US20030154293A1 — Presence tracking and name space interconnection …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 42 words

1 . A method for ascertaining availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: providing presence information associated with the person; and generating at least one classification tag based on at least some of the presence information.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 42 words

1 . A method for ascertaining availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: providing presence information associated with the person; and generating at least one classification tag based on at least some of the presence information.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 101 words

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one classification tag is an agent classification tag and further comprising: receiving an agent report from a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with the person, the agent report comprising presence information, wherein the agent report comprises a unique identifier associated with at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, at least one address associated with the host entity, and at least one time stamp associated with at least one event, and wherein the at least one classification tag is associated with the event.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 21 words

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the agent report further comprises an authentication token and other authentication data.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 31 words

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one address is an Internet Protocol or IP address of the host entity and a Media Access Control address.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 33 words

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the agent report further comprises information regarding at least one of a spatial location, a geopolitical location, and functional location of the host entity.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 42 words

6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the host entity is at least one of an Internet Protocol or IP hardphone, IP softphone, Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, wired telephone, wireless telephone, pager, facsimile machine, telephony switch, server, and modem.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 45 words

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the receiving step comprises: presenting at least one of(a) at least some of the contents of the agent report and (b) at least some current availability intelligence to the person for configuration before the receiving step.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 28 words

8 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: determining a probability of the person being at least one of available and unavailable at the host entity.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 37 words

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining step comprises the substep of mapping tracking rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the presence information to provide availability intelligence.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 39 words

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising: mapping policy rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the availability intelligence to determine what availability intelligence is to be provided to a requester.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 46 words

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the mapping step comprises the substep of comparing an address in a name space associated with the requester against a listing of related addresses in the same and/or other name spaces via one or more directory services.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 54 words

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: generating at least one server classification tag based at least in part on the agent report and wherein the mapping step comprises comparing the at least one server classification tag against a set of classification tag set forth in one or more policy rules.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 20 words

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the associated address in the name space is a unique identity.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 94 words

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one classification tag is a plurality of tags and the plurality of tags are indicative of a plurality of the following: the purpose of the host entity, the type of host entity, the geopolitical location of the host entity, the functional location of the host entity, the spatial location of the host entity, the operating mode of the host entity, the event triggering the agent report, the capabilities of the host entity, media type, minimum acceptable contact priority and user customized tag.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 51 words

15 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: receiving an agent report from a second context sensing agent associated with a second host entity, the second host entity including second presence information; and at least one of increasing and decreasing the availability probability based on the second presence information.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 22 words

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the second host entity is in close spatial proximity to the host entity.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 75 words

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one classification tag is a server classification tag, the presence information comprises at least one agent classification tag, and the tagging step comprises the substep of: analyzing the at least one agent classification tag; and associating a server classification tag with at least one of the person, the associated address, and the name space based on the at least one agent classification tag.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 16 words

18 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 1 .

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 14 words

19 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 1 .

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 102 words

20 . A method for determining an availability of a person, object, or other entity comprising: receiving a first agent report from a first context sensing agent in a first host entity associated with an entity, the first agent report comprising first presence information; determining a first probability that the entity is contactable through the first host entity; thereafter receiving a second agent report from a second context sensing agent in a second host entity associated with the entity, the second agent report comprising second presence information; and changing the first probability based on at least some of the second presence information.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 102 words

20 . A method for determining an availability of a person, object, or other entity comprising: receiving a first agent report from a first context sensing agent in a first host entity associated with an entity, the first agent report comprising first presence information; determining a first probability that the entity is contactable through the first host entity; thereafter receiving a second agent report from a second context sensing agent in a second host entity associated with the entity, the second agent report comprising second presence information; and changing the first probability based on at least some of the second presence information.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 61 words

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the first host entity is in spatial proximity to the second host entity and the entity is one or more of a person, a group of persons, a computational component, a collection of computational components, a service provider, a group of service providers, a product provider, and a group of product providers.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 37 words

22 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising: parsing and first presence information in the first agent report; and tagging at least some of the parsed first presence information with at least one classification tag.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 48 words

23 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the first and second host entities are each at least one of an Internet Protocol or IP hardphone, IP softphone, Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, wired telephone, wireless telephone, pager, facsimile machine, telephony switch, server, messaging system, and modem.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 16 words

24 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 20 .

