Generating search results based on determined relationships between data objects and user connections to identified destinations

• US 7,895,223 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2005
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Toebes, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam; Hosain
• Assistant Examiner(s): Saeed; Usmaan
• Application Number:
  US11/288,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20070124296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,911 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A search system generates an ordered list of destination targets including identified individuals and data objects, based on applying a user context to an information context and to a connection context. The user context identifies a search context (i.e., the information the user is seeking) relative to an identity of the user, and the information context identifies destinations accessible by the user, including data objects and communications-based actions (e.g., voice over IP telephony calls, instant messaging session transcripts, etc.). The connection context identifies relationships between chosen destinations throughout the system, and the strength of those relationships determined from artifacts of the chosen destinations: the connection context is updated based on artifact detection. The portion of the connection context that is relevant to the user context is used to order the portion of the information context that is relevant to the user context, resulting in the ordered list of destination targets.

Claims

1. A method for searching a system, the method including:

receiving by a processor based device a user context that identifies a search context relative to a personal identity of an individual seeking a search result;

identifying by the processor based device a portion of a connection context as relevant to the user context, the connection context identifying relationships between chosen destinations reachable throughout the system via a network having multiple information sources, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for reaching identified individuals having respective personal identities, each information source providing access to at least one of the chosen destinations, each of the relationships having a strength determined from an aggregation of artifacts representing accessing, via the network by different individuals having respective personal identities, of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations from among the information sources and having a determined correlation, a subset of the artifacts identifying destinations having been chosen independent of any search result, the aggregation identifying an increase in the strength of the relationship associated with the corresponding first and second chosen destinations, wherein each artifact is recorded within the network by the system as a corresponding chosen destination is accessed by one of the individuals using any one of a plurality of available user devices, each artifact identifies a corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, and each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals, wherein the determined correlation for at least one of the relationships is determined between a first and a second of the artifacts, the first artifact recorded in response to a first of the individuals accessing the first of the chosen destinations using a first of an available user device, the second artifact recorded in response to the first of the individuals accessing the second of the chosen destinations using a second of the available user devices that is different from the first of the available user devices; and

generating by the processor based device as the search result an ordered list of destination targets, including selected identified individuals identified based on their respective personal identities and selected data objects determined as relevant to the user context, including ordering the ordered list according to the portion of the connection context.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the selected identified individuals and the selected data objects, relevant to the user context, from an information context identifying destinations in the system that are accessible by the individual.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selected identified individuals specified in the ordered list of destination targets provide, for a given identified individual, a link to any one of:

user profile information of the given identified individual, initiation of an IP Phone call to the given identified individual, meeting availability for the given identified individual, sending a message to given identified individual, accessing stored messages related to the given identified individual, or accessing stored documents related to the given identified individual.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating includes inserting within the search result the user context for submission thereof in response to any search refinement of the search result by the individual seeking the search result, the method further comprising updating the search context of the user context into an updated search context in response to a detected artifact indicating a new chosen destination by the individual following the search result, the updated search context reflecting the new chosen destination relative to the new chosen destination.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising generating a second search result that includes updating the updated search context to a second updated search context in response to subsequent detected artifacts indicating refinements of the search result.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising updating at least one of the relationships identified by the connection context based on the second updated search context identifying a change in the corresponding strength of the one relationship.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving the detected artifact from a resource independent of the search result.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising updating the connection context based on the detected artifact identifying a change in the corresponding strength of one of the identified relationships.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

following generation of the search result, receiving artifacts from a system providing services to the individual independent of the search result, the artifacts identifying chosen destinations not having been specified as destination targets in the search result; and

updating selected relationships identified by the connection context based on the received artifacts.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the chosen destinations include a plurality of information types.

11. An apparatus for searching a system, the apparatus comprising:

an interface configured for receiving a user context that identifies a search context relative to a personal identity of an individual seeking a search result;

a context correlation resource configured for identifying a portion of a connection context as relevant to the user context, the connection context identifying relationships between chosen destinations reachable throughout the system via a network having multiple information sources, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for reaching identified individuals having respective personal identities, each information source providing access to at least one of the chosen destinations, each of the relationships having a strength determined from an aggregation of artifacts representing accessing, via the network by different individuals having respective personal identities, of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations from among the information sources and having a determined correlation, a subset of the artifacts identifying destinations having been chosen independent of any search result, the aggregation identifying an increase in the strength of the relationship associated with the corresponding first and second chosen destinations, wherein each artifact is recorded within the network by the system as a corresponding chosen destination is accessed by one of the individuals using any one of a plurality of available user devices, each artifact identifies a corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, and each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals, wherein the determined correlation for at least one of the relationships is determined between a first and a second of the artifacts, the first artifact recorded in response to a first of the individuals accessing the first of the chosen destinations using a first of an available user device, the second artifact recorded in response to the first of the individuals accessing the second of the chosen destinations using a second of the available user devices that is different from the first of the available user devices;

the context correlation resource configured for generating as the search result an ordered list of destination targets, including selected identified individuals identified based on their respective personal identities and selected data objects determined as relevant to the user context, including ordering the ordered list according to the portion of the connection context, wherein the apparatus is implemented as a processor-based device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for identifying the selected identified individuals and the selected data objects, relevant to the user context, from an information context identifying destinations in the system that are accessible by the individual.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the selected identified individuals specified in the ordered list of destination targets provide, for a given identified individual, a link to any one of:

