Method and apparatus for providing interactive services with multiple interfaces

• US 6,609,089 B1
• Filed: 08/30/1999
• Issued: 08/19/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia of America Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Mataga, Peter Andrew, Danielsen, Peter John, Rehor, Kenneth G., Laufer, Konstantin, Ball, Thomas J., Jagadeesan, Lalita Jategaonkar
• Primary Examiner(s): EDOUARD, PATRICK NESTOR
• Application Number:
  US09/386,093
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 704/9, 704/1, 704/10, 704/270, 704/275, 379/67, 379/88
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

Interactive services with multiple interfaces are realized by employing a modular approach to their implementation. Such an approach facilitates supporting natural language understanding interaction with users through use of interfaces that at least allow the user to provide information beyond what is currently being requested by the service, and/or different ordering of inputs, and/or incomplete information, and/or correction of information, and/or the return of control to prior points in the service. This is realized, in an embodiment of the invention, by employing an interactive service logic that uses “reactive constraint graphs”, i.e., a form of event-driven graph in which nodes contain constraints on events, in conjunction with a service monitor. The service monitor manages the communication between the service logic and the multiple user interfaces. As such it provides a communication mechanism in the form of a so-called “look ahead” in which the user can input information beyond what is currently required by the interactive service. Specifically, in each round of user interaction, reactive constraint graphs report to the service monitor the set of events that are currently enabled. These enabled events correspond to the information the interactive service is currently requesting (or ready to accept) from a user. The user interfaces collect information (perhaps beyond this set) from the user and send it to the service monitor. The service monitor then matches the received information against the information requested by the service logic, and sends the information one event at a time to the service logic, in a priority order specified by the service provider. After each event is sent to the service logic from the service monitor, the service logic reports its new set of enabled events back to the service monitor. In turn, the service monitor sends another event that matches the enabled events to the service logic. The service monitor then notifies the user interfaces to send a new collection, i.e., set, of information from the individual users only when no current information matches the enabled events. This approach advantageously allows a user to input information beyond what is currently needed by the interactive service.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in providing an interactive user service comprising:

a service monitor unit for controlling communication of information between a service logic unit and a plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, said service monitor unit including

a first receiver for receiving information events from any of said plurality of user interfaces,

a second receiver for receiving requests for information events from said service logic unit,

a correlator for matching received information events to requested information events and for supplying the matched received information events one at a time to said service logic unit in a prescribed order,

said service logic unit providing data and logic to said plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, and facilitating effecting at least one or more of different functions, and

said service monitor enabling users of said user interfaces to currently supply information to said service monitor unit in addition to information currently requested by said service logic unit, thereby allowing users to look ahead in the process in which the is users can input information beyond what is currently required by the interactive service.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said requested information events are in a set of enabled events.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said received information events are in a set of input events, and wherein said correlator matches said received input events to said enabled events.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said prescribed order is a prescribed priority order.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 wherein said priority order is prescribed by the service provider.

6. The invention as defined in claim 4 wherein said service logic unit in response to an input event from said service monitor unit supplies a new set of enabled information events to said service monitor unit.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6 wherein said service monitor unit includes a transmitter for notifying said user interfaces to send a new set of information events.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 wherein said notification is sent to said user interfaces to send a new set of input events to said service monitor unit only when said correlator indicates that no current input event matches an enabled information event.

11. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said functions include a set of functions including at least different ordering of inputs from any of said user interfaces, incomplete information from any of said user interfaces, correction of information from any of said user interfaces by enabling a user to change previously provided inputs, returning of control to prior points in said interactive service in response to a request from at least one of said plurality of user interfaces, without having to restart the interactive user service application.

12. The invention as defined in claim 7 further including controlling said transmitter to send said set of enabled events to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit if and only if said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled event.

9. The invention as defined in claim wherein said service monitor unit includes a transmitter for transmitting said set of enabled information events to said user interfaces.

10. The invention as defined in claim 9 wherein said set of enabled events is sent to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit only when said correlator indicates that no current input event matches an enabled information event.

