System and method for control and management of resources for consumers of information
A system and method is provided for using information broadcast by devices and resources in the immediate vicinity of a mobile device, or by sensors located within the mobile device itself, to ascertain and make a determination of the immediate environment and state of the mobile device. The sensor data is then used to identify situational profiles to target and determine the relevance of apps, advertisements, content, and recommendations.
1. A service delivery platform comprising:
one or more user devices configured to periodically transmit resource, state and physical environment information;
a resource map comprising information describing the available resources, the state and the physical environment of each of the one or more user devices, and configured to obtain the information from resource updates periodically received from the user devices and further comprising:
one or more capabilities lists stored in a resource registry where each capabilities list is associated with a respective user device and each capabilities list specifies one or more attributes of an external resource currently available to and in proximity with the respective user device;
state information and physical environment information of the respective user devices obtained from one or more sensors associated with the respective user devices; and
one or more situational profiles comprising predefined combinations of state information and physical environment information;
a resource profile configured to define pattern matching rules for matching the state information and the physical environment information of the respective user devices with one or more situational profiles stored in the resource map; and
a recognition unit in communication with the resource map and the resource profile and configured to match information received from the respective user devices with situational profiles and to recommend one or more of apps and other content based on the matching and the capabilities lists of the respective user devices.
2. The service delivery platform of claim 1 wherein the one or more user devices are further configured to transmit location updates and further comprising a home location register configured to store the location updates.
3. The service delivery platform of claim 1 wherein the recognition unit is further configured to specify which of the one or more user devices is to receive the recommended apps or other content.
4. The service delivery platform of claim 3 wherein the recognition unit is further configured to specify a network path over which the recommended apps or other content are to be transmitted.
5. The service delivery platform of claim 1 wherein the recognition unit is further configured to request permission from the user device before causing the recommended apps or other content to be transmitted.
6. The service delivery platform of claim 1 further comprising the recognition unit configured to allow or to disallow specific apps or other content, specific functionality within apps or other content based on the match results.
7. The service delivery platform of claim 6 wherein the recognition unit is configured to limit access to the apps and other content when one or more of the state information and the physical environment information obtained from the one or more sensors indicates that the user device is in one or more of a predefined state and physical environment.
8. The service delivery platform of claim 1 further comprising the one or more user devices configured to transmit using wireless data communications technology.
9. The service delivery platform of claim 1 further comprising the recognition unit configured to modify previously recommended apps and other content based on a change caused from a resource update.
10. A method for activating apps and other content on a user device, comprising:
providing a user device;
receiving a capabilities list from one or more external resources available to and in proximity with the user device, each capabilities list specifying one or more attributes of the respective external resource from which it is received;
storing each of the received capabilities lists in a resource registry associated with the user device;
receiving updated capabilities lists from the one or more external resources; dynamically updating the resource registry with one or more updated capabilities lists;
periodically transmitting a resource update from the user device to a service delivery platform, the resource update including the received capabilities lists currently stored in the resource registry and state information and physical environment information of the user device obtained from one or more sensors associated with the user device;
receiving a response from the service delivery platform based on a user device resource map and predefined matching rules for comparing the user device resource map with situational profiles, the resource map storing information describing the physical environment and state of the user device based on the information received from the resource updates from the user device and the situational profiles comprising predefined combinations of state information and physical environment information; and
activating one or more of apps and other content based on the response received by the user device from the service delivery platform, the response recommending one or more of apps and other content.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving the capabilities list from one or more external resources includes receiving the capabilities list from a broadcast generated by the one or more external resources.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising broadcasting and receiving the resource update using wireless data communications technology.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein transmitting the resource update includes transmitting the state information with the orientation of the user device.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein transmitting the resource update includes transmitting a location update from the user device and storing the location update in a home location register.
15. A method for recommending apps and other content to be transmitted to a plurality of user devices, comprising:
providing a plurality of user devices configured to transmit resource updates; receiving periodic resource updates from the user devices;
determining one or more apps and other content to recommend for each of the respective user devices by matching resource update information of the respective user devices with one or more situational profiles using predefined pattern matching rules;
wherein the periodic resource updates include information, the information including a capabilities list stored in a resource registry associated with the respective user devices where each of the capabilities lists specifies one or more attributes of external resources currently available to and in proximity with the respective user devices and state information and physical environment information of the respective user devices obtained from one or more sensors associated with the respective user devices.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting one or more of the recommended apps or other content includes directing delivery of the one or more apps or other content to an external resource specified in the capabilities list for a selected user device.
17. The method recited in claim 15 further comprising configuring the recognition unit to limit access to the apps and other content when one or more of the state information and the physical environment information obtained from the one or more sensors indicates that the user device is in one or more of a pre-defined state and physical environment.
18. The method of claim 15 wherein transmitting the resource update corresponds with activating an app on the user device.
19. The method of claim 15 further comprising the recognition unit modifying previously recommended apps and other content based on a change caused from a resource update broadcasting and receiving the resource update using wireless data communications technology.