WO2021218768A1

WO2021218768A1 - Method and system for dynamically providing notifications

Info

Publication number: WO2021218768A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/088943
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nishant Chauhan
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-04-30
Filing date: 2021-04-22
Publication date: 2021-11-04

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and system for dynamically providing notifications to a user. The method receives a set of data associated with the user. The method thereafter identifies a total time slot of the user based on the set of data. Further the method categorizes the total time slot into available time slot and non-available time slot. The method then dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY PROVIDING NOTIFICATIONS

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of time management systems and electronic devices, and more particularly to a method and system for dynamically providing notifications to a user.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to provide information relating to field of the invention and thus, any approach or functionality described below should not be assumed to be qualified as prior art merely by its inclusion in this section.

The rapid enhancement in communication technology has enabled users to efficiently manage time. Now a days, most of the tasks are performed via a communication device of the user like booking tickets of an event, navigating to a place, for entertainment purpose and the like. Further, the communication/electronic device of the user, with conventional available systems, helps the user in reminding the user of the schedule upcoming events, task list, to-do list, missed notification and a lot to efficiently manage the tasks and to save time. In the conventionally available systems, notifications from any application on the electronic device is received in real-time. For instance, when a text message is received at the electronic device of a user, then a notification for such text message is received almost instantly in the notification tab/screen of the electronic device. In other known systems, the user has to set a time for receiving the notifications/alert of the upcoming events at the precalculated time. For instance, the user may set up in the system a predefined time period of 5 PM to 6 PM to receive all the notifications.

The conventionally available methods and systems used for providing reminders/notifications are not efficient and there exists a need to provide a more efficient method and system which can provide reminders/notifications to the user.

SUMMARY

This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present disclosure in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.

To overcome at least a few problems associated with the known solutions as provided in the previous section, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a novel method and system for dynamically providing notifications to a user. It is another object of the disclosure to provide notifications to the user in the available time slots of the user, i.e. when the user is available to view and/or act upon such notifications. It is yet another object of the present disclosure to identify the availability of the time slots on real-time dynamic basis. It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide the notifications to the user in an efficient manner.

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present disclosure provides a method and system for dynamically providing notifications to the user. One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of dynamically providing notifications to a user. The method comprises, receiving, at a transceiver unit, a set of data associated with the user. The method thereafter comprises identifying, by a processing unit, a total time slot of the user based on the set of data. The method then encompasses categorizing, by the processing unit, the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot. The method further comprises dynamically providing, by the processing unit, one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system for dynamically providing notifications to a user. The system comprises a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is configured to receive a set of data associated with the user. The processing unit is configured to identify a total time slot based on the set of data. The processing unit is further configured to categorize the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot. The processing unit is further configured to dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a user equipment for dynamically providing notifications to a user. The user equipment comprises a system. The system further configured to receive a set of data associated with the user. Thereafter, the system is configured to identify a total time slot of the user based on the set of data. Also, the system is configured to categorize the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot. Moreover, the system is configured to dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical components, electronic components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the system [100] for dynamically providing notifications to a user, in accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary method [200] of dynamically providing notifications to the user, in accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

As discussed in the background section, known solutions allow users to schedule notifications in a pre-defined time slot, say between 5 to 6 PM every day. However, in such a scenario, the user many a time, may reschedule the notifications/reminders for next interval/period due to having some work at the time of receiving alerts/notifications and the continuation of this process leads to missing of the reminder/alert/notification of the particular event. Also, sometimes, the user manually checks the set reminder/task calendar in his/her available time which further takes too much time of the user in accessing the reminders/notifications and thus, leads to inefficient time management.

The present disclosure provides a solution relating to an efficient way of managing the time of the user. More specifically, the present disclosure provides a method and system for dynamically providing one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot to prevent any mismanagement of the reminders or notifications. The present disclosure also provides a more reliable way of dynamically providing notifications based on the availability of time of the user. The present disclosure first identifies the availability time of the user on real-time dynamic basis and then based on the availability time, the present disclosure provides a mechanism to send alert/notifications/reminders to the user in the identified available time of the user.

As used herein, “user equipment” , “user device” and/or “communication device” , may be any electrical, electronic, electromechanical and computing device or equipment, having one or more transceiver unit installed on it. The communication device may include but is not limited to, a mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, a general-purpose computer, desktop, personal digital assistant, tablet computer, wearable device or any other computing device which is capable of implementing the features of the present disclosure and is obvious to a person skilled in the art.

As used herein the “transceiver unit” may include but not limited to a transmitter to transmit data to one or more destinations and a receiver to receive data from one or more sources. Further, the transceiver unit may include any other similar unit obvious to a person skilled in the art, to implement the features of the present disclosure.

