provider 170 has limited or
no communication with personal device 120, and communication is
handled through an intermediary, e.g., computing device 130. In an
embodiment, computing device 130 handles the delivery of services
and data between service provider 170 and personal device 120 such
that protected data 126A and protected component 128A are protected
from service provider 170, but that service provider 170 can still
provide services, e.g., service 172A and service 172B, to personal
device 120. In an embodiment, service provider 170 includes a list
of services management module 174 that maintains a list of services
to present to computing device 130, e.g., to allow service
information module 138B of computing device 130 to maintain
information about various services.
[0114] In various embodiments, the communication network 140 may
include one or more of a local area network (LAN), a wide area
network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wireless local
area network (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), public switched
telephone network (PTSN), a general packet radio service (GPRS)
network, a cellular network, and so forth. The communication
networks 140 may be wired, wireless, or a combination of wired and
wireless networks. It is noted that "communication network" as used
herein and in the drawings refers to one or more communication
networks, which may or may not interact with each other and which,
in some embodiments, may work in concert, wittingly or unwittingly,
to facilitate communication between one or more entities.
[0115] Referring now to FIG. 1C, an embodiment may include a
personal device 120A and a personal device 120B. Personal device
120A may generate non-anonymous data 144A, and personal device 120B
may generate non-anonymous data 144B. Non anonymous data 144A and
non-anonymous data 144B may be transmitted to computing device
130A, which may be a non-exclusive and non-limiting example of
computing device 130. In an embodiment, computing device 130A may
include a data anonymizer module 134A. In an embodiment, data
anonymizer module 134A may include irreversible anonymizer module
137A, which generates anonymous data that is irreversible, e.g., in
an example, the identifying data has been removed. In an
embodiment, data anonymizer module 134A may include collective
anonymizer module 137B, which may take the non-anonymous data 144A
and the non-anonymous data 144B and create an aggregated, general
anonymous data, as shown FIG. 1C. In an embodiment, data anonymizer
module 134A may include reversible anonymizer module 137C, which
may use a private lookup table 135A to convert the non-anonymous
data into anonymous data. In an embodiment, that private lookup
table 135A may be stored in the data-deanonymization information
storing module 135.
[0116] Referring now to FIG. 1D, in an embodiment, a computing
device 130B may have a data anonymizer 134A that may apply an
anonymizing function 132A, as shown in FIG. 1D. For example, an
anonymizing function may use a cryptographic method, a perturbation
method, a DataFly algorithm, top-down specialization, and/or
Mondarian multi-dimensional k-anonymity, as non-limiting and
non-exclusive examples. In another embodiment, a data obscuring
module 134B obscures the non-anonymous data. In an embodiment, the
obscuring may be accomplished by adding similar-looking and
plausible "false" data to the actual identifying data, so that
later, the true data cannot be determined merely by looking at the
data. In an embodiment, the anonymized data may be used by the
service provider interface module 38 to give data to the service
provider 170, either to carry out a portion of a service, or to
determine which services may be useful to one or more personal
devices 120.
[0117] The examples shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D are merely examples of
how a data anonymizer might be implemented, and are not intended to
be limiting or exclusive. There are many other techniques for
anonymizing the data, some of which will be mentioned herein.
[0118] Referring again to FIG. 1B, FIG. 1B shows a more detailed
description of computing device 130. In an embodiment, computing
device 130 may include a processor 132. Processor 132 may include
one or more microprocessors, Central Processing Units ("CPU"), a
Graphics Processing Units ("GPU"), Physics Processing Units,
Digital Signal Processors, Network Processors, Floating Point
Processors, and the like. In some embodiments, processor 132 may be
a server. In some embodiments, processor 132 may be a
distributed-core processor. Although processor 132 is as a single
processor that is part of a single personal device 120, processor
132 may be multiple processors distributed over one or many
computing devices 30, which may or may not be configured to operate
together. Processor 132 is illustrated as being configured to
execute computer readable instructions in order to execute one or
more operations described above, and as illustrated in FIGS. 5,
6A-6F, 7A-7I, and 8A-8B. In some embodiments, processor 132 is
designed to be configured to operate as processing module 150,
which may include one or more of data related to a device having a
particular protected portion for which the device controls access
acquiring module 152, presentation of a proposal to assist in
performing at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module 154,
and performance of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to data acquired by
the device module 154.
[0119] In an embodiment, computing device 130 may include a memory
133. In some embodiments, memory 133 may comprise of one or more of
one or more mass storage devices, read-only memory (ROM),
programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM), cache memory such as random access memory
(RAM), flash memory, synchronous random access memory (SRAM),
dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or other types of memory
devices. In some embodiments, memory 133 may be located at a single
network site. In some embodiments, memory 133 may be located at
multiple network sites, including sites that are distant from each
other.
[0120] Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary
implementation of the data related to a device having a particular
protected portion for which the device controls access acquiring
module 152. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the data related to a device
having a particular protected portion for which the device controls
access acquiring module may include one or more sub-logic modules
in various alternative implementations and embodiments. For
example, as shown in FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2A, in some embodiments,
module 152 may include data related to a device having a particular
protected sensor for which the device controls access acquiring
module 202. In some embodiments, module 202 may include position
data related to a device having a particular protected position
sensor for which the device controls access acquiring module 204.
In some embodiments, module 204 may include position data related
to a device having a particular protected position sensor for which
the device controls access to one or more entities acquiring module
206. In some embodiments, module 206 may include one or more of
position data related to a device having a particular protected
position sensor for which the device controls access to one or more
device programs acquiring module 208 and position data related to a
device having a particular protected position sensor for which the
device controls access to one or more other devices in
communication with the device acquiring module 214. In some
embodiments, module 208 may include one or more of position data
indicating a particular protected position sensor is present on the
device, and that the device controls access to the position sensor
for one or more device programs acquiring module 210 and position
data indicating a number of data collected by a particular
protected position sensor on the device, and that the device
controls access to the data for one or more device programs
acquiring module 212.
[0121] Referring again to FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, in some
embodiments, module 152 may include data related to a device having
particular protected data for which the device controls access
acquiring module 216. In some embodiments, module 216 may include
one or more of data related to a device having protected contact
list data for which the device controls access acquiring module
218, data indicating an amount of particular protected data for
which the device controls access acquiring module 220, and data
indicating at least one characteristic of particular protected data
for which the device controls access acquiring module 224. In some
embodiments, module 220 may include data indicating an amount of
particular protected data stored on the device and for which the
device controls access acquiring module 222. In some embodiments,
module 224 may include data indicating at least a portion of the
particular protected data meets a predetermined condition, said
data having access controlled by the device acquiring module 226.
In some embodiments, module 226 may include data indicating at
least a portion of the particular protected data is based on
greater than a particular number of data collections, said data
having access controlled by the device acquiring module 228. In
some embodiments, module 228 may include one or more of data
indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data is
temperature data based on greater than fifty measurements, said
data having access controlled by the device acquiring module 230
and data indicating at least a portion of the particular protected
data is based on greater than a particular number of data
collections resulting in data having a particular condition, said
data having access controlled by the device acquiring module 232.
In some embodiments, module 232 may include data indicating at
least a portion of the particular protected velocity data is based
on more than fifty collections of velocity data greater than fifty
MPH, said data having access controlled by the device acquiring
module 234.
[0122] Referring again to FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2C, as described
above, in some embodiments, module 152 may include module 216,
module 216 may include module 224, and module 224 may include
module 226, In some embodiments, module 226 may include one or more
of data indicating at least a portion of the particular protected
data is position data indicating that the device was located at a
particular position, said position data having access controlled by
the device acquiring module 236 and data indicating at least a
portion of the particular protected data is contact list data that
has more than twenty-five entries in the contact list, said contact
list data having access controlled by the device acquiring module
238.
[0123] Referring again to FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, in some
embodiments, module 152 may include derivation data that is derived
from device data for which the device controls access acquiring
module 240. In some embodiments, module 240 may include one or more
of anonymized data that is device data that has been anonymized,
said device data for which the device controls access acquiring
module 242, obscured data that is device data that has been
obscured, said device data for which the device controls access
acquiring module 244, and locked data that is device data for which
one or more device identifying portions of the device data that has
been modified, said device data access controlled by the device
acquiring module 248. In some embodiments, module 244 may include
obscured data that is device data that has been obscured by
changing device identifier data, said device data for which the
device controls access acquiring module 246. In some embodiments,
module 248 may include obscured data that is particular protected
data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the
particular protected data and a device identifier, said device
identifier configured to be calculable from the obfuscated
identifier acquiring module 250. In some embodiments, module 250
may include one or more of obscured data that is particular
protected data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated
from the particular protected data and a device identifier, said
device identifier configured to be calculable from the obfuscated
identifier only with assistance of a lookup table acquiring module
252 and obscured data that is particular protected data and an
obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the particular
protected data and a device identifier, said device identifier
configured to be calculable from the obfuscated identifier only
using key data acquiring module 254.
[0124] Referring again to FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2E, in some
embodiments, as described above, module 152 may include module 240,
and module 240 may include module 248. In some embodiments, module
248 may include one or more of locked data that is particular
protected data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated
from the particular protected data and a device identifier, said
device identifier configured to be irretrievable from the locked
identifier acquiring module 256, locked data that is particular
protected data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated
from the particular protected data and a device identifier, said
device identifier configured to be irretrievable from the
obfuscated identifier by the locked data acquiring entity acquiring
module 258, and locked data that is particular protected data and
an obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the
particular protected data and a device identifier, said locked data
acquiring entity configured to be unable to discern a
retrievability of the device identifier from the obfuscated
identifier acquiring module 260.
[0125] Referring now to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary
implementation of presentation of a proposal to assist in
performing at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module 154.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the presentation of a proposal to assist
in performing at least one device-related service in return for
access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module 154 may include one or more sub-logic modules in various
alternative implementations and embodiments. For example, as shown
in FIG. 3 (e.g., FIG. 3A), in some embodiments, module 154 may
include one or more of presentation of an offer to install at least
one program on the device in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 302 and
presentation of a proposal to perform at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion executing module 308. In some embodiments, module 302 may
include presentation of an offer to install at least one program on
the device configured to utilize data stored in the particular
protected portion of the device in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 304. In some
embodiments, module 304 may include presentation of an offer to
install at least one alternative-eatery finding program on the
device configured to utilize data stored in the particular
protected portion of the device in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 306.
