Generation and distribution of personalized multimedia natural-phenomenological information

• US 6,360,172 B1
• Filed: 08/13/1999
• Issued: 03/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Digital Cyclone, Inc. (Garmin Limited)
• Original Assignee: Digital Cyclone, Inc. (Garmin Limited)
• Inventors: Resch, Peter, Meys, Anthony W., Burfeind, Craig, Kruhoeffer, Douglas P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patidar, Jay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Taylor, Victor J.
• Application Number:
  US09/374,168
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 702/2, 702/3, 340/905, 340/825, 455/414, 709/208
• US Class Current: 702/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Natural-phenomenological information is personalized to the unique requirements of a subscriber and distributed to the subscriber. Natural-phenomenological data is gathered from a variety of sources, such as current ground observations, forecast conditions, satellite images, and radar data. Personal preferences of the subscribers are also gathered and stored, such as activities of the subscriber, geographic locations of the activities, sensitivities of the subscriber to natural-phenomenological conditions, calendar information of the subscriber, and modes of delivery. The personal preferences of the subscriber are used as a filter to identify the natural-phenomenological data that is particularly useful to the subscriber, and the resulting information is delivered to the subscriber. The subscriber identifies the destination device that the information is delivered to. The invention is extensible to support new sources of natural-phenomenological information and new output devices. Electronic delivery of the personalized natural-phenomenological information can be through any number of a variety of output mediums, including pagers, text to voice synthesizers to create an audio stream for playback either via a telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA), a multimedia-enabled computer, email, computer display monitors, PDA, and a PCS phone.

Claims

1. A method for generating and distributing personalized natural-phenomenological information comprising:

receiving natural-phenomenological data from a source;

receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises information that describes at least one activity;

selecting a portion of the natural-phenomenological data based on the predetermined criteria; and

transmitting the portion to at least one destination device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving natural-phenomenological data occurs before receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising before transmitting, receiving predetermined criteria identifying at least one destination device;

and wherein transmitting further comprises encoding the portion compliant to the destination device medium capabilities, features and functions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined criteria further comprises:

at least one sensitivity to natural phenomena;

a schedule of the at least one activity; and

at least one geographic location of the at least one activity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion is text data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the destination device includes one or more devices selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a voicemail system, a pager, a multimedia-enabled computer, an email system, a computer display monitor, a personal digital assistant, and a personal communication system phone.

7. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a server computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving natural-phenomenological data from a source;

receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises information that describes at least one activity;

selecting a portion of the natural-phenomenological data based on the predetermined criteria; and

transmitting the portion to at least one destination device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving natural-phenomenological data occurs before receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising before transmitting, receiving predetermined criteria identifying at least one destination device;

and wherein transmitting further comprises encoding the portion compliant to the destination device medium and capabilities.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the predetermined criteria further comprises:

at least sensitivity to natural phenomena;

a schedule of activities; and

at least one geographic location associated with each of the at least one activity.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the portion is text data.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the destination device includes one or more devices selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a voicemail system, a pager, a multimedia-enabled computer, an email system, a computer display monitor, a personal digital assistant, and a personal communication system phone.

13. A computerized system for generating and distributing personalized natural-phenomenological information, comprising:

a receiver of natural-phenomenological data;

a receiver of predetermined criteria for selection of natural-phenomenological data, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises information that describes at least one activity;

a selector of a portion of the natural-phenomenological data based on the predetermined criteria, communicatively connected to the receiver of natural-phenomenological data and the receiver of predetermined criteria; and

at least one transmitter communicatively connected between the selector and at least one destination device.

14. The computerized system of claim 13, further comprising a receiver of predetermined criteria of at least one destination device, communicatively coupled between the selector and the transmitter;

and wherein the transmitter encodes the portion compliant to the capabilities, features and functions of the destination device medium and transmits the encoded portion to the destination device.

15. The computerized system of claim 13, wherein the predetermined criteria further comprises at least one sensitivity to natural phenomena, a schedule of the at least one activity, and at least one geographic location of each of the at least one activity.

16. The computerized system of claim 13, wherein the portion is text data.

17. The computerized system of claim 13, wherein the destination device includes one or more devices selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a voicemail system, a pager, a multimedia-enabled computer, an email system, a computer display monitor, a personal digital assistant, and a personal communication system phone.

18. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave comprising computer data including personalized natural-phenomenological information, wherein the computer data is generated by a method comprising of:

receiving natural-phenomenological data from a source;

receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises information that describes at least one activity; and

selecting a portion of the natural-phenomenological data based on the predetermined criteria.

19. The computer data signal of claim 18, wherein receiving natural-phenomenological data occurs before receiving predetermined criteria for selecting natural-phenomenological data.

20. The computer data signal of claim 18, wherein the portion is encoded in a manner compliant to a destination device medium capabilities, features and functions.

21. The computer data signal of claim 20, wherein the destination device is at least one of a telephone, a voicemail system, a pager, a multimedia-enabled computer, email system, a computer display monitor, a personal digital assistant, and a personal communication system phone.

22. The computer data signal of claim 18, wherein the predetermined criteria further comprises:

at least one sensitivity to natural phenomena;

a schedule of the at least one activity; and

at least one geographic location of the at least one activity.

