User information inferring system

• US 6,957,207 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2001
• Issued: 10/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Sasaki, Mikio
• Primary Examiner(s): Knight, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): HIRL, JOSEPH P
• Application Number:
  US09/954,300
• Publication Number:
  US 20020065836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,491 Days
• Field of Search: 706/47, 706/46, 706/12, 701/3
• US Class Current: 706/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A user information inferring system defines user information according to five categories, that is, user environment, circumstance, condition, request, and action, and further defines a sixth category, that is, situation data encompassing these other five categories. User information in each of the defined categories, that is, environment, circumstance, condition, request, action, and situation, is then described using item values, and operating units infer the item values. The inference operation uses temporal-spatial characteristics indicative of the effect of temporal-spatial elements on the item values, information about inferred situations, a rule database containing rules describing the relationships between items, and an optimization process for the defined categories using vector expressions.

Claims

1. A computer-assisted user information inferring system for a vehicle occupied by a user, comprising:

inputting means for inputting various data, including data input by the user;

a processor cooperatively operable with the inputting means, the processor being configured to facilitate, responsive to the various data, inferring information representative of the user;

storing the information as at least one item in at least one data set of a plurality of data sets, by defining the information as corresponding to the at least one data set, the at least one data set including a plurality of data lists including a first data list and at least one second data list, a data list including a plurality of items including the at least one item, wherein the items in the at least one second data list are a subset of the items in the first data list, and expressing the information as the at least one item written in at least one data list included in the at least one data set;

changing values for at least a part of the items in each data set, responsive to temporal-spatial elements;

wherein the inferring further includes determining the information responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set;

calculating at least one of a temporal characteristic that a temporal element imparts to a value of the at least one item and a spatial characteristic that a spatial element imparts to the value; and

generating an output representative of the value;

output means for using the value, responsive to the output, in the vehicle used by the user.

2. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

calculating further includes determining a periodic temporal characteristic indicative of periodicity of the temporal element.

3. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

calculating further includes determining the temporal characteristic using a time list of temporal expressions.

4. The user information inferring system as in claim 3, wherein:

the time list describes in addition to the temporal expressions a time difference from a reference time; and

calculating further includes determining the temporal characteristic with reference to the time difference.

5. The user information inferring system as in claim 3, wherein:

the time list includes a time data list in which the temporal expressions or the temporal expressions and time difference are expressed as variables.

6. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

calculating further includes determining a structural space characteristic indicative of structure of the spatial element.

7. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

calculating further includes determining the spatial characteristic using a spatial list describing a reference facility and neighboring facilities.

8. The user information inferring system as in claim 7, wherein:

the spatial list includes a location data list indicating a facility location using a vector variable from the reference facility.

9. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, further comprising:

a rule database, in a memory, storing rules correlating items written in the at least one data list for the at least one data set,

wherein the inferring further includes inferring the information based on the rules stored in the rule database, which are responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set.

10. The user information inferring system as in claim 1,

wherein the at least one data set is expressed by a data vector for each data set using the value of the at least one item as a component,

wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a distance between the data vector and a reference vector indicating target condition for the at least one data set, and

wherein the inferring means infers the information to correspond to the at least one data set based on the distance.

11. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of data lists are hierarchically arranged according to the usage of the items; and

the inferring preferentially infers the information for the item written in the data list with a high usage ranking.

12. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

the inferring infers the information based on individual data indicative of user characteristics.

13. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, the processor being further configured to facilitate inferring an incomplete or indeterminate item value from other elements after the inferring infers the information.

14. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

the inputting means includes a user input device for inputting the user input data responsive to the user, and other input devices for inputting other data indicative of vehicle surroundings independently of an operation of the user input device by the user; and

the outputting means includes equipment mounted in the vehicle and operated by the user.

15. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein:

the various data include current user position and initial vehicle interior environment values.

16. The user information inferring system as in claim 1, wherein respective data sets are related to information selected from respective ones of:

environment, circumstance, request, condition, situation, and action.

17. A computer-assisted user information inferring system for a vehicle occupied by a user, comprising:

inputting means for inputting various data, including data input by the user;

a processor cooperatively operable with the inputting means, the processor being configured to facilitate, responsive to the various data, inferring information representative of the user;

storing the information as at least one item in at least one data set of a plurality of data sets, by defining the information as corresponding to the at least one data set, the at least one data set including a plurality of data lists including a first data list and at least one second data list, a data list including a plurality of items including the at least one item, wherein the items in the at least one second data list are a subset of the items in the first data list, and expressing the information as the at least one item written in at least one data list included in the at least one data set;

changing values for at least a part of the items in each data set, responsive to temporal-spatial elements;

wherein the inferring further includes determining the information responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set;

a rule database, in a memory, storing rules correlating items written in the at least one data list for the at least one data set,

wherein the inferring further includes inferring the information based on the rules stored in the rule database, which are responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set; and

output means for using a value of the at least one item, responsive to the output, in the vehicle used by user.

18. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate analytically calculating rules, the rules being written in symbolic notation in the rule database, and the at least one item being stored as a natural language expression.

19. The user information inferring system as in claim 18, wherein:

the calculating converts the symbolic notations to a specific programming language.

20. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the rule database stores rules for changing the values due to temporal and spatial elements.

21. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the rule database stores rules for changing the value of the at least one item due to compatibility and causal relation between the values.

22. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the rules include a rule for changing the item value expressed as a probability in the rule database.

23. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the rule database stores a rule for concretizing the item.

24. The user information inferring system as in claim 17,

wherein the at least one data set is expressed by a data vector using the value of the at least one item therein as a component, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate calculating a distance between the data vector and a reference vector indicating a target condition for the at least one data set, and

wherein the inferring infers the information to correspond to the at least one data set based on the distance.

25. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the at least one data set includes a situation data set indicating a user situation; and

the inferring infers an item value of the situation data set based on item values of other data sets.

26. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the plurality of data lists are hierarchically arranged according to the usage of the items; and

the inferring preferentially infers the information for the item written in the data list with a high usage ranking.

27. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the inferring infers the information based on individual data indicative of user characteristics.

28. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate inferring an incomplete or indeterminate item value from other elements after the inferring infers the information.

29. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the inputting means includes a user input device for inputting the user input data responsive to the user, and other input devices for inputting other data indicative of vehicle surroundings independently of an operation of the user input device by the user; and

the outputting means includes equipment mounted in the vehicle and operated by the user.

30. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein:

the various data include current user position and initial vehicle interior environment values.

31. The user information inferring system as in claim 17, wherein respective data sets are related to information selected from respective ones of:

environment, circumstance, request, condition, situation and action.

32. A computer-assisted user information inferring system for a vehicle occupied by a user, comprising:

inputting means for inputting various data, including data input by the user;

a processor cooperatively operable with the inputting means, the processor being configured to facilitate, responsive to the various data, inferring information representative of the user;

storing the information as at least one item in at least one data set of a plurality of data sets, by defining the user information as corresponding to the at least one data set, the at least one data set including a plurality of data lists including a first data list and at least one second data list, a data list including a plurality of items including the at least one item, wherein the items in the at least one second data list are a subset of the items in the first data list, the data lists being expressed by a data vector for each data list using a value of the at least one item as a component, and expressing the information as the at least one item written in at least one data list included in the at least one data set;

changing values for at least a part of the items in each data set, responsive to temporal-spatial elements;

wherein the inferring further includes determining the information responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set;

calculating a distance between the data vector and a reference vector indicating a target condition for the at least one data set wherein the inferring infers the information to correspond to the at least one data set based on the distance; and

generating an output representative of the item;

output means for using a value of the at least one item, responsive to the output, in the vehicle used by the user.

33. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the value of the at least one item is a numeric value in a specific range of which a target value is one of 0, a minimum value and a maximum value.

34. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the calculating calculates the distance with consideration for the importance of each component of at least one of the data vector and the reference vector.

35. The user information inferring system as in claim 34, wherein:

the calculating calculates the distance with reference to importance of each component by giving a specific component priority with respect to another component.

36. The user information inferring system as in claim 34, wherein:

the calculating calculates the distance with reference to importance of each component by weighting each component.

37. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the at least one data set includes a situation data set indicating a user situation.

38. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the plurality of data lists are hierarchically arranged according to the usage of the items; and

the inferring preferentially infers the information for the item written in the data list with a high usage ranking.

39. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the inferring infers the information based on individual data indicative of user characteristics.

40. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate inferring an incomplete or indeterminate item value from other elements after the inferring means infers the information.

41. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the inputting means includes a user input device for inputting the user input data responsive to the user, and other input devices for inputting other data indicative of vehicle surroundings independently of an operation of the user input device by the user; and

the outputting means includes equipment mounted in the vehicle and operated by the user.

42. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein:

the various data include current user position and initial vehicle interior environment values.

