System and method for providing notification(s)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a notification system architecture for hosting subscription applications. The architecture models applications as set oriented data concept to achieve matching efficiency and employs a transactional database as a queue to provide reliable services. Additionally, the architecture consists of distinct components such as an event provider, notification engine, and distributor that are able to be coupled/decoupled and replicated as necessary to enable system scalability.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A notification system comprising: 
 a database engine that processes received events and subscription information, the database engine modeling the events and subscriptions as data prior to processing so as to facilitate event and subscription processing; and    a notification server that delivers notifications to subscribers in accordance with the processed events and subscription information.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an event provider that obtains the event and subscription information.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the subscription information being queries, the database engine modeling the queries as data.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , the modeled event and subscription information being propagated within respective databases, and the database engine processing the event and subscription information via performing a join function on at least a subset of the databases.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , the database engine employing a SQL database application.  
     
     
         6 . A computer readable medium storing computer executable components for implementing the system of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a delivery service that formats the notifications prior to delivery.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , the formatting comprising designating a markup language coincident with a browser of a receiving device.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , the formatting comprising compressing the notifications pursuant to capabilities of a receiving device.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a context analyzer that determines when and if the notification should be delivered.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , the content analyzer determining a mode of delivery of the notification.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , the content analyzer employing a decision-theoretic analysis.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an event provider that facilitates delivery of events to the system.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , the event provider searching for event information.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , the event provider being pushed event information.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  residing on one or more servers.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a subscription management system that provides a hosting environment for user interfaces for collecting subscriber and subscription data.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an event database that stores the event information.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a chronicle database that stores historical event and notification data.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , the chronicle database mitigating redundant notifications.  
     
     
         21 . A notification system comprising: 
 means for obtaining events and subscription information;    means for abstracting the events and subscriptions information as data;    means for generating notification data from the events and subscriptions data; and    means for delivering notifications to subscribers in accordance with the generated notification data.    
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , the notification data comprising a plurality of data fields.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , the notification data fields being stored in a notification table that is propagated with notification specific information.  
     
     
         24 . A notification methodology, comprising: 
 abstracting specific subscription and event information as data;    storing the subscription and event data in respective tables, the tables being propagated with the specific subscription and event information; and    upon a notification event occurring, performing a join operation of the subscription and event data to generate notification data.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising employing match rules as part of the join operation.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising determining that a notification is to be delivered.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising formatting the notification prior to delivery.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising inferring a preferred mode of delivery of the notification.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising employing a classifier.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , the classifier being employed in connection with determining a priority of a notification.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , the classifier comprising at least one of: Bayesian networks, decision trees, and probabilistic classification models.  
     
     
         32 . A notification service system comprising: 
 a central database that stores subscriber data in XML format;    an application specific database that stores subscription data in XML format;    an event provider that collects event information;    a notification engine that accesses the databases and joins subsets of data from the databases with the event information to generate notifications.    
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , the notification engine propagating the databases with data.  
     
     
         34 . A computer readable medium having stored thereon a data structure, comprising: 
 a first set of data fields containing data representing subscription information;    a second set of data fields containing data representing subscriber information;    a third set of data fields containing data representing event information; and    a fourth set of data fields containing notification data derived from performing a join operation on the first, second and third sets of data fields.    
     
     
         35 . The computer readable medium of  claim 34  further storing a computer executable component for performing the join operation.  
     
     
         36 . The computer readable medium of  claim 36  further storing match rules to facilitate the join operation.  
     
     
         37 . A notification system comprising: 
 a notification engine that performs a join operation on a plurality of databases to generate a notification database, the plurality of databases comprising: 
 a subscriber database that stores information relating to subscribers of a plurality of respective notification services.  
 a subscription database that stores information relating to a plurality of respective subscription queries; and  
   a notification distributor that delivers notifications generated by the notification engine to the subscribers.    
     
     
         38 . The notification system of  claim 37  further comprising an event database that stores event information.  
     
     
         39 . The notification system of  claim 37  further comprising an inference engine that infers preferred modes of notification delivery.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , the inference engine factoring cost of disruption versus utility of notification.  
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 37  further comprising a rules database that stores match rules that facilitate performing the join operation.