Methods and systems to generate graphical representations of relationships between persons based on transactions

• US 8,791,948 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Issued: 07/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Patil, Dhanurjay A. S., Jastrebski, Grahame Andrew, Riccomini, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier, Jeffery A
• Application Number:
  US11/961,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20090122065A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,413 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

In one example embodiment, a system and method is shown as including identifying a context set data defining a context within which a person resides. Next, an operation is executed so as to retrieve the context set data that includes person data and relationship between persons data, the relationship between persons data including certain characteristics that define the person in the context set. An operation may be executed so as to perform a set operation on the person in the context set so as to generate a graph set. Further, an operation may be executed to render a graphical representation of the context set.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a user, a selection of a person and one or more relationships;

to identify a context set within which the person may participate in transactions with one of a plurality of other persons;

retrieving, using one or more processors, data packets aggregated from a number of sources transmitted over a network, to generate context set data that includes person data and transaction data based on the context set;

generating, using one or more processors, a graph set by performing at least one set operation on the context set data;

generating, using one or more processors a graph set file including graph set data by encoding the graph set; and

rendering, using one or more processors, the graph set data into a visual format for display to the user, the visual format having a cluster with a star topology, the star topology having a center node representing the selected person and a plurality of peripheral nodes, the plurality of the peripheral nodes generated based on at least a portion of the context data, each node of the plurality of peripheral nodes representing the one of the plurality of other persons and connected to the center node via an edge, the edge representing the transaction involving the selected person and the one of the plurality of other persons.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the person data includes at least one of the following types of data:

a unique account identifier value, a social security number, a date of birth, or a physical address value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set operation includes at least one of the following operations:

a union operation, an intersection operation, a set difference operation, a Cartesian product operation, or a join operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the graph set file is formatted in at least one of the following file formats:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format, or a character delimited flat file format.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one edge is assigned a color to represent a specific type of relationship between nodes.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a selection of a type of transaction data from the user wherein the retrieving of the context set is limited to transaction data associated with the selected type of transaction.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction data includes at least one of the following types of transaction data:

commerce transaction data, banking data, telecomm data, and Internet data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the center node is associated with at least one of the follow types of data pertaining to the selected person:

name, account status, last login information, account number, account balance, country information, email address, and account creation time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each node of the plurality of the peripheral nodes is associated with at least one of the follow types of data pertaining to one of the plurality of the other persons:

name, account status, last login information, account number, account balance, country information, email address, and account creation time.

10. A system comprising:

a machine having a memory and at least one processor;

an identifier component configured to receive, from a user, a selection of a person and one or more relationships to identify a context set within which the person may participate in transactions with one of a plurality of other persons;

a retriever component, executable by the at least one processor, configured to retrieve data packets aggregated from a number of sources transmitted over a network, to generate context set data that includes person data and transaction data, the transaction data based on the context set;

a set engine, executable by the at least one processor, configured to generate a graph set by performing at least one a set operation on the context set data;

a graphics engine, executable by the at least one processor, configured to generate a graph set file including graph set data by encoding the graph set; and

a rendering engine, executable by the at least one processor, configured to render the graph set data into a visual format for display to the user, the visual format having a cluster with a star topology, the star topology having a center node representing the selected person and a plurality of peripheral nodes, the plurality of the peripheral nodes generated based on at least a portion of the context data, each node of the plurality of peripheral nodes representing the one of the plurality of other persons and connected to the center node via an edge, the edge representing the transaction involving the selected person and the one of the plurality of other persons.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the person data includes at least one of the following types of data:

a unique account identifier value, a social security number, a date of birth, or a physical address value.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the set operation includes at least one of the following operations:

a union operation, an intersection operation, a set difference operation, a Cartesian product operation, or a join operation.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the graph set file is formatted in at least one of the following file formats:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format, or a character delimited flat file format.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one edge is assigned a color to represent a specific type of relationship between nodes.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising receiving a selection of a type of transaction data from the user wherein the retrieving of the context set is limited to transaction data associated with the selected type of transaction.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the transaction data includes at least one of the following types of transaction data:

commerce transaction data, banking data, telecomm data, and internet data.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the center node is associated with at least one of the follow types of data pertaining to the selected person:

name, account status, last login information, account number, account balance, country information, email address, and account creation time.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein each node of the plurality of the peripheral nodes is associated with at least one of the follow types of data pertaining to one of the plurality of the other persons:

name, account status, last login information, account number, account balance, country information, email address, and account creation time.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more machines cause the one or more machines to perform a method comprising:

receiving, from a user, a selection of a person and one or more relationships;

to identify a context set within which the person may participate in transactions with one of a plurality of other persons;

retrieving, using one or more processors, data packets aggregated from a number of sources transmitted over a network, to generate context set data that includes person data and transaction data based on the context set;

generating, using one or more processors, a graph set by performing at least one set operation on the context set data;

generating, using one or more processors, a graph set file including graph set data by encoding the graph set; and

rendering, using one or more processors, the graph set data into a visual format for display to the user, the visual format having a cluster with a star topology, the star topology having a center node representing the selected person and a plurality of peripheral nodes, the plurality of the peripheral nodes generated based on at least a portion of the context data, each node of the plurality of peripheral nodes representing the one of the plurality of other persons and connected to the center node via an edge, the edge representing the transaction involving the selected person and the one of the plurality of other persons.