Providing customized information to a user based on identifying a trend

1. A method of providing customized information to a user, comprising:

receiving, at a wireless communications network node, a stream of data associated with the user;

identifying, at the wireless communications network node, a first trend associated with at least a first attribute in the stream of data by performing a first trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a flat trend and performing a second trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a hierarchical trend, a trend being a usage level associated with the user that exceeds a predefined threshold;

selecting customized information based on the identified first trend; and

sending, by the wireless communications network node, the customized information for presenting to the user at a mobile station.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the customized information comprises sending advertising information based on the identified first trend.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing selected items of the data that are representative of the first trend; and

discarding other items of the data that are not representative of the first trend.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

identifying a second trend associated with a second attribute in the stream of data;

based on the identified second trend, sending further customized information for presenting to the user at the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

storing further selected items of the data that are representative of the second trend; and

discarding other items of the data not representative of either the first trend or second trend.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the selected items are stored in a data structure, the method further comprising:

pruning items from the data structure that are not indicative of the first trend.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first trend is a hierarchical trend, and wherein the selected items are stored in a tree structure having nodes at multiple levels, the method further comprising:

constructing the tree structure in a top-down manner.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first trend is a hierarchical trend, and wherein the selected items are stored in a tree structure having nodes at multiple levels, the method further comprising:

constructing the tree structure in a bottom-up manner.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing selected items of the data that are representative of the first trend in a first type of data structure in response to determining that the first attribute is associated with a flat trend; and

storing selected items of the data that are representative of the first trend in a tree structure in response to determining that the first attribute is associated with a hierarchical trend.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

defining a first threshold indicative of a minor trend for the first attribute;

defining a second threshold indicative of a major trend for the first attribute; and

wherein identifying the first trend comprises identifying the major trend for the first attribute.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified first trend is one of the following plural types: percentage-based usage type; cardinality-based usage type; and interval-based usage type, the method further comprising:

defining one or more thresholds for the identified first trend based on the type of the first trend.

12. A network node for use in a communications network, comprising:

an interface to receive a stream of data associated with a user;

a processor to:

identify a first trend associated with at least an attribute in the stream of data by performing a first trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a flat trend and performing a second trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a hierarchical trend, a trend being a usage level associated with the user that exceeds a predefined threshold;

select customized information based on the identified first trend;

send the customized information for presenting to the user at a user station; and

provide a pointer to selected items of the data that have been stored for the identified first trend.

13. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the processor is to discard other data not associated with the identified first trend.

14. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the processor is to further:

store the selected items in a first type of data structure in response to determining the attribute is associated with a flat trend; and

store the selected items of the data in a tree structure in response to determining that the attribute is associated with a hierarchical trend.

15. The network node of claim 12 , wherein the customized information includes targeted advertising information.

16. An article comprising at least one computer-readable physical storage medium tangibly embodying instructions that when executed cause a processor of a wireless communications network node to:

receive a stream of data associated with the user;

identify a first trend associated with at least an attribute in the stream of data by performing a first trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a flat trend and performing a second trend detection algorithm if the first attribute is associated with a hierarchical trend, a trend being a usage level associated with the user that exceeds a predefined threshold

select customized information based on the identified first trend; and

send the customized information for presenting to the user at a mobile station.

17. The article of claim 16 , wherein the customized information includes targeted advertising information.