Schemas for a notification platform and related information services

• US 7,613,721 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2005
• Issued: 11/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Fang, Lijiang, Lucovsky, Mark H., Wu, Winnie C., Pierce, Shaun D., Steckler, Paul A.
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US11/203,484
• Publication Number:
  US 20050278366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,544 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/101, 707/102, 709/200, 709/203, 709/206, 709/220, 709/245, 709/207, 717/106, 705/10
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/335 for accessing specific resources, e.g. using Kerberos tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6236 between heterogeneous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6272 by registering files or documents with a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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: H04L 67/62 : Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• 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: Y10S 707/99931 : Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 : Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 : Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 : Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Described is a schema-based notification platform that provides regularized notification handling including user control and normalization of the operation of policies across different information types and contexts. Information-service schemas and services are combined to build a content-sensitive and context-sensitive information service to communicate information to recipient devices of users that subscribe to those services. An information agent service collects the information, and based on various criteria, determines if, when, and how to send and render the information, and to which subscribing client device or devices. The set of schemas include a notification schema that represents the subscription of a service to an information source and details about that information, and a device schema that represents information about user devices. The information agent service accesses criteria including user preferences and user contextual information, including presence information, location information, and schedule information along with people and groups data and extended-context data.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a notification regularized according to a notification schema, the notification including;

a first set of data comprising notification identification information;

a second set of data comprising notification content; and

a third set of data comprising requirements for sending the notification to a client, the requirements including indications stored on a central server of last known good states of devices associated with the client;

and wherein a notification service receives the notification and analyzes the third set of data against client-related criteria to determine conditions for sending the notification to the client via at least one of the devices;

the storage medium further comprising instructions for causing at least one processor to receive the notification and analyze the third set of data against client-related criteria to determine conditions for sending the notification to the client via at least one of the devices, determine based on the third set of data whether the notification can presently meet the conditions, and if the notification can presently meet the conditions, send the notification to the client via at least one of the devices, and if the notification cannot meet the conditions but can meet the conditions later, maintain the notification until the conditions are met and then send the notification to the client via at least one of the devices.

2. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first set of data includes information identifying the source of the notification.

3. The storage medium of claim 2 wherein one of the types of content comprises text data.

4. The storage medium of claim 2 wherein one of the types of content comprises graphics data.

5. The storage medium of claim 2 wherein the third set of data comprises notification preferences associated with the client that specify how to modify attributes of the notification.

6. The storage medium of claim 5, wherein the notification preferences specify a reduction of an urgency level of the notification.

7. The storage medium of claim 2 wherein one of the types of content comprises audio data.

8. The storage medium of claim 2 wherein one of the types of content comprises video data.

9. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the third set of data includes data corresponding to bandwidth requirements.

10. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the third set of data includes data corresponding to media rendering requirements.

11. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the third set of data includes data corresponding to user interaction requirements.

12. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the third set of data includes data corresponding to backchannel requirements.

13. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the third set of data includes data corresponding to at least one device-specific hint.

14. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein at least one device-specific hint corresponds to device rendering capabilities.

15. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein at least one device-specific hint corresponds to a device fidelity value.

16. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the third set of data includes condition data that can be matched to the client-related criteria.

17. The storage medium of claim 1, further comprising a fourth set of data, the fourth set of data comprising notification volatility information.

18. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

a notification regularized according to a notification schema, the notification including;

a first set of data comprising notification content;

a second set of data comprising requirements for sending the notification to a client, the requirements including indications stored in a central server of last known good states of devices associated with the client; and

a third set of data comprising notification volatility information;

the storage medium further comprising instructions for causing at least one processor to receive the notification and analyze the second set of data against client-related criteria to determine conditions for sending the notification to the client via at least one of the devices, determine based on the second set of data whether the notification can presently meet the conditions, and if the notification can presently meet the conditions, send the notification to the client via at least one of the devices, and if the notification cannot meet the conditions but can meet the conditions later, maintain the notification until the conditions are met and then send the notification to the client via at least one of the devices or maintain the notification until the notification volatility information expires the notification.

19. The storage medium of claim 18 wherein the notification can presently meet the conditions by modification of the notification to meet the requirements before sending.