23. The computer data signal of claim 18, wherein the portion is text data.

24. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure comprising:

a first field containing data representing a subscriber data structure; and

a second field containing data representing a natural-phenomenological data structure particular to a subscriber identified by the first field.

25. The computer-readable medium as in claim 24, wherein the subscriber data structure is a pointer to a subscriber object.

26. The computer-readable medium as in claim 24, wherein the natural-phenomenological data structure is a pointer to a natural-phenomenological object.

27. A data structure having stored thereon a person data structure comprising:

a person type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular person;

a natural-phenomenological-preference data structure containing data representing at least one natural-phenomenological-preference for the particular person identified by the person type field; and

a family data structure containing data representing a family for the particular person identified by the person type field; and

an calendar data structure containing data representing a calendar for the particular person identified by the person type field.

28. The data structure of claim 27 wherein the natural-phenomenological-preference data structure further comprises:

a natural-phenomenological-preference type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular natural-phenomenological-preference;

at least one natural-phenomenological-knowledge data structure containing data representing natural-phenomenological-knowledge for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a forecast data structure containing data representing forecast for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a gridded data structure containing data representing gridded-data for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a metar data structure containing data representing metar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a severe data structure containing data representing severe for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a radar data structure containing data representing radar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field; and

a clouds data structure containing data representing clouds for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field.

29. The data structure of claim 27, wherein the family data structure further comprises:

an spouse field containing data representing a spouse for the particular family identified by the family type field;

a children field containing data representing a plurality of children for the particular family identified by the family type field; and

a natural-phenomenological-preference data structure containing data representing natural-phenomenological-preference for the particular family identified by the family type field.

30. The data structure of claim 29 wherein the natural-phenomenological-preference data structure further comprises:

a natural-phenomenological-preference type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular natural-phenomenological-preference;

at least one natural-phenomenological-knowledge data structure containing data representing natural-phenomenological-knowledge for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a forecast data structure containing data representing forecast for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a gridded data structure containing data representing gridded-data for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a metar data structure containing data representing metar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a severe data structure containing data representing severe for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a radar data structure containing data representing radar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field; and

a clouds data structure containing data representing clouds for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field.

31. The data structure of claim 27, wherein the calendar data structure further comprises:

a calendar type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular calendar; and

a day data structure containing data representing a plurality of days for the particular calendar identified by the calendar type field.

32. The data structure of claim 31, wherein the day data structure field further comprises:

a day type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular day; and

a natural-phenomenological-preference data structure containing data representing natural-phenomenological-preference for the particular day identified by the day type field.

33. The data structure of claim 32 wherein the natural-phenomenological-preference data structure further comprises:

a natural-phenomenological-preference type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular natural-phenomenological-preference;

at least one natural-phenomenological-knowledge data structure containing data representing natural-phenomenological-knowledge for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a forecast data structure containing data representing forecast for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a gridded data structure containing data representing gridded-data for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a metar data structure containing data representing metar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a severe data structure containing data representing severe for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field;

a radar data structure containing data representing radar for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field; and

a clouds data structure containing data representing clouds for the natural-phenomenological-preference identified by the preference type field.

34. The data structure as in claim 33, wherein the natural-phenomenological-knowledge data structure further comprises:

a natural-phenomenological-knowledge type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular natural-phenomenological-knowledge;

a base-activity data structure containing data representing at least one base-activity for the natural-phenomenological-knowledge identified by the natural-phenomenological-knowledge type field; and

a weather-effects data structure containing data representing weather effects for the natural-phenomenological-knowledge identified by the natural-phenomenological-knowledge type field.

35. The data structure as in claim 34, wherein the base-activity data structure further comprises:

a base-activity type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular base-activity;

an index field containing data representing an index for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field;

a name field containing data representing a name for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field;

a description field containing data representing a description for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field; and

a discretionary-comment field containing data representing a discretionary-comment for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity field.

36. A data structure having stored thereon a preference data structure comprising:

a preference type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular preference;

a sensitivity data structure containing data representing a sensitivity for the particular preference identified by the preference type field;

a geographic-location data structure containing data representing a geographic-location for the particular preference identified by the preference type field;

a season data structure containing data representing a season for the particular preference identified by the preference type field; and

a base-activity data structure containing data representing a base-activity for the particular preference identified by the name type field.

37. The data structure as in claim 36, wherein the geographic-location data structure further comprises:

a geographic-location type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular geographic-location;

an longitude field containing data representing a longitude for the particular geographic-location identified by the geographiclocation type field;

a latitude field containing data representing a latitude for the particular geographic-location identified by the geographic-location type field;

a name field containing data representing a name for the particular geographic-location identified by the geographic-location type field; and

a radius field containing data representing a radius for the particular geographic-location identified by the name type field.

38. The data structure as in claim 36, wherein the base-activity data structure further comprises:

a base-activity type field containing data representing an identifier of a particular base-activity;

an index field containing data representing an index for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field;

a name field containing data representing a name for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field;

a description field containing data representing a description for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity type field; and

a discretionary-comment field containing data representing a discretionary-comment for the particular base-activity identified by the base-activity field.

39. The data structure of claim 36, wherein the preference type field identifies a natural-phenomenological-preference data structure.