13. A method for use in providing an interactive user service comprising steps of:

controlling communication of information through use of a service monitor unit between a service logic unit and a plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, said step of controlling communication including the steps of

receiving information events from any of said plurality of user interfaces,

receiving requests for information events from said service logic unit,

matching received information events to requested information events,

supplying the matched received information events to said service logic unit one at a time in a prescribed order,

providing data and logic from said service logic unit to said plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, and facilitating effecting at least one or more of different functions, and

enabling users of said user interfaces to supply information events to said service monitor unit in addition to information events currently requested by said service logic unit, thereby allowing users to look ahead in the process in which the users can input information beyond what is currently required by the interactive service.

14. The method as defined in claim 13 wherein said requested information events are in a set of enabled events.

15. The method as defined in claim 14 wherein said received information events are in a set of input events, and wherein said step of matching includes matching said received input events to said enabled events.

16. The invention as defined in claim 13 wherein said service logic unit in response to an input event from said service monitor unit supplies a new set of enabled events to said service monitor unit.

17. The method as defined in claim 15 wherein said prescribed order is a prescribed priority order.

18. The method as defined in claim 17 wherein said priority order is prescribed by the service provider.

19. The method as defined in claim 17 further including a step of supplying a new set of enabled information events to said service monitor unit from said service logic unit.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 further including a step of notifying said user interfaces to send a new set of information events.

21. The method as defined in claim 20 wherein said step of notifying sends a notification to said user interfaces to send a new set of input events to said service monitor unit only when said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled information event.

22. The method as defined in claim 19 further including a step of transmitting said set of enabled information events to said user interfaces.

23. The method as defined in claim 22 further including a step of sending said set of enabled information events to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit only when said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled information event.

24. The invention as defined in claim 13 wherein said functions include a set of functions including at least different ordering of inputs from any of said user interfaces, incomplete information from any of said user interfaces, correction of information from any of said user interfaces by enabling a user to change previously provided inputs, returning of control to prior points in said interactive service in response to a request from at least one of said plurality of user interfaces, without having to restart the interactive user service application.

25. The invention as defined in claim 20 wherein said step of notifying further including controlling said transmitter to send said set of enabled events to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit if and only if said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled event.

26. Apparatus for use in providing an interactive user service comprising:

means for controlling communication of information through a service monitor unit between a service logic unit and a plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, said means for controlling communication including

first means for receiving information events from any of said plurality of user interfaces,

second means for receiving requests for information events from said service logic unit,

means for matching received information events to requested information,

first means for supplying the matched received information events to said service logic unit one at a time in a prescribed order,

means for providing data and logic from said service logic unit to said plurality of user interfaces, wherein at least one of said user interfaces has natural language understanding, and facilitating effecting at least one or more of different functions, and

means for enabling users of said user interfaces to supply information events to said service monitor unit in addition to information events currently requested by said service logic unit, thereby allowing users to look ahead in the process in which the users can input information beyond what is currently required by the interactive service.

27. The invention as defined in claim 26 wherein said requested information events are in a set of enabled events.

28. The invention as defined in claim 27 wherein said received information events are in a set of input events, and wherein said means for matching matches said received input events to said enabled events.

29. The invention as defined in claim 28 wherein said prescribed order is a prescribed priority order.

30. The invention as defined in claim 28 further including second means for supplying a new set of enabled information events to said service monitor unit from said service logic unit.

31. The invention as defined in claim 30 further including means for notifying said user interfaces to send a new set of information events.

32. The invention as defined in claim 31 wherein said means for notifying sends a notification to said user interfaces to send a new set of input events to said service monitor unit only when said means for matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled information event.

33. The invention as defined in claim 30 further including means for transmitting said set of enabled information events from said service monitor unit to said user interfaces.

34. The invention as defined in claim 33 further including means for sending said set of enabled information events to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit only when said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled event.

35. The invention as defined in claim 26 wherein said functions include a set of functions including at least different ordering of inputs from any of said user interfaces, incomplete information from any of said user interfaces, correction of information from any of said user interfaces by enabling a user to change previously provided inputs, returning of control to prior points in said interactive service in response to a request from at least one of said plurality of user interfaces, without having to restart the interactive user service application.

36. The invention as defined in claim 31 wherein said means for notifying further includes means for controlling sending said set of enabled events to said user interfaces from said service monitor unit if and only if said step of matching indicates that no current input event matches an enabled event.