[0126] Referring again to FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, module 154 may
include presentation of a proposal to assist in delivery of an
application configured to operate on the device at least one
device-related service in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 310. In some
embodiments, module 310 may include one or more of presentation of
a proposal to assist in delivery of an application configured to
require the particular protected portion of the device to function
in return for access to the device particular protected portion
facilitating module 312, presentation of a proposal to assist in
delivery of an application configured to operate using the
particular protected portion of the device in return for access to
the device particular protected portion facilitating module 314,
presentation of a proposal to provide access to an application
configured to perform one or more operations on data related to the
particular protected portion of the device in return for access to
the device particular protected portion facilitating module 316,
presentation of a location at which an application configured to
perform one or more operations on data related to the particular
protected portion of the device may be obtained in return for
access to the device particular protected portion facilitating
module 318, presentation of a proposal to assist in delivery of an
application configured to process data that is part of the
particular protected portion of the device in return for access to
the device particular protected portion facilitating module 320,
and presentation of a proposal to assist in delivery of an
application configured to operate on the device at least one
device-related service in return for access to the device
particular protected portion for purposes unrelated to the
application facilitating module 322.
[0127] Referring again to FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, in some
embodiments, module 154 may include one or more of at least one
service selecting at least partly based on acquired data module 324
and access to data acquired by the device as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module 326. In some embodiments, module 324 may
include at least one service selecting at least partly based on
acquired data regarding the particular protected portion of the
device module 328. In some embodiments, module 328 may include one
or more of at least one service selecting at least partly based on
acquired data indicating an amount of data stored in the particular
protected portion of the device module 330, at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data indicating a type
of data stored in the particular protected portion of the device
module 332, at least one service selecting at least partly based on
acquired data describing one or more sensors that are a portion of
the particular protected portion of the device module 334, at least
one service selecting at least partly based on acquired data
including sample data from one or more sensors that are a portion
of the particular protected portion of the device module 336, at
least one service selecting at least partly based on acquired
anonymized data including data from one or more particular
protected portion sensors that has been anonymized device module
338, and at least one service selecting at least partly based on
acquired anonymized data including data stored on at least part of
the particular protected portion that has been anonymized device
module 340.
[0128] Referring again to FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3D, in some
embodiments, module 154 may include one or more of at least one
service selecting at least partly based on anonymized version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device module 342
and access to data that will enable deanonymization of at least a
portion of the data from the particular protected portion acquired
by the device as negotiated result of facilitating a presentation
of an offer to provide the at least one selected services module
344. In some embodiments, module 342 may include one or more of at
least one service selecting at least partly based on version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device without
device uniquely identifying information module 346 and at least one
service selecting at least partly based on version of data from the
particular protected portion of the device for which device
uniquely identifying information has been modified module 348. In
some embodiments, module 348 may include one or more of at least
one service selecting at least partly based on version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device for which device
uniquely identifying information has been encrypted module 350 and
at least one service selecting at least partly based on version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device for which
device uniquely identifying information has been substituted for
data that is not device uniquely identifying module 352.
[0129] Referring again to FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3E, in some
embodiments, module 154 may include one or more of at least one
service selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data
from the particular protected portion of the device module 354 and
deobscuring of at least a portion of the data from the particular
protected portion acquired by the device as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module 356. In some embodiments, module 354 may
include at least one service selecting at least partly based on
obscured version of data from the particular protected portion of
the device that cannot solely identify the device module 358. In
some embodiments, module 358 may include one or more of at least
one service selecting at least partly based on obscured version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device that
cannot identify the device without access to a private lookup table
module 360 and at least one service selecting at least partly based
on obscured version of data from the particular protected portion
of the device that is random data in place of device identifying
data module 362. In some embodiments, module 356 may include one or
more of transforming obscured data from the particular protected
portion acquired by the device into device identifying data as
negotiated result of facilitating a presentation of an offer to
provide the at least one selected services module 370 and receiving
data enabling conversion of obscured data from the particular
protected portion acquired by the device into device identifying
data as negotiated result of facilitating a presentation of an
offer to provide the at least one selected services module 372. In
some embodiments, module 372 may include one or more of receiving
access to a lookup table enabling retrieval of obscured data from
the particular protected portion acquired by the device into device
identifying data as negotiated result of facilitating a
presentation of an offer to provide the at least one selected
services module 374.
[0130] Referring again to FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3F, in some
embodiments, as described above, module 154 may include module 354,
and module 354 may include module 358. In some embodiments, module
358 may include one or more of at least one service selecting at
least partly based on obscured version of data from the particular
protected portion of the device that is device identifying data to
which an obscuring algorithm has been applied module 364 and at
least one service selecting at least partly based on a masked
version of data from the particular protected portion of the device
that is device identifying data to which a masking technique has
been applied module 368. In some embodiments, module 364 may
include at least one service selecting at least partly based on
obscured version of data from the particular protected portion of
the device that is device identifying data to which a seed table
algorithm has been applied module 366. In some embodiments, as
described above, module 154 may include module 356, and module 356
may include module 372. In some embodiments, module 372 may include
receiving access to a lookup table enabling conversion of obscured
data from the particular protected portion acquired by the device
into device identifying data as negotiated result of facilitating a
presentation of an offer to provide the at least one selected
services module 376.
[0131] Referring now to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary
implementation of the performance of at least a portion of the one
or more services facilitating in response to a grant of access to
data acquired by the device module 156. As illustrated in FIG. 4,
the performance of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to data acquired by
the device module 156 may include one or more sub-logic modules in
various alternative implementations and embodiments. For example,
as shown in FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, in some embodiments, module 156
may include one or more of execution of at least a portion of a
distance traveled calculating service facilitating in response to a
grant of access to a positioning sensor data acquired by the device
module 402, assisting the device in executing at least a portion of
the one or more services facilitating in response to a grant of
access to data acquired by the device module 404, providing one or
more resources to a device to aid in performance of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to data
acquired by the device module 406, and providing one or more data
manipulation services to a device to aid in performance of the one
or more services facilitating in response to a grant of access to
data acquired by the device module 412. In some embodiments, module
406 may include providing one or more database resources to a
device to aid in performance of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to data acquired by
the device module 408. In some embodiments, module 408 may include
providing a restaurant menu database and a restaurant location
database to a device to aid in performance of an eating out
analysis service facilitating in response to a grant of access to
data acquired by the device module 410.
[0132] Referring again to FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B, in some
embodiments, module 156 may include one or more of performance of
at least a portion of the one or more services facilitating in
response to a grant of access to a protected sensor of the device
module 414, performance of at least a portion of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to data
acquired by the device and requiring specific permission to be
released to an external service module 420, and performance of at
least a portion of the one or more services facilitating in
response to a grant of access to data acquired by the device and
requiring user permission to be released to an external service
module 422. In some embodiments, module 414 may include one or more
of performance of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to a protected sensor
of the device to which a user must explicitly grant access module
416 and performance of at least a portion of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to a
protected sensor of the device to which a root-level program must
explicitly grant access module 418.
[0133] Following are a series of flowcharts depicting
implementations. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are
organized such that the initial flowcharts present implementations
via an example implementation and thereafter the following
flowcharts present alternate implementations and/or expansions of
the initial flowchart(s) as either sub-component operations or
additional component operations building on one or more
earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art will
appreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,
beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an
example implementation and thereafter providing additions to and/or
further details in subsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a
rapid and easy understanding of the various process
implementations. In addition, those skilled in the art will further
appreciate that the style of presentation used herein also lends
itself well to modular and/or object-oriented program design
paradigms.
[0134] Further, in FIG. 5 and in the figures to follow thereafter,
various operations may be depicted in a box-within-a-box manner.
Such depictions may indicate that an operation in an internal box
may comprise an optional example embodiment of the operational step
illustrated in one or more external boxes. However, it should be
understood that internal box operations may be viewed as
independent operations separate from any associated external boxes
and may be performed in any sequence with respect to all other
illustrated operations, or may be performed concurrently. Still
further, these operations illustrated in FIG. 5-8 as well as the
other operations to be described herein may be performed by at
least one of a machine, an article of manufacture, or a composition
of matter.
[0135] Referring now to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 shows operation 500, which
may include operation 502 depicting acquiring data regarding a
device having a particular protected portion for which the device
is configured to selectively allow access. For example, FIG. 1,
e.g., FIG. 1B, shows data related to a device having a particular
protected portion for which the device controls access acquiring
module 152 acquiring (e.g., receiving, retrieving, picking up,
creating, generating, intercepting, reading, hearing, detecting,
and the like) data regarding (e.g., data about any aspect, whether
temporary or permanent, or whether related to the environment) a
device (e.g., a piece of equipment and/or a person or entity that
may use that equipment) having a particular protected portion
(e.g., a contact list where a list of the user of the device's
contacts are stored, and the particular protected portion can refer
to either or both of the contact list data and the physical place
in memory at which the contact list data is stored) for which the
device (e.g., a smartphone) is configured to selectively allow
access (e.g., prior to accessing (e.g., reading, writing,
modifying, or otherwise operating upon) the contact list data, the
device determines whether the entity attempting to access the
contact list data has permission to do so, e.g., in an embodiment,
some of the applications loaded on the smartphone may have access
to the contact list data, and some may not).
[0136] Referring again to FIG. 5, operation 500 may include
operation 504 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out at least one service, said at least one service at least
partly related to the device, in exchange for access to the
particular protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 1,
e.g., FIG. 1B, shows presentation of a proposal to assist in
performing at least one device-related service in return for access
to the device particular protected portion facilitating module 154
facilitating (e.g., taking one or more actions that, whether
directly or indirectly, are intended to assist in the completion,
execution, or carrying out of at least a portion of) presentation
(e.g., a communication to a user) of an offer (e.g., a presentation
to a potential recipient for which the recipient is free to accept
or reject, e.g., which may be in the form of, for example "this is
a service we are willing to provide, are you interested," or any
variant of that) to carry out (e.g., execute, intend to execute, or
begin executing, or taking one or more steps to allow the execution
of) at least one service (e.g., a "where are your friends" service
that shows a user of a device where the user's friends, e.g., the
people listed in the user's contact list, are located), said at
least one service (e.g., the "where are the user's friends"
service) at least partly related (e.g., related in any way,
regardless of how tenuous, e.g., in the example listed herein, the
service is related because there is a contact list present on the
smartphone, which for purposes of an embodiment of this
application, is more than sufficient to establish "related") to the
device (e.g., the smartphone which has the user's friends stored on
it in the form of a contact list), in exchange for access (e.g.,
one or more of reading, writing, modifying, altering, deleting,
encrypting, transmitting, receiving, or performing any of one or
more actions or operations upon) to the particular protected
portion (e.g., the user's contact list) of the device (e.g., the
user's smartphone).
[0137] Referring again to FIG. 5, operation 500 may include
operation 506 depicting facilitating performance of at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to the particular
protected portion of the device. For example. FIG. 1, e.g., FIG.
