System and method for visual exploration of subnetwork patterns in two-mode networks

1. A method of visualizing relationship data in a network connecting an entity of a first type with an entity of a second type, the method comprising:

detecting, within the network, a subnetwork pattern representing at least one relationship satisfying a condition, wherein the relationship data comprises a plurality of entities of the first type, a plurality of entities of the second type, and data representative of a plurality of relationships, each relationship connecting an entity of the plurality of entities of the first type to each entity of the plurality of entities of the second type; and

wherein the detecting the subnetwork pattern comprises detecting a plurality of subnetwork patterns satisfying the condition; and

generating a visualization for display within a user interface based on the detected subnetwork pattern by:

assigning a plurality of first node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the first type within a first region comprising horizontal rows;

assigning a plurality of second node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the second type within a second region comprising horizontal rows;

defining a linking region represented by third node icons with each node positioned along each horizontal row connecting the first and second regions while providing information about the at least one relationship satisfying the condition in order to visualize maximal subnetworks within the network;

wherein each node representative of an entity of the first type in the subnetwork having a connecting relationship with each node representative of an entity of the second type in the subnetwork.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each first node icon and each second node icon comprises:

a first region representative of content associated with the selected entity; and

a second region representative of a number of subnetwork patterns selected from the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving an input command selecting a subset of subnetwork patterns of the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns; and

wherein the at least one node icon further comprises a third region representative of a number of the subset of subnetwork patterns, which the selected entity is associated.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one node icon further comprises a fourth region having a graphical element associated with each relationship within the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the graphical element associated with each relationship is arranged within the fourth region based on a relative weight associated with each relationship within the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first type of entity is representative of users of a communication system;

wherein the second type of entity is representative of communications within the communication system; and

wherein the linking region comprises information representative of a number of entities of the first type and information representative of a number of entities of the second type associated with each subnetwork pattern.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first region of the node icon includes a visual representation of data indicative of a content feature associated with the selected entity.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an input signal identifying an entity of either the first type and the second type; and

updating the visualization based on the identified entity.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the updating the visualization comprises at least one of:

repositioning at least one row associated with a subnetwork pattern representing a relationship comprising the identified entity;

repositioning at least one node icon associated with the identified entity.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for each horizontal row, the third node icon comprises controls to scroll or toggle the plurality of first node icons in the first region and the plurality of second node icons in the second region of the respective horizontal row.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein

at least one first node icon of a first horizontal row is vertically aligned with at least one first node icon of a second horizontal row, the first horizontal row being associated with a first of the plurality of detected subnetwork patterns satisfying the condition and the second horizontal row associated with a second of the plurality of detected subnetwork patterns satisfying the condition; and

at least one second node icon of the first horizontal row is vertically aligned with at least one second node icon of the second horizontal row.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein a program for making a computer execute a method of visualizing relationship data in a network connecting an entity of a first type with an entity of a second type, the method comprising:

detecting, within the network, a subnetwork pattern representing at least one relationship satisfying a condition, wherein the relationship data comprises a plurality of entities of the first type, a plurality of entities of the second type, and data representative of a plurality of relationships, each relationship connecting an entity of the plurality of entities of the first type to each entity of the plurality of entities of the second type; and

wherein the detecting the subnetwork pattern comprises detecting a plurality of subnetwork patterns satisfying the condition; and

generating a visualization for display within a user interface based on the detected subnetwork pattern by:

assigning a plurality of first node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the first type within a first region comprising horizontal rows;

assigning a plurality of second node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the second type within a second region comprising horizontal rows;

defining a linking region represented by third node icons with each node positioned along each horizontal row connecting the first and second regions while providing information about the at least one relationship satisfying the condition in order to visualize maximal subnetworks within the network;

wherein each node representative of an entity of the first type in the subnetwork having a connecting relationship with each node representative of an entity of the second type in the subnetwork.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein each first node icon and each second node icon comprises:

a first region representative of content associated with the selected entity; and

a second region representative of a number of subnetwork patterns selected from the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving an input command selecting a subset of subnetwork patterns of the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns; and

wherein the at least one node icon further comprises a third region representative of a number of subset of subnetwork patterns, which the selected entity is associated.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the at least one node icon further comprises a fourth region having a graphical element associated with each relationship within the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the graphical element associated with each relationship is arranged within the fourth region based on a relative weight associated with each relationship within the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns with which the selected entity is associated.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the first type of entity is representative of users of a communication system;

wherein the second type of entity is representative of communications within the communication system; and

wherein the linking region comprises information representative of a number of entities of the first type and information representative of a number of entities of the second type associated with each subnetwork pattern.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the first region of the node icon includes a visual representation of data indicative of a content feature associated with the selected entity.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving an input signal identifying an entity of either the first type and the second type; and

updating the visualization based on the identified entity.

20. A computer apparatus configured to visualize relationship data in a network connecting an entity of a first type with an entity of a second type, the computer apparatus comprising:

a memory storing the relationship data comprising a plurality of entities of the first type, a plurality of entities of the second type, and data representative of a plurality of relationships, each relationship connecting an entity of the plurality of entities of the first type to an entity of the plurality of entities of the second type;

a processor executing a process comprising:

detecting, within the network, a plurality of subnetwork patterns, each of the plurality of subnetwork patterns representing at least one relationship satisfying a condition, wherein the detecting the subnetwork pattern comprises detecting a plurality of subnetwork patterns satisfying the condition; and

generating a visualization for display within a user interface based on the detected plurality of subnetwork patterns by:

assigning a plurality of first node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the first type within a first region comprising horizontal rows;

assigning a plurality of second node icons representative of the plurality of entities of the second type within a second region comprising horizontal rows;

defining a linking region represented by third node icons with each node positioned along each horizontal row connecting the first and second regions while providing information about the at least one relationship satisfying the condition in order to visualize maximal subnetworks within the network;

wherein each node representative of an entity of the first type in the subnetwork having a connecting relationship with each node representative of an entity of the second type in the subnetwork.