Schemas for a notification platform and related information services

• US 20060036642A1
• Filed: 08/12/2005
• Published: 02/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Fang, Lijiang, Lucovsky, Mark H., Wu, Winnie C., Pierce, Shaun D., Steckler, Paul A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,613,722 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/335 for accessing specific resources, e.g. using Kerberos tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6236 between heterogeneous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6272 by registering files or documents with a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 : Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 : Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 : Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 : Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 : Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 : Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 : Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices. The information agent service accesses criteria including user preferences and user contextual information, including presence information, location information, and schedule information along with people and groups data and extended-context data. Preferences about subscriptions and information handling policies may be stored and used at notification sources or in more central preference encodings. Access to multiple preferences is maintained, and a user interface is provided that allows users to inspect and control multiple subscriptions in one conceptual place.

Claims

1. In a computer network, a method comprising,

receiving a notification from an information source directed to a user;

accessing criteria including user preferences and context information to select a device of the user for receiving the notification;

adjusting data in the notification based on the capabilities of the device selected; and

sending the notification to the device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein adjusting data in the notification comprises, determining properties of the device selected, and modifying the notification data to match the properties of the device.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the notification includes multiple types of content, wherein the properties of the device include data indicative of at least one type of content the device can handle, and wherein adjusting data in the notification comprises modifying the notification data based on the type of content the device can handle.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein modifying the notification data to match the properties of the device includes evaluating device-related preference information contained in the notification.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification includes multiple types of content ordered in a preference order, wherein the capabilities of the device comprise data indicative of at least one type of content the device can handle, and wherein adjusting data in the notification comprises modifying the notification data based on the type of content the device can handle and the preference order.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, accessing a device service to determine properties of the device selected.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the device service provides regularized device data based on a device schema.

8. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

9. In a computer network, a method comprising, determining at an information source that a notification is to be sent;

accessing source preference information to set information in the notification;

receiving the notification from the information source;

accessing main preference information to modify information in the notification; and

sending the notification including the information modified therein.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the notification information is regularized according to a notification schema.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the notification, source preference information and main preference information are each regularized according to a notification schema, source preference schema and main preference schema, respectively.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising, selecting a device to which the notification is to be sent, and further comprising, further modifying information in the notification based on properties of the device.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising, determining the properties of the device by communicating with a device service, the device service providing property data regularized according to a device schema.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the notification includes multiple types of content, wherein the properties of the device include data indicative of at least one type of content the device can handle, and wherein the information modified in the notification is based on the content types with respect to the content that the device can handle.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the notification includes content comprising multiple components, and wherein the information modified in the notification is based on the content components with respect to the content that the device can handle.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the notification includes multiple content types or components ordered by preference information, wherein the properties of the device include data indicative of at least one type of content the device can handle, and wherein the information modified in the notification is based on the content types, the preference information and the content that the device can handle.

18. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 9.

12. The method of claim 111 wherein the source preference schema and the main preference schema comprise a common schema.