Method and system for providing relevant information to a user of a device in a local network

• US 20080288641A1
• Filed: 05/15/2007
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Messer, Alan, Cheng, Doreen, Kunjithapatham, Anugeetha, Rathod, Priyang, Sheshagiri, Mithun
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,467 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3334 Selection or weighting of terms from queries, including natural language queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

A method and system for providing information to a user of a device on a local network is provided. This involves obtaining information about current user activity on the local network, obtaining contextual information about current user activity on the local network and obtaining additional information interrelated to the contextual information and the user activity information. Then correlations are identified between the additional information, the contextual information and the user activity information. The correlations are used in forming a query to search for information related to the current user activity, to provide to the user.

Claims

1. A method of providing information to a user of a device on a local network, comprising the steps of:

obtaining information about current user activity on the local network;

obtaining contextual information about current user activity on the local network;

obtaining additional information interrelated to the contextual information and the user activity information;

identifying correlations between the additional information, the contextual information and the user activity information; and

using the correlations in forming a query to search for information related to the current user activity.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information further includes obtaining additional information interrelated to the contextual information and the user activity information, from sources including the local network and/or external sources.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying correlations includes the step of identifying correlations between information about current user activity and interrelated information obtained from local sources.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying correlations includes the step of identifying correlations between information about current user activity and the interrelated information obtained from external sources.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying correlations includes the step of identifying correlations between information about current user activity and the interrelated information obtained from local and external sources.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of executing the query to obtain search results including information related to the current user activity.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein executing the query further includes executing the query to search for related information on the local network and/or external sources.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of presenting the search results to the user.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of presenting the search results to the user on a user interface in the device.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the device comprises a consumer electronics device.

11. The method of claim 9 further including the step of mapping user interface functions of the device to a small number of key presses for the user.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a query includes automatically forming a query, without requiring user intervention.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining information about current user activity on the local network includes obtaining information from user input to the device.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining information about current user activity on the local network includes obtaining information from applications running in the network.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information includes obtaining the additional information from external structured data sources.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information includes obtaining additional information that is relevant to user interests from local media content sources.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information includes obtaining the additional information from external unstructured data sources.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information includes obtaining the additional information from external semi-structured data sources.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining additional information includes obtaining the additional information from external broadcast data sources.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining contextual information about current user activity on the local network further includes obtaining associated metadata available on the local network.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein forming a query further includes using metadata related to the content on the local network for determining a context for query formation.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein determining a context for query formation includes using metadata related to the content in the network and information from applications on the local network, to determine a context for query formation without requiring user intervention.

23. The method of claim 1 further including the step of using the query to search the Internet for information related to the current user activity.

24. An apparatus for providing information to a user on a local network, comprising:

a first information gatherer configured to obtain information about current user activity on the local network, and to obtain contextual information about current user activity on the local network;

a second information gatherer configured to obtain additional information interrelated to the contextual information and the user activity information;

a correlation module configured to identify correlations between the additional information, the contextual information and the user activity information; and

a query module configured to utilize the correlations in forming a query to search for information related to the current user activity.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer further is configured for obtaining additional information interrelated to the contextual information and the user activity information, from sources including the local network and/or external sources.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the correlation module is configured for identifying correlations between information about current user activity and interrelated information obtained from local sources.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the correlation module is configured for identifying correlations between information about current user activity and the interrelated information obtained from external sources.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the correlation module is configured for identifying correlations between information about current user activity and the interrelated information obtained from local and external sources.

29. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising a search module configured for causing execution of the query to obtain search results including information related to the current user activity.

30. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the search module is further configured for invoking execution of the query to search for related information in an external source.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the external source comprises the Internet.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 further comprising a user interface configured for presenting the search results to the user.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the apparatus comprises a consumer electronics device.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein user interface functions of the device are mapped to a small number of key presses for the user.

35. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the query module is further configured for automatically forming a query, without requiring user intervention.

36. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the first information gatherer is further configured for obtaining information about current user activity from one or more of:

user input to the device, applications running on the local network, a user profile on the local network.

37. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information from external structured data sources.

38. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the first information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information that is relevant to user interests from local media content sources.

39. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information that is relevant to user interests from local media content sources.

40. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information from external unstructured data sources.

41. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information from external semi-structured data sources.

42. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second information gatherer is further configured for obtaining additional information from external broadcast data sources.

43. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the first information gatherer is further configured for obtaining contextual information about current user activity on the local network by obtaining associated metadata available on the local network.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the query module is further configured for forming a query using metadata related to the content on the local network for determining a context for query formation.

45. The apparatus of claim 24 further including a filtering module for filtering search results based on the correlations for presentation to the user.

46. A method of providing information to a user of a device on a local network, comprising the steps of:

obtaining information about current user activity on the local network;

obtaining additional information interrelated to the user activity information;

identifying correlations between the additional information and the user activity information; and

using the correlations in forming a query to search for information related to the current user activity.

47. An apparatus for providing information to a user on a local network, comprising:

a first information gatherer configured to obtain information about current user activity on the local network;

a second information gatherer configured to obtain additional information interrelated to the user activity information;

a correlation module configured to identify correlations between the additional information and the user activity information; and

a query module configured to utilize the correlations in forming a query to search for information related to the current user activity.