Method and system for prioritizing tasks made available by devices in a network

• US 20060156307A1
• Filed: 08/09/2005
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Messer, Alan, Kunjithapatham, Anugeetha, Sheshagiri, Mithun
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,737 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08

Abstract

A method and system that facilitates prioritization of tasks available through the devices in a home network. The tasks are user level descriptions of the high-level actions a user and underlying devices can perform. By prioritizing tasks for a user, the present invention aims to minimize the effort required to compare and comprehend the usefulness and feasibility of tasks. In doing so, the number of tasks possible to a user can be reduced and the highest priority task for a given user and device can be used by the application software as the suggested ‘most likely’ task for the user.

Claims

1. A method of prioritizing tasks in a network of devices, comprising the steps of:

obtaining one or more task combinations, wherein each task combination represents a set of tasks the devices can perform;

prioritizing the task combinations based on the degree of relevance of a task to a client;

presenting the prioritized task combinations to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the context of the client.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the context of the devices needed for performing the task combinations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on devices in the network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on attributes of the devices in the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the context of a user client including the location of the user client.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the device used by a user client to browse and/or select task combinations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the location and/or type of devices used for performing task combinations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of prioritizing the task combinations based on the attributes of the devices that are needed to execute the task combinations.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of assigning a score for each task combination based on an inferred degree of relevance to the client.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prioritizing the task combinations includes the steps of assigning a score for each task combination based on an inferred degree of relevance to the client, and representing the device combinations to the client based on the scores, as available tasks.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein each task combination represents a set of user tasks based on one or more device function descriptions and task descriptions.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of obtaining device combinations further includes the steps of:

obtaining device function descriptions, wherein each device function description describes a function that a device can perform;

obtaining task descriptions, wherein each task description describes the device functionality a certain task requires;

generating task combinations based on the obtained task descriptions and device function descriptions.

14. A controller for prioritizing tasks in a network of devices, comprising:

a task generation module that generates one or more task combinations, wherein each task combination represents a set of tasks the devices can perform; and

a prioritizing module that prioritizes the task combinations based on the degree of relevance of a task to a client.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the context of the client.

16. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the context of the devices needed for performing the task combinations.

17. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on devices in the network.

18. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on attributes of the devices in the network.

19. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the context of a user client including the location of the user client.

20. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the device used by a user client to browse and/or select task combinations.

21. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the location and/or type of devices used for performing task combination.

22. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on the attributes of the devices that are needed to execute the task combinations.

23. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on an inferred degree of relevance to the client.

24. The controller of claim 14, wherein the prioritizing module prioritizes the task combinations based on an inferred degree of relevance to the client, and representing the device combinations to the client based on the scores, as available tasks.

25. The controller of claim 14, wherein each task combination represents a set of user tasks based on one or more device function descriptions and task descriptions.

26. The controller of claim 25 wherein the task generation obtains device combinations by:

obtaining device function descriptions, wherein each device function description describes a function that a device can perform;

obtaining task descriptions, wherein each task description describes the device functionality a certain task requires;

generating task combinations based on the obtained task descriptions and device function descriptions.

27. The controller of claim 14 further comprising an application module for presenting the prioritized task combinations to the client.

28. A network comprising:

a plurality of devices interconnected via a communication link;

a controller for prioritizing tasks in the network, the controller comprising;

a task generation module that generates one or more task combinations, wherein each task combination represents a set of tasks the devices can perform; and

a prioritizing module that prioritizes the task combinations based on the degree of relevance of a task to a client.