COMPUTING AND HARNESSING INFERENCES ABOUT THE TIMING, DURATION, AND NATURE OF MOTION AND CESSATION OF MOTION WITH APPLICATIONS TO MOBILE COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20080004793A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Subramani, Murugesan S., Apacible, Johnson T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,617,042 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information

Abstract

An information delivery system comprises a receiver component that receives information about the movement, velocity, acceleration, and/or locations over time of a user. A computation component using a predictive model generates a probability distribution relating to one or more of when the user will next be stopped, how long the user will be stopped, how long a pattern of motion, such as walking, driving in stop and go traffic, and smooth highway motion will last, based at least in part upon signals about motion over time. The system can further comprise an alerting component that determines when to provide the user with information based at least in part upon the probability distribution over some aspect of motion or cessation of motion, and optionally the content, or tagged or inferred urgency or importance, of a message or communication.

Claims

1. An information delivery system comprising the following computer-executable components:

a receiver component that receives at least one of information about movement, velocity, acceleration, and location of a user over time; and

a computation component that generates a probability distribution relating to one or more of when the user will be stopped and how long the user will be stopped based at least in part upon the received at least one of information about movement, velocity, acceleration, and location of a user over time.

2. The system of claim 1, the receiver component receives an indication that the user is stopped from a sensor, the computation component generates a probability distribution relating to how long the user will remain stopped based at least in part upon the at least one of information about movement, velocity, acceleration, and location of the user over time.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising an alerting component that determines whether to provide the user with information, the determination is based at least in part upon the probability distribution relating to how long the user will remain stopped.

4. The system of claim 1, the at least one of information about movement, velocity, acceleration, and location of a user over time is obtained from one or more of a car speedometer, an accelerometer, and a GPS system.

5. The system of claim 1, the receiver component receives an indication that the user is moving from a sensor, the computation component generates a probability distribution relating to when the user will become stopped and length of the stop based at least in part upon the at least one of information about movement, velocity, acceleration, and location of the user over time.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising an alerting component that determines when to provide information to the user based at least in part upon the probability distribution relating to when the user will become stopped and length of the stop.

7. The system of claim 1, the computation component comprises a transition component that determines at least one of when the user will transition between traffic patterns and length of time the user will reside within a particular traffic pattern.

8. The system of claim 1, the computation component receives an amount of time that the user has been stopped and a determination is made regarding whether to provide the user with information based at least in part upon the received amount of time.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising an alerting component that determines when to provide the user with information based at least in part upon the probability distribution over one of an aspect of motion and cessation of motion.

10. The system of claim 9, the alerting component determines when to provide the user with information based at least in part upon one or more predefined rules.

11. The system of claim 9, the alerting component comprises a valuation component that determines a measure of value for the information, the alerting component determines when to provide the user with the information based at least in part upon the measure of value.

12. The system of claim 11, the valuation component comprises a content analysis component that analyzes content of the information, the measure of value of the information is based at least in part upon the analysis.

13. The system of claim 9, the alerting component comprises a deferral component that determines a measure of cost associated with deferring provision of the information to the user, the alerting component determines when to provide the user with the information based at least in part upon the measure of cost.

14. A methodology for determining when to provide a user with information comprising the following computer-executable acts:

receiving data that is indicative of at least one of a state of a user within a system and state of the system; and

determining a probability distribution relating to at least one of when the user will be stopped and how long the user will be stopped, the determination is based at least in part upon the received data.

15. The methodology of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving information that is intended for the user; and

determining when to provide the information to the user based at least in part upon the determined probability distribution.

16. The methodology of claim 14, further comprising:

analyzing changes in stability of a signal associated with the user; and

determining a probability distribution relating to at least one of when the user will be stopped and how long the user will be stopped, the determination is based at least in part upon the analyzed changes in stability.

17. The methodology of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a measure of cost with respect to deferring the information as time progresses; and

determining when to provide the information to the user based at least in part upon the measure of cost.

18. The methodology of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a measure of value with respect to immediately providing the information to the user; and

determining when to provide the information to the user based at least in part upon the measure of value.

19. The methodology of claim 14, further comprising:

determining an amount of time needed to review the received information; and

determining when to provide the information to the user based at least in part upon the amount of time.

20. A notification system, comprising:

computer-implemented means for making a real-time inference relating to availability of a user upon receipt of data indicating current state of the user; and

computer-implemented means for determining when to provide the user with information intended for the user based at least in part upon the real-time inference.