Dynamically matching users for group communications based on a threshold degree of matching of sender and recipient predetermined acceptance criteria

• US 6,480,885 B1
• Filed: 04/25/2000
• Issued: 11/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tumbleweed Holdings LLC (Equitable IP Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Michael Olivier
• Inventors: Olivier, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Le Hien
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLETT, STEPHAN F
• Application Number:
  US09/557,681
• Time in Patent Office: 931 Days
• Field of Search: 709/106, 709/202, 709/207
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method for enabling users to exchange group electronic mail by establishing individual profiles and criteria, for determining personalized subsets within a group. Users establish subscriptions to an electronic mailing list by specifying user profile data and acceptance criteria data to screen other users. When a user subscribes, a web server establishes and stores an individualized recipient list including each matching subscriber and their degree of one-way or mutual match with the user. When the user then sends a message to the mailing list, an email server retrieves 100% her matches and then optionally filters her recipient list down to a message distribution list using each recipient'"'"'s message criteria. The message is then distributed to matching users. Additionally, email archives and information contributions from users are stored in a database. A web server creates an individualized set of web pages for a user from the database, containing contributions only from users in his recipient list. In other embodiments, users apply one-way or mutual criteria matching and message profile criteria to other group forums, such as web-based discussion boards, chat, online clubs, USENET newsgroups, voicemail, instant messaging, web browsing side channel communities, and online gaming rendezvous.

Claims

1. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) obtaining acceptance criteria data and user profile data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of each user and the acceptance criteria data of all other users of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations that exceed a particular threshold level of match to identify a subgroup associated with each said user; and

d) upon receipt by the system of a communication from a particular one of said users including message data and user identity data, making said message data available to all other members of the subgroup associated with said particular one of said users.

11. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, and 4 wherein in step b) acceptance criteria data and user profile data are obtained by extracting information from sources other than directly from the users.

17. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate as recited in any one of claims 1 and 2 wherein in step c) the degree of match between acceptance criteria data of each said user to user profile data of all other users of said multiplicity of users is also included in the calculation of the degree of match.

20. A method as recited in any one of claims 1-8 and further comprising the steps of:

associating a unique message identifier with said message data;

associating said subgroup with said unique message identifier;

receiving a reply communication from one user of said subgroup including reply message data, reply user identity data, and said unique message identifier; and

making said reply message data available to said subgroup.

2. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) obtaining acceptance criteria data and user profile data corresponding to the acceptance criteria, parameters and user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of each user and the acceptance criteria data of all other users of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations to identify a subgroup associated with each said user based on the degree of match having a particular relationship to a level of match threshold defined for all other users of said multiplicity of users; and

d) upon receipt by the system of a communication from a particular one of said users including message data and user identity data, said system makes said message data available to all members of the subgroup associated with said particular one of said users.

21. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in claim 2

wherein in step d) an indication of degree of match to each member of said subgroup is also made available to all members of the subgroup associated with said particular one of said users.

3. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics

b) obtaining acceptance criteria data and user profile data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) receiving a communication from a particular one of said multiplicity of users including message data and user identity data;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said particular one user and the acceptance criteria data of each other user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations, which have a particular relationship to a specific level of match threshold, to identify a subgroup associated with said particular one user; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

15. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in any one of claims 3 and 4 wherein in step d) the degree of match between the acceptance criteria data of said particular one user and the user profile data of each other user of said multiplicity of users is also included in the calculation of the degree of match.

4. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics,

b) obtaining acceptance criteria data and user profile data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) receiving a communication from a particular one of said multiplicity of users including message data and user identity data;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said particular one user and the acceptance criteria data of each other user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations to identify a subgroup associated with said particular one user based on the degree of match having a particular relationship to a level of match threshold defined for each user of said multiplicity of users; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

5. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) obtaining, acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) receiving a communication from an unknown user including message data and user profile data;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said unknown user and the acceptance criteria data of each user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations;

which have a particular relationship to a specific level of matching threshold, to identify a subgroup associated with said unknown user; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

12. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, recited in any one of claims 5, 6, 7, and 8 wherein in said obtaining step acceptance criteria data is obtained by extracting information from sources other than directly from the users.

16. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in any one of claims 5, 6, 7, and 8 and further comprising the step of:

before said calculating step, obtaining user profile data corresponding to user profile data parameters for each user of said multiplicity of users;

wherein the communication received from said unknown user in said receiving step additionally includes acceptance criteria data; and

wherein in said calculating step the degree of match between acceptance criteria data of said unknown user and user profile data of each user of said multiplicity of users is also included in the calculation of the degree of match.

6. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) obtaining acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

c) receiving a communication from an unknown user including message data and user profile data;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said unknown user and the acceptance criteria data of each user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations to identify a subgroup associated with said unknown user based on the degree of match having a particular relationship to a level of match threshold defined for each user of said multiplicity of users; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

7. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) receiving a communication from an unknown user including message data and user profile data;

c) obtaining acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each user of a multiplicity of users;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said unknown user and the acceptance criteria data of each user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations, which have a particular relationship to a specific level of match threshold, to identify a subgroup associated with said unknown user; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

8. A method of dynamically matching defined and unknown users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics.

b) receiving a communication from an unknown user including message data and user profile data;

c) obtaining acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each of a multiplicity of users;

d) calculating the degree of match between the user profile said unknown user and the acceptance criteria data of each user of said multiplicity of users, and using the results of those calculations to identify a subgroup associated with said unknown user based on the degree of match having a particular relationship to a level of match threshold defined for each user of said multiplicity of users; and

e) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

9. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics;

b) obtaining user profile data corresponding to the user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of profiled users;

c) receiving a communication from a particular one of said multiplicity of profiled users including message data and user identity;

d) obtaining acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each of a multiplicity of other users who may or may not be profiled users;

e) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said particular one user and the acceptance criteria data of said multiplicity of other users, and using the results of those calculations, which have a particular relationship to a specific level of match threshold, to identify a subgroup associated with said particular one user; and

f) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

10. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing acceptance criteria parameters and user profile data parameters defining said characteristics,

b) obtaining user profile data corresponding to the user profile data parameters for each user of a multiplicity of profiled users;

c) receiving a communication from a particular one of said multiplicity of profiled users including message data and user identity data;

d) obtaining acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria parameters for each user of a multiplicity of other users who may or may not be profiled users;

e) calculating the degree of match between the user profile data of said particular one user and the acceptance criteria data of each user of said multiplicity of other users, and using the results of those calculations to identify a subgroup associated with said particular one user based on the degree of match having a particular relationship to a level of match threshold defined for each user of said multiplicity of other users; and

f) making said message data available to all members of said subgroup.

13. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in any one of claims 9 and 10 wherein in step d) acceptance criteria data is obtained by extracting information from sources other than directly from the users.

14. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate as recited in any one of claims 9 and 10 wherein in step b) user profile data is obtained by extracting information from sources other than directly from the users.

18. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, as recited in any one of claims 9 and 10 and further comprising the steps of:

before said calculating step, collecting user profile data corresponding to user profile data parameters or ones of said multiplicity of other users for whom user profile data is not known; and

collecting acceptance criteria data corresponding to acceptance criteria data parameters for said particular one user;

wherein in step e) the degree of match between the collected acceptance criteria data and the user profile data of said multiplicity of other users who are profiled users is also included in the calculation of the degree of match, and the degree of matches between the collected acceptance criteria data and the collected user profile data is also included in the calculation of the degree of match.

19. A method of dynamically matching defined users of a group communication system, so that subgroups of the users having certain characteristics can intercommunicate, recited in any one of claims 9 and 10 and further comprising the step of:

before said calculating step, collecting user profile data corresponding to user profile data parameters for ones of said multiplicity of other users for whom user profile data is not known;

wherein in step c) additionally receiving acceptance criteria data corresponding to the acceptance criteria data parameters for said particular one;

wherein in step e) the degree of match between the acceptance criteria data of said particular one and the user profile data of said multiplicity of other users who are profiled users is also included in the calculation of the degree of matches, and the degree of match between the acceptance criteria data of said particular one and the collected user profile data is also included in the calculation of the degree of matches.

22. A method as recited in any one of claim 4, 6, 8, and 10

wherein in sad making step an indication of degree of match to each member of said subgroup is also made available to all members of said subgroup.