Content data determination, transmission and storage for local devices

• US 10,891,342 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2017
• Issued: 01/12/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Carter, Bernadette Alexia
• Primary Examiner(s): Reyes, Mariela
• Assistant Examiner(s): Harmon, Courtney
• Application Number:
  US15/405,131
• Publication Number:
  US 20180196880A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,461 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

Implementations relate to content data determination, transmission, and storage for local devices. In some implementations, a computer-implemented method includes determining an event for a user based on user data associated with the user, and includes programmatically analyzing the user data having one or more references to at least one of persons, locations, and scheduled activities. The method determines a set of content items to be accessed at the event, where one or more content items of the set are determined based on the user data, and the set of content items includes content data related to the event. Prior to a time of the event, the set of content items are transmitted over a communication network from network storage to local device(s) associated with the user, where the content items are stored in local storage of the local device(s).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining a first predicted event and a second predicted event for a user associated with at least one local device, wherein determining the first predicted event and the second predicted event is based on user data associated with the user and includes programmatically analyzing the user data having one or more references to at least one of persons, locations, or scheduled activities,

wherein determining the first predicted event and the second predicted event includes;

determining a particular geographic location for the first and second predicted events; and

assigning a respective priority level to each predicted event of the first and second predicted events based on an estimated availability of network access to network storage by the at least one local device at the particular geographic location during the predicted event, wherein if the estimated availability of the network access indicates a lack of the network access, the predicted event is assigned a higher priority than if the estimated availability of the network access indicates a presence of the network access;

determining a first set of content items that are associated with the first predicted event, are stored at the network storage, and are to be accessed at the first predicted event by the at least one local device, wherein the first set of content items is determined based at least in part on the user data, and wherein the first set of content items includes content data related to the first predicted event; and

in response to the assigned priority level of the first predicted event being higher than the assigned priority level of the second predicted event, transmitting the first set of content items, prior to a time of the first predicted event, over a communication network from the network storage to the at least one local device, wherein the first set of content items are stored in local storage of the at least one local device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first predicted event at least partially overlaps the second predicted event in time, and wherein the estimated availability of the network access at the particular geographic location is based on wireless signal reception at the particular geographic location that allows connection to the network storage.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first set of content items further comprises:

determining rankings for each of a plurality of accessible content items based on an amount of storage space to store the content item on the at least one local device; and

selecting one or more content items based on the rankings for inclusion in the first set of content items.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting the at least one local device from a plurality of local devices, wherein the selecting includes:

assigning rankings to the plurality of local devices based on estimated use of respective local storage of the plurality of local devices prior to the first predicted event; and

selecting the at least one local device based on the rankings.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first predicted event includes obtaining the user data that includes one or more of:

calendar data of a calendar of the user, location data indicating one or more geographic locations associated with the user, messages sent by the user and including information related to one or more activities of the user, social data indicating one or more persons having a social connection to the user, and one or more images or videos shared by the user to one or more other users.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a duration of the first predicted event based on one or more prior visits of the user to locations associated with the first predicted event.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a second set of content items that are associated with the second predicted event, are stored at the network storage, and are to be accessed at the second predicted event by the at least one local device, wherein the second set of content items is determined based at least in part on the user data, and wherein the second set of content items includes content data related to the second predicted event; and

in response to the at least one local device lacking sufficient storage to store the first set of content items and the second set of content items, transmitting a subset of the second set of content items, prior to a time of the second predicted event, over the communication network from the network storage to the at least one local device, wherein the subset of the second set of content items excludes at least one content item of the second set of content items, and is stored in the local storage of the at least one local device.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein transmitting the subset of the second set of content items comprises assigning an individual ranking to each of the content items in the second set of content items, wherein the transmitted subset of the second set of content items includes one or more content items having highest individual rankings in the second set of content items.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining one or more persons to be attending the first predicted event based on the user data;

determining one or more user topics associated with the user based on the user data;

determining one or more person topics associated with the one or more persons determined to be attending the first predicted event, wherein the one or more person topics are determined based on a portion of the user data that refers to the one or more persons; and

determining one or more common topics of the one or more user topics and the one or more person topics, wherein the one or more common topics are associated with the user and with the one or more persons,

wherein determining the first set of content items includes determining at least one content item that is associated with at least one common topic of the one or more common topics, wherein the at least one content item includes at least one image that depicts one or more image features associated with the at least one common topic.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first set of content items includes determining one or more images having one or more characteristics related to the first predicted event, wherein the one or more characteristics include a location at which the one or more images were captured, wherein the first predicted event is predicted to occur at the location at a future time to the determining the first set of content items.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first predicted event comprises determining a time duration of the first predicted event,

wherein determining the first set of content items is based at least in part on the time duration of the first predicted event and includes selecting content items of the first set of content items to be included in the first set of content items based on item rankings, wherein:

in response to the time duration of the first predicted event being above a threshold duration, particular content items of the first set of content items having a duration are assigned a first ranking, and

