Systems and methods for queuing requests and providing queue status

• US 8,463,627 B1
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Live Nation Entertainment Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Ticketmaster (Live Nation Entertainment Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hirose, Shigeki, Denker, Dennis, Sussman, Adam, McLane, Craig, Moriarty, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): CAMPBELL, SHANNON S
• Application Number:
  US11/014,269
• Time in Patent Office: 3,099 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/5, 718/100
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides apparatus and methods for queuing access by large numbers of Internet or other network-based users to networked systems and resources with limited capacity. In one example embodiment, a queuing system provides user access to network resources, such as that of a ticketing system. A computer system receives a first request for a first resource The first request is queued in computer readable memory. A determination is made that the first request for the first resource has been abandoned. A queued second request is identified, wherein the second request is similar to the first request. The second request is associated with the abandoned first resource.

Claims

1. A method of processing requests, the method comprising:

receiving at a computer system configured to process requests a plurality of requests for tickets to an event;

automatically queuing the plurality of requests in a first queue, wherein the first queue is stored in computer readable memory;

associating a first subset of tickets to the event with a first request submitted by a client system, from the plurality of requests in the first queue;

determining via the computer system whether to reassign the first subset of tickets at least partly in response;

to determining that the client system is transmitting messages at greater than a first frequency during a first period or to determining that the first request, to which the first subset of tickets has been associated, has been abandoned, wherein the abandonment determination is based at least in part on determining that the client system has ceased transmitting messages during the first period;

at least partly in response to determining that the first subset of tickets is to be reassigned, from at least a portion of the plurality of requests queued in the first queue, identifying a queued second request via the computer system, wherein the second request is similar to the first request;

associating via the computer system the second request with the first subset of tickets to the event associated with the first request;

transmitting over a network to an issuer of the second request a notification related to the association of the second request with the first subset of tickets to the event, wherein the sale of the first set of tickets to the issue of the second request is completed; and

associating a third request in the first queue with a second subset of tickets for the event.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, the method further comprising:

detecting a duplicate request for an event ticket from a first browser in the first queue, and deleting the duplicate request for the event a ticket from the first queue.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising advancing the second request to the head of the first queue upon associating the second request with the first subset of tickets, and then associating the second subset of tickets with the third request from the first queue.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising caching the second subset of tickets for the event in a front end server after the third request is abandoned for at least a first period of time.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

caching the second subset of tickets for the event associated with the third request for at least first period of time, wherein the third request had been abandoned; and

if the abandoned second subset of tickets for the event has not been associated with another request within the first period of time, returning the abandoned second subset of tickets for the event to a resource pool.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a cached third abandoned subset of tickets has been abandoned more than a predetermined number of times, wherein the predetermined number of times is set to a value greater than one; and

at least partly in response to determining that the third abandoned subset of tickets has been abandoned more than the predetermined number of times, removing the third abandoned subset of tickets from the cache.

11. The system as defined in claim 4, further comprising:

a cache that caches in computer readable memory the second subset of tickets associated with the third request for at least first period of time, wherein the third request had been abandoned; and

a resource pool, wherein if the abandoned second subset of tickets has not been associated with another request within the first period of time, the second subset of tickets is assigned to the resource pool.

7. A queuing system comprising:

a processor;

instructions stored in non-transitory computer readable memory that when executed by the processor are configured to cause the queuing system to;

automatically queue a plurality of requests for tickets to an event in a first queue;

associate a first subset of tickets for the event with a first request from the plurality of requests for tickets in the first queue, wherein the first request is received via a client system;

determine whether to reassign the first subset of tickets at least partly in response;

to a determination that the client system is transmitting messages at greater than a first frequency during a first period or to a determination that the first request has been abandoned, after the first subset of tickets to the event has been associated with the first request, wherein the determination that the first request has been abandoned is based at least in part on a determination that the client system has ceased transmitting messages during the first period;

from at least a portion of the plurality of requests queued in the first queue, identify a queued second request that is similar to the first request; and

associate the second request with the first subset of tickets for the event;

transmit over a network to an issuer of the second request a notification related to the association of the second request with the first subset of tickets to the event, wherein the sale of the first set of tickets to the issue of the second request is completed; and

associate a third request in the first queue with a second subset of tickets for the event.

8. The system as defined in claim 7, wherein the system is further configured to detect a duplicate request for an event ticket from a first browser in the first queue, and deleting the duplicate request for the event a ticket from the first queue.

9. The system as defined in claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to advance the second request to the head of the first queue upon associating the second request with the first subset of tickets, and then associating the second subset of tickets with the third request from the first queue.

10. The system as defined in claim 7, further comprising an abandoned resource cache in a front end server.

12. The system as defined in claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to determine if a cached third abandoned subset of tickets has been abandoned more than a predetermined number of times, wherein the predetermined number of times is set to a value greater than one, and at least partly in response to determining that the third abandoned subset of tickets has been abandoned more than the predetermined number of times, to remove the second abandoned resource from the cache.