As used herein, a “processing unit” or “processor” includes one or more processors, wherein processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A processor may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure. More specifically, the processor or processing unit is a hardware processor.

As used herein, “storage unit” refers to a machine or computer-readable medium including any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable medium includes read-only memory ( “ROM” ) , random access memory ( “RAM” ) , magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other types of machine-accessible storage media.

The present disclosure is further explained in detail below with reference to the diagrams. FIG. 1 illustrates a system [100] for dynamically providing notifications to a user, in accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the system [100] comprises at least one transceiver unit [102] , at least one processing unit [104] and at least one storage unit [106] , wherein all the components are assumed to be connected to each other unless otherwise indicated below. Also, in Fig. 1 only one transceiver unit [102] , only one processing unit [104] and only one storage unit [106] is shown, however the system [100] may comprise multiple such units and modules or the system may comprise any such numbers of said units and modules, as may be required to implement the features of the present disclosure. Also, there may be one or more sub-units of said units and modules of the system [100] and the same is not shown in the Fig. 1 for the purpose of clarity.

The transceiver unit [102] of the present disclosure may include but not limited to one or more transmitters for transmitting data to one or more destinations, one or more receivers for receiving of data from one or more sources, and any other similar units obvious to a person skilled in the art, to implement the features of the present disclosure. In the present disclosure, the transceiver unit [102] acts as a receiver to receive a set of data associated with the user. The set of data includes, but is not limited to, at least one of event schedule list, task list, to-do list, the input of the user with related to various modes in the user equipment, the activity of the user, location data of the user, bibliographic data of the user, historical data of the user and the like. The transceiver unit [102] is connected to a sensing unit (not shown in the Fig. 1 for the sake of clarity) to receive the data from the one or more sensors such as geolocation/GPS sensors, gyroscope sensor, accelerometer sensor, navigation sensors, the touchscreen sensor and the like. The transceiver unit [102] is connected to the storage unit [106] to receive the data from the storage unit [106] .

As used herein, ‘Schedule list’ comprises a list of events or tasks that need to be performed on the same day or in the coming days. In an example, to attend a meeting at 4: 00 pm on any given date is a task for which the user wants a reminder or notification before the meeting. The input of the user with related to various modes comprises but not limited to Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, Driving mode, Ride mode, silent mode, vibration mode. In an example, the user may select any suitable mode before attending the meeting to prevent any type of distraction during the meeting and to show the unavailability of the user during that time period.

The system [100] also includes the processing unit [104] . The processing unit [104] of the present disclosure is connected to the transceiver unit [102] . The processing unit [104] is configured to process the data received by the transceiver unit [102] . The processing unit [104] is configured to analyse the set of data associated with the user to identify a total time slot of the user. In an example, analysing of the schedule list, task list of the user helps in identifying the total time slots of the user required on the particular day or for the next few days to complete the task list. In another example, analysing of the historical data using machine learning and artificial techniques facilitates identifying the total time of the user required to complete the task list for the entire day. Further, the machine learning techniques facilitate in identifying the efficiency of the user to complete a task which is similar to the task performed by the user in the past few days.

The processing unit [104] is further configured to categorize the total time slot of the user into an available time slot and non-available time slot. The available time slot represents the free time or non-occupied time of the user and the non-available time slot represents the occupied or busy time of the user. Each time slot includes a beginning point i.e., T _begin and an endpoint i.e., T _end. The available time slots and non-available time slots are identified based on the analysis of the set of data associated with the user. In an example, analysing schedule list data, task list data facilitates in identifying the non-available time slots of the user and analysing of the traffic data, GPS data, user movement data, user activity data (purpose of using communication device) on real-time dynamic basis facilitates in identifying the available time slots.

In an example, the user is driving a vehicle from Place A to Place B. The processing unit [104] determines the waiting time or pitstops in between the Place A and Place B with the help of sensors like GPS sensor/geolocation sensor and the historical data associated with the past journey of the user. The GPS sensors also provide the information of the high traffic areas in between place A and place B and the areas where the speed of the vehicle would be 0 km/h i.e., rest position of vehicle. Thus, the time for which the vehicle will remain in rest position is considered as an available time slot of the user. The processing unit [104] uses the historical data to determine the available time slot of the user by determining the total time of stay of the user at one or more pitstops during his journey.

