System for suggesting network resource for use by a network terminal based on network resource ranking

Abstract

A network resource access system for providing access by a user to network resources over a communications network, the system comprising: a resource registry including stored resource records associated with each of the network resources and a stored user profile containing a list of network resources such that the network resources have a ranking relative to each other based at least in part on user behaviour with respect to usage of each of the network resources, the user profile associated with the user such that the list of network resources contains the network resources previously accessed by the user; and a resource service for receiving an access query from a network terminal identifying the user and associated with submission of application data for processing by a selected network resource from the list, the resource service further configured for accessing the user profile to identify a suggested network resource from the list in view of the relative ranking and for sending identification of the suggested network resource to the network terminal in response to the access query.

1 . A network resource access system for providing access by a user to network resources over a communications network, the system comprising:
 a resource registry including stored resource records associated with each of the network resources and a user profile containing a list of network resources such that the network resources have a ranking relative to each other based at least in part on user behaviour with respect to usage of each of the network resources, the user profile associated with the user such that the list of network resources contains the network resources previously accessed by the user; and   a resource service for receiving an access query from a network terminal identifying the user and associated with submission of application data for processing by a selected network resource from the list, the resource service further configured for accessing the user profile to identify a suggested network resource from the list in view of the relative ranking and for sending identification of the suggested network resource to the network terminal in response to the access query.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the resource service is further configured to dynamically determine the ranking of each of the network resources based on a plurality of resource parameters associated with at least one of the application data, the user, or an operational characteristic of one or more of the network resources. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking is a weighted combination of the plurality of resource parameters based on a weight assigned to each of the resource parameters. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the weight is stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein a resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is a frequency of usage of each of the network resources by the user. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the frequency of usage for each of the network resources is stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5  further comprising the resource service configured for updating the frequency of usage of the suggested network resource when selected by the user. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the access query is received from a client application of the network service over the communications network. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein a further resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is geographical coordinates based on a physical location of the network terminal. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein a further resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is network segment coordinates based on a network location of the network terminal. 
     
     
         11 . A method for providing access of a user to network resources over a communications network, the method comprising:
 receiving an access query from a network terminal associated with the user and associated with submission of application data for processing by a network resource of the network resources;   accessing a resource registry including stored resource records associated with each of the network resources and a stored user profile containing a list of network resources such that the network resources have a ranking relative to each other based at least in part on user behaviour with respect to usage of each of the network resources, the user profile associated with the user such that the list of network resources contains the network resources previously accessed by the user;   accessing the user profile to identify a suggested network resource from the list in view of the relative ranking; and   sending identification of the suggested network resource to the network terminal in response to the access query.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the step of dynamically determining the ranking of each of the network resources based on a plurality of resource parameters associated with at least one of the application data, the user, or an operational characteristic of one or more of the network resources. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the ranking is a weighted combination of the plurality of resource parameters based on a weight assigned to each of the resource parameters. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the weight is stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is a frequency of usage of each of the network resources by the user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the frequency of usage for each of the network resources is stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the step of updating the frequency of usage of the suggested network resource when selected by the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the access query is received from a client application of the network service over the communications network. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a further resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is geographical coordinates based on a physical location of the network terminal. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a further resource parameter of the plurality of resource parameters is network segment coordinates based on a network location of the network terminal. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the network resources is a printer. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the network resources is any one of a facsimile machine, an image server, a file server or a scanner. 
     
     
         23 . A network resource access system for providing access by a user to network resources over a communications network, the system comprising:
 a resource registry including stored resource records associated with each of the network resources;   a stored user profile accessible to a resource application on the network terminal, the user profile containing a list of network resources such that the network resources have a ranking relative to each other based at least in part on user behaviour with respect to usage of each of the network resources, the user profile associated with the user such that the list of network resources contains the network resources previously accessed by the user; and   the resource application on a network terminal for processing an access query of the network terminal associated with the user and associated with submission of application data for processing by a selected network resource from the list, the resource application further configured for accessing the user profile to identify a suggested network resource from the list in view of the relative ranking and for sending identification of the suggested network resource to a user interface of the network terminal.