Systems and methods for analyzing entity profiles

• US 9,123,022 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2009
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aptima Inc.
• Original Assignee: Aptima Inc.
• Inventors: Skarin, Bruce, Duchon, Andrew, Allopenna, Paul, Dejordy, Rich
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBINSON, GRETA LEE
• Application Number:
  US12/993,907
• Publication Number:
  US 20110072052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,288 Days
• Field of Search: 707/708, 707/737, 707/738, 707/739, 707/749, 707/751, 707/754, 707/755, 707/758, 707/767, 707/768, 707/771, 707/780, 707/784, 707/794, 707/E17.059, 707/E17.06, 707/941, 707/999.008, 707/732, 707/734, 705/1.1, 705/7.11, 705/7.29, 705/7.32, 705/7.33, 705/7.34, 705/14.25, 705/14.27, 705/14.28, 705/14.44, 705/14.53, 705/14.57, 705/14.58, 705/14.61, 705/14.66, 705/14.67, 705/319, 705/341, 705/14.5, 705/8
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Embodiments of the subject invention comprise a computer based system and methods to collect and compare the attributes of a group of entities using data representing topic data of the entity and interaction data between entities. Embodiments of the invention comprise using minimally invasive means to automatically collect and model both an entity'"'"'s attributes such as their knowledge/work/interest as well as model the social interactions of the entity together with a means to identify opportunities to influence changes in the entity attributes. Minimally invasive means to collect and model attributes include semantic analysis and topic modeling techniques. Means to model social interactions include social network analysis techniques that can incorporate location data of the entity. Embodiments of the invention further provide a sharable index of the attributes of the entities and the group of entities.

Claims

1. A computer-based method of profiling entity information, said method comprising the steps of:

automatically determining an interaction model of a set of interaction information from a group of entities;

the interaction model comprises a representation of interactions between a first entity from the group of entities and a second entity from the group of entities;

the first entity is a first individual and the second entity is a second individual;

automatically determining a topic model for at least the first entity and the second entity;

determining a first entity topic profile for the first entity and a second entity topic profile for the second entity;

comparing the first entity topic profile and the second entity topic profile to identify a degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity;

determining a first entity interaction profile for the first entity and a second entity interaction profile for the second entity from the interaction model;

comparing the first entity interaction profile and the second entity interaction profile to identify a degree of interaction similarity of the first entity and the second entity; and

comparing the degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity and the degree of interaction similarity of the first entity and the second entity whereby a change in one of the first entity topic profile or the second entity topic profile can be identified to influence the degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity.

2. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the interaction information comprises communication information sent from the first entity from the group of entities to the second entity from the group of entities.

3. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 2 wherein the interaction information further comprises communication information sent from the second entity from the group of entities to the first entity from the group of entities.

4. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the interaction information comprises simultaneous location information of the first entity from the group of entities relative to location information of the second entity from the group of entities.

5. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 4 wherein the location information comprises simultaneous proximity information representing a physical location of the first entity relative to a physical location of the second entity from an interaction sensor.

6. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

the step of determining the interaction model comprises using semantic analysis techniques on the interaction information of the first entity of the group of entities; and

the interaction information of the first entity is resident on a computing device of the first entity.

7. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the interaction information comprises communication information sent from the first entity to a specific second entity utilizing at least two of the interaction types selected from the group consisting of:

email messaging, text messaging and phone call.

8. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

the interaction model defines a link between the first entity from the group of entities to the second entity from the group of entities; and

the link represents the set of interactions between the first entity and the second entity.

9. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

automatically determining a topic model for at least the first entity and the second entity comprises automatically determining a topic model for at least the first entity and the second entity from the set of interaction information from a group of entities.

10. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an entity topic comparison function to identify the degree of topic similarity of the at least two entities; and

whereby a change in one of the first entity interaction profile or the second entity interaction profile can be identified to influence the degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity.

11. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing the degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity and the degree of interaction similarity of the first entity and the second entity comprises creating a topic matrix and an interaction matrix and subtracting the matrices to create at least one similarity matrix.

12. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the change in the interaction profile to influence the degree of topic similarity of the first entity and the second entity is communicated to one of the first entity or the second entity.

13. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

the interaction information comprises interaction information of a first entity and a second entity; and

the interaction model comprises a statistical social network model of the first entity and the second entity.

14. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

the interaction information comprises interaction information between a first entity from the group of entities and a second entity from the group of entities; and

the interaction model links the first entity and the second entity.

15. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the interaction information comprises a first interaction information type and a second interaction information type.

16. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein:

the interaction information comprises location information of the first entity from the group of entities relative to location information of the second entity from the group of entities; and

the location information of the first entity is provided by a first interaction sensor and the location information of the second entity is provided by a second interaction sensor.

17. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 1 wherein the interaction information comprises simultaneous proximity information representing a physical location of the first entity relative to a physical location of the second entity from an interaction sensor.

18. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 17 wherein the location information comprises simultaneous proximity information representing a physical location of the first entity relative to a physical location of the second entity from an interaction sensor.

19. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 17 wherein the location information of the first entity is provided by a first interaction sensor and the location information of the second entity is provided by a second interaction sensor.

20. The computer-based method of profiling entity information of claim 17 wherein the interaction information further comprises communication information sent from the first entity from the group of entities to the second entity from the group of entities.