Method and apparatus for computed relevance messaging

• US 7,346,655 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2001
• Issued: 03/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: BigFix, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Lippincott, Lisa Ellen, Donoho, David Leigh, Hindawi, David Salim
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn; Nathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SIDDIQI, MOHAMMAD A
• Application Number:
  US09/782,754
• Publication Number:
  US 20020156849A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,591 Days
• Field of Search: 709203-206, 709/225, 709/224, 395/200, 717168-178, 707/10, 707/3
• US Class Current: 709/204
• 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 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The invention disclosed herein enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process which allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols. The targeting also includes a time element. Information can be brought to the attention of the consumer precisely when it has become applicable, which may occur immediately upon receipt of the message, but may also occur long after the message arrives. The communications process may operate without intruding on consumers who do not exhibit the precisely-specified need for the information, and it may operate without compromising the security or privacy of the consumers who participate.

Claims

1. A communications system, comprising:

an advice provider computer associated with an advice provider, wherein said advice provider computer provides advisories for a plurality of consumer computers associated with advice consumers, irrespective of actual relevance of said advisories to any of said plurality of consumer computers and said advice consumers, each of said advisories comprising a relevance clause comprising criteria defined by said advice provider wherein said respective advisory is potentially relevant to a recipient;

a consumer computer of said plurality of consumer computers for gathering said advisories from said advice provider computer over a communications medium, said consumer computer having an associated advice consumer;

a mechanism for synchronizing said advisories between said advice provider computer and said consumer computer, wherein said synchronization is performed through said consumer computer any of continuously, automatically and manually, and wherein said synchronization comprises maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between advisories stored at said consumer computer with advisories located at said advice provider computer, by gathering new advisories that have been added at said advice provider computer since the most recent prior synchronization, and by deleting advisories from said consumer computer that have been removed from said advice provider computer since said most recent prior synchronization; and

a reader application associated with said consumer computer for parsing each of said relevance clauses of said stored gathered advisories into a tree of subexpressions, and automatically determining relevance of said stored gathered advisories to any of said consumer computer and said associated advice consumer, wherein said determined relevance is at least partially based on an automatic evaluation of each subexpression of said tree of subexpressions by said reader application;

wherein said associated advice consumer is advised of said stored gathered advisories that are determined to be relevant by said reader application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said reader application further comprises:

means for providing relevant advisories to said advice consumer without revealing any aspect of said advice consumer'"'"'s identity to said advice provider computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein relevance of said advisories to said consumer computer is based upon any of the properties of said consumer computer, said consumer computer'"'"'s contents or state, or the properties of a local environment associated with said consumer computer.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said consumer computer maintains anonymity, privacy, and security by not revealing to said advice provider computer either that said associated advice consumer is interested in said advisories from said advice provider computer, that said advice consumer computer has received any particular advisory, or that said advisory is relevant to any of said consumer computer and said associated advice consumer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said advisories further comprise any of humanly-interpretable content, data, and software tools.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said advice provider specifies an audience for whom a particular advisory is potentially relevant by referring to properties of any of a consumer computer and an advice consumer that are used to determine said relevance of said particular advisory to any of said consumer computer and said associated advice consumer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said automatic evaluation of said relevance clause by said reader application further comprises a parsing of said relevance clause into a method dispatch for invoking an inspector.

8. A communications method, comprising the steps of:

storing at least one advisory at an advice provider computer associated with an advice provider, each of said advisories comprising a relevance clause comprising conditions under which said respective advisory is potentially relevant to any of potential consumer computers and associated advice consumers;

synchronizing said advisories between said advice provider computer and said potential consumer computers anonymously using a network, wherein said synchronization comprises maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between advisories stored at said potential advice consumer computers with advisories located at said advice provider computer, by gathering new advisories that have been added at said advice provider computer since the most recent prior synchronization, and by deleting advisories from said potential consumer computers that have been removed from said advice provider computer since said most recent prior synchronization, wherein said synchronization is performed any of continuously, automatically and manually through said potential consumer computers, without requiring that any of said consumer computers and said advice consumers divulge their identity or attributes or message-related relevance information to said advice provider computer;

