Method and apparatus for scheduling presentation of digital content on a personal communication device

• US 6,834,195 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2001
• Issued: 12/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wireless Agents LLC
• Original Assignee: Wireless Agents LLC
• Inventors: Brandenberg, Carl Brock, Kay, Robert L., Cotter, R. Brandon, Maxwell, Kenneth J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Danh C
• Application Number:
  US09/826,448
• Publication Number:
  US 20030063072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 455/457, 455/414.3, 455/414.2, 340/994, 340/993, 340/998, 340/539.11, 340/539.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1622 with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1624 with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1664 Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0225 : Rotatable telephones, i.e. the body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0233 : Including a rotatable display body part
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0235 : Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0247 : comprising more than two body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 : with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 : Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 : Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A method and apparatus wherein a software scheduling agent resides on a communication network and/or client device, such as location-aware wireless communication appliances, television set top boxes, or other end user client devices is disclosed. The software scheduling agent is part of a probabilistic modeling system in which the scheduler operates to perform constrained random variation with selection. Digital content is generated, organized, and stored on the communication network and/or the client devices. An electronic digital content wrapper, which holds information in the form of data and metadata related to the digital content is associated with each item of digital content. Contextual profiles for each user and each item of digital content are established by the users and the network and maintained by a service provider on the communication network. The software scheduling agent compares the contextual digital content profile for each item of digital content to the contextual user profile for each user to determine which digital content should be offered for presentation to each user. The comparison and determination of which items of digital content should be offered for presentation to which users is performed by a process of constrained random variation. After the software scheduling agent determines which items of digital content would most likely be relevant or interesting to the user, the digital content is transmitted, either in whole or in part, at predetermined times over the communication network to the appropriate client devices. The digital content is then stored, either in whole or in part, in cache memory on the client device until an appropriate time when the digital content is digitally packaged and presented to particular users over those user'"'"'s client devices.

Claims

1. A communication network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of portable wireless communication devices issued to network subscribers located in a plurality of differing geographic locations;

(b) a plurality of wireless communication towers providing wireless communication coverage of said differing geographic locations;

(c) a wireless geographic positioning system facilitating a determination of an actual geographic position for each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices;

(d) each of said portable wireless communication devices including;

(1) a relatively small housing;

(2) a wireless communication receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving wireless communication signals from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a wireless communication transmitter, carried within said relatively small housing, for transmitting communication signals from said plurality of wireless communication towers;

(4) a wireless geographic positioning subsystem, carried within said relatively small housing, for interacting with said wireless geographic positioning system and determining the geographic position of each particular portable wireless communication device;

(5) a processor and associated memory, carried within said relatively small housing, for storing program instructions and data in memory and for executing program instructions;

(e) a network control system, including;

(1) a transmission system for communicating wireless transmissions from said plurality of communication towers;

(2) a reception system for receiving wireless transmissions from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a communication traffic management system for managing bi-directional communication through the transmission and reception of wireless signals;

(4) a location management system for maintaining location information for said plurality of network subscribers;

(f) wherein said processor of said portable wireless communication device determines a current actual geographic position through use of said wireless geographic positioning subsystem;

(g) wherein a personalized location database of user-specific locations is maintained in said memory of each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices, which associates a plurality of generalized location identifiers to a plurality of corresponding actual geographic positions;

(h) wherein said processor executes program instructions to examine said personalized location database in order to identify a generalized location identifier associated with said geographic position;

(i) wherein said portable wireless communication device communicates location information to said network control system predominately in terms of said generalized location identifier; and

(j) wherein said network control system maintains location information for said plurality of portable wireless communication devices predominately in terms of said generalized location identifiers.

2. A communication network, according to claim 1, wherein said generalized location identifiers comprise at least one of:

(a) user-defined generalized location identifiers; and

(b) network-provided generalized location identifiers.

3. A communication network, according to claim 1, wherein said geographic positioning system comprises at least one of:

(a) a plurality of global positioning satellites;

(b) communication tower identifiers;

(c) signal triangulation; and

(d) signal signature matching.

4. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein each portable wireless communication device indicates the generalized location identifier associated with the current actual geographic position of that portable wireless communication device.

5. A communication network according to claim 4, further comprising:

(l) wherein said generalized location identifier is indicated in at least one of the following manners;

(1) a textual display;

(2) a graphical display;

(3) combinations of text and graphical display.

6. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein each said portable wireless communication devices indicates the generalized location identifier associated with current actual geographic position.

7. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said communication network communicates said user generalized location information of each of said plurality of users to selected others of said plurality of users in order to indicate geographic status.

8. A communication network according to claim 1, wherein each user determines which selected others of said plurality of users are provided with said generalized location information.

9. A communication network according to claim 1, wherein each user alone determines which selected others of said plurality of users are authorized to receive said generalized location information.

10. A communication network according to claim 8, wherein each user determines a the identity of the members of a group of selected others of said plurality of users which are provided with said generalized location information.

11. A communication network according to claim 1, wherein said generalized location information represents a nonspecific “

fuzzy”

category representation of geographic information.

12. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said communication network includes a gateway to other standard instant messaging communication networks;

(l) wherein said generalized location identifier is communicated through said gateway to said other standard instant messaging commutation networks.

13. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein a user interface maintained on said portable wireless communication device is altered based upon changes in said generalized location identifier.

14. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein content which is to be displayed on said portable wireless communication device is selected based upon changes in generalized location identifier.

15. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein content is displayed on said portable wireless communication device based on changes in generalized location identifier.

16. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein content is scheduled for display on said portable wireless communication device based at least in part on generalized location identifier.

17. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein content is scheduled for display on said portable wireless communication device based at least in part in a manner consistent with;

location, time, date, identity, content , source, type, preferences, subject, privacy.

18. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said generalized location identifier is utilized to determine at least one of;

theme, scheme, design, layout, and/or content of a graphical user interface.

19. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein display of particular content items of said display includes an arrangement of content items which is based on said generalized location identifier.

20. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein display of particular content items of said display includes an arrangement which is based on transitions into or out of a generalized location identifier.

21. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein sending of particular content items communication device is determined by predicted future generalized location identifier.

22. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein operation of said portable wireless device is determined generalized location identifier in combination with;

(1) time, and (2) content rating.

23. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein generalized location identifier is intercepted and altered by a known offset.

24. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said generalized location identifier is intercepted and a user manually enters a new device position.

25. A communication network according to claim 1, comprising:

(k) wherein a user may manually specify a previously named generalized location identifier as a substitute for current actual generalized location identifier.

26. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein a user may manually specify a fictitious generalized location identifier as a substitute for current actual generalized location identifier.

27. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein a user may receive simultaneously content from multiple generalized location identifier which are combined for simultaneous display.

28. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said generalized location identifier is uniquely formatted.

29. A communication network according to claim 1, further comprising:

(k) wherein said content may include a sensitivity to generalized location identifier.

30. A communication network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of portable wireless communication devices issued to network subscribers located in a plurality of differing geographic locations;

(b) a plurality of wireless communication towers providing wireless communication coverage of said differing geographic locations;

(c) a plurality of global positioning satellites transmitting global positioning signals (GPS) to said differing geographic locations, which collectively determine a GPS position in terms of latitude and longitude for each of said portable wireless communication devices;

(d) each of said portable wireless communication devices including;

(1) a relatively small housing;

(2) a wireless communication receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving wireless communication signals from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a wireless communication transmitter, carried within said relatively small housing, for transmitting communication signals from said plurality of wireless communication towers;

(4) a global positioning receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving GPS signals from said plurality of global positioning satellites;

(5) a processor and associated memory, carried within said relatively small housing, for storing program instructions and data in memory and for executing program instructions;

(e) a network control system, including;

(1) a transmission system for communicating wireless transmissions from said plurality of communication towers;

(2) a reception system for receiving wireless transmissions from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a communication traffic management system for managing bi-directional communication through the transmission and reception of wireless signals;

(4) a location management system for maintaining location information for said plurality of network subscribers; and

(f) wherein said processor of said portable wireless communication device utilizes said GPS signals received from said plurality of global positioning satellites to determine a current GPS position in terms of at least latitude and longitude;

(g) wherein a personalized location database of user-specific locations is maintained in said memory of each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices, which associates a plurality of generalized location identifiers to a plurality of corresponding GPS positions;

(h) wherein said processor executes program instructions to examine said personalized location database in order to identify a generalized location identifier associated with said GPS position;

(i) wherein said portable wireless communication device communicates location information to said network control system predominately in terms of said generalized location identifier; and

(j) wherein said network control system maintains location information for said plurality of portable wireless communication devices predominately in terms of said generalized location identifiers.