In another example, the user is driving a vehicle from Place A to an unknown destination (the processing unit does not have any data of the destination place of the user) . In such a case, the processing unit [104] identifies the available time slots of the user on real-time dynamic basis. The processing unit [104] identifies the available time slot of the user based on the data received by the geolocation/GPS sensor i.e., when the vehicle comes in the rest position (vehicle speed = 0) . The duration of the time for which the vehicle remains in rest position is considered as the available time slot of the user. The time for refuelling the vehicle during the journey, the time of taking a short break in between the journey may also be considered as the available time slot of the user.

The processing unit [104] is configured to dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot. The one or more notifications comprises but not limited to reminders for scheduled tasks, missed calls, unread messages, unread emails and the like. In an example, the processing unit dynamically provides reminders for the scheduled task to the user into the available time slots before the time of the event or task. The processing unit [104] is further configured to determine an average reading time of the said one or more notifications and to provide the said one or more notifications to the user in an event the available time slot is equal or more than said determined average reading time of said notifications. In continuation with the above-mentioned example, the processing unit provides the one or more notifications to the user in the time slot for which the vehicle is in the rest position (speed = 0) . In another example, the available time slot is 10 minutes and the determined average reading time required to read notification and reminder of meeting, few messages, and emails from the client is 9 minutes which is less than the available time slot, thus the processing unit [104] provides the said notifications to the user on a display device in the available time slot of 10 minutes. The display device includes a screen or display to read the notifications. In an example, the display device is a screen of the user equipment.

The processing unit [104] is further configured to analyse the input of the user to various available modes such as silent mode, driving mode, ride mode, DND mode and the like. The processing unit [104] stores the notification received during the above-mentioned modes and display the missed notification or reminders in the available time slots of the user. In an example, the user chooses Do not disturb (DND) mode before going to attend a meeting. The DND mode chosen by the user is considered as an input by the processing unit [104] . The processing unit [104] observe the notifications like call notifications, message notifications, email notifications during the period of meeting or till when the DND mode is ON and provide all the missed notification to the user only after the end of the meeting or when DND mode gets OFF by the User. In one embodiment, the processing unit [104] is configured to generate a list of notification and provide these notifications to the user based on a relevance of each said notifications. In an example, the list of notification includes a first notification for a call missed from a friend and a second notification for a call missed from a client. Thus, the processing unit [104] may provide the list of notification to the user based on the importance level of the call like the processing unit [104] may show the notification of a call missed from the client first and then the notification of a call missed from a friend.

In another example, the list of notification includes notifications related to one or more messages, one or more missed calls, one or more emails and one or more reminders. The one or more reminders include reminders to buy grocery items in an event the user is on the way to home. Thus, based on the availability of time during the way to home, the processing unit first provide the notification to the user to buy grocery and then provide other notifications. Thus, the one or more reminders would be considered as more relevant to the user at that time then the other notifications. Thus, the importance level of the notification defines the relevance of the notification. The importance level for notifications may be decided based on the user’s past activity. For instance, if the user always checks his email notifications first and social networking application related notifications later, then the email notifications may be given a higher importance/relevance based on this past usage pattern/activity.

The system [100] includes the storage unit [106] . The storage unit [106] of the present disclosure is connected to the processing unit [104] and the transceiver unit [102] . The storage unit [106] is configured to store the data associated with the user. In an example, the storage unit is configured to store updated data of the user, daily activity of the user, frequency of choosing various modes on daily basis, number of meetings attended by the user, available time slots, non-available time slots, duration of available time slots, duration of non-available time slots, daily schedule and the like.

Referring to Fig. 2, an exemplary method flow diagram [200] , depicting method of providing dynamic reminders, in accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. As shown in Fig. 2, the method begins at step [202] .

At step [204] , the method comprises receiving, at a transceiver unit [102] , a set of data associated with the user. The set of data comprises but not limited to at least one of event schedule list, task list, to-do list, input of the user related to various modes in the user equipment, the activity of the user, location data of the user, bibliographic data of the user, historical data of the user and the like. The set of data associated with the user is received from a sensing unit and/or a storage unit [106] . In an embodiment, the set of data associated with the user may be received from one or more sources responsible to enable the function of the present disclosure. The present disclosure encompasses receiving the set of data continuously in real-time or periodically.

At step [206] , the method comprises identifying, by a processing unit [104] , a total time slot of the user based on the set of data. The set of data is first analyzed by the processing unit [104] with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to identify the total time slot of the user. In an instance, the total time slot may be the entire 24 hours of the day. In another instance, the total time slot may be 15hour time period in which the user is typically awake, say 7: 00 AM to 10: 00 PM.