1B, shows performance of at least a portion of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to data
acquired by the device module 156 facilitating (e.g., taking one or
more actions that, whether directly or indirectly, are intended to
assist in the completion, execution, or carrying out of at least a
portion of) performance (e.g., one or more steps or instructions in
executing or carrying out) of at least a portion of the at least
one service (e.g., the "where are the user's friends" service) that
is at least partly related to the device (e.g., correlated in any
way, regardless of how tenuous, e.g., in the example listed herein,
the service is related because there is a contact list present on
the smartphone, which for purposes of an embodiment of this
application, is more than sufficient to establish "related"), in
response to a grant of access (e.g., the giving of one or more
authentication tools, e.g., passwords, privileges, logins,
addresses, and the like, or permission, authorization,
authentication, and the like to one or more of reading, writing,
modifying, altering, deleting, encrypting, transmitting, receiving,
or performing any of one or more actions or operations upon) to the
particular protected portion (e.g., the user's contact list) of the
device (e.g., the user's smartphone
[0138] FIGS. 6A-6F depict various implementations of operation 502,
depicting acquiring data regarding a device having a particular
protected portion for which the device is configured to selectively
allow access according to embodiments. Referring now to FIG. 6A,
operation 502 may include operation 602 depicting acquiring data
regarding a device having a particular sensor configured to collect
information for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows data related to a
device having a particular protected sensor for which the device
controls access acquiring module 202 acquiring data (e.g., data
that says "this sensor collected 55 megabytes of data over the last
seven days," or "this sensor collected 25 blocks of data at this
particular location," or "the data collected by this sensor appears
to indicate that the user enjoys this location") regarding a device
(e.g., a smartphone, e.g., an Apple iPhone) having a particular
sensor (e.g., an accelerometer) configured to collect information
(e.g., information regarding the device's movements, and by
extension, the user's movements) for which the device is configured
to selectively allow access (e.g., not all external entities, or
internal programs and entities, may have access to the
accelerometer data, and the device may control which entities have
access).
[0139] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 602 may include
operation 604 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having a
particular sensor configured to collect information for which the
device is configured to selectively allow access. For example, FIG.
2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows position data related to a device having a
particular protected position sensor for which the device controls
access acquiring module 204 acquiring data (e.g., data indicating
that over one hundred pictures have been taken) regarding a device
having a particular sensor (e.g., an image capturing sensor)
configured to collect information (e.g., pictures) for which the
device (e.g., a network-enabled digital camera) is configured to
selectively allow access (e.g., the user's home computer may have
access, but unspecified computers that attempt to communicate with
the digital camera do not).
[0140] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 604 may include
operation 606 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having a
positioning sensor configured to collect position information of
the device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more entities. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2A,
shows position data related to a device having a particular
protected position sensor for which the device controls access to
one or more entities acquiring module 206 acquiring data regarding
a device having a positioning sensor configured to collect position
information of the device (e.g., a built-in motor vehicle control
system), for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more entities (e.g., the user is allowed access,
and programs authorized by the vehicle manufacturer also may have
access, but other programs may not have access).
[0141] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 606 may include
operation 608 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having a
positioning sensor configured to collect position information of
the device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more applications on the device. For example, FIG.
2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows position data related to a device having a
particular protected position sensor for which the device controls
access to one or more device programs acquiring module 208
acquiring data regarding a device (e.g., a tablet device, e.g., a
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10) having a positioning sensor configured to
collect position information of the device, for which the device is
configured to selectively allow access to one or more applications
(e.g., map applications) on the device.
[0142] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 608 may include
operation 610 depicting receiving an indication that the device has
a positioning sensor configured to collect position information of
the device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more applications on the device. For example, FIG.
2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows position data indicating a particular
protected position sensor is present on the device, and that the
device controls access to the position sensor for one or more
device programs acquiring module 210 receiving an indication that
the device has a positioning sensor (e.g., receiving a flag
indicating "yes" regarding whether a positioning sensor exists)
configured to collect position information of the device (e.g., a
bargain tablet device), for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access to one or more applications on the device
(e.g., Automated Teller Machine ("ATM") device finder
applications).
[0143] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 608 may include
operation 612 depicting receiving an indication that the
positioning sensor configured to collect position information of
the device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more applications on the device, has collected
twenty-five unique positions in the previous twenty-four hours. For
example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows position data indicating a
number of data collected by a particular protected position sensor
on the device, and that the device controls access to the data for
one or more device programs acquiring module 212 receiving an
indication that the positioning sensor configured to collect
position information of the device (e.g., a personal navigation
system that is mountable in a car windshield), for which the device
is configured to selectively allow access to one or more
applications on the device (e.g., a "church finder" application),
has collected twenty-five unique positions in the previous
twenty-four hours.
[0144] Referring again to FIG. 6A, operation 606 may include
operation 614 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having a
positioning sensor configured to collect position information of
the device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access to one or more other devices configured to communicate with
the device. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2A, shows position data
related to a device having a particular protected position sensor
for which the device controls access to one or more other devices
in communication with the device acquiring module 214 acquiring
data (e.g., how much time the device stays within a particular
area, without getting data regarding the actual position with more
granularity) regarding a device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., a
Samsung Android phone) having a positioning sensor configured to
collect position information of the device, for which the device is
configured to selectively allow access to one or more other devices
(e.g., other devices which are identified by the user as "friend"
devices have full access to the data from the positioning sensor
and can see where the device is).
[0145] Referring now to FIG. 6B, operation 502 may include
operation 616 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having
particular protected data for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows
data related to a device having particular protected data for which
the device controls access acquiring module 216 acquiring data
regarding a device (e.g., acquiring an amount of free space left on
the device) regarding a device (e.g., a cellular phone with limited
features) having particular protected data (e.g., a log of all the
text messages sent by the device) for which the device is
configured to selectively allow access (e.g., only the text
messaging delivery service has access to the log, and not, for
example, the search function).
[0146] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 616 may include
operation 618 depicting acquiring data regarding a device having
contact list data for which the device is configured to selectively
allow access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows data
related to a device having protected contact list data for which
the device controls access acquiring module 218 acquiring data
regarding a device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., a an HTC Evo phone)
having contact list data for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access (e.g., an e-mail application of the device
may have access to the contact list information, but a spreadsheet
application may not have access to the contact list).
[0147] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 616 may include
operation 620 depicting acquiring data indicating an amount of
particular protected data for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows
data indicating an amount of particular protected data on a device
for which the device controls access acquiring module 220 acquiring
data indicating an amount of particular protected data (e.g., "this
device has 500 MB of pictures stored," or "this device has a
contact list with more than 55 contacts," or "this device has seven
different unique user logins," or "this device collects 57 weather
measurements every hour," or "this device collects 24 still images
per hour") for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access (e.g., a decision is made whether to allow access when a
user, entity, or application attempts to access the data).
[0148] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 620 may include
operation 622 depicting acquiring data indicating an amount of
particular protected data stored on the device, for which the
device is configured to selectively allow access. For example, FIG.
2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows data indicating an amount of particular
protected data stored on the device and for which the device
controls access acquiring module 222 acquiring data indicating an
amount of particular protected data (e.g., "this device has twenty
five songs stored on the device," or "this device has 2 GB of music
stored on it," or "this device has 75 different songs from Norah
Jones," or "this device has 1,600 MB of music purchased from Amazon
MP3," or "this device has more than fifty songs produced by BMG
music stored on the device") stored on the device, for which the
device is configured to selectively allow access (e.g., some of the
entities that access the device may have rights to read or write to
the area of memory where the songs are stored, and some may
not).
[0149] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 616 may include
operation 624 depicting acquiring data indicating a property of
particular protected data for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows
data indicating at least one characteristic of particular protected
data for which the device controls access acquiring module 224
acquiring data indicating a property of particular protected data
(e.g., "velocity data indicating that the device spends at least
one hour a day traveling between five and eight miles per hour,"
but no additional information about the velocity or specific
velocities at any particular time) for which the device (e.g., an
exercise assistant watch) is configured to selectively allow access
(e.g., access is granted through Bluetooth to the user's home
computer device, but not to other devices).
[0150] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 624 may include
operation 626 depicting acquiring data indicating that at least a
portion of the particular protected data corresponds to a
predetermined condition. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows
data indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data
meets a predetermined condition, said data having access controlled
by the device acquiring module 226 acquiring data indicating that
at least a portion of the particular protected data (e.g., "at
least twenty weather measurements were taken within the target
area," or "at least twenty of the pictures stored on the device
were taken between 6 and 8 pm," or "at least five of the pictures
stored on the device were of the target entity," or "at least
twenty of the text messages sent by the device in the last
twenty-four hours contain the words "Justin Bieber," or "at least
seven of the barometric pressure readings showed a barometric
pressure of greater than twenty-eight bars") corresponds to a
predetermined condition (e.g., some condition about the data, e.g.,
a size, a number of samples, a specific type of result, and the
like).
[0151] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 626 may include
operation 628 depicting acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data includes more than a particular number of
data points. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows data
indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data is
based on greater than a particular number of data collections, said
data having access controlled by the device acquiring module 228
acquiring data indicating that the particular protected data (e.g.,
wireless network detection data) includes more than a particular
number of data points (e.g., wireless networks were detected in
more than twenty coffee shop locations, or more than twenty
unsecured wireless networks were detected).
[0152] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 628 may include
operation 630 depicting acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data, which includes temperature data, has
more than fifty data points at which the temperature was measured
and stored. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows data
indicating at least a portion of the particular protected data is
temperature data based on greater than fifty measurements, said
data having access controlled by the device acquiring module 230
acquiring data (e.g., which, in an embodiment, may be as simple as
a flag indicating that the data condition has been met or not)
indicating that the particular protected data, which includes
temperature data, has more than fifty data points at which the
temperature was measured and stored.
[0153] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 628 may include
operation 632 depicting acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data includes more than a particular number of
data points, said data points meeting a particular condition. For
example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows data indicating at least a
portion of the particular protected data is based on greater than a
particular number of data collections resulting in data having a
particular condition, said data having access controlled by the
device acquiring module 232 acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data includes more than a particular number of
data points (e.g., velocity measurements from an in-car navigation
system), said data points meeting a particular condition (e.g., the
car was traveling faster than the posted speed limit at the time of
the measurement).
[0154] Referring again to FIG. 6B, operation 632 may include
operation 634 depicting acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data, which includes velocity measurements,
includes more than fifty measurements of velocity greater than
fifty miles per hour. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2B, shows
data indicating at least a portion of the particular protected
velocity data is based on more than fifty collections of velocity
data greater than fifty MPH, said data having access controlled by
the device acquiring module 234 acquiring data, indicating that the
particular protected data, which includes velocity measurements,
includes more than fifty measurements of velocity greater than
fifty miles per hour.
