System and Method for Using Network Equipment to Provide Targeted Advertising

• US 20130007006A1
• Filed: 06/28/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chung, Eddie
• Granted Patent: US 9,396,187 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/747
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

A search request received from a user is converted to a search request integer value using an operational portion of a chip in network equipment. The search request integer value is compared to representative data integer values that were previously converted from a dataset of search terms using the operational portion, the representative integer values being stored on the chip. If the comparing is successful, a signal is transmitted to a second database, the signal being used to determine a message to be transmitted to the user that corresponds to the representative data integer.

Claims

1. A chip on service provider network equipment, the chip comprising:

an operational portion configured to receive a search request from a user, to generate a search request integer based on performing a mathematical function on the search request, to perform a comparing operation, and, if the comparing operational is successful, to access and transmit a message to the user; and

a first database configured to store representative data integers and configured to be accessed during the comparing operation to compare the search request integer to the stored representative data integers, the stored representative data being integers generated by a mathematical function acting on a dataset of search terms; and

a transmitter configured to send a signal to a second database configured to store messages corresponding to the representative data integers.

2. The chip of claim 1, wherein the mathematical functions generating the search request integer and the stored representative data integers are hash functions.

3. The chip of claim 1, wherein the network equipment is coupled to a user device that is used to generate the search request.

4. The chip of claim 1, wherein the network equipment is in a user device that is used to generate the search request.

5. The chip of claim 1, wherein the first database is configured to be updated if the dataset of search terms is updated by searches performed by the user.

6. The chip of claim 1, wherein the messages in the second database are configured to be updated.

7. The chip of claim 1, wherein the network equipment is a base station, a router, a switch, a set-top box, or a user device.

8. The chip of claim 1, wherein the messages comprising advertisements or political information.

9. A method, comprising:

converting, using an operational portion of a chip in network equipment, a search request received from a user to a search request integer value;

comparing, using the operational portion, the search request integer value to representative data integer values that were previously converted from a dataset of search terms, the representative integer values being stored on the chip;

if the comparing is successful, transmitting a signal to a second database, the signal being used by the second database to determine a message to be transmitted to the user that corresponds to the representative data integer.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising using a hash function to generate the search request integer value and the stored representative data integer values.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising coupling the network equipment to a user device that is used to generate the search request.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising incorporating the network equipment in a user device that is used to generate the search request.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising updating the first database if the dataset of search terms is updated by searches performed by the user.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising updating the messages in the second database.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising using a base station, a router, a switch, a set-top box, or a user device as the network equipment.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the messages comprising advertisements or political information.

17. A method comprising:

receiving a dataset of previously used search terms generated by an advertising system;

generating hashes from the dataset through using a hashing function;

storing the hashes in a database that is on a chip of a network device, the chip is configured to choose a message to send to a user based on a hash of a search request from a user, configured to compare the hash of the search request to the hashes in the first database, and, if the comparing is successful, configured to access the message from a second database, the message corresponding to the matched hashes.