System and method for high-density interactive voting using a computer network

• US 20020103696A1
• Filed: 01/29/2001
• Published: 08/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Veh, Curtis N.von, Marriott, Ian, Huang, Jong S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,921,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 13/00 Voting apparatus

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating high-density interactive voting (such as during a live event) using a computer network and tabulating and providing voting results in real-time. In general, the high-density interactive voting system of the present invention includes five major components that reside on the voting network: (1) a Live Event Wizard; (2) a Live Event Staging Component; (3) a Live Event Database; (4) a Live Event Object (LEO); and (5) a Live Event Display Engine. The Live Event Wizard is enables a user to quickly and easily create polling questions for distribution and presentation to a voter. The Live Event Staging Component ensures the validity of the polling questions and sends a copy of a live event definition and the polling questions to the Live Event Database. The Live Event Database tabulates current voting results at specified (or pre-determined) time intervals and performs statistical calculations of voting results. The present invention also includes a Live Event Object (LEO) that resides and remains in memory (such as random access memory (RAM)). The LEO establishes and maintains persistent connections with the Live Event Database such that these connections do not have to be continually opened and closed, thus greatly reducing the burden on the server and increasing system performance. The Live Event Display Engine receives the live event definition from the LEO and renders the definition and results on a display device for voters to view.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating high-density interactive voting over a computer network whereby voters use the computer network to transmit votes to a server in response to a survey question, comprising:

receiving a high-density of votes at the server in response to the survey question;

providing a Live Event Object residing on the server that maintains persistent connections between the Live Event Object and a database;

caching the votes received in a memory cache using the Live Event Object; and

computing a final voting result to the survey question in real-time using the cached votes.

2. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the Live Event Object is resident in computer memory on the server.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the Live Event Object establishes and maintains at least three persistent connections.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the persistent connections include a raw vote cast by each of the voters.

6. The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the persistent connections include current voting results obtain using the cached votes.

7. The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the high-density interactive voting is in response to the survey question asked during a live event and the persistent connections include a definition of the live event.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising tabulating the cached votes to generate intermediate voting results and sending the intermediate voting results to the database.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, further comprising tabulating the intermediate voting results to compute final voting results.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9, further comprising tabulating the intermediate voting results continuously to computer final voting results in real time.

11. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising creating the survey question.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, further comprising defining an event in which the survey question is asked and checking a validity of the survey question and the event definition to ensure accuracy.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, further comprising determining whether there has been a new survey question created and, if so, then updating the database.

15. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 14, wherein the object is a Live Event Object containing at least some of the voting data as well as procedures and instructions for manipulating at least some of the voting data.

16. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 14, further comprising tabulating a final voting result using the intermediate voting result.

17. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 16, wherein the final voting result is tabulated in real time.

18. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 14, further comprising a persistent connection between the object and the database that is established and maintained by the object.

19. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 18, wherein the persistent connection further comprises at least three persistent connections.

20. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 14, further comprising an authoring system that enables a user to define an event and create polling questions associated with the event for distribution to the voters.

21. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 20, wherein the authoring system further comprises a staging component that copies the event definition and polling questions to the database.

14. A high-density interactive voting system using a computer network, comprising:

a server in communication with the computer network for receiving voting data from voters in response to a polling question presented to the voters;

an object residing in memory on the server for caching at least some of the voting data; and

a database having a connection with the object that processes the cached voting data and uses the cached voting data to compute an intermediate voting result.

22. A high-density interactive voting system that uses a computer network to process a high density of voting data, comprising a Live Event Vote Server in communication with the computer network, a Live Event Object residing in memory on a Live Event Vote Server, the Live Event Object receiving voting data from a client in communication with the computer network and transferring the voting data to a Live Event Database through persistent connections between the Live Event Object and the Live Event Database such that the voting data is used to compute final voting results in real-time.

23. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 22, further comprising a vote cache that receives and caches at least some of the voting data from the Live Event Object.

24. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 23, further comprising a Live Event Vote Processor that tabulates the cached voting data from the vote cache to generate intermediate voting results.

25. The high-density interactive voting system as set forth in claim 25, wherein the Live Event Vote Processor tabulates the intermediate voting results to compute a final voting result in real time.

27. The computer-implemented method as set forth in claim 26, wherein the persistent connection comprises at least three persistent connections.

28. The computer-implemented method as set forth in claim 26, further comprising processing the voting data by caching at least some of the voting data in a vote cache.

26. In a computer network having a plurality of clients and a server, a computer-implemented method for providing high-density interactive voting over a computer network, comprising:

transmitting a high density of voting data from the plurality of clients to the server;

providing an object resident in memory on the server that contain procedures and instructions for manipulating the voting data;

providing a database that stores at least some of the voting data;

establishing and maintaining a persistent connection between the object and the database to facilitate processing of the voting data; and

using the processed voting data to tabulate a final voting result.