HYPERLOCAL SMOOTHING

• US 20110313968A1
• Filed: 06/22/2010
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dumais, Susan T., Gounares, Alexander George
• Granted Patent: US 8,788,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

Concepts and technologies are described herein for hyperlocal smoothing. The hyperlocal smoothing solutions described herein provide a smooth view of data and events across hyperlocal geographic areas by combining sparse data available with inferred or extrapolated data. Additionally, the hyperlocal smoothing solutions described herein make use of contextual analysis to interpret service requests in a manner appropriate for a targeted hyperlocal area. Thus, the smooth view of data can be queried in a contextually sensitive manner to return relevant information for a hyperlocal geographic area, even in circumstances wherein data relevant to the hyperlocal geographic area is sparse or even non-existent.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for hyperlocal smoothing, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:

receiving a request for attribute data relating to an entity;

determining that the attribute data relating to the entity is not available or is unreliable;

in response to the determining, receiving related attribute data comprising attribute data relating to another entity that is located at a locale that is related to a location associated with the entity;

calculating an inferred attribute data based, at least partially, upon the related attribute data; and

outputting the inferred attribute data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the inferred attribute data comprises storing the inferred attribute data at a data storage location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the attribute data is unreliable comprises determining that the attribute data is sparse, or that the attribute data is out of date.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the attribute data is unreliable comprises determining that the attribute data is associated with an unreliable source.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising accessing related entities data to identify at least one related entity and identifying attribute data corresponding to the at least one related entity.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein calculating the inferred attribute data comprises extrapolating the related attribute data to obtain the inferred attribute data, and generating a confidence interval for the inferred attribute data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if explicit attribute data is available and is reliable, and outputting the explicit attribute data in response to the determining.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving feedback relating to the inferred attribute data.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an alert request relating to the inferred attribute data.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an alert request relating to the inferred attribute data;

formatting at least one alert parameter relating to the alert request;

receiving the related attribute data;

calculating an updated value for the inferred attribute data; and

determining if the at least one alert parameter is satisfied.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one alert parameter comprises an inferred attribute data value threshold that must be satisfied to generate an alert relating to the inferred attribute data.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating the alert, in response to determining that the inferred attribute data value threshold is satisfied.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising outputting the updated value for the inferred attribute data.

14. A computer-implemented method for hyperlocal smoothing, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:

receiving a request for attribute data relating to an entity;

determining if explicit attribute data relating to the entity is available and is reliable;

in response to determining that the explicit attribute data is available and is reliable, outputting the explicit attribute data; and

in response to determining that the explicit attribute data is not available or is unreliable,

identifying at least one related entity located at a locale that is related to a location associated with the entity;

receiving related attribute data comprising attribute data for the related entity;

calculating an inferred attribute data based, at least partially, upon the related attribute data; and

outputting the inferred attribute data.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising accessing related entities data to identify at least one related entity, and wherein receiving the related attribute data comprises obtaining attribute data corresponding to the at least one related entity.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein calculating the inferred attribute data comprises extrapolating from the related attribute data to obtain the inferred attribute data, and generating a confidence interval for the inferred attribute data.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving an alert request relating to the inferred attribute data;

formatting at least one alert parameter relating to the alert request;

receiving the related attribute data;

calculating an updated value for the inferred attribute data;

determining if the at least one alert parameter is satisfied, wherein the at least one alert parameter comprises an inferred attribute data value threshold that must be satisfied to generate an alert relating to the inferred attribute data; and

generating the alert, in response to determining that the inferred attribute data value threshold is satisfied.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein calculating the updated value for the inferred attribute data comprises extrapolating the related attribute data to obtain the inferred attribute data, and generating a confidence interval for the updated value for the inferred attribute data.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving feedback relating to the inferred attribute data.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereupon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a request for attribute data relating to an entity;

determine if explicit attribute data relating to the entity is available and is reliable; and

in response to determining that the explicit attribute data is not available or is unreliable,

access related entities data associated with the entity to identify at least one related entity located at a locale that is related to a location associated with the entity,

obtain attribute data corresponding to the at least one related entity,

smooth the related attribute data to obtain the inferred attribute data, and generating a confidence interval corresponding to the value determined for the inferred attribute data,

output the inferred attribute data,

receive an alert request relating to the inferred attribute data,

format at least one alert parameter relating to the alert request,

receive the related attribute data,

calculate an updated value for the inferred attribute data,

determine if the at least one alert parameter is satisfied, wherein the at least one alert parameter comprises an inferred attribute data value threshold that must be satisfied to generate an alert relating to the inferred attribute data, and

generate the alert, in response to determining that the inferred attribute data value threshold is satisfied.