ALERT MANAGEMENT MESSAGING

• US 20080209002A1
• Filed: 01/29/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Hatalkar, Atul N.
• Granted Patent: US 7,873,698 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0686 Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data

Abstract

Techniques are described for providing alert management messages in a broadcast environment to individual recipients or to identifiable groups of recipients.

Claims

1. A method of receiving an alert management message transmitted to a plurality of recipients on a broadcast channel comprising:

testing a first data field, the first data field identifying at least one target recipient;

ignoring the alert management message when the recipient is not a target recipient; and

recovering the alert management message when the recipient is a target recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing a second data field, the second data field identifying an action by the recipient; and

performing the action.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing a second data field, the second data field

identifying an alert management state for the recipient; and

assuming the alert management state.

4. An article comprising a computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable instructions for receiving a alert management message transmitted to a plurality of recipients on a broadcast channel, the instructions causing a machine to:

test a first data field, the first data field identifying at least one target recipient;

ignore the alert management message when the recipient is not a target recipient; and

recover the alert management message when the recipient is a target recipient.

5. The article of claim 4, the instructions further causing the machine to:

test a second data field, the second data field identifying an action by the recipient; and

perform the action.

6. The article of claim 4, the instructions further causing the machine to:

test a second data field, the second data field identifying an alert management state for the recipient; and

assume the alert management state.

7. A head end system, comprising:

an input configured to receive interactive communication from one or more clients, the interactive communication including one or more received alerts;

an alert handler configured to receive information indicative of the one or more received alerts, the alert handler configured to generate a broadcast alert management message in response to at least one of the received alerts; and

an output configured to broadcast the broadcast alert management message.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the alert handler is configured to generate a first broadcast alert management message in response to a first received alert at a first time, and further configured to generate a second broadcast alert management message in response to the first received alert at a second time subsequent to the first time.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the broadcast alert management message comprises a parameter indicative of one or more target clients of the one or more clients.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the alert handler is configured to generate a first broadcast alert management message in response to a first received alert, and wherein the broadcast alert management comprises an alert type based on the first received alert.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the alert handler is configured to generate a first broadcast alert management message in response to a first received alert, and wherein the broadcast alert management comprises status information based on the first received alert.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the status information comprises information to disable client alert initiation.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the status information comprises information to enable client alert initiation.

14. A method comprising:

receiving an alert from a first client over an interactive communication channel;

generating an alert management message using the alert; and

transmitting the alert management message to the first client and a plurality of other clients over a broadcast channel.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the alert management message identifies only the first client as the target of the alert management message.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving the alert management message at a second client different than the first client;

determining that the second client is not the target of the alert management message; and

ignoring the alert management message at the second client.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitting the alert management message to the first client and a plurality of other clients over the broadcast channel comprises transmitting the alert management message at a first time, and further comprising transmitting the alert management message to the first client and a plurality of other clients over the broadcast channel at a second time.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving at a target client of the first client and the plurality of other clients the alert management message transmitted at the first time;

performing one or more actions at the target client based on receiving the alert management message transmitted at the first time;

receiving at the target client the alert management message transmitted at the second time; and

ignoring at the target client the alert management message transmitted at the second time.

19. An article comprising one or more storage media having stored thereon instructions that when executed by one or more machines results in the following:

receiving a received alert from a first client over an interactive communication channel;

generating an alert management message using the received alert; and

transmitting the alert management message to the first client and a plurality of other clients over a broadcast channel.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein generating the alert management message comprises generating information indicative of at least one of one or more target clients for the alert management message.

21. The article of claim 19, wherein generating the alert management message comprises generating information indicative of the received alert.

22. The article of claim 19, wherein generating the alert management message comprises generating information indicative of at least one of an action to be performed and a state to be initiated in a target client of the alert management message.