Periodic update of data in a relationship system

• US 7,373,389 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2004
• Issued: 05/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Spoke Software
• Original Assignee: Spoke Software
• Inventors: Sawka, Gary Michael Jr., Su, Joy Shau-Yee, Rosenbaum, Andrew Michael, Interrante, Mark Francis
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang; Paul H.
• Application Number:
  US10/914,857
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 709/225, 709/201, 707 3- 5, 715/835, 715/853
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method and system for periodically updating data in a relationship system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes identifying a set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph. The elements of the relationship graph include nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between entities. The method further includes determining which pieces of the desired data are important to users and finding one or more information suppliers for each important piece of the desired data.

Claims

1. A computerized method of updating a relationship graph, comprising:

identifying a set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph, the elements of the relationship graph including nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between the entities, wherein the set of desired data includes data currently unavailable from the relationship graph;

determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users;

finding, without user input, one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data, wherein at least one information supplier is a user represented by a node in the relationship graph;

communicating, without user input, a request for said important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers, the request prompting the one or more information suppliers to input said important piece of desired data; and

updating the relationship graph based on input provided by the one or more information suppliers.

2. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting an optimal channel from a plurality of available communication channels to communicate the request, wherein the plurality of available communication channels include at least one of an email message, a popup window, or a web page;

receiving requested data from the one or more information suppliers;

processing the requested data; and

storing the requested data in a relationship graph data store.

3. The computerized method of claim 2 wherein selecting the optimal channel to communicate the request comprises:

determining a type of a required response; and

evaluating historical information pertaining to previous responses of each of the one or more information suppliers.

4. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein communicating the request for each important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers comprises:

creating a list consisting of the one or more information suppliers;

posing the request to a first information supplier in the list;

determining that the first information supplier is unwilling to provide requested data; and

posing the request to a next information supplier in the list.

5. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein the set of desired data comprises data selected from the group consisting of missing data for one or more of the elements of the relationship graph, data to validate information concerning one or more of the elements, data to resolve conflicting information concerning one or more of the elements, and data to eliminate duplication of one or more of the elements in the relationship graph.

6. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users comprises:

analyzing search queries of the users to identify entities to which the search queries pertain.

7. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users comprises:

detecting new accounts created by the users; and

identifying entities associated with the new accounts.

8. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users comprises:

analyzing communications of the users to detect referral requests; and

identifying entities to which the referral requests pertain.

9. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users comprises:

detecting that new entities are added to the relationship graph, the new entities being affiliated with an organization; and

analyzing information about the organization to predict data that may be of interest to the new entities.

10. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein finding one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data comprises:

identifying entities of the relationship graph that are likely to have knowledge about a corresponding important piece of the desired data;

evaluating a relationship between each of the identified entities and an entity to which the corresponding important piece of data pertains; and

determining whether each of the identified entities is likely to provide a corresponding important piece of the desired data.

11. The computerized method of claim 10 wherein determining whether each of the identified entities is likely to provide a corresponding important piece of the desired data comprises:

evaluating survey preferences of each of the identified entities; and

determining whether each of the identified entities is likely to suffer from survey fatigue.

12. The computerized method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing incentives for the one or more information suppliers to respond to the request.

13. The computerized method of claim 12 wherein providing incentives for the one or more information suppliers to respond to the request comprises:

updating personal data of each of the one or more information supplier with data received from other information suppliers; and

creating requests for information important to the one or more information suppliers.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one information supplier is an entity not represented by a node in the relationship graph.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prioritizing the pieces of desired data based on at least one of information requests and a behavior monitor.

16. A machine-readable storage medium having executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:

identifying a set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph, the elements of the relationship graph including nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between the entities, wherein the set of desired data includes data currently unavailable from the relationship graph;

determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users;

finding, without user input, one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data, wherein at least one information supplier is a user represented by a node in the relationship graph;

communicating, without user input, a request for said important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers the request prompting the one or more information suppliers to input said important piece of desired data;

selecting an optimal channel from a plurality of available communication channels to communicate the request, wherein the plurality of available communication channels include at least one of an email message, a popup window, or a web page; and

receiving requested data from the one or more information suppliers.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method further comprises:

processing the requested data; and

storing the requested data in a relationship graph data store.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the set of desired data comprises data selected from the group consisting of missing data for one or more of the elements of the relationship graph, data to validate information concerning one or more of the elements, data to resolve conflicting information concerning one or more of the elements, and data to eliminate duplication of one or more of the elements in the relationship graph.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users comprises:

analyzing search queries of the users to identify entities to which the search queries pertain;

detecting new accounts created by the users to identify entities associated with the new accounts;

analyzing communications of the users to detect referral requests to identify entities to which the referral requests pertain;

detecting that new entities affiliated with an organization are added to the relationship graph; and

analyzing information about the organization to predict data that may be of interest to the new entities.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein finding one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data comprises:

identifying entities of the relationship graph that are likely to have knowledge about a corresponding important piece of the desired data;

evaluating a relationship between each of the identified entities and an entity to which the corresponding important piece of data pertains; and

determining whether each of the identified entities is likely to provide a corresponding important piece of the desired data.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein at least one information supplier is an entity not represented by a node in the relationship graph.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

prioritizing the pieces of desired data based on at least one of information requests and a behavior monitor.

23. An apparatus comprising:

a desired data identifier to identify a set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph, the elements of the relationship graph including nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between the entities, wherein the set of desired data includes data currently unavailable from the relationship graph;

a desired data prioritizer to determine which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users; and

a desired data requestor to find one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data without user input, to communicate a request for said important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers without user input, the request prompting the one or more information suppliers to input said important piece of desired data, and to select an optimal channel from a plurality of available communication channels to communicate the request, wherein at least one information supplier is a user represented by a node in the relationship graph, and wherein the plurality of available communication channels include at least one of an email message, a popup window, or a web page.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 further comprising a desired data integrator to receive requested data from the one or more information suppliers, to process the requested data, and to store the requested data in a relationship graph data store.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein at least one information supplier is an entity not represented by a node in the relationship graph.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the desired data prioritizer is configured to prioritize the pieces of desired data based on at least one of information requests and a behavior monitor.

27. An apparatus comprising:

means for identifying a set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph, the elements of the relationship graph including nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between the entities, wherein the set of desired data includes data currently unavailable from the relationship graph;

means for determining which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users;

means for finding, without user input, one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data, wherein at least one information supplier is a user represented by a node in the relationship graph;

means for communicating, without user input, a request for said important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers, the request prompting the one or more information suppliers to input said important piece of desired data;

means for selecting an optimal channel to communicate the request; and

means for receiving requested data from the one or more information suppliers.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising:

means for processing the requested data; and

means for storing the requested data in a relationship graph data store.

29. A system comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory through a bus, and further coupled to an I/O interface through the bus; and

an update process executed from the memory by the processor to cause the processor to identify set of desired data concerning elements of a relationship graph, the elements of the relationship graph including nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between the entities, wherein the set of desired data includes data currently unavailable from the relationship graph, to determine which pieces of desired data in the set are important to users, to find one or more information suppliers for each important piece of desired data without user input, wherein at least one information supplier is a user represented by a node in the relationship graph, and to communicate a request for said important piece of desired data to the one or more information suppliers without user input, the request prompting the one or more information suppliers to input said important piece of desired data.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the update process is further to select an optimal channel to communicate the request, to receive requested data from the one or more information suppliers, to process the requested data, and to store the requested data in a relationship graph data store.