MANAGING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COMPUTER USERS' CONTEXT MODELS
First Claim
1. A method in a wearable computer for an executing user characterization system to provide information about a current state of a user of the wearable computer, the user characterization system modeling the current state with multiple state attributes and including state server modules (SSMs) to supply values for the state attributes, state client modules (SCMs) to process values for the state attributes, and an intermediary module to facilitate exchange of state attribute values, comprising:
- under control of each SSM, generating values for at least one of the state attributes and sending the generated values to the intermediary module;
under control of each SCM, receiving values for at least one state attribute from the intermediary module and performing processing based on the received values;
under control of the intermediary module, facilitating exchange of values by, receiving values for the state attributes from SSMs and from a first of multiple other characterization systems, each of the other characterization systems executing on another computer to model a current state related to the another computer;
for each state attribute, storing the received values for the attribute; and
receiving requests for values of indicated state attributes from SCMs and from a second of the other characterization systems, and sending stored values of the indicated state attributes to the SCMs and the second other characterization system; and
modeling an aspect of a current state using distributed state information by, identifying multiple portions of the distributed state information needed for the modeling of the aspect, and identifying multiple of the other characterization systems each having access to one of the identified multiple portions;
gathering the identified portions of the distributed state information from the identified other characterization systems; and
generating at least one value for the modeled aspect based on the gathered portions of the distributed state information, so that the user characterization system can interact with other characterization systems in order to exchange and use distributed state information of interest.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for providing information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes. In some situations, the providing includes a first computer receiving indications of multiple characterization modules, each characterization module executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer; receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state; determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute; and gathering information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from the determined characterization modules so that a value for the indicated one attribute can be generated based on the gathered information.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A method in a wearable computer for an executing user characterization system to provide information about a current state of a user of the wearable computer, the user characterization system modeling the current state with multiple state attributes and including state server modules (SSMs) to supply values for the state attributes, state client modules (SCMs) to process values for the state attributes, and an intermediary module to facilitate exchange of state attribute values, comprising:
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under control of each SSM, generating values for at least one of the state attributes and sending the generated values to the intermediary module;
under control of each SCM, receiving values for at least one state attribute from the intermediary module and performing processing based on the received values;
under control of the intermediary module, facilitating exchange of values by, receiving values for the state attributes from SSMs and from a first of multiple other characterization systems, each of the other characterization systems executing on another computer to model a current state related to the another computer;
for each state attribute, storing the received values for the attribute; and
receiving requests for values of indicated state attributes from SCMs and from a second of the other characterization systems, and sending stored values of the indicated state attributes to the SCMs and the second other characterization system; and
modeling an aspect of a current state using distributed state information by, identifying multiple portions of the distributed state information needed for the modeling of the aspect, and identifying multiple of the other characterization systems each having access to one of the identified multiple portions;
gathering the identified portions of the distributed state information from the identified other characterization systems; and
generating at least one value for the modeled aspect based on the gathered portions of the distributed state information, so that the user characterization system can interact with other characterization systems in order to exchange and use distributed state information of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method in a first computer for providing information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, the method comprising:
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receiving indications of multiple characterization modules, each characterization module executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer;
receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state;
determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute; and
gathering information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from the determined characterization modules so that a value for the indicated one attribute can be generated based on the gathered information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to provide information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, by:
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receiving indications of multiple characterization modules, each characterization module executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer;
receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state;
determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute;
obtaining information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from the determined characterization modules; and
supplying the obtained information to a client able to generate a value for the indicated one attribute based on the supplied obtained information. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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48. A computer-readable generated data signal transmitted via a transmission medium, the generated data signal having encoded contents that cause a computer system to provide information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, by:
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receiving indications of multiple characterization modules, each characterization module executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer;
receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state;
determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute; and
gathering information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from the determined characterization modules so that a value for the indicated one attribute can be generated based on the gathered information.
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49. A computing device for providing information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, comprising:
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an input module that is capable of receiving indications of multiple characterization modules each executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer, and of receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state;
an information gatherer module that is capable of determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute and of obtaining information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from each of the determined characterization modules; and
an output module capable of supplying the obtained information from the determined characterization modules to a client able to determine a value for the indicated one attribute based on the obtained information.
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50. A computing device for providing information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, comprising:
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means for receiving indications of multiple characterization modules, each characterization module executing on a computer to model an aspect of a current state related to that computer;
means for receiving an indication of one of the multiple attributes of the represented current state;
means for determining multiple of the characterization modules whose modeled aspects are related to the indicated one attribute;
means for obtaining information about the modeled aspects related to the indicated one attribute from each of the determined characterization modules; and
means for supplying the obtained information from the determined characterization modules to a client able to determine a value for the indicated one attribute based on the obtained information.
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51. A method in a portable computer for providing information about a context that is modeled with multiple context attributes, the method comprising:
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receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of an ability to supply values for at least one of the context attributes of the modeled context; and
for each of multiple clients, receiving an indication of a desire to receive information of interest;
when at least one source is determined to have the ability to supply the indicated information, retrieving the indicated information from at least one of those sources and sending the retrieved information to the client; and
when none of the sources have the ability to supply the indicated information, determining one or more executing characterization modules from which the indicated information can be obtained and/or one or more resources of other accessible computers with which the indicated information can be obtained;
obtaining the indicated information from the determined characterization modules and/or with the determined resources; and
sending the obtained indicated information to the client. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A computer-readable medium containing instructions that when executed cause a computing device to provide information about a context that is modeled with multiple context attributes, by:
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receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of an ability to supply values for at least one of the context attributes of the modeled context; and
for each of multiple clients, receiving an indication of a desire to receive information of interest;
when at least one source is determined to have the ability to supply the indicated information, retrieving the indicated information from at least one of those sources and sending the retrieved information to the client; and
when none of the sources have the ability to supply the indicated information, determining one or more executing characterization modules from which the indicated information can be obtained and/or one or more resources of other accessible computers with which the indicated information can be obtained;
obtaining the indicated information from the determined characterization modules and/or with the determined resources; and
sending the obtained indicated information to the client.
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64. A portable computer for providing information about a context that is represented with multiple modeled attributes, comprising:
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an attribute mapping module that is capable of receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of a current ability to supply values for at least one of the context attributes of the modeled context; and
an information supplier module that is capable of receiving an indication of a desire to receive information of interest from a client, of retrieving the indicated information of interest from a source and sending the retrieved information to the client when at least one source has the ability to supply the indicated information of interest, and of, when none of the sources have the ability to supply the indicated information of interest, determining one or more executing characterization modules from which the indicated information of interest can be obtained and/or one or more resources of other accessible computers with which the indicated information of interest can be obtained, obtaining the indicated information of interest from the determined characterization modules and/or with the determined resources, and sending the obtained indicated information of interest to the client.
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65. A computer-implemented method for providing information about a state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, the method comprising:
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receiving an indication of one of the multiple state attributes;
determining multiple executing characterization modules that each model at least one piece of information related to the indicated one state attribute;
gathering the modeled pieces of information from the determined characterization modules;
generating a value for the indicated one attribute based on the gathered information; and
providing an indication of the generated value of the one state attribute.
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Specification