user profile information of the given identified individual, initiation of an IP Phone call to the given identified individual, meeting availability for the given identified individual, sending a message to given identified individual, accessing stored messages related to the given identified individual, or accessing stored documents related to the given identified individual.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for inserting within the search result the user context for submission thereof in response to any search refinement of the search result by the individual seeking the search result, the context correlation resource configured for updating the search context of the user context into an updated search context in response to a detected artifact indicating a new chosen destination by the individual following the search result, the updated search context reflecting the new chosen destination relative to the new chosen destination.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for generating a second search result that includes updating the updated search context to a second updated search context in response to subsequent detected artifacts indicating refinements of the search result.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for updating at least one of the relationships identified by the connection context based on the second updated search context identifying a change in the corresponding strength of the one relationship.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the network interface is configured for detecting the detected artifact from a resource independent of the search result.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for updating the connection context based on the detected artifact identifying a change in the corresponding strength of one of the identified relationships.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for:

following generation of the search result, receiving artifacts from a system providing services to the individual independent of the search result, the artifacts identifying chosen destinations not having been specified as destination targets in the search result; and

updating selected relationships identified by the connection context based on the received artifacts.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the chosen destinations include a plurality of information types.

21. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions for searching a system by a processor based device, the sequences of instructions including instructions for:

receiving by the processor based device a user context that identifies a search context relative to a personal identity of an individual seeking a search result;

identifying by the processor based device a portion of a connection context as relevant to the user context, the connection context identifying relationships between chosen destinations reachable throughout the system via a network having multiple information sources, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for reaching identified individuals having respective personal identities, each information source providing access to at least one of the chosen destinations, each of the relationships having a strength determined from an aggregation of artifacts representing accessing, via the network by different individuals having respective personal identities, of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations from among the information sources and having a determined correlation, a subset of the artifacts identifying destinations having been chosen independent of any search result, the aggregation identifying an increase in the strength of the relationship associated with the corresponding first and second chosen destinations, wherein each artifact is recorded within the network by the system as a corresponding chosen destination is accessed by one of the individuals using any one of a plurality of available user devices, each artifact identifies a corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, and each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals, wherein the determined correlation for at least one of the relationships is determined between a first and a second of the artifacts, the first artifact recorded in response to a first of the individuals accessing the first of the chosen destinations using a first of an available user device, the second artifact recorded in response to the first of the individuals accessing the second of the chosen destinations using a second of the available user devices that is different from the first of the available user devices; and

generating by the processor based device as the search result an ordered list of destination targets, including selected identified individuals identified based on their respective personal identities and selected data objects determined as relevant to the user context, including ordering the ordered list according to the portion of the connection context.

22. The medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions for identifying the selected identified individuals and the selected data objects, relevant to the user context, from an information context identifying destinations in the system that are accessible by the individual.

23. The medium of claim 22, wherein the selected identified individuals specified in the ordered list of destination targets provide, for a given identified individual, a link to any one of:

user profile information of the given identified individual, initiation of an IP Phone call to the given identified individual, meeting availability for the given identified individual, sending a message to given identified individual, accessing stored messages related to the given identified individual, or accessing stored documents related to the given identified individual.

24. The medium of claim 21, wherein the generating includes inserting within the search result the user context for submission thereof in response to any search refinement of the search result by the individual seeking the search result, the medium further comprising instructions for updating the search context of the user context into an updated search context in response to a detected artifact indicating a new chosen destination by the individual following the search result, the updated search context reflecting the new chosen destination relative to the new chosen destination.

25. The medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions for:

following generation of the search result, receiving artifacts from a system providing services to the individual independent of the search result, the artifacts identifying chosen destinations not having been specified as destination targets in the search result; and

updating selected relationships identified by the connection context based on the received artifacts.

26. The medium of claim 21, wherein the chosen destinations include a plurality of information types.

27. An apparatus for searching a system, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a user context that identifies a search context relative to a personal identity of an individual seeking a search result;

means for identifying a portion of a connection context as relevant to the user context, and identifying relationships between chosen destinations reachable throughout the system via a network having multiple information sources, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for reaching identified individuals having respective personal identities, each information source providing access to at least one of the chosen destinations, each of the relationships having a strength determined from an aggregation of artifacts representing accessing, via the network by different individuals having respective personal identities, of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations from among the information sources and having a determined correlation, a subset of the artifacts identifying destinations having been chosen independent of any search result, the aggregation identifying an increase in the strength of the relationship associated with the corresponding first and second chosen destinations, wherein each artifact is recorded within the network by the system as a corresponding chosen destination is accessed by one of the individuals using any one of a plurality of available user devices, each artifact identifies a corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, and each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals, wherein the determined correlation for at least one of the relationships is determined between a first and a second of the artifacts, the first artifact recorded in response to a first of the individuals accessing the first of the chosen destinations using a first of an available user device, the second artifact recorded in response to the first of the individuals accessing the second of the chosen destinations using a second of the available user devices that is different from the first of the available user devices;

the means for identifying configured for generating as the search result an ordered list of destination targets, including selected identified individuals identified based on their respective personal identities and selected data objects determined as relevant to the user context, including ordering the ordered list according to the portion of the connection context, wherein the apparatus is implemented as a processor-based device.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the chosen destinations include a plurality of information types.