31. A communication network, according to claim 30, wherein said network control system further includes:

(5) a user preference modeling system which develops at least one user profile for said plurality of network subscribers which is based at least in part upon location information which is maintained by said network control system in the form of generalized location identifiers.

32. A communication network, according to claim 30, wherein each of said portable communication devices communicates to said network control system location information in the form of a user-generated generalized location identification.

33. A communication network, according to claim 32, wherein said personalized location database of user-specific locations which is maintained in said memory of each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices associates each generalized location identifier to a range of GPS positions.

34. A communication network according to claim 33, wherein said range of GPS positions associated with a particular generalized location identifier may be automatically altered over time in response to at least one of the following:

(a) additional express input of network subscribers in response to questions posed by said network;

(b) actions of said network subscribers to rename a location which is in conflict with a prior designation; and

(c) actions taken by said network subscribers to change at least one status item of a portable wireless communication device.

35. A communication network according to claim 33, wherein said range of GPS positions associated with a particular generalized location identifier is modeled as at least on of the following:

(a) a two dimensional polygon space;

(b) a three dimensional polygon space;

(c) a circle;

(d) a cylinder;

(e) combinations of shapes;

(f) clustered circle shapes; and

(g) clustered cylindrical shapes.

36. A communication network, according to claim 35, wherein said generalized location identifiers comprise at least one of:

(a) user-defined generalized location identifiers; and

(b) network-provided generalized location identifiers.

37. A communication network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of portable wireless communication devices issued to network subscribers located in a plurality of differing geographic locations;

(b) a plurality of wireless communication towers providing wireless communication coverage of said differing geographic locations;

(c) a plurality of global positioning satellites transmitting global positioning signals (GPS) to said differing geographic locations, which collectively determine a GPS position in terms of at least latitude and longitude for each of said portable wireless communication devices;

(d) each of said portable wireless communication devices including;

(1) a relatively small housing;

(2) a wireless communication receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving wireless communication signals from said plurality of communication towers in the form of digital packets;

(3) a wireless communication transmitter, carried within said relatively small housing, for transmitting communication signals from said plurality of wireless communication towers in the form of digital packets;

(4) a display for displaying at least textual material, including two-way communications conducted over said plurality of wireless communication towers utilizing said digital packets;

(5) a global positioning receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving GPS signals from said plurality of global positioning satellites;

(6) a processor and associated memory, carried within said relatively small housing, for storing program instructions and data in memory and for executing program instructions;

(7) a user input system carried by said relatively small housing for inputting user commands and data into said processor;

(e) a network control system, including;

(1) a transmission system for communicating digital packets to said plurality of communication towers for wireless transmission;

(2) a reception system for receiving wireless transmissions of digital packets from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a session management system for managing communication exchanges, each of which are composed of exchanges of digital packets through the transmission and reception of wireless signals;

(4) a location management system for maintaining location information for said plurality of network subscribers; and

(f) wherein said processor of said portable wireless communication device utilizes said GPS signals received from said plurality of global positioning satellites to determine a current GPS position in terms of latitude and longitude;

(g) wherein a personalized location database of generalized location identifiers is maintained in said memory of each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices, and which associates a plurality of generalized location identifiers to a plurality of corresponding GPS positions;

(h) wherein said processor executes program instructions to examine said personalized location database in order to identify a particular generalized location identifier associated with said GPS position;

(i) wherein said portable wireless communication device communicates location information to said network control system predominately in terms of said generalized location identifier; and

(j) wherein said network control system maintains location information for said plurality of portable wireless communication devices predominately in terms of said generalized location identifiers.

38. A communication network, according to claim 37, wherein said network control system further includes:

(5) a user preference modeling system which develops at least one user profile for said plurality of network subscribers which is based at least in part upon location information which is maintained by said network control system in the form of generalized location identifiers.

39. A communication network, according to claim 37, wherein each of said portable communication devices communicates to said network control system location information in the form of a user-generated generalized location description.

40. A communication network, according to claim 37, wherein said personalized location database of user-specific locations which is maintained in said memory of each of said plurality of portable wireless communication devices associates each generalized location identifier to a range of GPS positions.

