Method and apparatus for computed relevance messaging
First Claim
1. A communications system, comprising:
- an advice provider which broadcasts information over a communications medium;
an advice consumer for gathering said broadcast information from said communications medium; and
a reader associated with said advice consumer for determining relevance of said broadcast information;
wherein said advice consumer is advised of said information only if said information meets certain predetermined relevance criteria.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention disclosed herein enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process which allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols. The targeting also includes a time element. Information can be brought to the attention of the consumer precisely when it has become applicable, which may occur immediately upon receipt of the message, but may also occur long after the message arrives. The communications process may operate without intruding on consumers who do not exhibit the precisely-specified need for the information, and it may operate without compromising the security or privacy of the consumers who participate.
105 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A communications system, comprising:
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an advice provider which broadcasts information over a communications medium;
an advice consumer for gathering said broadcast information from said communications medium; and
a reader associated with said advice consumer for determining relevance of said broadcast information;
wherein said advice consumer is advised of said information only if said information meets certain predetermined relevance criteria. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A communications method, comprising the steps of:
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preparing a message at an advice provider location;
broadcasting said message to potential advice consumers anonymously using a network;
processing said message at an advice consumer location;
determining whether said message is relevant to said advice consumer;
wherein said message is broadcast to advice consumers to whom it is relevant without requiring that said advice consumers divulge their identity or attributes to said advice provider.
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8. In a system including computational devices connected by a communications network, a communications apparatus for linking an information provider to information consumer, comprising:
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specific units of advice to be shared;
digital documents conveying said advice;
an advice provider for broadcasting said advice in the form of advisories;
an advice consumer for receiving said advisories;
wherein advisories are broadcast over said communications network from said advice provider to said advice consumer; and
a communications protocol for narrowly-focused targeting of said advisories to said advice consumer by automatically matching advisories with an advice consumer for whom said advisories are relevant. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16)
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15. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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an advisory comprising;
a relevance clause comprising an assertion about the state of an advice consumer computer, its contents, or environment which can be automatically evaluated by comparing said assertion with said advice consumer computer'"'"'s actual state;
a message associated with said relevance clause whose suitability for the consumer is determined at least partially by the evaluation of said relevance clause;
a gatherer for assuring that relevance clauses flow into said advice consumer computer from various locations;
a watcher for evaluating relevance clauses by comparing them with an actual state of an advice consumer environment, and by inspecting properties of said advice consumer computer and its environment and checking if these point towards or away from relevance; and
a notifier for displaying messages to an advice consumer under at least partial guidance of an evaluated relevance clause.
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Specification