Computer system architecture for automatic context associations

• US 8,069,186 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2008
• Issued: 11/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cheng, Lili, Turski, Andrzej, Marcjan, Cezary, Kelly, Sean U., Rashid, Richard F., Vronay, David P., Farnham, Shelly D.
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, SHEREE N
• Application Number:
  US12/045,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20080222170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,359 Days
• Field of Search: 707/708, 715/711
• US Class Current: 707/802
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A computer system models human memory by deriving associations between objects, events, and the context of the computer user or users. These associations can be dynamically generated, changing depending on the behavior of the user and context. Examples of areas in which this system can be used include time management (e.g., a calendar that presents time-based groupings of objects), people management (e.g., use analysis of user communications to rank importance of people to the user, groupings, and associations between people/groups and other objects such as documents, email), and general computer management (e.g., use analysis of user behavior to identify important objects and objects that are related to a current focus and context of the computer user).

Claims

1. A computer implemented relationship processing system for providing context associations between computer objects comprising the following computer executable components:

an association system that determines a degree of a strength of association between at least a pair of computer objects and metadata obtained by a data collection system;

a chunking system that uses the degree of the strength of association determined by the association system for a set of objects and groups them into a number of sub-groups;

a history manager that provides in a tree structure a representation of user activity on a user-operated computer, an application history and an external history, the history manager further comprising an ability to conduct a plurality of features operations on the representation activity, the application history and the external data history;

an importance calculator that determines an importance ranking between a target computer object and one or more other computer objects; and

a generating component to generate a group view visualization that includes the set of objects arranged such that a distance from a particular object of the set of objects to a user selected object is inversely proportional to the strength of association between the particular object and the user selected object.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface system that utilizes information determined by the association system, the chunking system, and the importance calculator to display information relating to objects stored or activities carried out on the computer.

3. The system of claim 2, in which the user interface system includes a context association control panel that provides user-control of a determination of association between at least a pair of computer objects.

4. The system of claim 1, in which the tree structure representation of user activity on the computer is editable by a user to effect changes in the user activities represented by the tree structure.

5. The system of claim 1, the association system is configured to determine a local similarity between pairs of the computer objects, the local similarity indicating a proportion of occurrences in the metadata in which the pair of objects occur together.

6. The system of claim 5, the association system is configured to determine a global similarity between pairs of the computer objects, the global similarity indicating a proportion of occurrences in the metadata in which the pair of objects occur together relative to a greatest number of occurrences in the metadata for any computer object.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the generating component is configured to generate a map based upon the extents of the strength of association between the computer objects;

and wherein the system further comprises a rendering component for rendering a visualization of the map on a computer display screen.

8. The system of claim 7, in which the visualization of the mapping includes a sector view to show extents of similarity between the computer objects.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a clustering component that clusters the computer objects into groups according to the extents of the strength of association between them, wherein the visualization of the mapping includes the groups.

10. The system of claim 9, the generating component generates the map as a connections map, the connections map includes a graph view of a network of nodes and connections wherein the nodes represent one or more of the groups.

11. A relationship processing method for providing context associations between computer objects, comprising:

analyzing metadata to determine extents of a strength of association between computer objects;

utilizing the extents of the strength of association to group the computer objects into a number of sub-groups;

mapping the computer objects based upon the extents of the strength of association between the computer objects;

determining an importance ranking between a target computer object and one or more other computer objects;

combining the strength of association, the importance ranking and a context comprising at least the computer objects to determine the context associations between the computer objects; and

generating a visualization of the mapping that includes the computer objects arranged such that a distance from each of the computer objects to the target computer object is inversely proportional to the importance ranking between each of the computer objects and the target computer object.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing in a tree structure a representation of user activity on a user-operated computer in connection with one or more of the computer objects.

13. The method of claim 12, in which the tree structure representation of user activity on the computer is accessible through a calendar user interface;

user activity on the computer is editable by the user to effect changes in the user.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising rendering the visualization of the mapping for display on a computer display screen.

15. The method of claim 14, in which the visualization of the mapping includes a sector view to show extents of similarity between the computer objects.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

clustering the computer objects into groups according to the extents of the strength of association between them; and

rendering a visualization of the mapping on a computer display screen and including the groups in the visualization.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising filtering the computer objects according to one or more preselected criteria to maintain a number of them associated with each other at or below a selected threshold.

18. The method of claim 11, in which the computer objects include computer communication information relating to multiple contacts who are in communication with each other.

19. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storage device including instructions that are executable by the processor to;

analyze metadata to determine extents of a strength of association between computer objects;

group the computer objects into a number of sub-groups based on the extents of the strength of the association between the computer objects;

map the computer objects based upon the extents of the strength of association between the computer objects;

determine an importance ranking between a target computer object and one or more other computer objects,

determine the context associations between the computer objects by combining the strength of association, the importance ranking, and a context comprising at least the computer objects; and

render a visualization of the mapping on a computer display screen, the visualization of the mapping including the computer objects arranged such that a distance from each of the computer objects to the target computer object is inversely proportional to the importance ranking between each of the computer objects and the target computer object.