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 14 words

25 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 20 .

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 46 words

26 . A memory of a computational component, comprising: an address in a name space associated with a person; a set of availability rules associated with the address; and availability intelligence, the availability intelligence comprising a probability that the person is available at a specified address

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 46 words

26 . A memory of a computational component, comprising: an address in a name space associated with a person; a set of availability rules associated with the address; and availability intelligence, the availability intelligence comprising a probability that the person is available at a specified address

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 20 words

27 . The memory of claim 26 , wherein the set of availability rules comprise tracking rules and policy rules.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 18 words

28 . The memory of claim 26 , wherein the availability intelligence comprises one or more classification tags.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 31 words

29 . The memory of claim 26 , wherein the availability intelligence comprises a plurality of unique identifiers corresponding to a plurality of geographically distributed context sensing agents with associated addresses.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 146 words

30 . A presence and availability system, comprising: a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with a person, the person having an associated address within a name space and the context sensing agent being operable to collect contextual information relating to the location and availability of the person, wherein the context sensing agent periodically outputs an agent report to a presence server and wherein the agent report comprises at least one of a geographical location of the person, a geopolitical location of the person, a functional location of the person, an Internet Protocol or IP address and Media Access Control or MAC address of at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, default routing information associated with at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, and one or more agent classification tags associated with the collected contextual information.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 146 words

30 . A presence and availability system, comprising: a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with a person, the person having an associated address within a name space and the context sensing agent being operable to collect contextual information relating to the location and availability of the person, wherein the context sensing agent periodically outputs an agent report to a presence server and wherein the agent report comprises at least one of a geographical location of the person, a geopolitical location of the person, a functional location of the person, an Internet Protocol or IP address and Media Access Control or MAC address of at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, default routing information associated with at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, and one or more agent classification tags associated with the collected contextual information.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 73 words

31 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the presence server comprises: an input operable to receive the agent report from the context sensing agent in the host entity; a tracking agent operable to tag at least some of the contextual information with at least one server classification tag; and a policy agent operable to determine availability intelligence to be provided to a requestor based on the at least one classification tag.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 60 words

32 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the agent report comprises a unique identifier associated with at least one of the context sensing agent and host entity, at least one address associated with the host entity, at least one time stamp associated with at least one event, and the one or more agent classification tag identifies the event.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 21 words

33 . The system of claim 32 , wherein the agent report further comprises an authentication token and other authentication information.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 20 words

34 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the agent report comprises the one or more agent classification tags.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 44 words

35 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the host entity is at least one of an Internet Protocol or IP hardphone, IP softphone, Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, wired telephone, wireless telephone, pager, facsimile machine, telephony switch, server, messaging system, and modem.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 54 words

36 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the context sensing agent is operable to present at least one of (a) at least some proposed contents of the agent report and (b) at least some current availability intelligence to the person for configuration and to forward the agent report to the presence server.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 33 words

37 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the tracking agent is operable to determine a probability of the person being at least one of available and unavailable at the host entity.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 32 words

38 . The system of claim 37 , wherein the tracking agent maps tracking rules associated with the associated address within the name space against the presence information to provide availability intelligence.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 40 words

39 . The system of claim 38 , wherein the policy agent maps policy rules associated with the associated address within the name space against the availability intelligence to determine what availability intelligence is to be provided to the requestor.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 44 words

40 . The system of claim 39 , wherein the policy agent compares an address in a name space associated with the requestor against a listing of related addresses in the same and/or another name spaces set forth in one or more directory services.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 34 words

41 . The system of claim 39 , wherein the policy agent compares the at least one server classification tag against a set of classification tags set forth in one or more policy rules.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 26 words

42 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the address in the associated name space is a unique identity and the input is an interface.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 95 words