[0155] Referring now to FIG. 6C, operation 626 may include
operation 636 depicting acquiring data indicating that at least a
portion of the particular protected data, which includes position
data, indicates that the device was positioned at a particular
location. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2C, shows data indicating
at least a portion of the particular protected data is position
data indicating that the device was located at a particular
position, said position data having access controlled by the device
acquiring module 236 acquiring data indicating that at least a
portion of the particular protected data, which includes position
data, indicates that the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., an Apple
iPhone) was positioned at a particular location (e.g., a trendy new
restaurant).
[0156] Referring again to FIG. 6C, operation 626 may include
operation 638 depicting acquiring data indicating that the
particular protected data, which includes a contact list, has more
than twenty-five entries in the contact list. For example, FIG. 2,
e.g., FIG. 2C, shows data indicating at least a portion of the
particular protected data is contact list data that has more than
twenty-five entries in the contact list, said contact list data
having access controlled by the device acquiring module 238
acquiring data indicating that the particular protected data, which
includes a contact list, has more than twenty-five entries in the
contact list.
[0157] Referring now to FIG. 6D, operation 502 may include
operation 640 depicting acquiring data that is related to
particular protected data stored on a device, for which the device
is configured to selectively allow access. For example, FIG. 2,
e.g., FIG. 2D, shows derivation data that is derived from device
data for which the device controls access acquiring module 240
acquiring data that is related to (e.g., that is similar to, or
that contains information about, or that is of a same type)
particular protected data stored on a device (e.g., a tablet
device), for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access (e.g., the device allows full access to read and write the
data to some entities, and allows partial or no access to other
entities).
[0158] Referring again to FIG. 6D, operation 640 may include
operation 642 depicting acquiring anonymized data that is an
anonymized version of particular protected data stored on the
device, for which the device is configured to selectively allow
access. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows anonymized data
that is device data that has been anonymized, said device data for
which the device controls access acquiring module 242 acquiring
anonymized data (e.g., data that does not uniquely identify a
device and/or a user from which the data originated) that is an
anonymized version (e.g., a version for which the identifying data,
which may be uniquely identifying data, has been modified, removed,
altered, or otherwise obscured) of particular protected data (e.g.,
position data collected by the position sensor) stored on the
device (e.g., a smartphone device, e.g., a Nokia Lumia 920), for
which the device is configured to selectively allow access (e.g.,
the device prompts the user whether to grant access to an
application trying to access the position data; in an embodiment,
the prompt occurs the first time a particular application attempts
to access the data, in another embodiment, the prompt occurs every
time a particular application attempts to access the data, and in
yet another embodiment, the prompt occurs on a periodic basis,
e.g., once a week).
[0159] Referring again to FIG. 6D, operation 640 may include
operation 644 depicting acquiring obscured data whose origin has
been obscured, said obscured data corresponding to at least a
portion of the particular protected data stored on the device, for
which the device is configured to selectively allow access. For
example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows obscured data that is device
data that has been obscured, said device data for which the device
controls access acquiring module 244 acquiring obscured data whose
origin (e.g., the device and/or the user that collected or
otherwise originated, e.g., entered, gathered, collected, received
from another source and modified, and the like) has been obscured
(e.g., data that uniquely identifies the origin device and/or user
has been modified so that the data on its face no longer uniquely
identifies the origin device and/or the origin user), said obscured
data corresponding to at least a portion (e.g., in some
embodiments, portion may mean a subset of the data, and in other
embodiments, portion may mean a less-specific version of the data,
e.g., rather than giving exact position data, giving position data
within five miles, or rather than giving contact list information,
giving first and last initials of contacts) of the particular
protected data (e.g., position information) stored on the device
(e.g., a personal navigation system that can be mounted to an
interior of a motor vehicle), for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access (e.g., an application on the device, e.g.,
a "church finder" application, must receive authorization from the
device to access the position data).
[0160] Referring again to FIG. 6D, operation 644 may include
operation 646 depicting acquiring obscured data whose origin device
has been obscured by altering a device identifier that is unique to
that device, said obscured data corresponding to at least a portion
of the particular protected data stored on the device, for which
the device is configured to selectively allow access. For example,
FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows obscured data that is device data that
has been obscured by changing device identifier data, said device
data for which the device controls access acquiring module 246
acquiring obscured data whose origin device (e.g., the device to
which the data was inputted, or the device that collected the data,
or the device that modified the data into its present form) has
been obscured by altering a device identifier that is unique to
that device (e.g., for an Apple-branded device, an Apple identifier
issued by Apple Corporation), said obscured data corresponding to
at least a portion of the particular protected data (e.g., the
contact list) stored on the device (e.g., an iMac personal computer
that runs an email program with a contact list feature, e.g.,
Microsoft Outlook), for which the device is configured to
selectively allow access (e.g., not every application on the iMac
can access the contact list data).
[0161] Referring again to FIG. 6D, operation 640 may include
operation 648 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows
locked data that is device data for which one or more device
identifying portions of the device data that has been modified,
said device data for which the device controls access acquiring
module 248 acquiring locked data that is related to (e.g., is a
less-specific subset of) the particular protected data (e.g.,
barometric pressure data collected by a barometer of a device),
wherein the particular protected data includes collected data
(e.g., barometric pressure data) of the device (e.g., a home
weather station) and a device identifier (e.g., the home weather
station identification code assigned at time of sale of the home
weather station to the end user), and the locked data includes the
collected data of the device (e.g., the barometric pressure data
collected by the barometer of the home weather station) and an
obfuscated identifier (e.g., the home weather station
identification code, but modified by applying one or more data
transformations to the home weather station identification
code).
[0162] Referring again to FIG. 6D, operation 648 may include
operation 650 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the position data of the device and an
obfuscated identifier, wherein the device identifier is configured
to be obtainable from the obfuscated identifier. For example, FIG.
2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows obscured data that is particular protected
data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the
particular protected data and a device identifier, said device
identifier configured to be calculable from the obfuscated
identifier acquiring module 250 acquiring locked data that is
related to the particular protected data (e.g., the locked data is
the same as the particular protected data, but with the obfuscated
identifier). wherein the particular protected data includes
collected data (e.g., collected position data from a GPS sensor of
the device) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., a Samsung
Galaxy S3) and a device identifier (e.g., a device SIM card
identification number), and the locked data includes the position
data of the device (e.g., the smartphone, e.g., the Samsung Galaxy
S3) and an obfuscated identifier (e.g., an identifier that
represents the device SIM card identification number to which a
known algorithm has been applied to change the identification
number), wherein the device identifier is configured to be
obtainable from the obfuscated identifier (e.g., if the algorithm
is known, the reverse of the algorithm can be applied by the
acquiring entity to arrive at the device identifier).
[0163] Referring now to FIG. 6E, operation 650 may include
operation 652 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier, wherein the device identifier is
configured to be obtainable from the obfuscated identifier using a
lookup table. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows obscured
data that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier
that has been generated from the particular protected data and a
device identifier, said device identifier configured to be
calculable from the obfuscated identifier only with assistance of a
lookup table acquiring module 252 acquiring locked data that is
related to the particular protected data (e.g., a list of songs
stored on the device), wherein the particular protected data
includes collected data (e.g., the device tracks what songs are
loaded onto the device and maintains the list) of the device (e.g.,
a portable music player, e.g., a Microsoft Zune) and a device
identifier (e.g., a unique username associated with the device,
e.g., a Zune Marketplace ID), and the locked data includes the
collected data of the device and an obfuscated identifier (e.g., an
identifier that does not reveal the unique username), wherein the
device identifier is configured to be obtainable from the obscured
identifier using a lookup table (e.g., when the device identifier
is obscured into a different identifier, the relationship between
the device identifier and the obscured identifier is stored in a
lookup table, so that with access to the lookup table, the device
identifier can be retrieved by looking up the obscured identifier
in the lookup table).
[0164] Referring again to FIG. 6E, operation 650 may include
operation 654 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier, wherein the device identifier is
configured to be obtainable from the obfuscated identifier using a
key data. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2D, shows obscured data
that is particular protected data and an obfuscated identifier that
has been generated from the particular protected data and a device
identifier, said device identifier configured to be calculable from
the obfuscated identifier only using key data acquiring module 254
acquiring locked data that is related to the particular protected
data (e.g., a list of the last five restaurant locations the device
visited), wherein the particular protected data (e.g., location
data) includes collected data (e.g., location data collected by the
position sensor) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., an Apple
iPhone) and a device identifier (e.g., a unique ID associated with
the device), and the locked data includes the collected data of the
device and an obfuscated identifier (e.g., an encrypted version of
the device identifier, e.g., the unique ID, e.g., encrypted by RSA
encryption), wherein the device identifier is configured to be
obtainable from the obfuscated identifier using a key data (e.g., a
private key, which could be used to decrypt the obfuscated
identifier and arrive at the device identifier).
[0165] Referring now to FIG. 6F, operation 648 may include
operation 656 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier, wherein the device identifier cannot be
retrieved from the obfuscated identifier. For example, FIG. 2,
e.g., FIG. 2E, shows obscured data that is particular protected
data and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the
particular protected data and a device identifier, said device
identifier configured to be irretrievable from the obfuscated
identifier acquiring module 256 acquiring locked data that is
related to the particular protected data (e.g., position data),
wherein the particular protected data includes collected data of
the device (e.g., data collected by a position sensor of the
device, e.g., a positioning watch) and a device identifier (e.g., a
network ID address assigned by the network to that device, which
may be unique for at least one communication session), and the
locked data includes the collected data of the device and an
obfuscated identifier (e.g., the device identifier that has been
replaced with random numbers, or simply replaced with a text string
that informs that the device identifier data has been removed),
wherein the device identifier cannot be retrieved from the
obfuscated identifier (e.g., the device identifier is overwritten
by random or specific data that has no direct correlation with the
device identifier, and reversal information is not stored or saved,
so that the original device identifier cannot be retrieved after
the writing of the obfuscated identifier).
[0166] Referring again to FIG. 6F, operation 648 may include
operation 658 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier, wherein the device identifier cannot be
retrieved from the obfuscated identifier by the entity that
acquired the locked data. For example, FIG. 2, e.g., FIG. 2E, shows
locked data that is particular protected data and an identifier
that has been generated from the particular protected data and a
device identifier, said device identifier configured to be
irretrievable from the obfuscated identifier by the locked data
acquiring entity acquiring module 258 acquiring locked data that is
related to the particular protected data (e.g., picture data from
the device), wherein the particular protected data includes
collected data of the device (e.g., collected picture data
collected from a smartphone using a SIM card, e.g., a T-Mobile
branded phone) and a device identifier (e.g., a SIM card
identification number), and the locked data includes the collected
data of the device and an obfuscated identifier (e.g., the device
SIM card identification number, mixed in with other SIM card
identification numbers, which may or may not be real SIM card
identification numbers, such that it cannot be determined on the
face of the numbers which identification number is the true
identification number), wherein the device identifier cannot be
retrieved from the obfuscated identifier by the entity that
acquired the locked data (e.g., the acquiring entity has no way of
determining which identification number is the true identification
number, so even though the device has the information, and could
correctly guess the true SIM card identification, it cannot be sure
it has the right data, and thus the device identifier "cannot be
retrieved" as used in this application).
