Providing a Marketplace for Sensor Data

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes accessing first information identifying a sensor-data set that includes sensor-data from multiple sensor-data streams from multiple sensors over a period of time, with the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to a sensor subject; accessing second information identifying one or more offers to purchase the sensor-data set; and matching one of the offers with the sensor-data set to facilitate a purchase of the sensor-data set based at least on the one of the offers matched to the sensor-data set.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method comprising, by one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems:
 receiving, by one or more of the processors, a first offer from a first purchaser to purchase sensor data, wherein the first offer specifies a sensor subject and one or more characteristics of the sensor data;   generating, by one or more of the processors, a first sensor-data set based on the one or more characteristics specified by the first offer, the sensor-data set being aggregated from sensor data from a plurality of sensor-data streams from a plurality of sensors over a period of time, the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject; and   transmitting, by one or more of the processors, the sensor-data set to the first purchaser.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving, by one or more of the processors, one or more second offers to purchase the sensor data, wherein the one or more second offers to purchase the sensor data are receive from one or more second purchasers, respectively, and wherein each second offer specifies the sensor subject and one or more characteristics of the sensor data; and   selecting, by one or more of the processors, the first offer from the plurality of received offers to facilitate a purchase of the sensor data by the first purchaser.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein each offer to purchase the sensor data is a monetary bid, and wherein selecting the first offer from the plurality of received offers to facilitate the purchase of the sensor data by the first purchaser comprises identifying the first offer as comprising the highest monetary bid. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein selecting the first offer from the plurality of received offers to facilitate the purchase of the sensor data by the first purchaser comprises executing an auction, wherein the first offer is selected as winning the auction. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the auction is one of a Dutch auction, a Vickrey auction, a reverse auction, a short-bid auction, or an English auction. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first offer is a counteroffer generated in response to an initial offer from a seller of sensor data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor data from the sensor-data streams has been aggregated with each other further based on tags in the sensor data indicating their relationship to the sensor subject. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein one or more of the tags each comprise a sensor identifier (ID) of a sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the sensor ID of the sensor comprises one or more of:
 a network address of the sensor;   an ID of a network interface of the sensor;   an indication of the subject of the sensor;   geographic information about the sensor; or   information about one or more properties of the sensor.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein, to aggregate the sensor data from the sensor-data streams with each other based on tags in the sensor data indicating their relationship to the sensor subject, the tags have been queried to one or more records indicating the sensor subject associated with the tags. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the record is a lookup table. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor data from the sensor-data streams has been aggregated with each other using spatial factors. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor data from the sensor-data streams has been aggregated with each other using temporal factors. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor data from the sensor-data streams has been aggregated with each other using both spatial and temporal factors. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the sensor subject is a particular person or group of persons. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject is the sensor data is related to a particular characteristic of the sensor subject. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject is the sensor data is related to a particular trend in the sensor data of the sensor subject. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject is the sensor data is related to a particular model for making predictions concerning to the sensor subject. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein generating the first sensor-data set comprise accessing one or more data stores that store sensor data comprising the first sensor-data set. 
     
     
         21 . One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying instructions that are operable when executed to:
 receive a first offer from a first purchaser to purchase sensor data, wherein the first offer specifies a sensor subject and one or more characteristics of the sensor data;   generate a first sensor-data set based on the one or more characteristics specified by the first offer, the sensor-data set being aggregated from sensor data from a plurality of sensor-data streams from a plurality of sensors over a period of time, the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject; and   transmit the sensor-data set to the first purchaser.   
     
     
         22 . An apparatus comprising: a memory comprising instructions executable by one or more processors; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and operable to execute the instructions, the one or more processors being operable when executing the instructions to:
 receive a first offer from a first purchaser to purchase sensor data, wherein the first offer specifies a sensor subject and one or more characteristics of the sensor data;   generate a first sensor-data set based on the one or more characteristics specified by the first offer, the sensor-data set being aggregated from sensor data from a plurality of sensor-data streams from a plurality of sensors over a period of time, the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to the sensor subject; and   transmit the sensor-data set to the first purchaser.