Method and system for using a situational network
A network system for accessing situation related information is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system includes a network connection for receiving an indication of an occurrence of a situation; a situational network formed based on the occurrence of the situation, the situational network including a plurality of participant devices determined to be geographically proximate to the situation, each of the participant devices corresponding to a participant in the situational network; a second network connection for presenting a roll call query to each of the plurality of participant devices soliciting a reply related to a status of the participant; a plurality of network connections established for receiving a status response from the participant devices; and a database for aggregating the status responses from responsive participants into a roll call list.
1. A method for creating a situational network as a subset of a larger multi-dimensional information network comprising a plurality of nodes, wherein the situational network is formed in response to an event in a particular geographical area, and wherein the situational network is created for delivering information to selected user nodes based in at least part on the situational network, the method comprising:
a) maintaining, by a networking server configured to maintain data defining the multi-dimensional information network, a database comprising: (i) a plurality of user nodes, and (ii) a plurality of multi-dimensional node-to-node links characterizing relationships between the plurality of user nodes via dimensions in the multi-dimensional information network, wherein at least some respective user nodes of the plurality of user nodes are associated with respectively user data;
b) providing, by the networking server, to each user device of a plurality of user devices associated with the plurality of user nodes, a respective composite data feed that based on the database;
c) establishing, by an event node server, an event node associated with the event in the particular geographical area, wherein the event node is discoverable by each user device of the plurality of user devices by browsing the respective composite data feed;
d) creating, by the networking server, based on the database, a projection of the plurality of user nodes, the projection comprising a first subset of the plurality of user nodes associated with a first subset of the plurality of user devices, wherein the projection is created based on respective distances of devices of the first subset of the plurality of user devices from the event;
e) transmitting, by the networking server, a respective request in a form of a roll call to connect to the event node to each respective device of the first subset of the plurality of user devices;
f) joining, based on responses to each of the respective requests, a second subset of the plurality of user nodes to a centralized architecture for the event node, wherein the event node is configured as a central node in the centralized architecture for accessing information associated with the event from a location in the multi-dimensional information network, and wherein the second subset of the plurality of user nodes is associated with a second subset of the plurality of user devices;
g) storing, as node-to-node links in the database, data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes to the event node;
h) analyzing the database to identify a third subset of the plurality of user nodes in the database based at least in part on the data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user devices to the event node; and
i) delivering additional information to a third subset of user devices associated with the third subset of the plurality of user nodes, wherein the supplemental information was received from an information node configured to store and provide supplemental information via the multi-dimensional information network.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third subset of the plurality of user nodes includes at least a portion of second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying the third subset of the plurality of user nodes is based on: identifying the data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user devices to the event node in conjunction with identifying a set of data stored in the multi-dimensional information network representing at least one of:
demographics, interests or behaviors.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the database to identify the third subset of the plurality of user nodes comprises:
identifying a direct link between a user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and a user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the database to identify the third subset of the plurality of user nodes comprises:
identifying an indirect link between a user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and a user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and the user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes are connected by a preference dimension to an additional node.
7. A system for creating a situational network as a subset of a larger multi-dimensional information network comprising a plurality of nodes, wherein the situational network is formed in response to an event in a particular geographical area, and wherein the situational network is created for delivering information to selected user nodes based in at least part on the situational network, the system comprising:
one or more central processing units of one or more networking servers, that maintain data defining the multi-dimensional information network, configured to:
maintain a database comprising: (i) a plurality of user nodes, and (ii) a plurality of multi-dimensional node-to-node links characterizing relationships between the plurality of user nodes via dimensions in the multi-dimensional information network, wherein at least some respective user nodes of the plurality of user nodes are associated with respectively user data;
one or more network controllers of the one or more networking servers configured to:
provide to each user device of a plurality of user devices associated with the plurality of user nodes, a respective composite data feed that based on the database;
one or more central processing units of one or more event node servers configured to:
establishing an event node associated with the event in the particular geographical area, wherein the event node is discoverable by each user device of the plurality of user devices by browsing the respective composite data feed;
wherein the one or more central processing units of the one or more networking servers are configured to:
create based on the database, a projection of the plurality of user nodes, the projection comprising a first subset of the plurality of user nodes associated with a first subset of the plurality of user devices, wherein the projection is created based on respective distances of devices of the first subset of the plurality of user devices from the event;
wherein the one or more network controllers of the one or more networking servers are configured to:
transmit a respective request in a form of a roll call to connect to the event node to each respective device of the first subset of the plurality of user devices;
wherein the one or more central processing units of the one or more networking servers are configured to:
join, based on responses to each of the respective requests, a second subset of the plurality of user nodes to a centralized architecture for the event node, wherein the event node is configured as a central node in the centralized architecture for accessing information associated with the event from a location in the multi-dimensional information network, and wherein the second subset of the plurality of user nodes is associated with a second subset of the plurality of user devices;
store, as node-to-node links in the database, data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes to the event node;
analyze the database to identify a third subset of the plurality of user nodes in the database based at least in part on the data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user devices to the event node; and
wherein the one or more network controllers of the one or more networking servers are configured to:
deliver additional information to a third subset of user devices associated with the third subset of the plurality of user nodes, wherein the supplemental information was received from an information node configured to store and provide supplemental information via the multi-dimensional information network.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the third subset of the plurality of user nodes includes at least a portion of second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more central processing units of the one or more networking servers are configured to identify the third subset of the plurality of user nodes based on: identifying the data representing the joining of the second subset of the plurality of user devices to the event node in conjunction with identifying a set of data stored in the multi-dimensional information network representing at least one of:
demographics, interests or behaviors.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more central processing units of the one or more networking servers are configured to analyze the database to identify the third subset of the plurality of user nodes by:
identifying a direct link between a user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and a user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more central processing units of the one or more networking servers are configured to analyze the database to identify the third subset of the plurality of user nodes by:
identifying an indirect link between a user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and a user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the user node of the third subset of the plurality of user nodes and the user node of the second subset of the plurality of user nodes are connected by a preference dimension to an additional node.