Autonomous management of a communication network

• US 8,055,750 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2008
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boutboul, Irwin, Delucca, Albert, Gibrat, Jean-David C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino; Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park; Jeong S
• Application Number:
  US12/271,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20100125634A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,089 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/224, 705/319
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for autonomous management of a communication network are provided. The communication network includes a community of registered and unregistered users. The method includes segmenting a body of data according to pre-defined aspects that identify related subject matter and a volume of data stored for each of the segments based on the volume of data. The method also includes classifying each of the registered users according to the segments, and identifying from the classification: a population size of users associated with corresponding segments and a proportion of users to corresponding segments. The method further includes assessing aspects of an unregistered user, based upon a communication, in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network and, upon determining the aspects fall within limits specified by the pre-defined growth criteria, presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community.

Claims

1. A method for autonomous management of a communication network, the communication network including a community of registered users and unregistered users who are identifiable by the communication network, the registered and unregistered users each operating a computer processor, and each computer processor is in communication with a host system computer over the communication network, the method comprising:

segmenting, via a network manager application executing on the host system computer, a body of data maintained by the network manager application in a storage device in communication with the host system computer, the body of data segmented according to pre-defined aspects that identify related subject matter and volume of data stored for each of the segments based on the volume of data;

classifying, via the network manager application, each of the registered users according to one or more of the segments, and identifying from the classification;

a population size of users associated with corresponding segments, and a proportion of users to corresponding segments;

capturing, via a messaging component of the host system, a communication between at least two users, at least one of the users unregistered to the community of users;

assessing aspects of the unregistered user, based upon the communication, in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network; and

upon determining the aspects of the unregistered user fall within limits specified by the pre-defined growth criteria, presenting, via a user interface of the network manager application, the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, via the network manager application, a value of a relationship between the two users based upon a frequency of documented communications previously conducted between the two users;

the network manager application further performing;

parsing the communication, mapping parsed terms to a vocabulary of terms in a database maintained by the communications network, deriving meaning and context from the communication based upon the mapping, and using the meaning and context to identify a segment corresponding to the subject matter of the communication; and

assessing candidacy of the unregistered user for membership to the community using the value of the relationship between the two users and the derived meaning and context of the communication, the candidacy assessment autonomously implemented by the network manager application without input or action taken by the community with respect to the assessment;

wherein presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community further includes presenting the user with the invitation upon successful qualification of the candidacy assessment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the vocabulary of terms further comprises results of parsing and mapping the documented communications between the two users;

and,

wherein assessing candidacy of the unregistered user includes using a derived meaning and context of the documented communications to qualify the unregistered user for membership in the community.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein assessing aspects of the unregistered user in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network includes evaluating a proportion of registered users to a corresponding segment of data, and determining whether a threshold value has been reached in response to the evaluation.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

deferring presentation of the invitation for future consideration when the threshold value has been reached; and

denying presentation of the invitation when it is determined that the unregistered user fails the candidacy assessment.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

updating the vocabulary of terms in the database to reflect the parsed terms in the communication.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein, upon acceptance of the invitation by the unregistered user, updating the population size of the corresponding segment to reflect the new member.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is at least one of:

an email;

an instant message; and

a network forum.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the invitation to the unregistered user includes at least one of:

prompting the registered user of the communication to extend the invitation; and

auto-generating and transmitting the invitation to the unregistered user.

10. A system for autonomous management of a communication network, the communication network including a community of registered users and unregistered users who are identifiable by the communication network, the registered and unregistered users each operating a computer processor, the system comprising:

a host system computer in communication with the computer processors over the communication network; and

a network manager application including a user interface executing on the host system computer, the network manager application performing a method, comprising;

segmenting a body of data maintained by the network manager application in a storage device in communication with the host system computer, the body of data segmented according to pre-defined aspects that identify related subject matter and volume of data stored for each of the segments based on the volume of data;

classifying each of the registered users according to one or more of the segments and identifying from the classification;

a population size of users associated with corresponding segments and a proportion of users to corresponding segments;

capturing, via a messaging component of the network manager application, a communication between at least two users, at least one of the users unregistered to the community of users;

