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

• US 8,224,833 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2011
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• 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): Saeed, Usmaan
• Application Number:
  US13/005,944
• Publication Number:
  US 20110106830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 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 accessible via information sources that are reachable via a network, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for identified individuals having respective personal identities, each of the relationships having a strength increased by an aggregation of artifacts recorded in the network by the system and that represent accessing of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations by different individuals having different personal identities, each artifact identifying the corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, at least one of the relationships established based on a determined correlation between a first and a second of the artifacts recorded in response as a first of the individuals accesses the first and second of the chosen destinations using a first and a second of available user devices, respectively, the strength of the one relationship increased by the aggregation of the associated artifacts, representing the accessing of the first and second chosen destinations by the different individuals, relative to the respective determined correlations; 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 1, wherein a subset of the artifacts identify destinations having been chosen independent of any search result.

7. 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.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

following generation of the search result, receiving artifacts from a system providing services to the user 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.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals.

10. 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; and

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 accessible via information sources that are reachable via a network, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for identified individuals having respective personal identities, each of the relationships having a strength increased by an aggregation of artifacts recorded in the network by the system and that represent accessing of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations by different individuals having different personal identities, each artifact identifying the corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, at least one of the relationships established based on a determined correlation between a first and a second of the artifacts recorded in response as a first of the individuals accesses the first and second of the chosen destinations using a first and a second of available user devices, respectively, the strength of the one relationship increased by the aggregation of the associated artifacts, representing the accessing of the first and second chosen destinations by the different individuals, relative to the respective determined correlations;

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, the apparatus implemented as a processor-based device.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, 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.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, 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.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, 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.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, 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.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, 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.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a subset of the artifacts identify destinations having been chosen independent of any search result.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the context correlation resource is configured for:

following generation of the search result, receiving artifacts from a system providing services to the user 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.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each relationship is updated in response to the recording of the associated artifacts for any of the different individuals.

19. A non-transitory 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 accessible via information sources that are reachable via a network, the chosen destinations including data objects and address identifiers for identified individuals having respective personal identities, each of the relationships having a strength increased by an aggregation of artifacts recorded in the network by the system and that represent accessing of at least a corresponding first and second of the chosen destinations by different individuals having different personal identities, each artifact identifying the corresponding personal identity and the corresponding chosen destination, at least one of the relationships established based on a determined correlation between a first and a second of the artifacts recorded in response as a first of the individuals accesses the first and second of the chosen destinations using a first and a second of available user devices, respectively, the strength of the one relationship increased by the aggregation of the associated artifacts, representing the accessing of the first and second chosen destinations by the different individuals, relative to the respective determined correlations; 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.