in response to the time duration of the first predicted event being below the threshold duration, the particular content items are assigned a second ranking, wherein the second ranking is lower than the first ranking.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining rankings for a plurality of accessible content items based on a relevance to the first predicted event, and wherein the relevance is based on at least one of;

a respective association of the plurality of accessible content items with the one or more persons determined to be attending the first predicted event, or

a respective location at which the plurality of accessible content items were captured or created in comparison to a location at which the first predicted event is predicted to occur; and

selecting at least one content item ranking above a threshold for inclusion in the first set of content items.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one local device is a plurality of local devices, and further comprising:

determining a person to be attending the first predicted event based on the user data, wherein the plurality of local devices includes one or more first local devices associated with the user and one or more second local devices associated with the person determined to be attending the first predicted event; and

determining a storage distribution of the first set of content items among respective local storage of the plurality of local devices, wherein each content item of the first set of content items is designated to be stored on the first local device or the second local device of the plurality of local devices based on available storage of the first local device and the second local device.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

retaining the first set of content items in the local storage of the at least one local device for at least a duration of the first predicted event;

determining that the first predicted event has ended based on at least one of;

a time duration of the first predicted event having expired, or the at least one local device having moved out of a predefined location area associated with the first predicted event; and

after determining the first predicted event has ended, designating the first set of content items for removal from the local storage;

determining a second set of content items that are associated with the second predicted event, are stored at the network storage, and are to be accessed at the second predicted event by the at least one local device, wherein the second set of content items is determined based at least in part on the user data, and wherein the second set of content items includes content data related to the second predicted event; and

in response to designating the first set of content items for removal from the local storage, transmitting at least one content item of the second set of content items, prior to a time of the second predicted event, over the communication network from the network storage to the at least one local device, wherein the at least one content item of the second set of content items is stored in local storage of the at least one local device.

15. A device comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor configured to access the memory and configured to perform operations comprising;

determining a predicted event for a user, wherein determining the predicted event is based on user data associated with the user and includes programmatically analyzing the user data;

determining a person to be attending the predicted event based on the user data;

determining a set of content items to be accessed at the predicted event, wherein the set of content items includes content data related to the predicted event;

determining a plurality of local devices to store the set of content items, wherein the plurality of local devices include one or more first local devices associated with the user and one or more second local devices associated with the person determined to be attending the predicted event;

determining whether the one or more first local devices have sufficient local storage to store the set of content items;

in response to determining that the one or more first local devices do not have sufficient local storage to store the set of content items, determining a storage distribution of the set of content items among respective local storage of the plurality of local devices, wherein determining the storage distribution includes designating a first portion of the set of content items to be stored on the one or more first local devices and designating a second portion of the set of content items to be stored on the one or more second local devices; and

prior to a time of the predicted event, transmitting the set of content items over a communication network from network storage to the one or more first local devices and the one or more second local devices, wherein, based on the storage distribution;

the first portion of the set of content items is stored and the second portion of the set of content items is not stored in the local storage of the one or more first local devices, and

the second portion of the set of content items is stored and the first portion of the set of content items is not stored in the one or more second local devices.

16. The device of claim 15 wherein the operation of determining the plurality of local devices includes:

assigning rankings to multiple local devices accessible to the user based on locations of prior usage of the multiple local devices, wherein the prior usage includes display of one or more content items; and

selecting the plurality of local devices as highest ranking local devices of the multiple local devices.

17. The device of claim 15 wherein the operation of determining the storage distribution of the set of content items includes determining a particular local device of the plurality of local devices to store one or more content items of the set of content items based on at least one of:

a time of capture or creation of the one or more content items, or a location at which the one or more content items were captured or created.

18. The device of claim 15 wherein the user and the person determined to be attending the predicted event are each able to access a shared album stored in the network storage, and wherein the set of content items is stored in the shared album.

19. The device of claim 15 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform operations comprising:

sending a request to the plurality of local devices for device information indicating a respective local storage capacity of the plurality of local devices, and

receiving, from the plurality of local devices, the device information indicating the respective local storage capacity of the plurality of local devices,

wherein determining the plurality of local devices and determining the storage distribution are based on the device information.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon software instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:

determining a first predicted event and a second predicted event for a user, wherein determining the first predicted event and the second predicted event is based on user data associated with the user;

determining a first set of content items to be accessed at the first predicted event, wherein the first set of content items is stored at a network storage and includes content data related to the first predicted event;

determining a second set of content items to be accessed at the second predicted event, wherein the second set of content items is stored at the network storage and includes content data related to the second predicted event; and

prior to a time of the predicted event;

determining at least one local device associated with the user to store the first set of content items and the second set of content items; and

in response to the at least one local device lacking sufficient storage to store the first set of content items and the second set of content items;

determining that the first predicted event has a higher priority than the second event based on an estimated lower availability of network access to the network storage by the at least one local device at the first predicted event than at the second predicted event;

in response to determining that the first predicted event has the higher priority, transmitting the first set of content items over a communication network from the network storage to the at least one local device, wherein the first set of content items are stored in local storage of the at least one local device.