[0167] Referring again to FIG. 6F, operation 648 may include
operation 660 depicting acquiring locked data that is related to
the particular protected data, wherein the particular protected
data includes collected data of the device and a device identifier,
and the locked data includes the collected data of the device and
an obfuscated identifier, wherein the acquiring entity is unable to
discern, from the locked data, whether the device identifier can be
retrieved from the obfuscated identifier. For example, FIG. 2,
e.g., FIG. 2E, shows locked data that is particular protected data
and an obfuscated identifier that has been generated from the
particular protected data and a device identifier, said locked data
acquiring entity configured to be unable to discern a
retrievability of the device identifier from the obfuscated
identifier acquiring module 360 acquiring locked data that is
related to the particular protected data (e.g., velocity data from
a built-in in-vehicle motor vehicle control and monitoring system),
wherein the particular protected data includes the collected data
of the device (e.g., velocity data) and a device identifier (e.g.,
a VIN number of the motor vehicle, or a license plate number of the
motor vehicle, or a driver of the vehicle's driver's license
number), and the locked data includes the collected data of the
device and an obfuscated identifier (e.g., an identifier that looks
like the device identifier but that has been modified), wherein the
acquiring entity is unable to discern, from the locked data,
whether the device identifier can be retrieved from the obfuscated
identifier (e.g., the acquiring entity, by looking at the
obfuscated identifier, cannot tell if it has merely been
overwritten by random data, in which case it is not retrievable, or
if the data is the device identifier data to which an algorithm has
been applied, in which case the data would be retrievable).
[0168] FIGS. 7A-7I depict various implementations of operation 504,
depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to carry out at
least one service, said at least one service at least partly
related to the device, in exchange for access to the particular
protected portion of the device, according to embodiments.
Referring now to FIG. 7A, operation 504 may include operation 702
depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to make
installation available of at least one application on the device,
said at least one application using the particular protected
portion, in exchange for access to the particular protected portion
of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3A, shows
presentation of an offer to install at least one program on the
device in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module 302 facilitating (e.g., performing one
or more actions that assist in the execution or completion of)
presentation (e.g., display, through any combination of visual and
non-visual interfaces) of an offer (e.g., a presentation to a
potential recipient for which the recipient is free to accept or
reject, e.g., which may be in the form of, for example "this is a
service we are willing to provide, are you interested," or any
variant of that) to make installation available of (e.g., transmit
the application onto so that the device, or transmit an installer
program to the device, or provide instructions for retrieving from
a location) at least one application (e.g., a road trip planning
application that plans stops along a route) on the device (e.g., a
personal navigation system whether built into the car or separate),
said at least one application using the particular protected
portion (e.g., a portion that determines the vehicle's speed,
and/or, in an embodiment, whether the vehicle is on cruise
control), in exchange for access to the particular protected
portion (e.g., the speed meter and/or the speed data stored on the
device) of the device (e.g., the personal navigation system).
[0169] Referring again to FIG. 7A, operation 702 may include
operation 704 depicting instructing the device to display an offer
to make installation available of at least one application on the
device, said at least one application using the particular
protected portion, in exchange for access to the particular
protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG.
3A, shows presentation of an offer to install at least one program
on the device configured to utilize data stored in the particular
protected portion of the device in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 304 instructing
the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., an Apple iPhone) to display
an offer to make installation available (e.g., display a screen
that says "Press OK to grant access to your position and install
the "Cool Road Trip" application (e.g., an application that plans
stops and sights and bathroom breaks on a road trip)) of at least
one application on the device (e.g., the "Cool Road Trip"
application), said at least one application using the particular
protected portion (e.g., position information derived from a GPS
sensor, which, in an embodiment, also may be stored in memory), in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion (e.g., the
position information, either pulled from the sensor or stored in
memory, or both) of the device (e.g., the smartphone, e.g., the
Apple iPhone).
[0170] Referring again to FIG. 7A, operation 704 may include
operation 706 depicting instructing the device to display an offer
to make installation available of a healthy-eating alternative
listing application on the device, said healthy-eating alternative
listing application using a positioning sensor of the device, in
exchange for access to the positioning sensor of the device. For
example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows presentation of an offer to
install at least one alternative-eatery finding program on the
device configured to utilize data stored in the particular
protected portion of the device in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 306 instructing
the device to display an offer to make installation available of a
healthy eating alternative listing application on the device (e.g.,
a tablet device, e.g., an ASUS Transformer), said healthy eating
alternative listing application using a positioning sensor of the
device (e.g., using the position to find nearby healthy
restaurants), in exchange for access to the positioning sensor of
the device (e.g., the tablet device).
[0171] Referring again to FIG. 7A, operation 504 may include
operation 708 depicting carrying out at least one action that
assists in presentation of an offer to carry out at least one
service, said at least one service at least partly related to the
device, in exchange for access to the particular protected portion
of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3A, shows
presentation of a proposal to perform at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion executing module 308 carrying out at least one action
(e.g., giving out a login and a password that will allow a user of
a device to download an application for the device) that assists in
presentation of an offer to carry out at least one service (e.g.,
an application that plans concerts to go to), said at least one
service at least partly related to the device (e.g., the device may
be a portable music player, and the service may be related to live
music), in exchange for access to the particular protected portion
(e.g., the user's identification of her favorite songs on the
device) of the device (e.g., the portable music player, e.g., a
Microsoft Zune HD).
[0172] Referring now to FIG. 7B, operation 504 may include
operation 710 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application, said application at least partly related to
the device, in exchange for access to the particular protected
portion of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows
presentation of a proposal to assist in delivery of an application
configured to operate on the device at least one device-related
service in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module 310 facilitating presentation of an
offer to provide an application (e.g., a hiking trail status
tracking application), said application at least partly related to
the device (e.g., the device was previously detected in a
wilderness area with a high density of hiking trails), in exchange
for access to the particular protected portion (e.g., a temperature
sensor) of the device (e.g., a smartphone).
[0173] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 712 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application, said application requiring access to the
particular protected portion of the device to operate properly, in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a
proposal to assist in delivery of an application configured to
require the particular protected portion of the device to function
in return for access to the device particular protected portion
facilitating module 312 facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application (e.g., a "friend finder" application), said
application requiring access to the particular protected portion
(e.g., a contact list) of the device (e.g., a computer with
Microsoft Outlook installed, which has a contact list service) to
operate properly (e.g., the application uses a Microsoft
Outlook-formatted contact list to determine who the device's
friends are, so it can locate them, and without that type of
formatted contact list, cannot properly gather all of the device
user's friends that are stored on the device's contact list), in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device (e.g., the Microsoft Outlook-formatted contact list).
[0174] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 714 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application, said application using the particular
protected portion of the device, in exchange for access to the
particular protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 3,
e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a proposal to assist in
delivery of an application configured to operate using the
particular protected portion of the device in return for access to
the device particular protected portion facilitating module 314
facilitating presentation of an offer to provide an application
(e.g., a pickup football game scheduler that compares friends'
locations and schedules), said application using the particular
protected portion of the device (e.g., a telephone number contact
list stored on a smartphone), in exchange for access to the
particular protected portion (e.g., the block of memory where the
telephone number contact list is stored) of the device (e.g., a
smartphone, e.g., an HTC Evo).
[0175] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 716 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide access to an application, said application using the
particular protected portion of the device, in exchange for access
to the particular protected portion of the device. For example,
FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a proposal to provide
access to an application configured to perform one or more
operations on data related to the particular protected portion of
the device in return for access to the device particular protected
portion facilitating module 316 facilitating presentation (e.g.,
providing the "downloading" graphic) of an offer to provide access
(e.g., provide a username and password to log onto a bicycle-riding
mapping application website) to an application (e.g.,
bicycle-riding mapping application), said application using the
particular protected portion (e.g., the portion of memory that
stores position data and speed data taken from the ride) of the
device (e.g., the website runs a Java applet that retrieves
position and speed data from the device), in exchange for access to
the particular protected portion (e.g., the portion of memory that
stores position data and speed data taken from the ride) of the
device (e.g., a ride-tracking device, e.g., that gets strapped to
the bicycle during a ride, but that has a web browser for accessing
the internet, along with other features).
[0176] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 718 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide a location at which an application may be downloaded, said
application using the particular protected portion of the device,
in exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a
location at which an application configured to perform one or more
operations on data related to the particular protected portion of
the device may be obtained in return for access to the device
particular protected portion facilitating module 318 facilitating
presentation of an offer to provide a location (e.g., a computer on
an enterprise network run by a corporation) at which an application
(e.g., a time tracking application) may be downloaded, said
application using the particular protected portion (e.g., the
portion of the memory that shows which application windows are open
on a computer, and for what duration) of the device (e.g., a user's
work computer), in exchange for access to the particular protected
portion of the device (e.g., the user's work computer).
[0177] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 720 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application, said application using data that is part of
the particular protected portion of the device, in exchange for
access to the particular protected portion of the device. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a proposal to
assist in delivery of an application configured to process data
that is part of the particular protected portion of the device in
return for access to the device particular protected portion
facilitating module 320 facilitating presentation of an offer
(e.g., sending an instruction to the device to display the offer)
to provide an application (e.g., a balanced-budget application),
said application using data (e.g., financial data from a
spreadsheet, e.g., a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) that is part of
the particular protected portion (e.g., the Excel-formatted
spreadsheet is stored in an area of memory that is restricted, and
the financial data is part of the spreadsheet) of the device (e.g.,
a user's home computer), in exchange for access to the particular
protected portion (e.g., accessing other spreadsheets stored in the
memory also, e.g., it does not have to be only the spreadsheet for
which the information used to carry out the application is located)
of the device (e.g., the user's home computer).
[0178] Referring again to FIG. 7B, operation 710 may include
operation 722 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
provide an application, said application using data that is part of
the particular protected portion of the device, in exchange for
access to the particular protected portion of the device for one or
more purposes other than carrying out the application. For example,
FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3B, shows presentation of a proposal to assist
in delivery of an application configured to operate on the device
at least one device-related service in return for access to the
device particular protected portion for purposes unrelated to the
application facilitating module 322 facilitating presentation
(e.g., providing the graphics to the device that indicate what
should be displayed to the user) of an offer to provide an
application (e.g., to transmit an application, e.g., a high score
tracking application), said application using data that is part of
the particular protected portion (e.g., the area of memory where
overall non-game specific game playing statistics are stored) of
the device (e.g., a game system, e.g., a new Nintendo Wii), in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion of the
device (e.g., the area of memory where game playing statistics are
stored) for one or more purposes (e.g., predicting similar
min-games or in-game items the user might purchase) other than
carrying out the application (e.g., tracking the user's high scores
on different days and at different times to show the user when the
best time to play is based on her habits).
