System and method for updating information using limited bandwidth

• US 8,112,522 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Dash Navigation (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Rogers, Seth, Tzamaloukas, Assimakis
• Primary Examiner(s): ENGLAND, DAVID E
• Application Number:
  US13/182,860
• Publication Number:
  US 20110270982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 208 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• 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 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/725 Cordless telephones user interfaces specially adapted therefor H04M1/724
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8011 using class of subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8016 based on quality of service [QoS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/14 Billing aspects relating to the actual charge
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/74 Rating aspects, e.g. rating parameters or tariff determination apects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7407 class of subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7414 QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/00 Network traffic management; Network resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/00 Network data management

Abstract

A system and method detects an amount of data attributed to a device including reports sent to the device, and reduces the amount of data being used to provide reports to the device if the amount of data attributed to the device exceeds an amount assigned to the device. Data uploaded from the device is also minimized.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method of providing information to a plurality of devices, the method comprising:

identifying, for a given time period, an amount of data collectively already communicated to the plurality of devices;

identifying, for the given time period, a collective target total amount of data communication to be communicated to the plurality of devices;

identifying, for the given time period, a target total amount of data communication to be communicated to each device in the plurality of devices;

for a given device of the devices in the plurality;

identifying, for the given time period, an amount of data already communicated to the given device;

assigning, to the given device, a data level based at least on the amount of data already communicated to the given device for the given time period, the target total amount of data communication to be communicated to the given device for the given time period, the collective target total amount of data communication to be communicated to the plurality of devices for the given time period, and the amount of data collectively to be communicated to the plurality of devices for the given time period; and

sending, for reception by the given device, during the given time period a version of an information update to be provided to the given device, the version determined based on the data level assigned to the given device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each of the plurality of devices were assigned a previous data level prior to the given time period; and

the assigning of the data level during the given time period is additionally based on the previous data level.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the data level assigned is from one of a plurality of data levels having a relative order; and

the assigning of the data level during the given time period comprises assigning a data level adjacent to the previous data level in the order of the data levels.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each of the devices was assigned a previous data level prior to the given time period;

the data level assigned comprises one of a plurality of data levels having a relative order; and

the assigning the data level during the given time period comprises;

changing the data level in a first direction from the previous data level in the order of the plurality of data levels responsive to the amount of data collectively already communicated to the plurality of devices for the given time period exceeding the collective target amount of data for communication to the plurality of devices by a threshold amount; and

not changing the data level in a first direction from the previous data level in the order of the plurality of data levels responsive to the amount of data collectively already communicated to the plurality of devices for the given time period not exceeding the collective target amount of data for communication to the plurality by the threshold amount.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving data from at least some of the devices in the plurality, and forming at least a portion of content in the information update based on data received from the devices in the plurality.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data received from at least some of the devices in the plurality comprises road condition information pertinent to locations of those devices, and further comprises producing portions of the information update relevant to different locations of the plurality of devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the version of the information update sent to a device of the plurality that is assigned a comparatively higher data level is larger than the version of the information update sent to a device of the plurality that is assigned a comparatively lower data level.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising producing a plurality of versions of the information update by segmenting portions of the data comprised in the information update based on a geographic region to which each of those portions of data pertain.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising producing a plurality of versions of the information update, at least some of the versions comprising different amounts of detail concerning traffic conditions in a geographic region.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the different amounts of detail by including traffic conditions on comparatively smaller roads in relatively larger versions of the information update, which are excluded from relatively smaller versions of the information update.