Granted Patent B2

US 9,710,768 · App. 13/436,463 · Granted Jul 18, 2017

Inventors: Royce A. Levien (Lexington, MA); Richard T. Lord (Tacoma, WA); Robert W. Lord (Seattle, WA); Mark A. Malamud (Seattle, WA); John D. Rinaldo, Jr. (Bellevue, WA)

Assignee: Elwha LLC

G06Q10/06311

Abstract

Claims (78)

1. A computationally-implemented method, comprising:

detecting an occurrence of an event;

acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event;

facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices; and

receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices.

2. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

receiving notification that an event has occurred.

3. The computationally-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein said receiving notification that an event has occurred comprises:

receiving notification via a communication network that an event has occurred.

4. The computationally-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein said receiving notification that an event has occurred comprises:

receiving notification via triggering of an indicator that an event has occurred.

5. The computationally-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein said receiving notification via triggering of an indicator that an event has occurred comprises:

receiving notification via remote triggering of an indicator that an event has occurred.

6. The computationally-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein said receiving notification via remote triggering of an indicator that an event has occurred comprises:

receiving notification when a software component at a remote location executes a program in response to a stimulus, wherein the program triggers an indicator that an event has occurred, via a communication network.

7. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting one or more conditions that indicate an occurrence of the event.

8. The computationally-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein said detecting one or more conditions that indicate an occurrence of the event comprises:

detecting rapidly changing light conditions that indicate a solar eclipse.

9. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting the installation of a particular piece of hardware at a particular computer system.

10. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event at a particular time.

11. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event during a particular time period.

12. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event having a particular property.

13. The computationally-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event having a particular property comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event affecting a particular number of people.

14. The computationally-implemented method of claim 12 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event having a particular property comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event that is a failure of a man-made structure.

15. The computationally-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event that is a failure of a man-made structure comprises:

detecting an occurrence of an event that is an outage of a wireless radio structure.

16. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting an occurrence of an event comprises:

detecting a presence of a particular person in a particular location.

17. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event comprises:

acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of a task of acquiring information about the event.

18. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event comprises:

generating one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the one or more subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event.

19. The computationally-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein said generating one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the one or more subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event comprises:

generating, in response to the event, one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, wherein the one or more subtasks include one or more of accurately determining how much snow has fallen at a location, taking a picture of a lunar eclipse, collecting image data of an area in proximity to the event, measuring the air quality at a location, determining the wind speed at a particular location, and determining how many people are waiting in line for acquisition of a vaccine.

20. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event comprises:

acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information regarding one or more persons impacted by the event.

21. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event comprises:

acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information, wherein the tasks of acquiring information include accurately determining how much snow has fallen at a location, taking a picture at a lunar eclipse, collecting image data of an area in proximity to the event, measuring air quality at a location, determining a wind speed at a particular location, and determining how many people are waiting in line for acquisition of a vaccine.

22. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices.

23. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting the one or more subtasks to a location configured to distribute the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices.

24. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting the one or more subtasks to a location at which two or more discrete interface devices are configured to retrieve subtasks.

25. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

determining, based on the event, a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks.

26. The computationally-implemented method of claim 25 , wherein said determining, based on the event, a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks comprises:

determining, based on a location of the event, a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks.

27. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

determining a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks based on at least one property of the two or more discrete interface devices.

28. The computationally-implemented method of claim 27 , wherein said determining a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks based on at least one property of the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

determining a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks based on at least one status of the two or more discrete interface devices.

29. The computationally-implemented method of claim 27 , wherein said determining a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks based on at least one property of the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

determining a set of two or more discrete interface devices configured to carry out the one or more subtasks based on at least one characteristic of the two or more discrete interface devices.

30. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting a signal to the two or more discrete interface devices including instructions to receive the one or more subtasks.

31. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting a signal to the two or more discrete interface devices including instructions to prepare for receiving the one or more subtasks because the event has occurred.

32. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

transmitting a signal to the two or more discrete interface devices, requesting information regarding whether the two or more discrete interface devices were affected by the event.

33. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by each of the two or more discrete interface devices that received one or more subtasks.

34. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices from the two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices.

35. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices comprises:

receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices from a third party that collected the data.

36. A computationally-implemented system, comprising:

means for detecting an occurrence of an event;

means for acquiring one or more subtasks configured to be carried out by two or more discrete interface devices, the subtasks corresponding to portions of one or more tasks of acquiring information related to the event;

means for facilitating transmission of the one or more subtasks to the two or more discrete interface devices; and

means for receiving data corresponding to a result of the one or more subtasks executed by two or more of the two or more discrete interface devices.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (17)