SERVING A REQUEST FOR DATA FROM A HISTORICAL RECORD OF ANONYMIZED USER PROFILE DATA IN A MOBILE ENVIRONMENT

• US 20100198870A1
• Filed: 12/23/2009
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stripe, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Kota Enterprises, LLC (Concert Technology Corporation)
• Inventors: Curtis, Scott, Petersen, Steven L., Jennings, Kenneth, Purdy, Sean T.
• Granted Patent: US 9,397,890 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A system and method are provided for maintaining a historical record of anonymized user profile data for mobile device users and serving historical requests. In one embodiment, a central system, which includes one or more servers, operates to obtain current locations and user profiles for users of mobile devices. The central system processes the current locations and the user profiles of the users over time to maintain a historical record of anonymized user profile data by location. By anonymizing the user data, privacy of the users of the mobile devices is maintained. The central system may then use the historical record of anonymized user profile data to respond to historical requests. The historical requests may be made by users of the mobile devices, subscribers, and/or third-party services.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining a historical record of anonymized user profile data by location for a plurality of users of a plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices;

receiving a historical request from a requestor;

establishing a bounding region and time window for the historical request; and

returning historical data to the requestor based on anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request obtained from the historical record of anonymized user profile data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical data comprises at least a subset of the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising processing the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request to provide historical aggregate profile data in a time context, wherein the historical data comprises the historical aggregate profile data in the time context.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein processing the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request to provide the historical aggregate profile data in the time context comprises:

dividing the time window for the historical request into a plurality of output time bands;

for each output time band of the plurality of output time bands;

obtaining anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band from the historical record of anonymized user profile data; and

generating aggregate profile data for the output time band based on the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the historical record of anonymized user profile data comprises a plurality of history objects that store anonymized user profile data for a plurality of geographic regions of varying sizes for each of a plurality of time intervals, and obtaining the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band from the historical record of anonymized user profile data comprises obtaining history objects from the plurality of history objects that are relevant to the bounding region and the output time band.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band based on the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band comprises:

generating aggregate profiles for the history objects relevant to the bounding region and the output time band;

determining relevancy weights for the history objects relevant to the bounding region and the output time band; and

computing an average aggregate profile for the output time band as a weighted average of the aggregate profiles for the history objects relevant to the bounding region and the output time band using the relevancy weights for the history objects relevant to the bounding region and the output time band to provide the aggregate profile data for the output time band.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the requestor is one of the plurality of users of one of the plurality of mobile devices, and generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band comprises:

performing a comparison of the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band and one of a group consisting of;

a user profile of the one of the plurality of users and a select subset of the user profile of the one of the plurality of users; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band based on the comparison.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band comprises:

performing a comparison of the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band and a target user profile provided by the requestor; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band based on the comparison.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the output time band comprises a plurality of anonymous user records that include user profiles, and generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band comprises:

performing a comparison of the user profiles of the plurality of anonymous user records to one another; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the output time band based on the comparison.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising processing the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request to provide historical aggregate profile data in a geographic context, wherein the historical data comprises the historical aggregate profile data in the geographic context.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein processing the anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request to provide the historical aggregate profile data in the geographic context comprises, for each grid location of a plurality of grid locations relevant to the bounding region:

obtaining anonymized user profile data relevant to the grid location and the time window of the historical request from the historical record of anonymized user profile data; and

generating aggregate profile data for the grid location based on the anonymized user profile data relevant to the grid location and the time window of the historical request.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the historical record of anonymized user profile data comprises a plurality of history objects storing anonymized user profile data for a plurality of geographic regions of varying sizes for each of a plurality of time intervals using a quadtree algorithm, and obtaining the anonymized user profile data relevant to each of the plurality of grid locations comprises:

obtaining history objects relevant to the bounding region and the time window of the historical request;

sorting the history objects relevant to the bounding region and the time window of the historical request into lists of history objects for one or more base quadtree nodes that overlap the bounding region; and

for each history object for each base quadtree node of the one or more base quadtree nodes that overlap the bounding region;

creating an aggregate profile for the history object based on the anonymized user profile data included in the history object;

determining whether a geographic region for which the history object stores anonymized user profile data is larger than a smallest geographic region for which any history object for the base quadtree node stores anonymized user profile data;

if the geographic region for which the history object stores anonymized user profile data is not larger than the smallest geographic region for which any history object for the base quadtree node stores anonymized user profile data, adding the aggregate profile created for the history object to a list of aggregate profiles for a corresponding grid location; and

if the geographic region for which the history object stores anonymized user profile data is greater than the smallest geographic region for which any history object for the base quadtree node stores anonymized user profile data;

distributing the aggregate profile created for the history object evenly over a number of grid locations having a size equal to the smallest geographic region for which any history object for the base quadtree node stores anonymized user profile data, thereby providing aggregate profiles for the number of grid locations; and

adding the aggregate profiles for the number of grid locations to lists of aggregate profiles for the number of grid locations.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein, for each grid location of the plurality of grid locations, generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location comprises combining the aggregate profiles in the list of aggregate profiles for the grid location.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location comprises:

performing a comparison of the anonymized user profile data relevant to the grid location and the time window and one of a group consisting of;

a user profile of the one of the plurality of users and a select subset of the user profile of the one of the plurality of users; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location based on the comparison.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location comprises:

performing a comparison of the anonymized user profile data relevant to the grid location and the time window and a target user profile provided by the requestor; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location based on the comparison.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the anonymized user profile data relevant to the grid location and the time window comprises a plurality of anonymous user records that include user profiles, and generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location comprises:

performing a comparison of the user profiles of the plurality of anonymous user records to one another; and

generating the aggregate profile data for the grid location based on the comparison.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical request is for a Point of Interest (POI), and the bounding region is a geographic area of a predefined shape and size centered at the POI.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical request is for an Area of Interest (AOI), and the bounding region corresponds to the AOI.

19. A server comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupling the server to a plurality of mobile devices of a plurality of users via a network, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices; and

a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to;

maintain a historical record of anonymized user profile data by location for the plurality of users of the plurality of mobile devices;

receive a historical request from a requestor;

establish a bounding region and time window for the historical request; and

return historical data to the requestor based on anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request obtained from the historical record of anonymized user profile data.

20. A computer readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a server to:

maintain a historical record of anonymized user profile data by location for a plurality of users of a plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices;

receive a historical request from a requestor;

establish a bounding region and time window for the historical request; and

return historical data to the requestor based on anonymized user profile data relevant to the bounding region and the time window for the historical request obtained from the historical record of anonymized user profile data.