Patent · US Expired

Outbound information analysis for generating user interest profiles and improving user productivity

US6654735B1 · kind B1 · utility

143Cited by
15References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 8, 1999
Grant dateNov 25, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 8, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99939
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system for automatically generating user interest profiles and delivering information to users learns a user's interests by monitoring the user's outbound communication streams, i.e., the information that the user produces either by typing (e.g., while a user is composing an e-mail message or editing a word processor document) or by speaking (e.g., while a user is engaged in a phone conversation or listening to a lecture). The system uses the monitored text to build (and possibly update) a user interest profile. The profile is constructed from current text generated by the user, so that the retrieved information reflects present user interests. In addition, the profile may also retain past user interests, so that the profile reflects a combination of past and present user interests. The system then automatically queries diverse databases for information relevant to the interest profile. The databases may include internet web pages, files stored on the user's local network, and other local or remote data repositories. The queries may use a combination of internet search engines, the specific selection of which may depend upon the nature and/or content of the queries. The informati…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.