Thereafter, at step [208] , the method encompasses categorizing, by the processing unit [104] , the total time slot of the user into an available time slot and a non-available time slot. In an embodiment, the available time slot is a combination of a plurality of short duration available time slots and the non-available time slot is a combination of a plurality of short duration non-available time slots. For example, the processing unit identifies the duration of available time slot for the entire day is 14 minutes which is a combination of further five slots i.e., 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, and 2 minutes. Each slot can be used based on the average time required to read the notifications. Example, a short time slot i.e., 2 minutes can be used to provide few notifications or to read a short message.

Next, at step [210] the method comprises dynamically providing, by the processing unit [104] , one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot. The said one or more notifications are provided to the user in an event the available time slot of the user is equal or more than the average reading time of the said notifications. The average reading time of the said notifications is first determined by the processing unit based on the number of notification and user efficiency of reading the notifications. Further, one or more notifications are provided to the user based on a relevance of each said notification.

The method further comprises storing, by a storage unit [106] , the updated data associated with the user. The updated data associated with the user comprises at least one of daily activity of the user, frequency of choosing various modes on daily basis, number of meetings attended by the user, available time slots, non-available time slots, duration of available time slots, duration of non-available time slots and daily schedule. After providing the said one or more notifications to the user and storing the updated data, the method terminates at step [212] .

Furthermore, the one or more aspect of the present disclosure relates to a user equipment for dynamically providing notification to a user. The user equipment includes the system [100] , wherein the system is configured to receive a set of data associated with a user. The system is further configured to identify a total time slot of the user based on the set of data. Thereafter, the system is configured to categorize the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot. Next, the system is configured to provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.

While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the disclosed embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. These and other changes in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, whereby it is to be understood that the foregoing descriptive matter to be implemented is illustrative and non-limiting.

Claims

A method of dynamically providing notifications to a user, the method comprising:

- receiving, at a transceiver unit [102] , a set of data associated with the user;

- identifying, by a processing unit [104] , a total time slot of the user based on the set of data;

- categorizing, by the processing unit [104] , the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot; and

- dynamically providing, by the processing unit [104] , one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the set of data comprises at least one of event schedule list, task list, to-do list, input of the user related to various modes present in the user equipment, activity of the user, real-time location data of the user, traffic data, bibliographic data of the user, and historical data of the user.
The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

- determining an average reading time of the notifications; and

- providing the notifications in an event the available time slot is equal or more than the determined average reading time of the notifications.
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the notifications are provided to the user based on a relevance of each of the notifications.
The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising storing, by a storage unit [106] , updated data associated with the user, wherein updated data associated with the user comprises at least one of daily activity of the user, frequency of choosing various modes on daily basis, number of meetings attended by the user, available time slots, non-available time slots, duration of available time slots, duration of non-available time slots, and daily schedule.
A system [100] for dynamically providing notifications to a user, the system comprises:

- a transceiver unit [102] , configured to receive, a set of data associated with the user;

- a processing unit [104] , wherein the processing unit is configured to:

identify a total time slot of the user based on the set of data,

categorize the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot, and

dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.
The system [100] as claimed in claim 6, wherein the set of data comprises at least one of event schedule list, task list, to-do list, input of the user related to various modes in the user equipment, activity of the user, real-time location data of the user, traffic data, bibliographic data of the user, and historical data of the user.
The system [100] as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine an average reading time of the notifications and to provide the notifications in an event the available time slot is equal or more than the determined average reading time of the notifications.
The system [100] as claimed in claim 6, wherein the notifications are provided to the user based on a relevance of each notification.
The system [100] as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a storage unit configured to store updated data associated with the user, wherein updated data associated with the user comprises at least one of daily activity of the user, frequency of choosing various modes on daily basis, number of meetings attended by the user, available time slots, non-available time slots, duration of available time slots, duration of non-available time slots, and daily schedule.
A user equipment for dynamically providing notifications to a user, the user equipment comprises:

a system configured to:

- receive a set of data associated with the user;

- identify a total time slot of the user based on the set of data;

- categorize the total time slot into an available time slot and a non-available time slot;

- dynamically provide one or more notifications to the user in the available time slot.
The user equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein the set of data comprises at least one of event schedule list, task list, to-do list, input of the user related to various modes in the user equipment, activity of the user, real-time location data of the user, traffic data, bibliographic data of the user, and historical data of the user.
The user equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein the system is further configured to determine an average reading time of said notifications and to provide the notifications in an event the available time slot is equal or more than the determined average reading time of the notifications.
The user equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein the notifications are provided to the user based on a relevance of each notification.
The user equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein the system is configured to store updated data associated with the user, wherein updated data associated with the user comprises at least one of daily activity of the user, frequency of choosing various modes on daily basis, number of meetings attended by the user, available time slots, non-available time slots, duration of available time slots, duration of non-available time slots, and daily schedule.