Counting and resetting broadcast system badge counters

• US 9,208,476 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Vasters, Clemens Friedrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Bates, Kevin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rahman, SM
• Application Number:
  US13/278,313
• Publication Number:
  US 20130067015A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 709/207
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management

Abstract

Providing a badge counter from a server to a consumer. The badge counter indicates a number of notifications. A method includes receiving an event in a sequence of events. The event has an associated time stamp. The method further includes associating with the event a plurality of additional time stamps from events in the sequence of events occurring before the event. The method further includes creating a notification for an end user consumer device, the notification including an indication of a badge counter value based on the plurality of additional time stamps. The method further includes sending the notification, including badge counter value to the consumer device.

Claims

1. A method of providing badge counters from a first system to a plurality of consumer devices in an event broadcast system without requiring individual tracking of counters for each consumer device, the badge counter indicating a number of notifications, the method comprising:

receiving a first time stamp at the first system from an end user consumer device;

identifying a first event to be sent to a plurality of different end users;

at the first system, identifying a list of time stamps, the list of time stamps comprising a plurality of time stamps comprising time stamps associated with events in a plurality of events respectively, wherein each event is fanned out to a plurality of different end users at different end user consumer devices such that individual tracking of counters does not need to be performed at the first system for each of the end users and wherein the first event is included in the plurality of events;

identifying time stamps in the plurality of time stamps that occur after the first time stamp;

creating a notification for the end user consumer device, the notification including an indication of a badge counter value, the badge counter value being a number value based on the number of time stamps occurring after the first time stamp such that the first system is able to create a different badge counter for each different end user consumer device based on a received time stamp from an end user consumer device without individual tracking of badge counters for each end user consumer device; and

sending the first event arid the notification, including the badge counter value, from the first system to the consumer device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the notification, including the badge counter value, comprises sending a badge counter value that is limited by a maximum value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the maximum value is a platform dependent value constrained by a maximum badge counter value specified by a particular platform of an end user consumer device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the maximum value is 99.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the badge counter value is based on the first time stamp being a reset time stamp sent to the first system from the end user consumer device as a result of an end user checking a notification stream, such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of all time stamps in the plurality of time stamps having a time stamp later than the reset time stamp.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the badge counter value is based on the first time stamp being a reset time stamp sent to the first system from the end user consumer device as a result of an end user opening an application, such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of all time stamps in the plurality of time stamps having a. time stamp later than the reset time stamp.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a second time stamp from the end user consumer device, and wherein the badge counter value is based on a time window specified by a user by the first time stamp and the second time stamp such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of time stamps having values occurring during the time window specified by the user.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a badge counter value including the total number of time stamps in the list of time stamps to provide an ail-time indication of a number of notifications.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts are repeated a plurality of times with different time stamps send from different end user consumer devices to create and send a plurality of different notifications with different badge counter values for a plurality of different end users but where the same first event is associated with each of the different notifications and different badge counter values.

9. A physical computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause one or more processors to perform the following for a first system to provide badge counters to a plurality of consumer devices in an event broadcast system without requiring individual tracking of counters for each consumer device, the badge counter indicating a number of notifications:

receiving a first time stamp at the first system from an end user consumer device;

identifying a first even to be sent to a plurality of different end user;

at the first system, identifying a list of time stamps, the list of time stamps comprising a plurality of time stamps comprising time stamps associated with events in a plurality of events respectively, wherein each event is fanned out to a plurality of different end user at different end user consumer devices such that individual tracking of counters does not need to be performed at the first system for each of the end users and wherein the first event is included in the plurality of events;

identifying time stamps in the plurality of time stamps that occur after the first time stamp;

creating a notification for the end user consumer device, the notification including an indication of a badge counter value, the badge counter value being a number value based on the number of time stamps occurring after the first time stamp such that the first system is able to create a different badge counter for each different end user consumer device based on a received time stamp from an end user consumer device without individual tracking of badge counters for each end user consumer device; and

sending the first event and the notification, including the badge counter value, from the first system to the consumer device.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein sending the notification including the badge counter value comprises sending a badge counter value that is limited by a maximum value.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the maximum value is a platform dependent value constrained by a maximum badge counter value specified by a particular platform of an end user consumer device.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the maximum value is 99.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the badge counter value is based on the first time stamp being a reset time stamp sent to the first system from the end user consumer device as a result of an end user checking a notification stream, such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of all time stamps in the plurality of time stamps having a time stamp later than the reset time stamp.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the badge counter value is based on the first time stamp being a reset time stamp sent to the first system from the end user consumer device as a result of an end user opening an application, such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of time stamps in the plurality of time stamps having a time stamp later than the reset time stamp.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising receiving a second time stamp from the end user consumer device, and wherein the badge counter value is based on a time window specified by a user by the first time stamp and the second time stamp such that the value of the badge counter indicates the number of time stamps having values occurring during the time window specified by the user.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising sending a badge counter value including the total number of time stamps in the list of time stamps to provide an all-time indication of a number of notifications.

17. A computing system configured to provide badge counters from a first system to a plurality of consumer devices in an event broadcast system without requiring individual tracking of counters for each consumer device, the badge counter indicating a number of notifications, the computing system comprising:

one or more processors and one or more computer readable media implementing a delivery engine module, wherein the delivery engine module is configured to;

receive a first time stamp from an end user consumer device;

identify a first event to be sent to a plurality of different end users;

at the first system, identifying a list of time stamps, the list of time stamps comprising a plurality of time stamps comprising time stamps associated with events in a plurality of events respectively, wherein each event is fanned out to a plurality of different end users at different end user consumer devices such that individual tracking of counters does not need to be performed at the first system for each of the end users, and wherein the first event is included in the plurality of events;

identify time stamps in the plurality of time stamps that occur after the first time stamp;

create a notification for the end user consumer device, the notification including an indication of a badge counter value, the badge counter value being a number value based on the number of time stamps occurring after the first time stamp such that the first system is able to create a different badge counter for each different end user consumer device based on a received time stamp from an end user consumer device without individual tracking of badge counters for each end user consumer device; and

send the first event and the notification including the badge counter value from the first system to the consumer device.

18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein sending the notification including the badge counter value comprises sending a badge counter value that is limited by a maximum value.

19. The computing system of claim 18, wherein the maximum value is a platform dependent value constrained by a maximum badge counter value specified by a particular platform of an end user consumer device.