[0179] Referring now to FIG. 7C, operation 504 may include
operation 724 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data module 324
selecting the at least one service (e.g., an in-game item
recommending service) at least partly based on the acquired data
(e.g., data regarding which games are played for which duration)
regarding the device (e.g., a game system, e.g., a computer running
a gaming client, e.g., Steam, or a game web portal, e.g.,
Kongregate).
[0180] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 504 may include
operation 726 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
access to the particular protected portion of the device. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows access to data acquired by
the device as negotiated result of facilitating a presentation of
an offer to provide the at least one selected services module 726
facilitating presentation of an offer to carry out the selected at
least one service (e.g., the in-game item recommending service),
said at least one service at least partly related to the device
(e.g., the service relates to buying items in a game, and the
device is a game system or a computer running a gaming client), in
exchange for access to the particular protected portion (e.g., a
breakdown of which games were played and when, and for how long,
and what other games might be played or stored on the user's
device) of the device (e.g., a computer running a gaming
client).
[0181] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 724 may include
operation 728 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the particular
protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG.
3C, shows at least one service selecting at least partly based on
acquired data regarding the particular protected portion of the
device module 328 selecting the at least one service (e.g., a
picture classification service) at least partly based on the
acquired data (e.g., data indicating that the user has over 500
pictures in a single directory) regarding the particular protected
portion (e.g., at least one area of memory where pictures are
stored) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., a Nokia Lumia
Windows phone, or a desktop computer).
[0182] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 730 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data indicating an amount of data
stored in at least a part of the particular protected portion of
the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on acquired data indicating
an amount of data stored as part of the particular protected
portion of the device module 330 selecting the at least one service
(e.g., an "application deleting to free up memory" service) at
least partly based on the acquired data indicating an amount of
data (e.g., an amount of application data, and/or whether the
device is close to capacity) store in at least a part of the
particular protected portion (e.g., a portion of the memory that
stores applications) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., a
Google Android-based phone).
[0183] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 732 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data indicating a type of data stored
in at least a part of the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on acquired data indicating
a type of data stored in the particular protected portion of the
device module 332 selecting the at least one service (e.g., a new
music finding service) at least partly based on the acquired data
(e.g., the acquired data shows that 65% of the memory on the device
is occupied with music files in MP3 format) indicating a type of
data (e.g., music data) stored in at least a part of the particular
protected portion (e.g., the entire memory) of the device (e.g., a
smartphone, e.g., a Blackberry 8800).
[0184] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 734 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data identifying one or more sensors
that are at least a part of the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on acquired data describing
one or more sensors that are a portion of the particular protected
portion of the device module 334 selecting the at least one service
(e.g., a soda pop vending machine locating service) at least partly
based on the acquired data (e.g., data indicating that the device
in question has a thermometer and a position sensor) identifying
one or more sensors (e.g., the thermometer and the position sensor)
that are at least a part of the particular protected portion (e.g.,
the position sensor is protected, but the thermometer is not) of
the device (e.g., a smartphone).
[0185] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 736 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data that includes a sample of data
collected by one or more sensors that are included as at least a
part of the particular protected portion of the device. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one service
selecting at least partly based on acquired data including sample
data from one or more sensors that are a portion of the particular
protected portion of the device module 336 selecting the at least
one service (e.g., a soda pop vending machine locating service) at
least partly based on the acquired data (e.g., data indicating that
a temperature sensor detects temperatures over eighty degrees
Fahrenheit for the last seven hours) that includes a sample of data
(e.g., a temperature sample taken once each hour from the device)
that are included as at least a part of the particular protected
portion (e.g., the temperature data is protected, but the sampling
is allowed) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, or in another
embodiment, a home weather station).
[0186] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 738 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data that includes an anonymized
version of data collected by one or more sensors of the device that
are included as at least a part of the particular protected portion
of the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least
one service selecting at least partly based on acquired anonymized
data including data from one or more particular protected portion
sensors that has been anonymized device module 338 selecting the at
least one service (e.g., a steak dinner finding service) at least
partly based on the acquired data (e.g., data indicating that "user
X," who is not known by the selecting entity, has spent five nights
in the last month at various steakhouses) that includes an
anonymized version (e.g., a version of the data in which the user
identifier is replaced with "user X") of data collected by one or
more sensors (e.g., data indicating that the device is located at a
steakhouse from the position sensor) that are included as at least
a part of the particular protected portion (e.g., the position
sensor) of the device (e.g., a smartphone, e.g., an Apple
iPhone).
[0187] Referring again to FIG. 7C, operation 728 may include
operation 740 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data that includes an anonymized
version of data stored on the device as at least a part of the
particular protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 3,
e.g., FIG. 3C, shows at least one service selecting at least partly
based on acquired anonymized data including data stored on at least
part of the particular protected portion that has been anonymized
device module 340 selecting the at least one service (e.g.,
offering tickets to the "Matt and Kim" concert) at least partly
based on the acquired data (e.g., song artist data) that includes
an anonymized version of data stored on the device (e.g., song
artist data, but with identifying information removed or obscured)
as at least a part of the particular protected portion (e.g., the
song artist data) of the device (e.g., a personal music player,
e.g., an Apple iPod).
[0188] Referring now to FIG. 7D, operation 504 may include
operation 742 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data is data from the particular protected portion of the
device that has been anonymized. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG.
3D, shows at least one service selecting at least partly based on
anonymized version of data from the particular protected portion of
the device module 342 selecting the at least one service (e.g., an
ideal garden planting time calculating service) at least partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device (e.g., a web
browsing history of the device), wherein the acquired data is data
from the particular protected portion (e.g., a portion of the web
browsing history) of the device (e.g., a user's laptop computer or
tablet device) that has been anonymized (e.g., information in the
data that uniquely identifies the device and/or the user has been
removed or altered).
[0189] Referring again to FIG. 7D, operation 504 may include
operation 744 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for data
that will enable reversal of the anonymization. For example, FIG.
3, e.g., FIG. 3D, shows access to data that will enable
deanonymization of at least a portion of the data from the
particular protected portion acquired by the device as negotiated
result of facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at
least one selected services module 344 facilitating presentation of
an offer to carry out the selected at least one service (e.g.,
displaying a rule book for a sport or game being played in the
proximity of the device), said at least one service at least partly
related to the device (e.g., the device is detected as being in a
proximity to a sporting event taking place), in exchange for data
that will enable reversal of the anonymization (e.g., a decryption
key, e.g., a digital signature key).
[0190] Referring again to FIG. 7D, operation 742 may include
operation 746 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data is data from the particular protected portion of the
device for which data that uniquely identifies the device has been
removed. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3D, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on version of data from the
particular protected portion of the device without device uniquely
identifying information module 346 selecting the at least one
service (e.g., a data traffic analysis service) at least partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device (e.g., data
indicating that the device, which is a tablet having a Wi-Fi radio
and a wireless 4G network radio, moves greater than 5 GB of data
over the 4G network each month), wherein the acquired data is data
from the particular protected portion (e.g., the Wi-Fi.sub.--33
radio is protected) of the device (e.g., the tablet device) for
which data that uniquely identifies the device (e.g., a MAC
address) has been removed (e.g., the MAC address is deleted from
the data string).
[0191] Referring again to FIG. 7D, operation 742 may include
operation 748 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data is data from the particular protected portion of the
device for which data that uniquely identifies the device has been
altered. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3D, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on version of data from the
particular protected portion of the device for which device
uniquely identifying information has been modified module 348
selecting the at least one service (e.g., a service that shows
which bars in a particular neighborhood have the highest ratio of
women to men) at least partly based on the acquired data (e.g.,
data from a Facebook profile indicating that the user's
relationship status is "single," gender is "male," and sexual
orientation is "straight"), wherein the acquired data is data from
the particular protected portion (e.g., a Facebook profile to which
the device has access, but is not directly stored on the device) of
the device (e.g., a smartphone), for which data that uniquely
identifies the device has been altered (e.g., in the acquired data,
the Facebook username "cooldude1234" has been altered to
"afdgnmwkrngt," e.g., to gibberish).
[0192] Referring again to FIG. 7D, operation 748 may include
operation 750 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data is data from the particular protected portion of the
device for which data that uniquely identifies the device has been
encrypted. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3D, shows at least one
service selecting at least partly based on version of data from the
particular protected portion of the device for which device
uniquely identifying information has been encrypted module 350
selecting the at least one service (e.g., a service that provides
add-on sales to products that were just purchased, e.g., if a video
game system, it shows other games, if running shoes, it shows
sweat-wicking socks, and so forth) at least partly based on the
acquired data (e.g., a shopping profile from an online retailer,
e.g., Amazon.com),
[0193] Referring again to FIG. 7D, operation 750 may include
operation 752 depicting selecting the at least one service at least
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data is data from the particular protected portion of the
device for which data that uniquely identifies the device has been
substituted for data that cannot be solely used to uniquely
identify the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3D, shows at
least one service selecting at least partly based on version of
data from the particular protected portion of the device for which
device uniquely identifying information has been substituted for
data that is not device uniquely identifying module 352 selecting
the at least one service (e.g., a service that shows a route
through Washington, D.C., that avoids all roundabouts) at least
partly based on the acquired data (e.g., data indicating the user
and the device are located within Washington, D.C.) regarding the
device, wherein the acquired data is data from the particular
protected portion of the device (e.g., the position sensor of a
smartphone) for which data that uniquely identifies the device
(e.g., a name with which the device has been registered at the
device manufacturer, e.g., "Bill's Asus Tablet") has been
substituted for data that cannot be solely used to uniquely
identify the device (e.g., "Bill's Asus Tablet" has been replaced
with "generic Asus A500 tablet").
[0194] Referring now to FIG. 7E, operation 504 may include
operation 754 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that would otherwise identify the
device but has been obscured. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3E,
shows at least one service selecting at least partly based on
obscured version of data from the particular protected portion of
the device module 354 selecting the at least one service (e.g., a
service that shows where the nearest available taxi is to your
location) partly based on the acquired data regarding the device
(e.g., data indicating that the device is traveling at walking
speed and is located more than three miles from the user's
indicated home), wherein the acquired data includes data from the
particular protected portion (e.g., the user's home address, in the
protected portion of the device's memory), and obscured data that
would otherwise identify the device but has been obscured (e.g.,
has been encrypted with a digital signature algorithm, e.g., a DES
algorithm).