43. The user information inferring system as in claim 32, wherein respective data sets are related to information selected from respective ones of:

environment, circumstance, request, condition, situation, and action.

44. A computer-assisted user information inferring system for a vehicle occupied by a user, comprising:

inputting means for inputting various data, including data input by the user;

a processor cooperatively operable with the inputting means, the processor being configured to facilitate, responsive to the various data, inferring information representative of the user;

storing the information as at least one item in at least one data set of a plurality of data sets, by defining the user information as corresponding to the at least one data set, the at least one data set including a plurality of data lists including a first data list and at least one second data list, a data list including a plurality of items including the at least one item, wherein the items in the at least one second data list are a subset of the items in the first data list, and expressing the information as the at least one item written in at least one data list included in the at least one data set;

changing values for at least a part of the items in each data set, responsive to temporal-spatial elements;

wherein the at least one data set is a situation data set indicating a user situation, and the inferring further includes determining the information responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set; and

generating an output representative of the item;

output means for using a value of the at least one item, responsive to the output, in the vehicle used by the user.

45. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the other data sets categorically define user environment, circumstance, condition, request, and action.

46. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate encoding item values of the situation data set as a situation code.

47. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the inferring infers item values of other data sets based on the item value of a situation data set evaluated previously.

48. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the inferring decomposes a situation data set evaluated previously to infer an item value of at least one of the other data sets.

49. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate calculating at least one of temporal characteristics and spatial characteristics based on the item values of a situation data set evaluated previously.

50. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein the processor is configured to facilitate determining priority of the item value in the situation data set according to the inferred data set;

and

infers using the item value of the situation data set according to a priority sequence determined by the priority.

51. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the plurality of data lists are hierarchically arranged according to the usage of the items therein; and

the inferring preferentially infers the item value for the item written in the data list with a high usage ranking.

52. The user information inferring system as in claim 51, wherein:

the first data list is a complete list of all items, and the second data is list an active list of most frequently used items.

53. The user information inferring system as in claim 51, wherein:

the inferring changes the hierarchy of items in the data list based on the inferred item value.

54. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the inferring infers the item value based on individual data indicative of user characteristics.

55. The user information inferring system as in claim 54, wherein:

the individual data includes user preference information.

56. The user information inferring system as in claim 54, wherein:

the user preference information is determined based on user requests determined from the item value in addition to or substitutionally for the sensor data.

57. The user information inferring system as in claim 54, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate constructing individual data.

58. The user information inferring system as in claim 57, wherein:

the constructing constructs the individual data by inference responsive to sensor data.

59. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate inferring an incomplete or indeterminate item value from other elements after inferring means the information.

60. The user information inferring system as in claim 59, wherein:

the at least one data set is expressed with a data vector,

wherein processor is further configured to facilitate calculating a distance to a typical data vector to infer the incomplete or indeterminate item value.

61. The user information inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the inputting means includes a user input device for inputting the user input data responsive to the user, and other input devices for inputting other data indicative of vehicle surroundings independently of an operation of the user input device by the user; and

the outputting means includes equipment mounted in the vehicle and used by the user.

62. The user infomiation inferring system as in claim 44, wherein:

the various data include current user position and initial vehicle interior environment values.

63. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions being executed by a computer, the instructions including a computer-implemented method for inferring user information for a vehicle, the instructions for implementing the steps of:

inputting first data responsive to a user; and

inputting, from a vehicle, second data indicative of vehicle surroundings of the user;

inferring, from at least one of the first data and the second data, user information, which is information relating to the user;

storing the information as at least one item in at least one data set of a plurality of data sets, by defining the user information as corresponding to the at least one data set, wherein the data set includes a plurality of data lists including a first data list and at least one second data list, a data list including a plurality of items including the at least one item, wherein the items in the at least one second data list are a subset of the items in the first data list, and expressing the information as the at least one item written in at least one data list included in the at least one data set;

wherein the inferring further includes determining the information responsive to items of the data sets other than the at least one data set;

changing values for at least a part of the item values in each data set changes responsive to temporal-spatial elements;

calculating at least one of a temporal characteristic that a temporal element imparts to a value of the at least one item and a spatial characteristic that a spatial element imparts to the value;

calculating a distance between items represented in data lists to determine a target condition for the at least one data set based on the distance;

wherein the inferring instructions infer the information responsive to the at least one characteristic calculated by the calculating instructions; and

outputting the value in the vehicle used by the user.

64. The user information inferring system as in claim 63, wherein:

the second data include current user position and initial vehicle interior environment values.