Push e-mail inferred network presence

• US 20080040441A1
• Filed: 07/05/2006
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Maes, Stephane H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,688,822 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users

Abstract

The presence of a user or device on a network is inferred without requiring permission or exposure from a service provider or network operator. If updates for a user have been pending past a specified amount of time, the user can be inferred to not be present. If the user has requested updates within that specified time, the user can be inferred to be present. If presence cannot be inferred from past activity, a wake-up event can be sent to the user. The wake-up event can be piggy-backed on an existing protocol in order to have easy access to the user. If the user is present on the network, the user will respond to the wake-up event and the user'"'"'s presence can be determined. If the user does not respond, it can be inferred that the user is not present. This presence can be provided to a third party.

Claims

1. A method for inferring network presence of a user, comprising:

maintaining a queue of information for a user;

providing a presence service to which third parties can subscribe;

checking the queue for information for the user;

inferring network presence of the user based on whether there is information for the user in the queue; and

sending a notification to any subscribers to the presence service for the user, the notification containing an indication of the inferred network presence.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

sending a notification to any subscribers occurs when there is a change to the amount of information in the queue.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

sending a notification to any subscribers occurs when there is a change to the inferred presence for the user.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

inferring network presence is further based on a length of time any information has been pending in the queue.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending a notification to one of the user and a user device for the user; and

further inferring network presence of the user based on the occurrence of a reaction to the notification.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log of user activity; and

further inferring network presence of the user based on the log of user activity.

7. A method according to claim 3, wherein:

inferring network presence is further based on a length of time since a last activity entry in the log of user activity.

8. A method for inferring network presence of a user, comprising:

maintaining a queue of information for a user;

receiving a request for presence information;

inferring network presence of the user based on whether there is information for the user in the queue; and

sending a response to the third party containing an indication of the inferred network presence.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein:

inferring network presence is further based on a length of time any information has been pending in the queue.

10. A method for inferring network presence of a user, comprising:

sending a notification to one of a user and a user device for the user;

inferring network presence of the user based on the occurrence of a reaction to the notification; and

sending a notification to a third party containing an indication of the inferred network presence.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

sending of the notification and the occurrence of the reaction.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

sending a notification to the third party includes sending a notification to any third party subscribing to a presence service for that user.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

sending a notification to the third party includes sending a notification to any third party requesting presence information for that user.

14. A system for inferring network presence of a user, comprising:

a first server operable to provide at least one of an application and a service to the user;

a storage device configured to maintain a queue for a user, the first server operable to store information for the user in the queue and retrieve information from the queue in response to a request from the user; and

a presence server operable infer network presence of the user based on whether there is information for the user in the queue and send a presence notification to a third party containing an indication of the inferred network presence.

15. A system according to claim 14, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to provide a presence service to third parties, the presence server sending the presence notification to any third party subscribing to the presence service for the user.

16. A system according to claim 14, wherein:

the presence server sends the presence notification to any third party requesting presence information for the user.

17. A system according to claim 14, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to infer network presence based on a length of time any information for the user has been pending in the queue.

18. A system according to claim 14, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to check a log of user activity and further infer network presence of the user based on the log of user activity.

19. A system according to claim 18, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to infer network presence based on a length of time since a last activity entry in the log of user activity.

20. A system according to claim 14, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to send a notification to the user and further infer network presence of the user based on whether the user reacts to the notification.

21. A system according to claim 20, wherein:

the presence server is further operable to infer network presence based on a length of time between the sending of the wake-up event and a receiving of the update request.

22. A computer program product embedded in a computer readable medium for inferring network presence, comprising:

computer code for maintaining a queue of information for a user;

computer code for inferring network presence of the user based a status of information for the user in the queue; and

computer code for sending a notification to a third party containing an indication of the inferred network presence.

23. A computer program product according to claim 22, further comprising:

computer code for inferring network presence further based on a length of time any information has been pending in the queue.

24. A computer program product according to claim 22, further comprising:

computer code for sending a notification to a user;

computer code for inferring network presence of the user based on whether the user reacts to the notification.

25. A computer program product according to claim 24, further comprising:

computer code for inferring network presence further based on a length of time between the sending of the notification and a reaction by the user.

26. A computer program product according to claim 24, further comprising:

computer code for sending a notification to the third party where the third party subscribes to a presence service for that user.