Patent Grant
10242412
This disclosure generally relates to mobile devices.
A social-networking system, which may include a social-networking website, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) to interact with it and with each other through it. The social-networking system may, with input from a user, create and store in the social-networking system a user profile associated with the user. The user profile may include demographic information, communication-channel information, and information on personal interests of the user. The social-networking system may also, with input from a user, create and store a record of relationships of the user with other users of the social-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g. wall posts, photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements) to facilitate social interaction between or among users.
The social-networking system may transmit over one or more networks content or messages related to its services to a mobile or other computing device of a user. A user may also install software applications on a mobile or other computing device of the user for accessing a user profile of the user and other data within the social-networking system. The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of content objects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated stories of other users connected to the user.
A mobile computing device-such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer-may include functionality for determining its location, direction, or orientation, such as a GPS receiver, compass, or gyroscope. Such a device may also include functionality for wireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, near-field communication (NFC), or infrared (IR) communication or communication with wireless local area networks (WLANs) or cellular-telephone network. Such a device may also include one or more cameras, scanners, touchscreens, microphones, or speakers. Mobile computing devices may also execute software applications, such as games, web browsers, or social-networking applications. With social-networking applications, users may connect, communicate, and share information with other users in their social networks.
Particular embodiments provide push notifications based on the “ambient” location tracking of the user. The notifications are pushed to the mobile device of the user when the social-networking system detects the user is at a location or virtual landmark, where a friend of the user made a status update or uploaded a photo/video. The content of the push notification may include the photo by the friend at the location or a status update made at the location. For example, if the user is detected at Coit Tower, the social-networking system may push a Coit Tower photo taken by a first friend as well as a post from a second friend saying he got engaged there.
This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 110. As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 110 may include an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combination of two or more of these. Network 110 may include one or more networks 110.
Links 150 may connect client system 130, social-networking system 160, and third-party system 170 to communication network 110 or to each other. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 150. In particular embodiments, one or more links 150 include one or more wireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)), wireless (such as for example Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particular embodiments, one or more links 150 each include an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellular technology-based network, a satellite communications technology-based network, another link 150, or a combination of two or more such links 150. Links 150 need not necessarily be the same throughout network environment 100. One or more first links 150 may differ in one or more respects from one or more second links 150.
In particular embodiments, client system 130 may be an electronic device including hardware, software, or embedded logic components or a combination of two or more such components and capable of carrying out the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system 130 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebook or laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, global-positioning system (GPS) device, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronic device, cellular telephone, smartphone, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combination thereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 130. A client system 130 may enable a network user at client system 130 to access network 110. A client system 130 may enable its user to communicate with other users at other client systems 130.
In particular embodiments, client system 130 may include a web browser 132, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLA FIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or other extensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system 130 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other address directing the web browser 132 to a particular server (such as server 162, or a server associated with a third-party system 170), and the web browser 132 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request and communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept the HTTP request and communicate to client system 130 one or more Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Client system 130 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the server for presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitable webpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages may render from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML) files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according to particular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, for example and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA, MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts such as AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein, reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpage files (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa, where appropriate.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be a network computing system that can host an online social network. Social-networking system 160 may generate, store, receive, and transmit social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data, concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable data related to the online social network. Social-networking system 160 may be accessed by the other components of network environment 100 either directly or via network 110. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more servers 162. Each server 162 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanning multiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 162 may be of various types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server, news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, file server, application server, exchange server, database server, proxy server, another server suitable for performing functions or processes described herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, each server 162 may include hardware, software, or embedded logic components or a combination of two or more such components for carrying out the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server 162. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 164 may include one or more data stores 164. Data stores 164 may be used to store various types of information. In particular embodiments, the information stored in data stores 164 may be organized according to specific data structures. In particular embodiments, each data store 164 may be a relational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases, this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particular embodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 130, a social-networking system 160, or a third-party system 170 to manage, retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store 164.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may store one or more social graphs in one or more data stores 164. In particular embodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) or multiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—and multiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 160 may provide users of the online social network the ability to communicate and interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may join the online social network via social-networking system 160 and then add connections (e.g. relationships) to a number of other users of social-networking system 160 whom they want to be connected to. Herein, the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networking system 160 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship via social-networking system 160.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provide users with the ability to take actions on various types of items or objects, supported by social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups or social networks to which users of social-networking system 160 may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested, computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via the service, interactions with advertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items or objects. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may predict a future geo-location of a user based on events or calendar entries supported by social-networking system and a relationship between users, as described below. A user may interact with anything that is capable of being represented in social-networking system 160 or by an external system of third-party system 170, which is separate from social-networking system 160 and coupled to social-networking system 160 via a network 110.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be capable of linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may enable users to interact with each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 170 or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entities through an application programming interfaces (API) or other communication channels. As another example, social-networking system 160 may interact with third-party systems to receive content associated with transportation data, such as for example, real-time traffic data, airline flight schedules, public-transportation schedules, business-directory information, such as for example, business addresses or business activity information, or mapping data, such as for example, geographic information system (GIS) data.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 or third-party system 170 may derive information regarding users of social-networking system 160 based on location data sent by client system 130 along with social-graph information stored on social-networking system 160 and content stored on third-party systems 170. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may predict a future geo-location of user 101 based at least in part on a trajectory of movement of user 101 from location data and mapping data. Social-networking system 160 may identify another user interested in the future geo-location of user 101 based at least in part on social-graph information. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-networking system 160 may determine user 101 and another user are meeting when a trajectory of movement associated with user 101 is determined to intersect the current geo-location of the other user and user 101 has a relationship with the other user. Moreover, social-networking system 160 may estimate an arrival time to the airport based at least in part on location data sent by client system 130, as well as real-time traffic data associated with the trajectory of movement of user 101, and mapping data, such as for example GIS data, accessed from third-party systems 170.
