Controlling a Device Cloud

• US 20170041271A1
• Filed: 08/04/2016
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tal, Eran, Rehwald, Martin, Penov, Francislav, Yang, Siyin, Kowalewski, Damian, Yakovlev, George, Chhabra, Anupma, Lawrence, Zachary Chee-Ping, Ahmad, Rizwan, Tien, Dung Nguyen, Escareno, Angelica Estefania, Bigio, Aidymar
• Granted Patent: US 10,541,958 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a command message from a client device associated with a user; parsing the command message; identifying, based on the parsed command message, one or more of a number of connected devices; determining, based on the parsed command message, one or more instructions for the identified connected devices; and providing the instructions to the identified connected devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by one or more computer server machines, receiving a command message from a client device associated with a user;

by the server machines, parsing the command message;

by the server machines, identifying, based on the parsed command message, one or more of a plurality of connected devices;

by the server machines, determining, based on the parsed command message, one or more instructions for the identified connected devices; and

by the server machines, providing the instructions to the identified connected devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:

accessing a device graph comprising;

a node representing the user; and

one or more nodes that each represent a respective one of the identified connected devices; and

identifying the one or more of the plurality of connected devices based at least in part on determining the node representing the user is within a threshold degree of separation of one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the second network-enabled devices.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising updating the device graph to add an edge connecting the node representing the user with the one or more nodes each representing the respective one of the identified connected devices.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

parsing the command message to identifying one or more n-grams; and

identifying the one or more of the plurality of connected devices based at least in part on one or more of the identified n-grams matching the one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the connected devices.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying further comprises matching the one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the connected devices to the node representing the user by an edge corresponding to a setting or action associated with the respective one of the connected devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the command is sent using a messaging application executed on the client device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the command comprises a natural language message sent by the messaging application.

8. The method of claim 6, the command comprises a voice-transcribed message sent by the messaging application.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on the parsed command message and for each of the identified connected devices, a respective set of instructions for the connected device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on the parsed command message, an execution context for the instructions.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining the execution context comprises:

determining a level of authorization for the user;

determining permissions or privacy settings configured for one or more of the identified connected devices;

determining an interaction history for the user;

or

determining a current location of the user, wherein the identified one or more of the plurality of connected devices is associated with the current location of the user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a device message from one or more of the connected devices;

generating a natural-language message based on the device message;

identifying one or more client devices, wherein each of the identified client devices is associated with the user; and

sending the natural-language message to the identified client devices.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the natural-language message comprises:

a status message relating to one or more of the connected devices;

a request for additional information to clarify a command message;

a request to authenticate the user;

a message acknowledging the command message or confirming completion of the instructions;

a message stating that the instructions cannot be executed;

or

an alert regarding one or more of the connected devices.

14. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software configured when executed to:

receive a command message from a client device associated with a user;

parse the command message;

identify, based on the parsed command message, one or more of a plurality of connected devices;

determine, based on the parsed command message, one or more instructions for the identified connected devices; and

provide the instructions to the identified connected devices.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the software is further configured to:

access a device graph comprising;

a node representing the user; and

one or more nodes that each represent a respective one of the identified connected devices; and

identify the one or more of the plurality of connected devices based at least in part on determining the node representing the user is within a threshold degree of separation of one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the second network-enabled devices.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein the software is further configured to update the device graph to add an edge connecting the node representing the user with the one or more nodes each representing the respective one of the identified connected devices.

17. The media of claim 15, wherein the software is further configured to:

parse the command to identifying one or more n-grams; and

identify the one or more of the plurality of connected devices based at least in part on one or more of the identified n-grams matching the one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the connected devices.

18. A device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to the processors and embodying software configured when executed to;

receive a command message from a client device associated with a user;

parse the command message;

identify, based on the parsed command message, one or more of a plurality of connected devices;

determine, based on the parsed command message, one or more instructions for the identified connected devices; and

provide the instructions to the identified connected devices.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the software is further configured to:

access a device graph comprising;

a node representing the user; and

one or more nodes that each represent a respective one of the identified connected devices; and

identify the one or more of the plurality of connected devices based at least in part on determining the node representing the user is within a threshold degree of separation of one or more of the nodes representing the respective one of the second network-enabled devices.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the software is further configured to update the device graph to add an edge connecting the node representing the user with the one or more nodes each representing the respective one of the identified connected devices.