Service provider recommendation engine

• US 8,509,811 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Phillips, Derek
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): DU, HUNG K
• Application Number:
  US13/249,232
• Publication Number:
  US 20120021775A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/405, 455/424, 455/434, 455/414.1, 455/423, 455/446, 455/452.2, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 706/45, 706/46, 706/47, 705/7.34
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/26 using historical data, averaging values or statistics
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters

Abstract

In one example, a device includes a first interface to receive a request for a service provider recommendation, the request comprising a first geographic position value and a second, different geographic position value, wherein the service provider recommendation comprises a recommendation for a provider of a wireless service for a mobile device, means for determining aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a first location including the first geographic position and at a second location including the second geographic position, means for determining scores for the service providers based on signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the second location, means for constructing the service provider recommendation comprising an identification of the service provider having the highest score, and a second interface to output the service provider recommendation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request for a service provider recommendation, the request comprising a first geographic position value, a second, different geographic position value, a first weight value corresponding to the first geographic position value, and a second weight value corresponding to the second geographic position value, wherein the service provider recommendation comprises a recommendation for a provider of a wireless service for a mobile device;

determining aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a first location, the first location including a first geographic position corresponding to the first geographic position value;

determining aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a second location, the second location including a second geographic position corresponding to the second geographic position value;

determining, by at least one computing device, scores for the service providers at the first location and the second location based on signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the second location, including applying the first weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and applying the second weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the second location; and

outputting the service provider recommendation comprising an identification of a service provider having the highest score out of the service providers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before receiving the request for the service provider recommendation:

receiving data sets from a plurality of mobile devices, each of the data sets comprising a geographic position value for a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices, an identification of a service provider for the corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices, and a value representative of signal quality for the corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices at the corresponding geographic position; and

storing the data sets.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining which of the service providers has the highest score by:

aggregating values for the first location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the first location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the first location;

aggregating values for the second location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the second location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the second location;

determining the scores for the service providers based on a combination of the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the second location; and

determining which of the service providers has the highest score based on the combination.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request from a mobile device that automatically includes in the request the first geographic position value based on a first amount of time spent by the mobile device at the first location and the second geographic position value based on a second amount of time spent by the mobile device at the second location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein outputting the service provider recommendation comprises outputting the service provider recommendation to the mobile device, wherein the recommendation comprises a recommendation of a service provider for the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request further comprises a constraint for a mobile device, the method further comprising:

determining whether mobile devices sold by the service providers satisfy the constraint; and

reducing the scores of one or more of the service providers when mobile devices sold by the one or more service providers do not satisfy the constraint.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request further comprises a constraint on a service provider pricing plan, the method further comprising:

determining whether the service providers satisfy the constraint; and

reducing the scores of one or more of the service providers when pricing plans offered by the one or more service providers do not satisfy the constraint.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

receive a request for a service provider recommendation, the request comprising a first geographic position value, a second, different geographic position value, a first weight value corresponding to the first geographic position value, and a second weight value corresponding to the second geographic position value, wherein the service provider recommendation comprises a recommendation for a provider of a wireless service for a mobile device;

determine aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a first location, the first location including a first geographic position corresponding to the first geographic position value;

determine aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a second location, the second location including a second geographic position corresponding to the second geographic position value;

determine scores for the service providers at the first location and the second location based on signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the second location, including applying the first weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and applying the second weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the second location; and

output the service provider recommendation comprising an identification of a service provider having the highest score out of the service providers.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to, before receiving the request for the service provider recommendation:

receive data sets from mobile devices, each of the data sets comprising a geographic position value for a corresponding one of the mobile devices, an identification of a service provider for the corresponding one of the mobile devices, and a value representative of signal quality for the corresponding one of the mobile devices at the corresponding geographic position; and

store the data sets.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising instructions to determine which of the service providers has the highest score by causing the processor to:

aggregate values for the first location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the first location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the first location;

aggregate values for the second location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the second location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the second location;

determine the scores for the service providers based on a combination of the aggregate values for the service providers at the first location and the aggregate values for the service providers at the second location; and

determine which of the service providers has the highest score based on the combination.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions to receive the request comprise instructions to receive the request from a mobile device that automatically includes in the request the first geographic position value based on a first amount of time spent by the mobile device at the first geographic position and the second weight value based on a second amount of time spent at the second geographic position.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions to output the service provider recommendation comprise instructions to output the service provider recommendation to the mobile device, wherein the recommendation comprises a recommendation of a service provider for the mobile device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the request further comprises a constraint for a mobile device, further comprising instructions to:

determine whether mobile devices sold by the service providers satisfy the constraint; and

reduce the scores of one or more of the service providers when mobile devices sold by the one or more service providers do not satisfy the constraint.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the request further comprises a constraint on a service provider pricing plan, further comprising instructions to:

determine whether the service providers satisfy the constraint; and

reduce the scores of one or more of the service providers when pricing plans offered by the one or more service providers do not satisfy the constraint.

15. A device comprising:

a first interface configured to receive a request for a service provider recommendation, the request comprising a first geographic position value, a second, different geographic position value, a first weight value corresponding to the first geographic position value, and a second weight value corresponding to the second geographic position value, wherein the service provider recommendation comprises a recommendation for a provider of a wireless service for a mobile device;

one or more processors configured to;

determine aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a first location, the first location including a first geographic position corresponding to the first geographic position value, determine aggregate signal quality values for service providers at a second location, the second location including a second geographic position corresponding to the second geographic position value, determine scores for the service providers based on signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the second location, and construct the service provider recommendation comprising an identification of the service provider having the highest score, including apply the first weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and applying the second weight value to the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the second location; and

a second interface configured to output the service provider recommendation.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein one or more processors is configured to aggregate values for the first location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the first location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the first location, aggregating values for the second location by aggregating the values representative of signal quality of those of the data sets determined to have geographic position values within the second location to produce aggregate values for the service providers at the second location, determining the scores for the service providers based on a combination of the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the first location and the aggregate signal quality values for the service providers at the second location, and determining which of the service providers has the highest score based on the combination.