43 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the at least one agent classification tag is a plurality of tags and the plurality of tags are indicative of a plurality of the following: the purpose of the host entity, the type of host entity, the spatial location of the host entity, the geopolitical location of the host entity, the functional location of the host entity, the operating mode of the host entity, the event triggering the agent report, the capabilities of the host entity, media type, minimum acceptable contact priority, and user customized tag.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 95 words

44 . A method for providing information regarding an inanimate object, the inanimate object having at least one of an address and identifier within one or more name spaces presented thereon, comprising: receiving the at least one of an address and identifier and a corresponding name space on the inanimate object; mapping at least part of the at least one of an address and identifier against a directory of associated addresses; identifying a contact address corresponding to the at least one of an address and identifier; and initiating a contact to the identified contact address.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 95 words

44 . A method for providing information regarding an inanimate object, the inanimate object having at least one of an address and identifier within one or more name spaces presented thereon, comprising: receiving the at least one of an address and identifier and a corresponding name space on the inanimate object; mapping at least part of the at least one of an address and identifier against a directory of associated addresses; identifying a contact address corresponding to the at least one of an address and identifier; and initiating a contact to the identified contact address.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 57 words

45 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the name space comprises a Universal Product Code or UPC, an International Standard Book Number or ISBN, a serial number, a MAC address, an IP address, a Session Initiation Protocol address, an email address, a Web address, a URI, a URL, an E.164 number, and a telephone number.

Claim 51

Dependent Claim 62 words

46 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the at least one of an address and an identifier is an embedded presence token and in the receiving step the at least one of an address and identifier is inputted by at least one of optical, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, and magneto-optical techniques and wherein the identified address points to a presence server.

Claim 52

Dependent Claim 41 words

47 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the identified contact address is at least one of a Uniform Resource Locator and a Uniform Resource Indicator and each address is associated with a different operational option available to a requestor.

Claim 53

Dependent Claim 16 words

48 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 44 .

Claim 54

Dependent Claim 14 words

49 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 44 .

Claim 55

Dependent Claim 123 words

50 . A method for presenting presence information associated with a contactee to a contactor, comprising: determining at least a first degree of contactability on at least a first communication device, wherein the first communication device has at least a first mode of communication; determining at least a second degree of contactability on at least a second communication device, wherein the second communication device has at least a second mode of communication, wherein the first and second modes of communication are different; and presenting to the contactor at least the first and second modes of communication and at least the first and second degrees of contactability, respectively, and the option to select between the at least the first and second modes of communication.

Claim 56

Dependent Claim 123 words

50 . A method for presenting presence information associated with a contactee to a contactor, comprising: determining at least a first degree of contactability on at least a first communication device, wherein the first communication device has at least a first mode of communication; determining at least a second degree of contactability on at least a second communication device, wherein the second communication device has at least a second mode of communication, wherein the first and second modes of communication are different; and presenting to the contactor at least the first and second modes of communication and at least the first and second degrees of contactability, respectively, and the option to select between the at least the first and second modes of communication.

Claim 57

Dependent Claim 28 words

51 . The method of claim 50 , wherein the first mode of communication is a live voice communication and the second mode of communication is voice mail.

Claim 58

Dependent Claim 47 words

52 . The method of claim 50 , wherein the first mode of communication is a live voice communication and the second mode of communication is at least one of voice mail, email, instant messaging, a chat session, Short Messaging Service or SMS, Web session, and video.

Claim 59

Dependent Claim 16 words

53 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 50 .

Claim 60

Dependent Claim 14 words

54 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 50 .

Claim 61

Dependent Claim 75 words

55 . A method for ascertaining the availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: providing a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with the person; collecting presence information associated with at least one of the person and the associated address; presenting the presence information to the person for modification; generating an agent report comprising the modified presence information; and forwarding the agent report to a presence server.

Claim 62

Dependent Claim 75 words

55 . A method for ascertaining the availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: providing a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with the person; collecting presence information associated with at least one of the person and the associated address; presenting the presence information to the person for modification; generating an agent report comprising the modified presence information; and forwarding the agent report to a presence server.