assessing aspects of the unregistered user, based upon the communication, in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network; and

upon determining the aspects of the unregistered user fall within limits specified by the pre-defined growth criteria, presenting, via the user interface of the network manager application, the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the network manager application further performs:

determining a value of a relationship between the two users based upon a frequency of documented communications previously conducted between the two users;

parsing the communication, mapping parsed terms to a vocabulary of terms in a database maintained by the communications network, deriving meaning and context from the communication based upon the mapping, and using the meaning and context to identify a segment corresponding to the subject matter of the communication; and

assessing candidacy of the unregistered user for membership to the community using the value of the relationship between the two users and the derived meaning and context of the communication, the candidacy assessment autonomously implemented by the network manager application without input or action taken by the community with respect to the assessment;

wherein presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community further includes presenting the user with the invitation upon successful qualification of the candidacy assessment.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the vocabulary of terms further comprises results of parsing and mapping the documented communications between the two users;

and,

wherein assessing candidacy of the unregistered user includes using a derived meaning and context of the documented communications to qualify the unregistered user for membership in the community.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein assessing aspects of the unregistered user in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network includes evaluating a proportion of registered users to a corresponding segment of data, and determining whether a threshold value has been reached in response to the evaluation.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the network manager application further performs:

deferring presentation of the invitation for future consideration when the threshold value has been reached; and

denying presentation of the invitation when it is determined that the unregistered user fails the candidacy assessment.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the network manager application further performs:

updating the vocabulary of terms in the database to reflect the parsed terms in the communication.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein, upon acceptance of the invitation by the unregistered user, the network manager application updates the population size of the corresponding segment to reflect the new member.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the communication is at least one of:

an email;

an instant message; and

a network forum.

18. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code embodied thereon, the computer program product providing autonomous management of a communication network, the communication network including a community of registered users and unregistered users who are identifiable by the communication network, the registered and unregistered users each operating a computer processor, and each computer processor is in communication with a host system computer over the communication network, the program code including instructions for causing the host system computer to implement a method, the method comprising:

segmenting a body of data maintained in a storage device in communication with the host system computer, the body of data segmented according to pre-defined aspects that identify related subject matter and volume of data stored for each of the segments based on the volume of data;

classifying each of the registered users according to one or more of the segments and identifying from the classification;

a population size of users associated with corresponding segments and a proportion of users to corresponding segments;

capturing a communication between at least two users, at least one of the users unregistered to the community of users;

assessing aspects of the unregistered user, based upon the communication, in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network; and

upon determining the aspects of the unregistered user fall within limits specified by the pre-defined growth criteria, presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising instructions for implementing:

determining a value of a relationship between the two users based upon a frequency of documented communications previously conducted between the two users;

parsing the communication, mapping parsed terms to a vocabulary of terms in a database maintained by the communications network, deriving meaning and context from the communication based upon the mapping, and using the meaning and context to identify a segment corresponding to the subject matter of the communication; and

assessing candidacy of the unregistered user for membership to the community using the value of the relationship between the two users and the derived meaning and context of the communication, the candidacy assessment autonomously implemented without input or action taken by the community with respect to the assessment;

wherein presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community further includes presenting the user with the invitation upon successful qualification of the candidacy assessment.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the vocabulary of terms further comprises results of parsing and mapping the documented communications between the two users;

and,

wherein assessing candidacy of the unregistered user includes using a derived meaning and context of the documented communications to qualify the unregistered user for membership in the community.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein assessing aspects of the unregistered user in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network includes evaluating a proportion of registered users to a corresponding segment of data, and determining whether a threshold value has been reached in response to the evaluation.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising instructions for implementing:

deferring presentation of the invitation for future consideration when the threshold value has been reached; and

denying presentation of the invitation when it is determined that the unregistered user fails the candidacy assessment.

23. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising instructions for implementing:

updating the vocabulary of terms in the database to reflect the parsed terms in the communication.

24. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein, upon acceptance of the invitation by the unregistered user, updating the population size of the corresponding segment to reflect the new member.

25. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the communication is at least one of:

an email;

an instant message; and

a network forum.