[0195] Referring again to FIG. 7E, operation 504 may include
operation 756 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
deobscuring the obscured data. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3E,
shows deobscuring of at least a portion of the data from the
particular protected portion acquired by the device as negotiated
result of facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at
least one selected services module 356 facilitating presentation of
an offer to carry out the selected at least one service (e.g., a
service that shows where the nearest available taxi is to the
device's location), said at least one service at least partly
related to the device (e.g., the service may be used by the device,
e.g., a user's smartphone), in exchange for deobscuring the
obscured data (e.g., in exchange for receiving the key that will
decrypt the data).
[0196] Referring again to FIG. 7E, operation 754 may include
operation 758 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that has been altered so that it
cannot solely identify the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG.
3E, shows at least one service selecting at least partly based on
obscured version of data from the particular protected portion of
the device that cannot solely identify the device module 358
selecting the at least one service (e.g., a service that identifies
how far an athlete should run on a particular day, based on the
length and speed of the runs on previous days that are stored on
the device, e.g., an athlete assistant device watch with Internet
connectivity), wherein the acquired data includes data from the
particular protected portion (e.g., the "run result" data storage
portion of the device), and obscured data that has been altered so
that it cannot solely identify the device (e.g., the device's MAC
address is part of the acquired data, and to obscure the data, five
hundred additional "fake" MAC addresses were added, so that an
entity viewing the data cannot distinguish the real MAC
address)
[0197] Referring again to FIG. 7E, operation 758 may include
operation 760 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that is device identifying data
that has been replaced with data from a private lookup table, such
that the device identifying data cannot be derived from the
obscured data without access to the private lookup table. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3E, shows at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device that cannot identify
the device without access to a private lookup table module 360
selecting the at least one service partly based on the acquired
data regarding the device (e.g., a facial-image recognition
service) partly based on the acquired data regarding the device
(e.g., data indicating that the device has at least twenty pictures
with one or more people visible in them), wherein the acquired data
includes data from the particular protected portion of the device
(e.g., the image data is the particular protected portion), and
obscured data that is device identifying data (e.g., a device
identifier used on a network, e.g., a Google ID) that has been
replaced with data from a private lookup table (e.g., "device
01234567"), such that the device identifying data (e.g., the Google
ID device identifier) cannot be derived from the obscured data
(e.g., device 01234567) without access to the private lookup table
(e.g., if "device 01234567" is plugged into the private lookup
table, it will return the device identifier, but without the
private lookup table, there is no reversible non-coincidental
relationship between the device identifier and the obscured
data).
[0198] Referring now to FIG. 7F, operation 758 may include
operation 762 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that is device identifying data
that has been replaced with random data. For example, FIG. 3, e.g.,
FIG. 3E, shows at least one service selecting at least partly based
on obscured version of data from the particular protected portion
of the device that is random data in place of device identifying
data module 362 selecting the at least one service (e.g., a service
designed to predict the best time of day to go for a bicycle ride)
partly based on the acquired data regarding the device (e.g., data
from the position sensor indicating that the device moves at speeds
and patterns indicating a substantial amount of bicycle travel),
wherein the acquired data includes data from the particular
protected portion (e.g., position data) of the device, and obscured
data that is device identifying data (e.g., an IP address of the
device) that has been replaced with random data (e.g., randomly
selected numbers).
[0199] Referring now to FIG. 7G, operation 758 may include
operation 764 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that is device identifying data to
which an obscuring algorithm has been applied. For example, FIG. 3,
e.g., FIG. 3F, shows at least one service selecting at least partly
based on obscured version of data from the particular protected
portion of the device that is device identifying data to which an
obscuring algorithm has been applied module 364 selecting the at
least one service (e.g., a service showing a map of available
wireless networks in a certain area (e.g., a neighborhood), and the
relative strengths and/or clarity of signal of those wireless
networks) partly based on the acquired data (e.g., wireless network
data collected over a period of time) regarding the device (e.g., a
smartphone), wherein the acquired data includes data from the
particular protected portion (e.g., data from the networks detected
by the wireless radio) of the device (e.g., the smartphone), and
obscured data that is device identifying data to which an obscuring
algorithm (e.g., an algorithm, e.g., a Hasty Pudding Cipher (e.g.,
described and hereby incorporated by reference at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasty_Pudding_cipher, retrieved on
Sep. 20, 2012)) has been applied.
[0200] Referring now to FIG. 7H, operation 764 may include
operation 766 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and obscured data that is device identifying data to
which an algorithm applying a seed table based on the value of the
first eight bits of the identifying data has been applied. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3F, shows at least one service
selecting at least partly based on obscured version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device that is device
identifying data to which a seed table algorithm has been applied
module 366 selecting the at least one service (e.g., an ice-cream
shop locating service) partly based on the acquired data (e.g.,
temperature data indicating that the device is in a location that
is hot and sunny) regarding the device (e.g., a tablet device with
a thermometer), wherein the acquired data includes data from the
particular protected portion (e.g., the temperature sensor) of the
device (e.g., the tablet device with the thermometer), and obscured
data that is device identifying data (e.g., a unique name assigned
to the device by the device manufacturer when the device is
"registered" by the user) to which an algorithm applying a seed
table based on the value of the first eight bits of the identifying
data has been applied.
[0201] Referring now to FIG. 7I, operation 758 may include
operation 768 depicting selecting the at least one service partly
based on the acquired data regarding the device, wherein the
acquired data includes data from the particular protected portion
of the device, and masked data that is device identifying data to
which one or more data masking techniques have been applied. For
example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3F, shows at least one service
selecting at least partly based on a masked version of data from
the particular protected portion of the device that is device
identifying data to which a masking technique has been applied
module 368 selecting the at least one service (e.g., an alternative
health-food finding service) partly based on the acquired data
regarding the device (e.g., an updating inventory of what is in the
refrigerator that is stored and maintained on the device,e.g., a
smart appliance, e.g., a smart refrigerator in a user's house),
which has access to the things that the user bought with a credit
card that are perishable), wherein the acquired data includes data
(e.g., a portion of the inventory) from the particular protected
portion of the device (e.g., the inventory maintained by the
device), and masked data that is device identifying data (e.g., the
serial number of the smart refrigerator) to which one or more data
masking techniques (e.g., noise addition, micro-aggregation, or
data swapping, e.g., and which one or more specific examples are
mentioned elsewhere in this application)) have been applied.
[0202] Referring back to FIG. 7E, operation 756 may include
operation 770 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
transforming the obscured data into data that identifies the
device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g., FIG. 3E, shows transforming
obscured data from the particular protected portion acquired by the
device into device identifying data as negotiated result of
facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at least one
selected services module 370 facilitating presentation of an offer
to carry out the selected at least one service (e.g., identifying
which grocery store has the freshest inventory of blackberries),
said at least one service at least partly related to the device
(e.g., the device is located in a grocery store), in exchange for
transforming (e.g., retrieving, deobscuring, returning, reversing,
and the like) the obscured data (e.g., data which was previously
known as identifying data, but has been altered to obscure the
identity of a device and/or a user) into data that identifies the
device (e.g., a device identifier, e.g., a MAC address of a
device).
[0203] Referring back to FIG. 7E, operation 356 may include
operation 772 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
receiving access to data that enables conversion of the obscured
data into data identifying the device. For example, FIG. 3, e.g.,
FIG. 3E, shows receiving data enabling conversion of obscured data
from the particular protected portion acquired by the device into
device identifying data as negotiated result of facilitating a
presentation of an offer to provide the at least one selected
services module 372 facilitating presentation of an offer to carry
out the selected at least one service (e.g., a workout designing
service), said at least one service at least partly related to the
device (e.g., the device (e.g., a watch that can load programs and
take measurements designed to improve workout efficiency) is sold
at gyms and sporting goods stores), in exchange for receiving data
(e.g., a deobscuring algorithm that, when applied to the obscured
data, results in the data in its form prior to being obscured,
e.g., as a device and/or user identifier) that enables conversion
of the obscured data into data identifying the device (e.g., a
device identifier, e.g., the device's unique identification, e.g.,
the device's Apple ID, if the device is manufactured by Apple).
[0204] Referring back to FIG. 7F, operation 372 may include
operation 774 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
receiving access to a lookup table that allows retrieval of data
identifying the device using the obscured data. For example, FIG.
3, e.g., FIG. 3E, shows receiving access to a lookup table enabling
retrieval of obscured data from the particular protected portion
acquired by the device into device identifying data as negotiated
result of facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at
least one selected services module 374 facilitating presentation of
an offer to carry out the selected at least one service (e.g.,
determining one or more books a user of the device might like to
read), said at least one service at least partly related to the
device (e.g., the device is an e-reader, e.g., an Amazon Kindle, or
a Barnes and Noble Nook), in exchange for receiving access to a
lookup table that allows retrieval (e.g., by applying the obscured
data to the lookup table) of data identifying the device (e.g., an
Amazon login that has been associated with the device, which is an
Amazon Kindle, by the user) using the obscured data.
[0205] Referring back to FIG. 7G, operation 372 may include
operation 776 depicting facilitating presentation of an offer to
carry out the selected at least one service, said at least one
service at least partly related to the device, in exchange for
receiving access to a lookup table that allows conversion of the
obscured data into data identifying the device. For example, FIG.
3, e.g., FIG. 3F, shows receiving access to a lookup table enabling
conversion of obscured data from the particular protected portion
acquired by the device into device identifying data as negotiated
result of facilitating a presentation of an offer to provide the at
least one selected services module 376 facilitating presentation of
an offer to carry out the selected at least one service (e.g., a
service that estimates how much time until it starts raining), said
at least one service at least partly related to the device (e.g.,
it is detected from the browser history of the web browser of the
device that the user frequently checks weather-related web sites),
in exchange for receiving access to a lookup table that allows
conversion of the obscured data into data identifying the device
(e.g., a home weather station application loaded on a home
computer).
[0206] FIGS. 8A-8B depict various implementations of operation 506
depicting facilitating performance of at least a portion of the at
least one service that is at least partly related to the device, in
response to a grant of access to the particular protected portion
of the device, according to embodiments. Referring now to FIG. 8A,
operation 506 may include operation 802 depicting facilitating
carrying out of at least a portion of a distance traveled service
that calculates a distance traveled by the device, in response to a
grant of access to a positioning sensor of the device. For example,
FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows execution of at least a portion of a
distance traveled calculating service facilitating in response to a
grant of access to a positioning sensor data acquired by the device
module 402 facilitating carrying out (e.g., taking at least one
action or executing at least one instruction that aids or assists
in the completion or execution of) of at least a portion of a
distance traveled service that calculates a distance traveled by
the device (e.g., an in-vehicle navigation system), in response to
a grant of access to a positioning sensor of the device (e.g., the
in-vehicle navigation system).
