Method and interference engine for processing telephone communication data

• US 20110007882A1
• Filed: 03/12/2008
• Published: 01/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Renero Quintero, Jesus, Gomez Del Campo, Luis Osa, Torres Ramon, Javier Maria
• Granted Patent: US 8,989,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/90.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/655 Combination of telephone service and social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42144 by service provider

Abstract

A method and an inference engine for processing telephone communication data of telephone parties of a telephone network are provided to allow better services and better allocation of resources in a telephone network. The inference engine comprises an obtainer for obtaining telephone communication data that associates telephone parties identifiable by telephone network identifiers with usage data that describes usage of one or more services of a telephone network. Further, the inference engine also comprises a generator for generating contact structure data for a set of the telephone parties based on the telephone communication data, wherein the contact structure data expresses a degree of connectivity between each member of at least a part of the set and one or more other members. The generated data gives the required information to improve services and resource allocation in the network.

Claims

1. A method of processing telephone communication data, comprising:

obtaining telephone communication data that associates telephone parties identifiable by telephone network identifiers with usage data that describes usage of one or more services of a telephone network, and

generating contact structure data for a set of said telephone parties based on said telephone communication data said contact structure data expressing a degree of connectivity between each member of at least a part of said set and one or more other members of said set.

2. The method of processing telephone communication data of claim 1, further comprising

analyzing the contact structure data to identify a subset of said set of telephone parties.

3. The method of processing telephone communication data of claim 2, wherein

analyzing the contact structure data is based on interactions between said telephone parties, said interactions being obtainable from said telephone communication data.

4. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising

analyzing the contact structure data to identify a cluster of telephone parties of said set with telephone parties of said cluster having at least one of a degree of connectivity above a certain connectivity threshold and a number of links to other telephone parties above a certain link threshold.

5. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising

adjusting a network service of a telephone party based on the analysis of the contact structure data.

6. The method of processing telephone communication data of claim 5, wherein

adjusting a network service comprises at least one of the following:

providing a secure communication for said telephone party, increasing the throughput of the communications of said telephone party, adapting a service charge for said telephone party, and adapting a multi-party service to said telephone party.

7. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 6, wherein

said contact structure data is representable as a graph of nodes connected by edges, where each node corresponds to a member of said set and a given edge expresses a degree of connectivity between nodes connected to said given edge.

8. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 7, wherein

the degree of connectivity is represented by a weight for a link between a member of at least said part of said set and another member of said set.

9. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 8, wherein

the connectivity is undirected indicating that the degree of connectivity is the same for each direction between two members.

10. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 8, wherein

the connectivity is directed indicating that the degree of connectivity is different for each direction between two members.

11. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 10, wherein

the usage data includes information on an interaction between said telephone parties through said telephone network.

12. The method of processing telephone communication data of claim 11, wherein

the information on an interaction relates to an interaction in a service comprising at least one of:

voice call, video call, SMS, MMS, multimedia service, and instant messaging; and

/or to information obtained from a location service.

13. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 12, wherein

the usage is associated with at least one of duration, frequency, and absolute number of interactions.

14. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 13, wherein

a telephone party is a trusted telephone party with a trusted telephone network identifier.

15. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 14, wherein

the telephone network identifier of the telephone party constitutes a unique identifier providing a unique identification in the telephone network.

16. The method of processing telephone communication data of at least one of claims 1 to 15, wherein

generating contact structure data for a set of said telephone parties is further based on at least one of a location of a telephone party and party equipment data of a telephone party relating to a capability of the party equipment or contact information stored therein.

34. A computer program including instructions adapted to cause data processing means to carry out the method of at least one of claims 1 to 16.

35. A computer readable medium, in which a program is embodied, where the program is to make a computer execute the method of at least one of claims 1 to 16.

36. A computer program product comprising the computer readable medium according to claim 35.

17. An inference engine of processing telephone communication data, comprising:

an obtainer for obtaining telephone communication data that associates telephone parties identifiable by telephone network identifiers with usage data that describes usage of one or more services of a telephone network, and

a generator for generating contact structure data for a set of said telephone parties based on said telephone communication data, said contact structure data expressing a degree of connectivity between each member of at least a part of said set and one or more other members of said set.

18. The inference engine of claim 17, further comprising

an data analyzer for analyzing the contact structure data.

19. The inference engine of claim 18, wherein

the data analyzer is adapted to analyze the contact structure data to identify a subset of said set of telephone parties.

20. The inference engine of claim 19, wherein

the data analyzer is adapted to analyze the contact structure data to identify said subset based on interactions between said telephone parties, said interactions being obtainable from said telephone communication data.

21. The inference engine of at least one of claims 18 to 20, wherein

the data analyzer is adapted to analyze the contact structure data to identify a cluster of telephone parties of said set with telephone parties of said cluster having at least one of a degree of connectivity above a certain connectivity threshold and a number of links to other telephone parties above a certain link threshold.

22. The inference engine of at least one of claims 18 to 21, further comprising

a service adjuster for adjusting a network service of a telephone party based on the analysis of the contact structure data.

23. The inference engine of claim 22, wherein

the service adjuster is adapted to adjust a network service comprising at least one of the following:

providing a secure communication for said telephone party, increasing the throughput of the communications of said telephone party, adapting a service charge for said telephone party, and adapting a multi-party service to said telephone party.

24. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 23, wherein

said contact structure data is representable as a graph of nodes connected by edges, where each node corresponds to a member of said set and a given edge expresses a degree of connectivity between nodes connected to said given edge.

25. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 24, wherein

the degree of connectivity is represented by a weight for a link between a member of at least said part of said set and another member of said set.

26. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 25, wherein

the connectivity is undirected indicating that the degree of connectivity is the same for each direction between two members.

27. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 26, wherein

the connectivity is directed indicating that the degree of connectivity is different for each direction between two members.

28. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 27, wherein

the usage data includes information on an interaction between said telephone parties through said telephone network.

29. The inference engine of claim 28, wherein

the information on an interaction relates to an interaction in a service comprising at least one of:

voice call, video call, SMS, MMS, multimedia service, and instant messaging; and

/or to information obtained from a location service.

30. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 28, wherein

the usage is associated with at least one of duration, frequency, and absolute number of interactions.

31. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 30, wherein

a telephone party is a trusted telephone party with a trusted telephone network identifier.

32. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 31, wherein

the telephone network identifier of the telephone party constitutes a unique identifier providing a unique identification in the telephone network.

33. The inference engine of at least one of claims 17 to 32, wherein

the generator is adapted to generate contact structure data for a set of said telephone parties based an at least one of a location of a telephone party and party equipment data of a telephone party relating to a capability of the party equipment or contact information stored therein.