Method and business process to maintain privacy in distributed recommendation systems

• US 7,072,886 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2001
• Issued: 07/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Sorvari, Antti, Salmenkaita, Jukka-Pekka
• Primary Examiner(s): Gaffin, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABEL JALIL, NEVEEN
• Application Number:
  US09/950,773
• Publication Number:
  US 20030004937A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,755 Days
• Field of Search: 707/4, 707/5, 707/6, 707/1, 707/10, 707/102, 707/3, 707/7, 707/104.1, 709/201, 709/203, 709/217, 709/225, 455/11.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/51 at application loading time, e.g. accepting, rejecting, starting or inhibiting executable software based on integrity or source reliability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/52 during program execution, e.g. stack integrity ; Preventing unwanted data erasure; Buffer overflow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0024 Services and arrangements where telephone services are combined with data services arrangements which combine a telephonic equipment and a computer H04M7/0012
• 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 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 : Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 : Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 : Pattern matching access

Abstract

A distributed recommendation system and method provides greater privacy for user'"'"'s private data. Tasks of a recommendation system are distributed between wireless devices and network servers, to protect end users privacy. Greater privacy for context-sensitive, adaptive, user interfaces is provided for Internet service usage by wireless devices. The user'"'"'s wireless device sends a current context-activity pair to a network server in response to either the user'"'"'s selection of an activity or automatically, while protecting the user'"'"'s privacy. The user'"'"'s wireless device includes a service history log. The activities stored in the service history log include past recommendations made by the network server, past services used, prestored service preferences, and special requested service requirements. Context-activity pair information sent to the server protects user privacy and can include any combination of these activities. The server responds to an appropriate recommendation. New recommendations to users are made in response to context-activity pairs submitted by their wireless devices.

Claims

1. A computer program product to enable a wireless device to provide recommendations to its user that are appropriate to the device'"'"'s current environment, comprising:

a computer readable medium;

program code in said computer readable medium for characterizing a current environment of the wireless device with a current context result;

program code in said computer readable medium for forming a context-activity pair by selecting an activity and pairing it with the current context result;

program code in said computer readable medium for accessing a database of recommendations using the context-activity pair without including any user personal data

program code in said computer readable medium for providing recommendations to the wireless device from the database of recommendations;

program code receiving the related recommendations at the wireless device for presentation to the user;

program code for receiving sensor signals characterizing a current environment of the wireless device;

program code for processing the sensor signals with a context inference engine to produce a current context result;

program code for accessing related service history items from a history log;

program code for forming context-activity pair information from the current context result and the related service history items;

program code for searching a database of recommendations using the context-activity pair information; and

program code for automatically providing recommendations to the user in response to the searching step wherein the program code for accessing related service history items from a history log comprises accessing several component databases including past recommendations and context;

past services used and contexts;

prestored service preferences and special requested service requirements.

2. The medium of claim 1 wherein program code for forming context-activity pair information from the current context result and the related service history items comprises any combination of activities with appropriate recommendations and without user identification.

3. The medium of claim 1 wherein the recommendation further comprises information of activity histories or preferences of numerous users made or created by a server.

4. A method to enable a wireless device to automatically provide recommendations to its user that are appropriate to the device'"'"'s current environment, comprising:

automatically processing in a mobile wireless device, sensor signals characterizing a current environment, to produce a current context result;

storing in a history log in the wireless device, related service history items, including past recommendations received by the wireless device and past services used by the user of the wireless device;

forming context-activity pair information in the wireless device, from the current context result and the related service history items;

transmitting the context-activity pair information to a wireless network server, for searching recommendations related to the current context result and the related service history items;

automatically transmitting the current context result in a message over a wireless network to the wireless network server;

including in the message, a unique operating code to enable the wireless network server to respond with information corresponding to the unique operating code, the information being similar recommendations in its database related to said past recommendations and context;

past services used and contexts;

prestored service preferences and special requested service requirements received by the wireless device wherein transmitting the current context in a message comprises several types of messages, each of which is distinguished by its own unique operation code; and

receiving the related recommendations at the wireless device for presentation to the user;

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said related service history items from a history log comprises:

past recommendations received by the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said related service history items from a history log comprises:

past services used by the user of the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said related service history items from a history log comprises:

prestored service preferences entered by the user.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein said related service history items from a history log comprises:

special requested service requirements entered by the user.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein said transmitting step further comprises:

automatically transmitting the current context in a message over a wireless network to the network server; and

including in the message, the unique operating code to enable the wireless network server to respond with information corresponding to the unique operating code, the information being similar recommendations in its database related to said past services used by the user of the wireless device.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein said transmitting step further comprises:

automatically transmitting the current context in a message over a wireless network to the wireless network server; and

including in the message, a unique operating code to enable the wireless network server to respond with information corresponding to the unique operating code, the information being similar recommendations in its database related to both said past recommendations received by the wireless device and said past services used by the user of the wireless device.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein said receiving step further comprises:

receiving information customized to the user'"'"'s perceived interests, the information being related to the current context.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein said receiving step further comprises:

receiving recommendations that have been made in the past to other users in similar contexts.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein said receiving step further comprises:

receiving recommendations based on past services used by other users.

14. The method of claim 4 wherein the unique operating code comprises:

designating the message as a manual request or containing the current context or an automatic spontaneous message.