INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS, SYSTEM, METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20130097231A1
• Filed: 06/23/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ito, Chihiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,100,238 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00

Abstract

Disclosed is an information providing apparatus, wherein information desired by users is provided with a high-precision selection, and at low processing cost. The information providing apparatus comprises: a data storing means for storing therein utilization log data that includes a plurality of sets of a plurality of context values inputted from a user terminal upon accessing a piece of content, and one or more information selection criterion values for the piece of content; a totalizing means for totalizing frequencies of accesses to pieces of content, from the utilization log data, for each of the combinations of the values that each of the contexts can take and the values that each of the information selection criteria can take; a context-influence calculating means for calculating a coefficient of association between each of the information selection criteria and each of the contexts, from the result of the totalization conducted by the totalizing means, and outputting the result to an information providing means; and the information providing means for selecting n [h] pieces (n [h] is one or more, and h is 1 to (the aforementioned m)) of contexts in priority from those having higher association with each of m pieces (m is one or more) of information selection criteria, on the basis of the coefficient of association, and selecting, on the basis of values of the n [h] pieces of contexts (current values) inputted from one of the user terminals (a current terminal), a piece of content to be outputted to the current terminal.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus comprising:

a data storing unit which stores therein utilization log data that includes a plurality of sets of a plurality of context values inputted from one of a plurality of user terminals upon accessing a piece of content, and one or more information selection criterion values for the piece of content;

a totalizing unit which totalizes frequencies of accesses to pieces of content, from the utilization log data, for each of the combinations of the values that each of the contexts can take and the values that each of the information selection criteria can take;

a context-influence calculating unit which calculates a coefficient of association between each of the information selection criteria and each of the contexts, from the result of the totalization conducted by the totalizing unit, and outputting the result to an information providing unit; and

the information providing unit which selects n [h] pieces (n [h] is one or more, and h is 1 to m, which is a number of the pieces of the information selection criteria and is one or more) of contexts in priority from those having higher association with each of m pieces (m is one or more) of information selection criteria, on the basis of the coefficient of association, and selects, on the basis of values of the n [h] pieces of contexts, which are current values, inputted from one of the user terminals, which is a current terminal, a piece of content to be outputted to the current terminal.

2. The information providing apparatus described in claim 1, wherein

the data storing unit which stores content, and

the information providing unit calculates, for each of the m pieces of information selection criteria, an occurrence probability of each of the values that the information selection criterion can take, on the basis of the current values of the selected n [h] pieces of contexts, selects p [h] pieces (p [h] is one or more) of values, which are high probability information selection criterion values [h]), in priority from those having higher occurrence probability, and selects, on the basis of all the selected high probability information selection criterion values, a piece of the content from the data storing unit.

3. An information providing system including:

the information providing apparatus described in claim 1; and

one or more of the plurality of the user terminals comprising;

a display unit which displays information on the content selected by the information providing unit.

4. An information providing method comprising:

storing, in a data storing unit, utilization log data that includes a plurality of sets of a plurality of context values inputted from one of a plurality of user terminals upon accessing a piece of content, and one or more information selection criterion values for the piece of content,

totalizing frequencies of accesses to pieces of content, from the utilization log data, for each of the combinations of the values that each of the contexts can take and the values that each of the information selection criteria can take,

calculating a coefficient of association between each of the information selection criteria and each of the contexts, from the result of the totalization conducted, and

selecting n [h] pieces (n [h] is one or more, and h is 1 to m, which is a number of the pieces of the information selection criteria and is one or more) of contexts in priority from those having higher association with each of m pieces (m is one or more) of information selection criteria, on the basis of the coefficient of association, and selecting, on the basis of values of the n [h] pieces of contexts, which are current values, inputted from one of the user terminals, which is a current terminal, a piece of content to be outputted to the current terminal.

5. The information providing method described in claim 4, comprising:

storing content in the data storing unit; and

calculating, for each of the m pieces of information selection criteria, an occurrence probability of each of the values that the information selection criterion can take, on the basis of the current values of the selected n [h] pieces of contexts, selecting p [h] pieces (p [h] is one or more) of values, which are high probability information selection criterion values), in priority from those having higher occurrence probability, and selecting a piece of the content from the data storing unit on the basis of all the selected high probability information selection criterion values.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing an information providing program which causes a computer to function as:

a data storing unit which stores therein utilization log data that includes a plurality of sets of a plurality of context values inputted from a user terminal one of a plurality of user terminals upon accessing a piece of content, and one or more information selection criterion values for the piece of content,

a totalizing unit which stores frequencies of accesses to pieces of content, from the utilization log data, for each of the combinations of the values that each of the contexts can take and the values that each of the information selection criteria can take,

a context-influence calculating unit which calculates the coefficient of association between each of the information selection criteria and each of the contexts, from the result of the totalization conducted by the totalizing unit, and outputting the result to an information providing unit, and

the information providing unit which selects n [h] pieces (n [h] is one or more, and h is 1 to m, which is a number of the pieces of the information selection criteria and is one or more) of contexts in priority from those having higher association with each of m pieces (m is one or more) of information selection criteria, on the basis of the coefficient of association, and selects, on the basis of values of the n [h] pieces of contexts, which are current values, inputted from one of the user terminals, which is a current terminal, a piece of content to be outputted to the current terminal.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium described in claim 6, storing an information providing program which causes a computer to function as

the data storing unit which stores content, and

the information providing unit which calculates, for each of the m pieces of information selection criteria, an occurrence probability of each of the values that the information selection criterion can take, on the basis of the current values of the selected n [h] pieces of contexts, selects p [h] pieces (p [h] is one or more) of values, which are high probability information selection criterion values, in priority from those having higher occurrence probability, and selects, on the basis of all the selected high probability information selection criterion values, a piece of the content from the data storing unit.

8. An information providing apparatus comprising:

a data storing means for storing therein utilization log data that includes a plurality of sets of a plurality of context values inputted from one of a plurality of user terminals upon accessing a piece of content, and one or more information selection criterion values for the piece of content;

a totalizing means for totalizing frequencies of accesses to pieces of content, from the utilization log data, for each of the combinations of the values that each of the contexts can take and the values that each of the information selection criteria can take;

a context-influence calculating means for calculating a coefficient of association between each of the information selection criteria and each of the contexts, from the result of the totalization conducted by the totalizing means, and outputting the result to an information providing means; and

the information providing means for selecting n [h] pieces (n [h] is one or more, and h is 1 to m, which is a number of the pieces of the information selection criteria and is one or more) of contexts in priority from those having higher association with each of m pieces of information selection criteria, on the basis of the coefficient of association, and selecting, on the basis of values of the n [h] pieces of contexts, which are current values, inputted from one of the user terminals, which is a current terminal, a piece of content to be outputted to the current terminal.