Method of managing resources

• US 20040049537A1
• Filed: 04/24/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Titmuss, Richard J
• Granted Patent: US 7,596,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

The invention is concerned with a method of retrieving information in respect of subject matter of interest to a user on the basis of a state of the user, and of presenting the retrieved information to the user via a terminal, where the presentation of information includes creating a viewable page that comprises at least some of the retrieved information. The method includes the steps of:

(i) retrieving information,

(ii) organising the retrieved information in accordance with predetermined criteria, at least one of which includes a state of the user, and

(iii) storing the organised information,

such that when a viewable page is created, a selection of said stored information is retrieved in accordance with display capabilities of the terminal.

Claims

1. A method of storing information in respect of subject matter of interest to a user on the basis of a state of the user, wherein the subject matter of interest includes a plurality of sets of keywords, each set of keywords having at least one identifiable state of the wear and/or environment allocated thereto, the method including the steps of:

(i) retrieving information on the basis of the subject matter of interest,

(ii) tagging the retrieved information in accordance with whichever state was allocated to Its corresponding set of keywords,

(iii) ranking said tagged information, at least in part, in accordance with a state of the user end/or environment, and

(iv) storing the tagged information in accordance with the rankings associated therewith.

2. A method according to claim 1, further including the steps of

identifying duplicates in the tagged information, and

removing duplicates so that there is only one of each tagged information.

3. A method according to claim 2, further including the step of assigning a predetermined ranking to the tagged information for which there are duplicates.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims including presenting the retrieved information to the user via a terminal, said presentation of information including creating a viewable page comprising at least some of the retrieved information, such that when a viewable page is created, a selection of said stored information is retrieved in accordance with display capabilities of the terminal.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the identifiable state of the user includes a user'"'"'s current state.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the identifiable state or the user includes a user'"'"'s future state.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the identifiable state of the environment includes at least one of weather, temperature, and/or time of day.

8. A computer program, or a suite of computer programs, comprising a set of instructions to cause a computer, or a suite of computers, to perform the method steps according to any of the preceding claims.

9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, including firstly receiving a prompt indicative of the subject matter of interest, and in which the method further includes the steps of:

receiving a further prompt to retrieve information of interest to a user,

comparing the prompt with the further prompt and, in the event of similarity,

identifying the information stored in response to the prompt as being relevant to the further prompt.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein a prompt involves a request from a user.

11. A method according to either one of claims 9 or 10, wherein a prompt involves a timed trigger to retrieve information.

12. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein a prompt involves a change of state of the user.

13. Apparatus for storing information in respect of subject matter of interest to a user on the basis of a state of the user, wherein the subject matter of interest includes a plurality of sets of keywords, each sot of keywords having at least one identifiable state of the user and/or environment allocated thereto,

the apparatus comprising a server computer and a temporary storage location, wherein the server computer comprises:

receiving means arranged to receive a request for subject matter of interest and to

receive data identifying the state of the user and/or environment;

retrieving means arranged to retrieve information on the basis of the received subject matter of interest;

ranking means arranged to rank the retrieved information in accordance with the received state of the user and/or environment;

and wherein the temporary storage location is arranged to store the tagged information in accordance with the rankings associated therewith.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the retrieving means co-operates with storage arranged to store the information.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the storage is distributed over a plurality of server machines located in one or more networks.

16. A server computer for retrieving information in respect of subject matter of interest to a user, wherein the subject matter of interest includes a plurality of sets of keywords, each set of keywords having at least one identifiable state of the user and/or environment allocated thereto, the server computer comprising:

receiving means arranged to receive a request for subject matter of interest and to

receive data identifying the state of the user and/or environment;

retrieving means arranged to retrieve information on the basis of the received subject matter of interest;

ranking means arranged to rank the retrieved information in accordance with the received state of the user and/or environment;

wherein the server computer is arranged to co-operate with a temporary storage location, the temporary storage location being arranged to store the tagged information in accordance with the rankings associated therewith.

17. A server computer according to claim 16, wherein the retrieving means cooperates with storage arranged to store the information.

18. A server computer according to claim 17, wherein the storage is distributed over a plurality of server machines located in one or more networks.

19. A temporary storage location for storing information in respect of subject matter of interest to a user on the basis of a state of the user, wherein the subject matter of interest includes a plurality of sets of keywords, each set of keywords having at least one identifiable state of the user and/or environment allocated thereto, wherein the temporary storage location is arranged to receive data from a server computer, the server computer comprising

receiving means arranged to receive a request for subject matter of interest and to receive data Identifying the state of the user and/or environment;

retrieving means arranged to retrieve information on the basis of the received subject matter of interest;

ranking means arranged to rank the retrieved information in accordance with the received state of the user and/or environment;

and wherein the temporary storage location is arranged to store the tagged information in accordance with the rankings associated therewith.