Portal site for serving data monitored and observed and method of using data monitored and observed

• US 7,222,103 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2003
• Issued: 05/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Sato, Yasuo, Suzuki, Hideaki, Fukui, Chihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEUNG, MARY DA ZHI WANG
• Application Number:
  US10/368,382
• Publication Number:
  US 20030154100A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,552 Days
• Field of Search: 705 7- 10, 705 26- 28, 705 51- 52, 705/64, 713/178, 707100-104, 725 9- 10, 379/32, 379/34, 379/38, 379/100, 379/106, 379/114, 379/133, 379/265, 700/1, 700 9- 11, 700 90- 91, 700108-111, 700/143, 700/174, 700/204, 700/222, 700/244, 700/266
• US Class Current: 705/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• 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: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A portal site for serving data monitored and observed, which can not only act for monitoring and observing services, instead of a facility owner, but also process the data into economically valuable data with the use of the result of monitoring and observation, is connected to a computer network so as to gather sequential data which is observed in time series by a not less than one sensor as to an operation running condition of a facility belonging the facility owner, and event data monitored invariantly, and incorporates a function of obtaining a data disclosure profile for designating a degree of disclosure of the data, from the facility owner, and a function of onerously serving an item of secondary data obtained by processing the data in a range satisfying the data disclosure profile, to a data user different from the facility owner.

Claims

1. A method of using data monitored and observed through a portal site connected to a computer network, comprising steps of:

determining, at the portal site, a data disclosure profile defining an allowable time range within which sequential data in time series obtained in future by monitoring and observing operation of a facility on a facility owner side is disclosed to a data user side, in view of a qualification and request of the data user and under a contract with the data user;

processing, at a portal site, received sequential data in time series regarding operation of the facility observed and monitored on the facility owner side, into a secondary data to be disclosed to the data user within the allowable time range defined by the data disclosure profile; and

onerously serving the secondary data to the data user from the portal site through the computer network.

2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising:

formulating, by a computer, an offer list of secondary use data which is to be obtained from the data monitored and observed in future, by the portal site for serving data monitored and observed;

advertising the offer list, on the portal site via the network by computer, for data users who desire to use the data monitored and observed; and

successively transmitting a newest value of the secondary data to a user who has made a contract by a computer.

3. A method of using data monitored and observed through a portal site connected to a computer network, comprising steps of:

obtaining, at the portal site, a right to onerously acquire sequential data in time series in future, by monitoring and observing operation of a facility on a facility owner side;

determining, at the portal site, a data disclosure profile which defines an allowable time range of the sequential data regarding operation of the facility in time series, monitored and observed on the facility owner side in future, which is to be disclosed to a data user side, in view of a qualification and request from the data user side and under a contract with the data user side;

processing, at the portal site, the sequential data regarding operation of the facility monitored and observed on the facility owner side into secondary data to be disclosed to the data user within the allowable time range defined by the data disclosure profile; and

onerously serving the secondary data to the data user from the portal site by way of the computer network.

4. A method as in claim 3, further comprising:

formulating, by a computer, an offer list of secondary use data which is to be obtained from the data monitored and observed in future, by the portal site for serving data monitored and observed;

advertising the offer list, on the portal site via the network by computer, for data users who desire to use the data monitored and observed; and

successively transmitting, by way of the computer network, a newest value of the secondary data to a user who has made a contract by a computer.