41. A communication network according to claim 37, wherein said range of GPS positions associated with a particular generalized location identifier may be automatically altered over time in response to at least one of the following:

(a) additional express input of network subscribers in response to questions posed by said network;

(b) actions taken by said network subscribers to rename a location which is in conflict with a prior designation; and

(c) actions taken by said network subscribers to change the generalized location indicator through interaction with said portable wireless communication device.

42. A communication network according to claim 37, wherein said range of GPS positions associated with a particular generalized location identifier is modeled as at least on of the following:

(a) a two dimensional polygon space;

(b) a three dimensional polygon space;

(c) a circle;

(d) a cylinder;

(e) combinations of shapes;

(f) clustered circle shapes; and

(g) clustered cylindrical shapes.

43. A communication network, according to claim 37, wherein said generalized location identifiers comprise at least one of:

(a) user-defined generalized location identifiers; and

(b) network-provided generalized location identifiers.

44. A communication network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of portable wireless communication devices issued to relatively mobile network subscribers located in a plurality of differing geographic locations;

(b) a plurality of wireless communication towers providing coverage of said differing geographic locations;

(c) a plurality of global positioning satellites transmitting global positioning signals (GPS) to said differing geographic locations, which collectively determine a GPS position for each of said portable wireless communication devices;

(d) each of said portable wireless communication devices including;

(1) a relatively small housing;

(2) a wireless communication receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving wireless communication signals from said plurality of communication towers in the form of digital packets;

(3) a wireless communication transmitter, carried within said relatively small housing, for transmitting communication signals from said plurality of wireless communication towers in the form of digital packets;

(4) a display for displaying at least textual material including two-way communications conducted over said plurality of wireless communication towers;

(5) a global positioning receiver, carried within said relatively small housing, for receiving GPS signals from said plurality of global positioning satellites;

(6) a processor and associated memory, carried within said relatively small housing, for storing program instructions and data in memory and for executing program instructions;

(7) a user input system carried by said relatively small housing for inputting user commands and data into said processor;

(e) a network control system, including;

(1) a transmission system for communicating digital packets to said plurality of communication towers;

(2) a reception system for receiving digital packets from said plurality of communication towers;

(3) a communication traffic management system for managing communication exchanges, each of which are composed of exchanges of digital packets;

(4) a location management system for maintaining location information for said plurality of network subscribers; and

(5) a subscriber preference modeling system which develops at least one user profile for each of said plurality of network subscribers which is based upon at least in part upon location information which is maintained by said network control system;

(f) wherein said network control system communicates messages in the form of digital packages to said plurality of network subscribers utilizing said preference modeling system in order to deliver location appropriate messages to each particular network subscriber.

45. A communication network, according to claim 44, wherein said network control system communicates messages in the form of digital packages to said plurality of network subscribers utilizing said preference modeling system order to deliver location appropriate and time appropriate messages to each particular network subscriber.

46. A communication network, according to claim 44, wherein each of said portable communication devices communicates to said network control system location information in the form of user-generated generalized location identifiers.

47. A communication network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of communication devices issued to network subscribers located in a plurality of differing geographic locations;

(b) each of said communication devices including;

(1) a relatively small housing;

(2) a communication receiver, carried within said relatively small housing;

(3) a communication transmitter, carried within said relatively small housing;

(4) a display, visible from the exterior of said relatively small housing, for displaying at least textual material including two-way communications;

(5) a processor and associated memory, carried within said relatively small housing, for storing program instructions and data in memory and for executing program instructions;

(6) a user input system carried by said relatively small housing for inputting user commands and data into said processor;

(e) a network control system, including;

(1) a transmission system;

(2) a reception system;

(3) a session management system for managing communication exchanges;

(4) a preference modeling system which develops at least one profile for each of said plurality of network subscribers which is based upon at least in part upon;

(a) location information relevant for each network subscriber which is maintained by said network control system;

(b) time information which is relevant for each network subscriber which is maintained by said network control system;

(c) know preferences which are relevant for each network subscriber which are derived through interaction with each network subscriber;

(f) wherein said network control system automatically communicates a stream of messages to said plurality of network subscribers utilizing said preference modeling system in order to deliver contextually appropriate messages to each particular network subscriber, each message being generally appropriate for the current location of the particular network subscriber, for the current time, and for known preferences of the particular network subscriber.