Administering devices in dependence upon user metric vectors with multiple users

• US 7,386,863 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2003
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Watson, Thomas J., Schumacher, Daniel Mark, Burkhart, Michael John, Bodin, William Kress, Eisenhauer, Daniel G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Seye; Abdou K
• Application Number:
  US10/607,485
• Publication Number:
  US 20040267869A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,811 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/321
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2829 involving user profiles according to which the execution of a home appliance functionality is automatically triggered
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2845 Telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Methods for administering devices, including creating a user metric vector including a plurality of disparate user metrics, creating a user metric space including a plurality of metric ranges, determining whether the user metric vector is outside the user metric space, creating, in dependence upon the user metric vector, a dynamic action list, if the user metric vector is outside a user metric space, identifying at least one action in the dynamic action list, and executing the action.

Claims

1. A method for administering devices, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of disparate metrics for a plurality of users, wherein each user metric for a user represents an indication of that user'"'"'s physical condition, wherein each user is a person;

creating a first user metric vector comprising a plurality of disparate metrics for a first user;

creating a second user metric vector comprising a plurality of disparate metrics for a second user;

creating a first user metric space comprising a plurality of first user metric ranges;

creating a second user metric space comprising a plurality of second user metric ranges;

creating a mutual metric space in dependence upon the first user metric space and the second user metric space;

determining whether the first user vector is outside the mutual metric space;

if the first user metric vector is outside the mutual metric space, identifying an action, wherein the action administers a device to alter the physical condition of at least one of the users; and

executing the identified action.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein creating a first user metric vector comprising a plurality of disparate metrics for a first user comprises filtering the received disparate metrics for the first user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein creating a mutual metric space in dependence upon a first user metric space and a second user metric space comprises:

determining an intersection of a first user metric range and a second user metric range;

creating a mutual metric range in dependence upon the intersection of the first user metric range and the second user metric range; and

associating the mutual metric range with the mutual metric space.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein creating a mutual metric space in dependence upon a first user metric space and a second user metric space comprises:

determining a union of a first user metric range and a second user metric range;

creating a mutual metric range in dependence upon the union of the first user metric range and the second user metric range; and

associating the mutual metric range with the mutual metric space.

5. The method of claim 1 comprising determining whether the second user metric vector is outside the mutual metric space.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein identifying an action comprises creating a dynamic action list in dependence upon first user metric vector and the second user metric vector.