Selecting attribute based content for server applications

• US 6,704,776 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2000
• Issued: 03/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WebTV Networks Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Fortune, Erik
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Winters, Mareisha N.
• Application Number:
  US09/607,444
• Time in Patent Office: 1,348 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 709/201, 709/203, 709/246, 709/200, 709/202, 707/10, 707/513
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26603 for automatically generating descriptors from content, e.g. when it is not made available by its provider, using content analysis techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

The present invention provides a decision engine and a content directory for use in identifying an appropriate instance of data to be used by an application. This process of localizing data is related to the need of providing contextually appropriate data to an end user. The application presents a request for an instance of the data to the decision engine. The decision engine accesses the content directory to determine the rules and attributes that govern the decision made by the decision engine. Depending on the rules and the attributes, the decision engine may require the application to supply certain values that are indicated by the rules and attributes. Based on these values, the decision engine is able to identify the contextually appropriate instance of the data for the application. The application is responsible for accessing the identified instance.

Claims

1. A system for providing context appropriate data to one or more clients based on one or more attributes of the requesting client, comprising:

a first program module comprising a server application having computer executable instructions for providing data in response to user requests received from a client;

a second program module, configured to interact with the first program module through a standardized, extensible and externally configurable interface, comprising a decision engine, a content directory, one or more attribute providers and computer executable instructions for

creating a decision tree for each target in the content directory;

receiving, at the decision engine, a request from the application for target data, wherein the target data is represented by one or more target instances stored in the content directory;

identifying, by the decision engine, one or more attributes associated with each of the target instances;

obtaining, by the decision engine, the value of one or more attributes from the one or more attribute providers;

selecting an appropriate target instance from the content directory based on an evaluation of the one or more attributes; and

communicating the identity of the appropriate target instance to the application, such that additional target instances may be added to the content directory and additional attributes may be added to the second program module without having to modify the computer executable instructions of the server application.

2. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the second program module further comprises computer executable instructions for compiling the content directory.

3. A system as defined in claim 2, wherein the computer executable instructions for compiling the content directory comprises computer executable instructions for evaluating one or more patterns.

4. A system as defined in claim 3, wherein a pattern is configured to import additional target instances into the content directory when the content directory is compiled.

5. A system as defined in claim 4, wherein a pattern has element attributes comprising:

name attribute, pattern, target, type instance, score and export.

6. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the target data comprises a set of strings and each of the target instances identifies a different version of the set of strings.

7. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes comprise rules for evaluating a target instance in the context of the request from the application.

8. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein a value of at least one of the one or more attributes is provided by an attribute provider that exists separately from the application.

9. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein a value of at least one of the one or more attributes is derived.

10. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the content directory comprises attributes, targets, target instances, references, and patterns.

11. A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions for selecting an appropriate target instance comprises computer executable instructions for traversing, by the decision engine, the decision tree for the target specified by the application.

12. A system for providing context appropriate data to one or more clients based on one or more attributes of the requesting client, comprising:

a first program module comprising a server application having computer executable instructions for providing data in response to user requests received from a client;

a second program module, configured to interact with the first program module through a standardized, extensible and externally configurable interface, comprising a decision engine, a content directory, wherein the content directory comprises a decision tree, one or more attribute providers and computer executable instructions for

receiving, at a decision engine, a request from the application for the identification of an appropriate resource included in the application data to be used by the application;

evaluating, by the decision engine, a content directory associated with the application to determine one or more attributes to be used to identify the appropriate resource;

requesting a value of the one or more attributes;

selecting, by the decision engine, the appropriate resource from the content directory based on the value of the one or more attributes; and

providing the identity of the appropriate resource to the application, such that additional resources may be added to the content directory and additional attributes may be added to the second program module without having to modify the computer executable instructions of the server application.

13. A system as defined in claim 12, wherein the request further comprises a target.

14. A system as defined in claim 13, wherein the content directory contains a target specified by the application.

15. A system as defined in claim 13, wherein the content directory contains one or more target instances, each target instance representing a different version of the target.

16. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the one or more attributes are associated with at least one of the target instances.

17. A system as defined in claim 12, wherein the content directory is compiled from one or more attribute based content files.

18. A system as defined in claim 12, wherein the value of the attribute is supplied by an attribute provider that exists separately from the application.

19. A system as defined in claim 12, wherein the value of the attribute is derived.