storing said synchronized advisories at a consumer computer;

automatically parsing each of said relevance clauses of said stored synchronized advisories into a tree of subexpressions; and

automatically determining at said consumer computer whether said stored synchronized advisories are relevant to any of said consumer computer and said associated advice consumer, wherein said determined relevance is at least partially based on an automatic evaluation of each subexpression of said tree of subexpressions for each of said relevance clauses at said consumer computer.

9. The communications method of claim 8, wherein said conditions refer to attributes associated with said potential advice consumers.

10. The communications method of claim 8, wherein said determined relevance is based on any of properties of said consumer computer, contents of said consumer computer, a state of said consumer computer, and properties of a local environment associated with said consumer computer.

11. The communications method of claim 8, wherein said automatic evaluation of said relevance clause at said consumer computer further comprises parsing said relevance clause into a method dispatch for invoking an inspector.

12. In a system including computational devices connected by a communications network, a communications apparatus, comprising:

specific units of advice to be shared;

digital documents conveying said advice;

an advice provider computer for providing said advice in the form of advisories for a plurality of consumer computers, wherein each said advisory further comprises a relevance clause comprising criteria defined by an advice provider wherein said advisory is potentially relevant to a recipient;

a consumer computer of said plurality of consumer computers for gathering said advisories from said advice provider computer over said communications network, said consumer computer having an associated advice consumer;

a mechanism for anonymously synchronizing said advisories over said communications network between said advice provider computer and said consumer computer, wherein said advisories are potentially relevant to any of said consumer computer and said associated advice consumer, wherein said advice consumer is not required to divulge to said advice provider computer any of their identity, attributes and message-related relevance information, wherein said synchronization is performed through said consumer computer any of continuously, automatically and manually, and wherein the synchronization comprises maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between advisories stored at the consumer computer with advisories located at the advice provider, by gathering new advisories that have been added to said advice provider computer since the most recent prior synchronization, and by deleting advisories from said consumer computer that have been removed from said advice provider computer since said most recent prior synchronization; and

a communications protocol for narrowly-focused targeting of said stored synchronized advisories to said advice consumer by parsing each of said relevance clauses of said stored synchronized advisories into a tree of subexpressions, and by automatically matching said stored synchronized advisories at said consumer computer for whom said stored synchronized advisories are potentially relevant, wherein said automatic matching is at least partially based on evaluating each subexpression of said tree of subexpressions for each of said relevance clauses at said consumer computer.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

an advice reader application associated with said consumer computer for performing said relevance determination.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said relevance determination is automatically performed based on a combination of conditions, including any of hardware attributes, configuration attributes, database attributes, environmental attributes, computed attributes, remote attributes, timeliness, personal attributes, randomization, and advice attributes.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said advice reader application operates automatically to determine relevance.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said advice reader application associated with said consumer computer comprises any of:

a gatherer for gathering advisories to which said advice consumer subscribes;

a subscription manager for entering subscriptions to advisories based on information in at least one advice consumer site definition file;

an unwrapper for parsing said advisories;

a module for determining the relevance of said advisories, said determination being made either continuously, at scheduled intervals, or under user manual control;

a user interface that receives relevant advisories; and

a display and management system that displays relevant advisories for inspection by said advice consumer.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein any information that is actually on said consumer computer or reachable from said consumer computer may be used to determine relevance.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said advisories comprise:

digital documents that contain an explanatory component describing in terms said advice consumer can easily understand the reason that said advisory is relevant and the purpose and effects of the action that is being recommended to said advice consumer.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said evaluation of said relevance clause at said consumer computer further comprises a parsing of each said relevance clause into a method dispatch for invoking an inspector.