System and method for profile tailoring in an aggregate profiling system

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for tailoring user profiles of users in a mobile aggregate profiling system. In one embodiment, the user profiles of the users in the mobile aggregate profiling system are tailored based on aggregate profile data relevant to current locations of the users. More specifically, in order to tailor the user profile of a user, aggregate profile data is obtained for the current location of the user. The user profile of the user is then filtered based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user. In one embodiment, the user profile is filtered at a server of the mobile aggregate profiling system. In another embodiment, the user profile is filtered at a mobile device of the user prior to sending the user profile to a server of the mobile aggregate profiling system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 obtaining aggregate profile data for a current location of a user; and   filtering a user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user to thereby provide a filtered user profile for the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the aggregate profile data comprises historical aggregate profile data. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the aggregate profile data comprises current aggregate profile data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises, for each interest of a plurality of interests in the user profile of the user, filtering the interest if a representation value for a corresponding interest in the aggregate profile data is less than a cut-off value. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein for each interest of the plurality of interests in the aggregate profile data, the aggregate profile data comprises a representation value for the interest that defines a degree to which the interest is expressed in a plurality of user profiles of a plurality of users that contributed to the aggregate profile data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the cut-off value is a predetermined, static value. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the cut-off value is a dynamic value. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the cut-off value is a function of an amount of time that the user has been located at the same location. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the amount of time that the user has been located at the same location is an amount of time that the user has been located within a predefined tolerance from a predefined reference location. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the cut-off value decreases as the amount of time that the user has been located at the same location increases. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the cut-off value decreases from an initial cut-off value to a minimum cut-off value as the amount of time that the user has been located at the same location increases from a minimum value to a maximum value in an adjustment period. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a static adjustment period. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a dynamic adjustment period. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a randomly selected value from a defined range of values. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises randomly selecting a value from a defined range of values as the adjustment period such that the value is used as the adjustment period as long as the user remains at the same location. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a combination of a predefined initial adjustment period and a randomly selected variance value from a defined range of variance values. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the randomly selected variance value remains the same as long as the user remains at the same location. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a function of a frequency at which the user has previously visited the same location. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the adjustment period is a function of a number of times that the user has previously visited the same location. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the minimum cut-off value is a randomly selected value from a defined range of values. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises randomly selecting a value from a defined range of values as the minimum cut-off value such that the value is used as the minimum cut-off value as long as the user remains at the same location. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the minimum cut-off value is a combination of a predefined initial minimum cut-off value and a randomly selected variance value from a defined range of variance values. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the randomly selected variance value remains the same as long as the user remains at the same location. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the minimum cut-off value is a function of a frequency at which the user has previously visited the same location. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the minimum cut-off value is a function of a number of times that the user has previously visited the same location. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises filtering the user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user and additional information obtained for the current location of the user. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises filtering the user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user and one or more situational awareness rules defined by a community of users. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the aggregate profile data is an aggregation of a plurality of user profiles of a plurality of users, and interests in the plurality of user profiles having ages that are less than a predefined threshold age do not contribute to the aggregate profile data. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the aggregate profile data is an aggregation of a plurality of user profiles of a plurality of users, and interests in the plurality of user profiles that are relevant to one or more filtering rules that define a manner in which the user profile of the user is to be filtered based on the aggregate profile data and that have ages that are less than a predefined threshold age do not contribute to the aggregate profile data. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1  wherein filtering the user profile of the user comprises:
 filtering the user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user without regard to an amount of time that the user has been at the same location if configured in a first mode of operation; and 
 filtering the user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user and an amount of time that the user has been at the same location if configured in a second mode of operation. 
 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising utilizing the filtered user profile for the user to provide aggregate profile data in a mobile aggregate profiling system. 
     
     
         32 . A computing device comprising:
 a communication interface; and   a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to:
 obtain aggregate profile data for a current location of a user; and 
 filter a user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user to thereby provide a filtered user profile for the user. 
   
     
     
         33 . The computing device of  claim 32  wherein the computing device is a server in a mobile aggregate profiling system. 
     
     
         34 . The computing device of  claim 32  wherein the computing device is a mobile device of the user. 
     
     
         35 . A computer-readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a computing device to:
 obtain aggregate profile data for a current location of a user; and   filter a user profile of the user based on the aggregate profile data for the current location of the user to thereby provide a filtered user profile for the user.   
     
     
         36 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 obtaining aggregate profile data for a desired location; and   filtering the aggregate profile data based on the aggregate profile data itself.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein filtering the aggregate profile data comprises, for each interest of a plurality of interests in the aggregate profile data, filtering the interest if a representation value for the interest in the aggregate profile data is less than a cut-off value. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the desired location is a location of a user for which the aggregate profile data is obtained and filtered, and the cut-off value is a function of an amount of time that the user has been located at the same location. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the cut-off value decreases from an initial cut-off value to a minimum cut-off value as an amount of time that the user has been located at the same location increases from a minimum value to a maximum value in an adjustment period. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the adjustment period is a dynamic adjustment period. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the minimum cut-off value is a dynamic value. 
     
     
         42 . A mobile device comprising:
 a communication interface; and   a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to:
 obtain aggregate profile data for a desired location; and 
 filter the aggregate profile data based on the aggregate profile data itself. 
   
     
     
         43 . A computer-readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a computing device to:
 obtain aggregate profile data for a desired location; and   filter the aggregate profile data based on the aggregate profile data itself.