Classification engine for identifying business hours

• US 10,198,483 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2015
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Opower, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Opower, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Packer, Benjamin, Shilts, Erik, Raju, Madhanmohan, Musick, Natalie
• Primary Examiner(s): Jami, Hares
• Application Number:
  US14/699,324
• Publication Number:
  US 20160224634A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• Field of Search: 707705, 707737, 707740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2477 Temporal data queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology relate to methods and systems for classifying businesses according to an open-hours classification category, for example, based on resource consumption data. In some implementations, methods of the subject technology include steps for receiving a plurality of operating hours categories, wherein each of the operating hours categories is associated with at least one usage profile, and receiving business information for an unclassified business, wherein the business information comprises resource consumption data for the unclassified business. In some aspects, methods of the subject technology can further include steps for determining if the unclassified business should be associated with one of the operating hours categories based on the resource consumption data for the unclassified business. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a plurality of operating hours categories, wherein a first operating hours category is associated with a first power usage profile describing a rate of change power characteristic, wherein a set of electronic messages are maintained in a storage device in association with the plurality of operating hours categories;

receiving business information for an unclassified business, wherein the business information comprises resource consumption data for the unclassified business, the resource consumption data describing a rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on at least an amount of time that lapses between a minimum power consumption level and an elevated consumption level that exceeds the minimum power consumption level by a second defined threshold;

comparing the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category to the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business to generate a similarity score describing a degree to which the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business matches the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category;

associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category when the similarity score exceeds a defined threshold, wherein a first subset of the set of electronic messages are maintained in the storage device in association with the first operating hours category; and

controlling transmission of the set of electronic messages stored in a storage device, comprising;

i) selecting the first subset of the set of electronic messages from the storage device for transmission to remote devices associated with the unclassified business based on the unclassified business being associated with the first operating hours category; and

ii) sending the first subset of the set of electronic messages to the remote devices associated with the unclassified business.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category comprises associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category by pairing metadata for the first operating hours category with information identifying the unclassified business.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving new business information for the unclassified business; and

updating an association between the unclassified business and the first operating hours category based upon the new business information.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on a difference between the minimum power consumption level and the elevated consumption level.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the rate of change for power usage is derived from power load curve data.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the minimum power consumption level for the unclassified business is determined based on an average power consumption when the unclassified business is closed.

7. A classification system comprising:

one or more processors, and

a computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving a plurality of operating hours categories, wherein a first operating hours category is associated with a first power usage profile describing a rate of change power characteristic, wherein a set of electronic messages are maintained in a storage device in association with the plurality of operating hours categories;

receiving business information for an unclassified business, wherein the business information comprises resource consumption data for the unclassified business, the resource consumption data describing a rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on at least an amount of time that lapses between a minimum power consumption level and an elevated consumption level that exceeds the minimum power consumption level by a second defined threshold;

comparing the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category to the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business to generate a similarity score describing a degree to which the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business matches the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category;

associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category when the similarity score exceeds a defined threshold, wherein a first subset of the set of electronic messages are maintained in the storage device in association with the first operating hours category; and

controlling transmission of the set of electronic messages stored in a storage device, comprising;

i) selecting the first subset of the set of electronic messages from the storage device for transmission to remote devices associated with the unclassified business based on the unclassified business being associated with the first operating hours category; and

ii) sending the first subset of the set of electronic messages to the remote devices associated with the unclassified business.

8. The classification system of claim 7, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on a difference between the minimum power consumption level and the elevated consumption level.

9. The classification system of claim 7, wherein associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category comprises associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category by pairing metadata for the first operating hours category with information identifying the unclassified business.

10. The classification system of claim 7, wherein the minimum power consumption level for the unclassified business is determined based on an average power consumption when the unclassified business is closed.

11. The classification system of claim 7, wherein the rate of change for power usage is derived from power load curve data.

12. The classification system of claim 7, wherein the elevated consumption level is set as a function of the minimum power consumption level.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of operating hours categories, wherein a first operating hours category is associated with a first power usage profile describing a rate of change power characteristic, wherein a set of electronic messages are maintained in a storage device in association with the plurality of operating hours categories;

receiving business information for an unclassified business, wherein the business information comprises resource consumption data for the unclassified business, the resource consumption data describing a rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on at least an amount of time that lapses between a minimum power consumption level and an elevated consumption level that exceeds the minimum power consumption level by a second defined threshold;

comparing the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category to the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business to generate a similarity score describing a degree to which the rate of change for power usage of the unclassified business matches the rate of change power characteristic of the first operating hours category;

associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category when the similarity score exceeds a defined threshold, wherein a first subset of the set of electronic messages are maintained in the storage device in association with the first operating hours category; and

controlling transmission of the set of electronic messages stored in a storage device, comprising;

i) selecting the first subset of the set of electronic messages from the storage device for transmission to remote devices associated with the unclassified business based on the unclassified business being associated with the first operating hours category; and

ii) sending the first subset of the set of electronic messages to the remote devices associated with the unclassified business.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the rate of change for power usage is based on a difference between the minimum power consumption level and the elevated consumption level.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the elevated consumption level is set as a function of the minimum power consumption level.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category comprises associating the unclassified business with the first operating hours category by pairing metadata for the first operating hours category with information identifying the unclassified business.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first operating hours category is associated with a plurality of power usage profiles, the first power usage profile describing a rate of change power characteristic for a first day of a week and a power usage profile describing a rate of change power characteristic for a second day of the week.