Claim 63

Dependent Claim 18 words

56 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the address is the address of the host entity.

Claim 64

Dependent Claim 55 words

57 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the agent report comprises a unique identifier associated with at least one of the context sensing agent and the host entity, at least one address associated with the host entity, at least one time stamp associated with at least one event, and information identifying the event.

Claim 65

Dependent Claim 21 words

58 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the agent report further comprises an authentication token and other authentication data.

Claim 66

Dependent Claim 29 words

59 . The method of claim 56 , wherein the associated address is an Internet Protocol or IP address of the host entity and a Media Access Control address.

Claim 67

Dependent Claim 34 words

60 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the agent report further comprises information regarding at least one of a spatial location, a geopolitical location, and a functional location of the host entity.

Claim 68

Dependent Claim 42 words

61 . The method of claim 55 , wherein the host entity is at least one of an Internet Protocol or IP hardphone, IP softphone, Personal Digital Assistant or PDA, wired telephone, wireless telephone, pager, facsimile machine, telephony switch, server, and modem.

Claim 69

Dependent Claim 16 words

62 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 55 .

Claim 70

Dependent Claim 14 words

63 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 55 .

Claim 71

Dependent Claim 93 words

64 . A method for ascertaining availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: receiving an agent report from a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with the person, the agent report comprising presence information; mapping tracking rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the presence information to provide availability intelligence; and mapping policy rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the availability intelligence to determine what availability intelligence is to be provided to a requestor.

Claim 72

Dependent Claim 93 words

64 . A method for ascertaining availability of a person having an associated address within a name space, comprising: receiving an agent report from a context sensing agent in a host entity associated with the person, the agent report comprising presence information; mapping tracking rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the presence information to provide availability intelligence; and mapping policy rules associated with the associated contact address within a name space against the availability intelligence to determine what availability intelligence is to be provided to a requestor.

Claim 73

Dependent Claim 19 words

65 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the associated address is the address of the host entity.

Claim 74

Dependent Claim 37 words

66 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the tracking rules at least one of manipulate classification tags based on presence information and characterize the likelihood that the user is available at a given contact address.

Claim 75

Dependent Claim 18 words

67 . The method of claim 66 , wherein the availability intelligence comprises at least one classification tag.

Claim 76

Dependent Claim 71 words

68 . The method of claim 67 , wherein the at least one classification tag is representative of one or more of the purpose of the communication device, the type of communication device, the spatial, functional, and/or geopolitical location of the communication device, the operating mode of the device, the event triggering the agent report, the capabilities or media support of the reporting entity, protocols, minimum usable priority, and visibility class.

Claim 77

Dependent Claim 107 words

69 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the availability intelligence comprises a plurality of the following: contact address of the host entity, a context sensing agent identifier, one or more classification tags, one or more time stamps associated with an agent report, one or more time stamps associated with the one or more classification tags, a probability of contacting the person at a contact address, default router and/or proxy address for an associated network, a geographical location, a geopolitical location, a functional location, a spatial location, type of a host entity associated with the context sensing agent, and communication mode capabilities of the host entity.

Claim 78

Dependent Claim 37 words

70 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the policy rules control at least one of how a requestor of presence information is to be treated and availability probability is to be modified specifically for requester.

Claim 79

Dependent Claim 51 words

71 . The method of claim 64 , further comprising: presenting to the person at least one of a tracking rule, availability intelligence, and a policy rule for modification; and effecting any modification made by the person to the at least one of a tracking rule, availability intelligence, and policy rule.

Claim 80

Dependent Claim 61 words

72 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the steps of claim 64 are performed by a first presence server and further comprising: receiving a query from a second presence server, different from the first presence server, for at least some of the availability intelligence; and providing the at least some of the availability intelligence to the second presence server.

Claim 81

Dependent Claim 16 words

73 . A computer readable memory comprising instructions for performing the steps of claim 64 .

Claim 82

Dependent Claim 13 words

74 . A logic circuit operable to perform the steps of claim 64.

Presence tracking and name space interconnection techniques

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