Granted Patent B2

US 8,583,634 · App. 11/951,004 · Granted Nov 12, 2013

Abstract

Claims (58)

1. A method of determining social rank, relevance and attention comprising:

determining a plurality of persons who communicate with a user;

determining a Communications Rank (CommRank) for each of two or more persons in the determined plurality of persons, each determined CommRank taking into account a damping factor of prestige of persons who communicate with the user, a total number of persons communicating with the user, a rank of a collection of linked communications to and from the user, and a proportional distribution of prestige between the user and the collection of linked communications to and from the user, wherein a CommRank is determined in accordance with the formula:

CRw ( ui )=(1− d )/ N+d* SUM CRw ( uj )× p ( uj, ui ),

wherein ui=a recipient user, uj=a collection of linked communications to and from persons for ui, d=a damping factor of prestige linked people, N=a total number of people communicated with (to and from), and p=a proportional distribution of prestige between uj and ui;

prioritizing a plurality of incoming communications originated by the two or more persons according to determined CommRanks for the two or more persons; and

selecting an optimum communication mode to communicate with a person originating an incoming communication, in the plurality of incoming communications, based on a determined CommRank for the person.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a graphical mapping showing the determined CommRanks for the two or more persons.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

utilizing the determined CommRank of the person to plan future communications with the person.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying one or more popular persons in the plurality of persons according to the determined CommRanks of the identified one or more popular persons.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein p(uj, ui) is determined in accordance with the formula:

p ( uj, ui )= W ( ui, uj )/SUM W ( vj,vk ),

wherein W=a proportional share of communication links to and from persons for ui.

6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable code thereon for determining social rank, relevance and attention, the medium comprising:

instructions for determining a plurality of persons who communicate with a user;

instructions for determining a Communications Rank (CommRank) for each of two or more persons in the determined plurality of persons each determined CommRank taking into account a damping factor of prestige of persons who communicate with the user, a total number of persons communicating with the user, a rank of a collection of linked communications to and from the user, and a proportional distribution of prestige between the user and the collection of linked communications to and from the user, wherein a CommRank is determined in accordance with the formula:

CRw ( ui )=(1− d )/ N+d* SUM CRw ( uj )× p ( uj, ui ),

wherein ui=a recipient user, uj=a collection of linked communications to and from persons for ui, d=a damping factor of prestige linked people, N=a total number of people communicated with (to and from), and p=a proportional distribution of prestige between uj and ui;

instructions for prioritizing a plurality of incoming communications originated by the two or more persons according to determined CommRanks for the two or more persons; and

instructions for selecting an optimum communication mode to communicate with a person originating an incoming communication, in the plurality of incoming communications, based on a determined CommRank for the person.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6 further comprising:

instructions for generating a graphical mapping showing the determined CommRanks for the two or more persons.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6 further comprising:

instructions for utilizing the determined CommRank of the person to plan future communications with the person.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6 further comprising:

instructions for identifying popular persons in the plurality of persons according to the determined CommRanks of the identified one or more popular persons.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein p(uj, ui) is determined in accordance with the formula:

p ( uj, ui )= W ( ui, uj )/SUM W ( vj,vk ),

wherein W=a proportional share of communication links to and from

a memory;

a processor; persons for ui.

11. A computer system comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a communications interface;

an interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor and the communications interface; and

wherein the memory is encoded with an application for determining social rank, relevance and attention that when performed on the processor causes the computer system to:

determine a plurality of persons who communicate with a user;

determine a Communications Rank (CommRank) for each of two or more persons in the plurality of persons, each determined CommRank taking into account a damping factor of prestige of persons who communicate with the user, a total number of persons communicating with the user, a rank of a collection of linked communications to and from the user, and a proportional distribution of prestige between the user and the collection of linked communications to and from the user, wherein a CommRank is determined in accordance with the formula:

CRw ( ui )=(1− d )/ N+d* SUM CRw ( uj )× p ( uj, ui ),

wherein ui=a recipient user, uj=a collection of linked communications to and from persons for ui, d=a damping factor of prestige linked people, N=a total number of people communicated with (to and from), and p=a proportional distribution of prestige between uj and ui;

prioritize a plurality of incoming communications originated by the two or more persons according to determined CommRanks for the two or more persons; and

select an optimum communication mode to communicate with a person originating an incoming communication, in the plurality of incoming communications, based on a determined CommRank for the person.

12. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the application when performed on the processor further causes the computer system to:

generate a graphical mapping showing the determined CommRanks for the two or more persons.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the application when performed on the processor further causes the computer system to:

utilize the determined CommRank for the person originating an incoming communication to plan future communications with the person.

14. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the application when performed on the processor further causes the computer system to:

identify popular persons in the plurality of persons according to the determined CommRanks of the identified one or more persons.

15. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein p(uj, ui) is determined in accordance with the formula:

p ( uj, ui )= W ( ui, uj )/SUM W ( vj,vk ),

wherein W=a proportional share of communication links to and from persons for ui.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the optimum communication mode is an electronic mode of communications.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6 wherein the optimum communication mode is an electronic mode of communications.

18. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the optimum communication mode is an electronic mode of communications.

Assignments (10)