Method and server for delivering information to user terminal

• US 9,952,059 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2015
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced New Technologies Company Limited (Ant Group Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
• Inventors: Pang, Lei, Zhang, Depin
• Primary Examiner(s): HOLLOWAY, JASON R
• Application Number:
  US14/857,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20160076908A1
• Time in Patent Office: 950 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for delivering information to a user terminal is provided. The method includes obtaining user data. The user data may include a plurality of user activity locations and corresponding user activity time. The method may further include identifying a first position and a second position based on the user activity locations and the user activity time, selecting a travel path based on the first position and the second position, determining a user activity area based on the selected travel path, and sending content to the user terminal based on the user activity area.

Claims

1. A method for delivering information to a user terminal, comprising:

obtaining, by a server, user data, the user data including a plurality of user activity locations and corresponding user activity time;

identifying, by the server, a first position and a second position based on the user activity locations and the user activity time, wherein identifying a first position and a second position comprises;

grouping the user activity locations into a plurality of clusters, each of the clusters including a plurality of geographic positions;

obtaining an aggregation point corresponding to each of the plurality of clusters based on the plurality of geographic positions included in each cluster; and

identifying the first position and the second position based on the aggregation point for each of the plurality of clusters;

selecting, by the server, a travel path based on the first position and the second position;

determining, by the server, a user activity area based on the selected travel path; and

sending, by the server, content to the user terminal based on the user activity area.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying a first position and a second position comprises:

for each of the user activity locations, determining an activity time period based on the user activity time corresponding to each of the user activity locations, wherein the activity time period is one of a plurality of pre-defined time periods; and

identifying the first position and the second position based on the activity time period corresponding to each of the user activity locations.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying a first position and a second position comprises:

using a clustering algorithm to group the user activity locations into the plurality of clusters.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the clustering algorithm includes a K-MEANS algorithm, an agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm, or a Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein obtaining an aggregation point corresponding to each of the plurality of clusters comprises:

calculating a variance, an arithmetic mean, or a geometric mean of the geographic positions included in each of the plurality of clusters.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a navigation software application or a map software application is used in selecting the travel path between the first position and the second position.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the travel path between the first position and the second position is selected based on a user'"'"'s preference settings in a navigation software application or a map software application.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining a user activity area comprises:

selecting a plurality of points on the travel path at a preset interval;

generating a plurality of circles by taking each of the plurality of points as a center and using a preset radius value; and

determining an area enclosed by the plurality of circles to be the user activity area.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining a user activity area comprises:

selecting a plurality of points on the travel path at a preset interval;

generating a plurality of lines by originating a line perpendicular to the travel path at each of the plurality of points, the line extending away from the travel path at a preset distance on both sides of the travel path;

connecting end points of the plurality of lines on each side of the travel path to obtain a polygon; and

determining an area enclosed by the polygon to be the user activity area.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the content sent to the user terminal includes merchant information provided by a merchant in the user activity area or information about an ongoing activity or an upcoming activity in the user activity area.

11. A server, comprising:

an obtaining unit configured to obtain user data, the user data including a plurality of user activity locations and corresponding user activity time;

an identifying unit configured to identify a first position and a second position based on the user activity locations and the user activity time, wherein the identifying unit is configured to;

group the user activity locations into a plurality of clusters, each of the clusters including a plurality of geographic positions;

obtain an aggregation point for each of the plurality of clusters based on the corresponding plurality of geographic positions; and

identify the first position and the second position based on the aggregation point for each of the plurality of clusters;

a selecting unit configured to select a travel path based on the first position and the second position;

a determining unit configured to determine a user activity area based on the selected travel path;

a sending unit configured to send content to a user terminal based on the user activity area.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores a set of instructions that is executable by at least one processor of a server to cause the server to perform a method for delivering information to a user terminal, the method comprising:

obtaining, user data, the user data including a plurality of user activity locations and corresponding user activity time;

identifying a first position and a second position based on the user activity locations and the user activity time, wherein identifying a first position and a second position comprises;

grouping the user activity locations into a plurality of clusters, each of the clusters including a plurality of geographic positions;

obtaining an aggregation point corresponding to each of the plurality of clusters based on the plurality of geographic positions included in each cluster; and

identifying the first position and the second position based on the aggregation point for each of the plurality of clusters;

selecting a travel path based on the first position and the second position;

determining a user activity area based on the selected travel path; and

sending content to the user terminal based on the user activity area.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the set of instructions that is executable by the at least one processor of the server to cause the server to further perform:

for each of the user activity locations, determining an activity time period based on the user activity time corresponding to each of the user activity locations, wherein the activity time period is one of a plurality of pre-defined time periods; and

identifying the first position and the second position based on the activity time period corresponding to each of the user activity locations.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the set of instructions that is executable by the at least one processor of the server to cause the server to further perform:

using a clustering algorithm group the user activity locations into the plurality of clusters.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the clustering algorithm includes a K-MEANS algorithm, an agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm, or a Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the set of instructions that is executable by the at least one processor of the server to cause the server to further perform:

calculating a variance, an arithmetic mean, or a geometric mean of the geographic positions included in each of the plurality of clusters.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein a navigation software application or a map software application is used in selecting the travel path between the first position and the second position.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the travel path between the first position and the second position is selected based on a user'"'"'s preference settings in a navigation software application or a map software application.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the set of instructions that is executable by the at least one processor of the server to cause the server to further perform:

selecting a plurality of points on the travel path at a preset interval;

generating a plurality of circles by taking each of the plurality of points as a center and using a preset radius value; and

determining an area enclosed by the plurality of circles to be the user activity area.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the set of instructions that is executable by the at least one processor of the server to cause the server to further perform:

selecting a plurality of points on the travel path at a preset interval;

generating a plurality of lines by originating a line perpendicular to the travel path at each of the plurality of points, the line extending away from the travel path at a preset distance on both sides of the travel path;

connecting end points of the plurality of lines on each side of the travel path to obtain a polygon; and

determining an area enclosed by the polygon to be the user activity area.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the content sent to the user terminal includes merchant information provided by a merchant in the user activity area or information about an ongoing activity or an upcoming activity in the user activity area.