[0207] Referring again to FIG. 8A, operation 506 may include
operation 804 depicting providing assistance to a device configured
to carry out at least a portion of the at least one service that is
at least partly related to the device, in response to a grant of
access to the particular protected portion of the device. For
example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows assisting the device in
executing at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating in response to a grant of access to data acquired by
the device module 404 providing assistance to a device configured
to carry out at least a portion of the at least one service (e.g.,
a service showing you a list of the nearest automated teller
machine devices ("ATMs") and what the service fee for each of the
ATMs is) that is at least partly related to the device (e.g., the
device has a position sensor, and so showing a nearest entity is
related to the device), in response to a grant of access to the
particular protected portion of the device (e.g., in response to
gaining access to the positioning sensor of the device, e.g., a
smartphone).
[0208] Referring again to FIG. 8A, operation 506 may include
operation 806 depicting providing one or more resources to a device
configured to carry out at least a portion of the at least one
service that is at least partly related to the device, in response
to a grant of access to the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows providing one or
more resources to a device to aid in performance of the one or more
services facilitating in response to a grant of access to data
acquired by the device module 406 providing one or more resources
(e.g., providing a database (e.g., a database of all the public
bathrooms and their ratings), or providing storage for data, or
providing a processor-intensive algorithm) to a device configured
to carry out at least a portion of the at least one service (e.g.,
giving the user of the device directions to the nearest public
bathroom and information regarding its rating by other users) that
is at least partly related to the device (e.g., the user has
entered a query into a web-based search engine regarding one or
more public bathrooms), in response to a grant of access to the
particular protected portion (e.g., the positioning sensor) of the
device (e.g., a user's smartphone).
[0209] Referring again to FIG. 8A, operation 806 may include
operation 808 depicting providing one or more databases to a device
configured to carry out at least a portion of the at least one
service that is at least partly related to the device, in response
to a grant of access to the particular protected portion of the
device. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows providing one or
more database resources to a device to aid in performance of the
one or more services facilitating in response to a grant of access
to data acquired by the device module 408 providing one or more
databases to a device configured to carry out at least a portion of
the at least one service (e.g., mapping the population density in
the vicinity of the user of the device) that is at least partly
related to the device (e.g., the device directly asked for a
service similar to this, or the user of the device directly
requested this type of service), in response to a grant of access
to the particular protected portion of the device (e.g., the
positioning sensor of the device).
[0210] Referring again to FIG. 8A, operation 808 may include
operation 810 depicting providing one or more restaurant menu and
location databases to the device configured to carry out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to the particular
protected portion of the device. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG.
4A, shows providing a restaurant menu database and a restaurant
location database to a device to aid in performance of an eating
out analysis service facilitating in response to a grant of access
to data acquired by the device module 410 providing one or more
restaurant menu and location databases to the device (e.g., a
user's home computer, e.g., a laptop, e.g., a Dell XPS laptop)
configured to carry out at least a portion of the at least one
service (e.g., a restaurant dessert comparison service) that is at
least partly related to the device (e.g., the device already has a
competing dessert-related application loaded in its memory), in
response to a grant of access to the particular protected portion
of the device (e.g., the device memory that stores a user's prior
reviews of different desserts that were posted online).
[0211] Referring again to FIG. 8A, operation 506 may include
operation 812 depicting providing one or more manipulations of data
collected by the device to the device, in response to a grant of
access to the particular protected portion of the device. For
example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4A, shows providing one or more data
manipulation services to a device to aid in performance of the one
or more services facilitating in response to a grant of access to
data acquired by the device module 412 providing one or more
manipulations of data (e.g., weather pattern modeling) collected by
the device to the device (e.g., a smartphone, in response to a
grant of access to the particular protected portion of the device
(e.g., a barometer and thermometer of the device, e.g., a home
weather station).
[0212] Referring now to FIG. 8B, operation 506 may include
operation 814 depicting facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to a protected
sensor of the device. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B, shows
provision of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating upon receipt of negotiated access to a protected
sensor of the device module 414 facilitating carrying out at least
a portion of the at least one service (e.g., a service that shows
where the nearest available taxi is to your location) that is at
least partly related to the device (e.g., the device once called a
taxi service using its cellular radio), in response to a grant of
access to a protected sensor (e.g., a location sensor) of the
device (e.g., a user's smartphone device).
[0213] Referring again to FIG. 8B, operation 814 may include
operation 816 depicting facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to a sensor of the
device to which a user of the device must explicitly grant access.
For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B, shows provision of at least a
portion of the one or more services facilitating upon receipt of
negotiated access to a protected sensor of the device to which a
user must explicitly grant access module 416 facilitating carrying
out at least a portion of the at least one service (e.g., a service
that shows if there is a store within five miles of the device's
location that has the item that the user is considering purchasing
for a cheaper price) that is at least partly related to the device
(e.g., the device is pointed at the item that the user is
considering), in response to a grant of access to a sensor (e.g.,
an image capturing sensor) of the device to which a user of the
device must explicitly grant access (e.g., the user must grant
access to share the picture or to share data from the image
capturing sensor generally).
[0214] Referring again to FIG. 8B, operation 814 may include
operation 818 depicting facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to a sensor of the
device to which an operating system of the device must explicitly
grant access. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B, shows provision
of at least a portion of the one or more services facilitating upon
receipt of negotiated access to a protected sensor of the device to
which a root-access program must explicitly grant access module 418
facilitating carrying out at least a portion of the at least one
service (e.g., a service that shows a route through Washington,
D.C., that avoids all roundabouts) that is at least partly related
to the device (e.g., the device is a OEM-produced motor vehicle
control system), in response to a grant of access to a sensor of
the device (e.g., the speedometer) to which an operating system
(e.g., a custom OEM operating system, or a modified version of
Google's Android operating system designed for motor vehicle
controls) of the device must explicitly grant access (e.g., the
entity must receive authorization from the operating system, which
otherwise prohibits reading of the data).
[0215] Referring again to FIG. 8B, operation 506 may include
operation 820 depicting facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to particular
protected data collected by the device that requires permission to
be used by an external service. For example, FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B,
shows provision of at least a portion of the one or more services
facilitating upon receipt of negotiated access to data acquired by
the device and requiring specific permission to be released to an
external service module 420 facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service (e.g., a service that shows
which bars in a particular neighborhood have the highest ratio of
women to men) that is at least partly related to the device (e.g.,
the device has made one or more related search queries), in
response to a grant of access to particular protected data (e.g., a
social networking profile data, e.g., Facebook profile data, that
was transmitted to the device when the user logged into the social
networking service on the device) that requires permission to be
used by an external service (e.g., the user and/or the device must
grant explicit access for an outside entity that is providing the
service to use the Facebook profile data).
[0216] Referring again to FIG. 8B, operation 506 may include
operation 822 depicting facilitating carrying out at least a
portion of the at least one service that is at least partly related
to the device, in response to a grant of access to particular
protected data collected by the device that requires permission
from the user to be released externally to the device. For example,
FIG. 4, e.g., FIG. 4B, shows provision of at least a portion of the
one or more services facilitating upon receipt of negotiated access
to data acquired by the device and requiring user permission to be
released to an external service module 422 facilitating carrying
out at least a portion of the at least one service (e.g., a fluid
drinking guidance service for long bicycle rides) that is at least
partly related to the device (e.g., the device already has a
bicycle-riding assistance application installed in its memory), in
response to a grant of access to particular protected data (e.g.,
heart rate data of the user) collected by the device (e.g., a
bicycle-mounted rider monitoring device) that requires permission
from the user to be released externally.
[0217] All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application
publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign
patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this
specification and/or listed in any Application Data Sheet, are
incorporated herein by reference, to the extent not inconsistent
herewith.
[0218] While particular aspects of the present subject matter
described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent
to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein,
changes and modifications may be made without departing from the
subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and,
therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope
all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit
and scope of the subject matter described herein. It will be
understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used
herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the
appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the
term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not
limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at
least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but
is not limited to," etc.).
[0219] It will be further understood by those within the art that
if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended,
such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the
absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,
as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may
contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one
or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such
phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a
claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any
particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to
claims containing only one such recitation, even when the same
claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least
one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or
"an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one
or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles
used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a
specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly
recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such
recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the
recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations,"
without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations,
or two or more recitations).
[0220] Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous
to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a
construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art
would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least
one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems
that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C
together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In
those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A,
B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended
in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the
convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C"
would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B
alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C
together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further
understood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive
word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms,
whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be
understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the
terms, either of the terms, or both terms unless context dictates
otherwise. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be typically
understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and
B."
[0221] With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the
art will appreciate that recited operations therein may generally
be performed in any order. Also, although various operational flows
are presented in a sequence(s), it should be understood that the
various operations may be performed in other orders than those
which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently. Examples
of such alternate orderings may include overlapping, interleaved,
interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory, supplemental,
simultaneous, reverse, or other variant orderings, unless context
dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like "responsive to,"
"related to," or other past-tense adjectives are generally not
intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictates
otherwise.
[0222] This application may make reference to one or more
trademarks, e.g., a word, letter, symbol, or device adopted by one
manufacturer or merchant and used to identify and/or distinguish
his or her product from those of others. Trademark names used
herein are set forth in such language that makes clear their
identity, that distinguishes them from common descriptive nouns,
that have fixed and definite meanings, or, in many if not all
cases, are accompanied by other specific identification using terms
not covered by trademark. In addition, trademark names used herein
have meanings that are well-known and defined in the literature, or
do not refer to products or compounds for which knowledge of one or
more trade secrets is required in order to divine their meaning.
All trademarks referenced in this application are the property of
their respective owners, and the appearance of one or more
trademarks in this application does not diminish or otherwise
adversely affect the validity of the one or more trademarks. All
trademarks, registered or unregistered, that appear in this
application are assumed to include a proper trademark symbol, e.g.,
the circle R or bracketed capitalization (e.g., [trademark name]),
even when such trademark symbol does not explicitly appear next to
the trademark. To the extent a trademark is used in a descriptive
manner to refer to a product or process, that trademark should be
interpreted to represent the corresponding product or process as of
the date of the filing of this patent application.
[0223] Throughout this application, the terms "in an embodiment,"
`in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in several
embodiments," "in at least one embodiment," "in various
embodiments," and the like, may be used. Each of these terms, and
all such similar terms should be construed as "in at least one
embodiment, and possibly but not necessarily all embodiments,"
unless explicitly stated otherwise. Specifically, unless explicitly
stated otherwise, the intent of phrases like these is to provide
non-exclusive and non-limiting examples of implementations of the
invention. The mere statement that one, some, or may embodiments
include one or more things or have one or more features, does not
imply that all embodiments include one or more things or have one
or more features, but also does not imply that such embodiments
must exist. It is a mere indicator of an example and should not be
interpreted otherwise, unless explicitly stated as such.
[0224] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing
specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are
representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or
technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed
herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
* * * * *
References