Managing notification messages

• US 8,676,238 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2013
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Marcellino, Christopher, Santamaria, Justin Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehrpour, Melody
• Application Number:
  US13/745,012
• Publication Number:
  US 20130130730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 424 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0012 Comparing movements or motion sequences with a registered reference
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0071 Distinction between different activities, movements, or kind of sports performed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0078 Exercise efforts programmed as a function of time
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0096 using performance related parameters for controlling electronic or video games or avatars
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0677 Input by image recognition, e.g. video signals
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2214/00 Training methods
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/05 Image processing for measuring physical parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/806 Video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0006 Computerised comparison for qualitative assessment of motion sequences or the course of a movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0087 Electric or electronic controls for exercising apparatus of groups A63B21/00 - A63B23/00, e.g. controlling load
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0622 Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

Mobile devices each maintain a whitelist of application identifiers corresponding to applications that the user(s) of that mobile device wants to receive notification messages for and a blacklist of application identifiers corresponding to applications that the user(s) of the mobile device does not want to receive notification messages for. Each mobile device transmits its representations of the whitelist and blacklist to a certain one of a plurality of couriers that controls transmission of notification messages for that mobile device. Each notification message includes a mobile device identifier and an application identifier. Each courier processes a given notification message for a mobile device (e.g., deliver to that mobile device, drop, report as uninstalled to the sender) based on the application identifier included in the mobile device and the representations of the whitelist and blacklist for that mobile device.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor to execute instructions; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations including;

maintaining one of a whitelist or a blacklist;

wherein the whitelist represents one or more of a plurality of applications installed on the mobile device that may receive notification messages from a courier coupled to the mobile device, wherein the whitelist includes one or more application identifiers for each of the one or more of the plurality of applications respectively;

wherein the blacklist represents another one of the plurality of applications installed on the mobile device that may not receive notification messages from the courier, wherein the blacklist includes one or more application identifiers for the another one of the plurality of applications respectively; and

transmitting a representation of one of the whitelist or the blacklist to the courier that controls the transmission of notification messages to the mobile device, wherein the courier uses the representation to determine whether to forward notification messages received by the courier from a plurality of application servers and the received notification messages are directed to the mobile device.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the representation of the whitelist and the blacklist includes uncompressed application identifiers of the whitelist and blacklist.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the blacklist includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that are not currently running on the mobile device.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the blacklist includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that have been disabled by a user of the mobile device.

5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the blacklist includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that a user has selected not to receive notification messages for.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising one or more instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations including:

responsive to the mobile device moving to a different courier, transmitting the representation of one of the whitelist or the blacklist to the different courier.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the representation of the whitelist and the representation of the blacklist are compacted representations.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the compacted representations of the whitelist and blacklist are probabilistic representations, and wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

creating the probabilistic representation of the whitelist, wherein the size of the probabilistic representation of the whitelist is smaller than the size of the whitelist; and

creating a probabilistic representation of the blacklist, wherein the size of the probabilistic representation of the blacklist is smaller than the size of the blacklist.

9. The mobile device of claim 8,

wherein creating the probabilistic representation of the whitelist includes for each application identifier on the whitelist, hashing that application identifier to generate a hashed application identifier and setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the whitelist that correspond with the hashed application identifier, and

wherein creating the probabilistic representation of the blacklist includes for each application identifier on the blacklist, hashing that application identifier to generate a hashed application identifier and setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the blacklist list that correspond with the hashed application identifier.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein each hashed application identifier is generated from a SHA-1 hash of the corresponding application identifier, and wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

for each hashed application identifier generated from a corresponding application identifier on the whitelist, performing the following;

dividing that hashed application identifier into a number of segments,

calculating a value for each of the number of segments, and

setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the whitelist that correspond with the calculated values;

for each hashed application identifier generated from a corresponding application identifier on the blacklist, performing the following;

dividing that hashed application identifier into a number of segments,

calculating a value for each of the number of segments, and

setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the blacklist that correspond with the calculated values; and

storing the probabilistic representations of the whitelist and the blacklist on the mobile device.

11. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

prior to hashing the application identifiers on the whitelist and the blacklist, salting the application identifiers on the whitelist by adding a same random number to each of those application identifiers, and salting the application identifiers on the blacklist by adding a same random number to each application identifier of those application identifiers; and

transmitting those random numbers to the one or more couriers.

12. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

responsive to an application identifier being added to, or removed from, the whitelist, performing the following;

clearing those bits set in the probabilistic representation of the whitelist,

for each application identifier on the whitelist, performing the following;

salting that application identifier with a same random number used for each application identifier on the whitelist,

hashing that application identifier and random number with the SHA-1 hashing algorithm,

dividing the result of the hashing into a number of segments,

calculating a value for each of the number of segments, and

setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the whitelist that correspond with the calculated values;

storing the probabilistic representation of the whitelist on the mobile device; and

transmitting the probabilistic representation of the whitelist to the one or more couriers.

13. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

responsive to an application identifier being added to, or removed from, the blacklist, performing the following;

clearing those bits set in the probabilistic representation of the blacklist,

for each application identifier on the blacklist, performing the following;

salting that application identifier with a same random number used for each application identifier on the blacklist,

hashing that application identifier and random number with the SHA-1 hashing algorithm,

dividing the result of the hashing into a number of segments,

calculating a value for each of the number of segments, and

setting those bits of the probabilistic representation of the blacklist that correspond with the calculated values;

storing the probabilistic representation of the blacklist on the mobile device; and

transmitting the probabilistic representation of the blacklist to the one or more couriers.

14. A courier, comprising:

a processor to execute instructions; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations including,

receiving a representation of one of a whitelist or a blacklist from each of a plurality of mobile devices that were generated by each of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the whitelist represents one or more of a plurality of applications installed on the mobile device that may receive notification messages and the blacklist that represents another one of the plurality of applications installed on the mobile device that may not receive notification messages;

storing the received representations for each mobile device;

receiving notification messages for different ones of the plurality of mobile devices, each notification message including an application identifier, wherein the notification messages are received from a plurality of application servers; and

for each received notification message, performing the following;

determining which one of the plurality of mobile devices the notification is for, and

determining whether to transmit that notification message to the determined one of the plurality of mobile devices based on the representation of the whitelist or the blacklist received from that mobile device.

15. The courier of claim 14, wherein at least some of the representations of the whitelists and the blacklists include uncompressed application identifiers.

16. The courier of claim 14, wherein the representation of the blacklists received from a given one of the mobile devices includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that are not currently running on that given one of the mobile devices.

17. The courier of claim 14, wherein the representation of the blacklists received from a given one of the mobile devices includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that have been disabled by a user of that given one of the mobile devices.

18. The courier of claim 14, wherein the representation of the blacklists received from a given one of the mobile devices includes one or more application identifiers corresponding with the another one of the plurality of applications that a user of that given one of the mobile devices has selected not to receive notification messages for.

19. The courier of claim 14, wherein the representation of the whitelist and the representation of the blacklist are compacted representations.

20. The courier of claim 19, wherein the compacted representations of the whitelist and blacklist are probabilistic representations.

21. The courier of claim 20, wherein determining whether to transmit that notification message further comprises:

hashing the application identifier included in the received notification message;

dividing the hashing result into a number of segments;

calculating a value for each of the number of segments;

determining whether each value corresponds with a set bit in the probabilistic representation of the whitelist;

if each calculated value corresponds with a set bit in the probabilistic representation of the whitelist, transmitting the notification message to the determined one of the mobile devices, and

if each calculated value corresponds with a set bit in the in the probabilistic representation of the blacklist, do not transmit the notification message.

22. The courier of claim 21, wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

for each received notification message, if any of the calculated values do not correspond with a set bit in the probabilistic representation of the whitelist or the blacklist, notifying that the application is uninstalled on that mobile device to the sender of that notification message.

23. The courier of claim 21, wherein the memory further stores one or more instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

if each calculated value corresponds with a set bit in the probabilistic representation of the blacklist, dropping that notification message.