TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO MULTIPLE COMPUTING DEVICES ACCORDING TO A TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE

• US 20180159921A1
• Filed: 12/02/2016
• Published: 06/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Brinig, Kevin, Murthy, Kartik
• Granted Patent: US 10,171,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1004 Server selection for load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users

Abstract

A network system can manage a network service for a given region by receiving requests from user devices of users and matching the requesting users with available providers. In response to receiving a request from a user device, the network system can identify a set of candidate providers available to service the request. The set of candidate providers can be identified based, at least in part, on acceptance metrics indicative of the providers'"'"' historical record in responding to specified messages from the network system. The network system can transmit a set of messages relating to the request to computing devices of the set of candidate providers and subsequently select one of the providers to service the request. The network system can transmit the set of messages in accordance with a transmission schedule determined for the first set of messages.

Claims

1. A network system for managing a network service for a given geographic region comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network system to;

receive, from a first user device of a first user, request data corresponding to a first request for service, the request data including information corresponding to a first location;

in response to receiving the request data, identify a set of candidate providers from a plurality of providers, including determining a number of candidate providers to be identified in the set of candidate providers based, at least in part, on acceptance metrics of the plurality of providers, wherein each acceptance metric is indicative of a corresponding service provider'"'"'s historical record in accepting invitations to fulfill requests for service; and

transmit a set of invitation messages to a set of provider devices associated with the set of candidate providers, each of the set of invitation messages corresponding to an invitation to fulfill the first request for service and including information corresponding to the first location.

2. The network system of claim 1, wherein identifying the set of candidate service providers is further based on a service provider status or an estimated time of arrival at the first location.

4. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to maintain provider profiles, each provider profile including a corresponding acceptance metric.

5. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to:

determine a message transmission schedule that specifies a timeline for transmitting each of the set of invitation messages; and

transmit the set of invitation messages to the set of provider devices in accordance with the message transmission schedule.

6. The network system of claim 5, wherein the message transmission schedule is determined based on historical data associated with each of the set of candidate providers, the historical data including one or more of:

(i) a number of response messages, (ii) a number of confirmed responses, (iii) a number of rejected responses, and (iv) a ratio between the number of response messages and the number of confirmed responses.

7. The network system of claim 5, wherein the message transmission schedule is determined based on respective network performance metrics associated with the set of provider devices, wherein the respective network performance metrics include (i) a network latency or (ii) a network bandwidth.

9. The network system of claim 1, wherein

the request data further includes information regarding a second location;

the executed instructions further cause the network system to compute a value based on the first location and the second location; and

each of the set of invitation messages includes information regarding the computed value.

10. The network system of claim 1, wherein:

the request data further includes information regarding a service class;

the executed instructions further cause the network system to compute a value based on the service class; and

each of the set of invitation messages includes information regarding the computed value.

11. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to compute a value based on a number of users and a number of available providers in the given geographic region and wherein each of the set of invitation messages includes information regarding the computed value.

12. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to:

compute a value adjustment based on a distance between one of the set of candidate providers to the first location, the distance being determined based on data received from a respective one of the set of provider devices; and

wherein a corresponding one of the set of invitation messages includes information regarding the value adjustment.

13. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to determine a respective response interval for each of the set of invitation messages.

21. The network system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to:

receive a response message from each of a sub-set of provider devices of the set of provider devices, the sub-set of provider devices being associated with one or more interested providers of the set of candidate providers;

select a provider from the one or more interested providers; and

transmit a confirmation message to a provider device of the selected provider.

22. The network system of claim 21, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to:

identify additional candidate providers after a period of time in which no response message is received from any of the set of provider devices; and

transmit a second set of invitation messages to provider devices associated with the additional candidate providers, each of the second set of invitation messages including information corresponding to the first location.

26. The network system of claim 13, wherein a first response interval determined for a first invitation message of the set of invitation messages is of a different length compared to a second response interval determined for a second invitation message of the set of invitation messages.

27. The network system of claim 13, wherein a first invitation message of the set of invitation messages received by a first provider device of the set of provider devices includes information regarding a corresponding response interval determined for the first invitation message.

28. The network system of claim 5, wherein the executed instructions further cause the network system to determine the message transmission schedule based on acceptance metrics of one or more candidate providers of the set of candidate providers.

3. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

14-18. -18. (canceled)

19. A computer-implemented method, the method being performed by one or more processors of a network system and comprising:

receiving, by the network system from a user device of a first user, request data corresponding to a first request for service, the request data including information corresponding to a first location;

in response to receiving the request data, identifying a set of candidate providers from a plurality of providers, including determining a number of candidate providers to be identified in the set of candidate providers based, at least in part, on acceptance metrics of the plurality of providers, wherein each acceptance metric is indicative of a corresponding service provider'"'"'s historical record in accepting invitations to fulfill requests for service; and

transmitting, by the network system, a set of invitation messages to a set of provider devices associated with the set of candidate providers, each of the set of invitation messages corresponding to an invitation to fulfill the first request for service and including information corresponding to the first location.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising transmitting, to a provider device of the set of provider devices, a second invitation message associated with a second request for service by a second user to cause the provider device to simultaneously display information regarding the first service request and information regarding the second service request.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein the second invitation message causes the provider device to display a user interface feature to enable a provider operating the provider device to select between accepting the first request for service and accepting the second request for service.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network system, cause the network system to:

receive, from a user device of a first user, request data corresponding to a first request for service, the request data including information corresponding to a first location;

in response to receiving the request data, identify a set of candidate providers from a plurality of providers, including determining a number of candidate providers to be identified in the set of candidate providers based, at least in part, on acceptance metrics of the plurality of providers, wherein each acceptance metric is indicative of a corresponding service provider'"'"'s historical record in accepting invitations to fulfill requests for service; and

transmit a set of invitation messages to a set of provider devices associated with the set of candidate providers, each of the set of invitation messages corresponding to an invitation to fulfill the first request for service and including information corresponding to the first location.

23. (canceled)