Method and apparatus for providing a flexible and scalable context service
First Claim
1. A system for handling context information, comprising:
- (a) an interface for receiving a request for context information;
(b) a mediator, coupled to receive the request from the interface, for determining to which one of a plurality of context drivers, external to said mediator, to route the request;
(c) a plurality of context drivers, each coupled to the mediator, each context driver adapted to receive the request from the mediator and dynamically collect a predetermined type of changeable context information; and
(d) a privacy engine coupled to at least one context driver, the privacy engine storing privacy preferences for each type of context information, and including means for denying or granting the request based upon the stored privacy preferences.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible and extensible context server for collecting, maintaining, and disseminating context information is disclosed. The context server receives requests from requesters for context information via a secure context server interface (SCS API). Communication between the requesters and the context server is conducted by means of predetermined forms. The requests received at the SCS API are passed to a mediator, which collects data from various context drivers. Each context driver is coupled to the mediator, and collects predetermined type of context information from at least one context information source. The mediator determines the appropriate context driver which can handle the request, based on its type. Operation of the context server is also controlled by a set of context utilities, including a context cache for storing recently obtained context information, a privacy engine for storing privacy preferences and an event engine for event handling.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for handling context information, comprising:
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(a) an interface for receiving a request for context information; (b) a mediator, coupled to receive the request from the interface, for determining to which one of a plurality of context drivers, external to said mediator, to route the request; (c) a plurality of context drivers, each coupled to the mediator, each context driver adapted to receive the request from the mediator and dynamically collect a predetermined type of changeable context information; and (d) a privacy engine coupled to at least one context driver, the privacy engine storing privacy preferences for each type of context information, and including means for denying or granting the request based upon the stored privacy preferences. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for handling context information by a mediator, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request for the context information, said request including an identification and indicating information desired by a requester; directing, based on the identification, the request to at least one of a plurality of context drivers external to said mediator, each of which is adapted to collect a predetermined type of changeable context information and to grant or deny requests based on stored privacy preferences for each type of context information; dynamically collecting said predetermined type of context information from said at least one of the plurality of context drivers; and returning a response including desired information comprising said predetermined type of context information collected by said at least one of the plurality of context drivers. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for handling changeable context information, comprising:
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(a) an interface for receiving a request for context information; (b) a mediator, coupled to receive the request from the interface, wherein said mediator comprises determining means for determining to which one or more of a plurality of context drivers to route the request, wherein each of said plurality of context drivers are external to said mediator, coupled to the mediator, and adapted to receive a request from the mediator and dynamically collect a predetermined type of changeable context information, a privacy engine coupled to at least one context driver, the privacy engine storing privacy preferences for each type of context information, and including means for denying or granting the request based upon the stored privacy preferences, and interface means for sending the request to the determined context drivers and for receiving the context information from the determined context drivers.
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Specification