In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include one or more types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces, including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or more content sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 170 may be operated by a different entity from an entity operating social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, however, social-networking system 160 and third-party systems 170 may operate in conjunction with each other to provide social-networking services to users of social-networking system 160 or third-party systems 170. In this sense, social-networking system 160 may provide a platform, or backbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 170, may use to provide social-networking services and functionality to users across the Internet.
In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include a third-party content object provider. A third-party content object provider may include one or more sources of content objects, which may be communicated to a client system 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, content objects may include information regarding things or activities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie show times, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, product information and reviews, or other suitable information. As another example and not by way of limitation, content objects may include incentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, gift certificates, or other suitable incentive objects.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 also includes user-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactions with social-networking system 160. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user communicates posts to social-networking system 160 from a client system 130. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textual data, location information, photos, videos, links, music or other similar data or media. Content may also be provided by users to social-networking system 160 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as a newsfeed or stream.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 or third-party system 170 may receive content provided by one or more users with a relationship with user 101, as described below. Social-networking system 160 or third-party system 170 may poll client system 130 for location data, as described below, and store a location associated with the content in the location stores. In particular embodiments, social-networking 160 or third-party 170 system may receive location data of client system 130 through user 101 initiating a location update, through a “check-in” performed by user 101, or any combination thereof. As an example and not by way of limitation, a status update provided by a user from a particular geo-location, such for example Coit Tower, may be associated with mapping data corresponding to the particular geo-location. Although this disclosure describes obtaining location data of the client system associated with the user through particular methods, this disclosure contemplates obtaining location data of the client system associated with the user through any suitable method, such as for example, polling the location service of the client device, a “check-in” performed by the user, or any combination of methods. Moreover, although this disclosure describes associating content with particular geo-locations, this disclosure contemplates associating content with any suitable geo-location, such as for example, a “virtual” geo-location generated by a user through social-networking system 160.
A notification controller of social-networking system 160 may send a notification for user 101 to client device 130. In particular embodiments, the notification may be displayed on a display of client system 130 associated with user 101. As an example and not by way of limitation, a server of social-networking system 160 may send a notification, such as for example, a modal window on a display of one or more client systems 130 associated with user 101. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 or third-party system 170 may send the notification based on the current geo-location of client device 130 associated with user 101. Social-networking system 160 or third-party system 170 may select content associated with a current geo-location of client system 130 from among the content provided by users with a relationship with user 101. As an example and not by way of limitation, the content of the modal window may include content provided by another user, such as for example, a status update or uploaded photo associated with a particular geo-location, as described below. As another example, the notification controller of social-networking system 160 may send a notification based on a current geo-location or predicted geo-location of another user with a relationship to user 101. The content of the notification, such as for example, a modal window may include a status associated with a current geo-location or predicted future geo-location of the user with a relationship to user 101. Although this disclosure describes sending a particular form of notification, this disclosure contemplates any suitable form of notification sent or displayed on the client system associated with the user, such as for example, short-messaging service (SMS) messages, multi-media messaging service (MMS) messages, instant messaging, balloon, dialog box, or e-mail.
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include a variety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and data stores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more of the following: a web server, action logger, API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-object classifier, notification controller, action log, third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module, authorization/privacy server, search module, ad-targeting module, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store, third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system 160 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components, or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include one or more user-profile stores for storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example, biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information, social information, or other types of descriptive information, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests, affinities, or location. Interest information may include interests related to one or more categories. Categories may be general or specific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes” an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or the general category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may be used for storing connection information about users. The connection information may indicate users who have similar or common work experience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are in any way related or share common attributes. The connection information may also include user-defined connections between different users and content (both internal and external). A web server may be used for linking social-networking system 160 to one or more client systems 130 or one or more third-party system 170 via network 110. The web server may include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receiving and routing messages between social-networking system 160 and one or more client systems 130. An API-request server may allow a third-party system 170 to access information from social-networking system 160 by calling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receive communications from a web server about a user's actions on or off social-networking system 160. In conjunction with the action log, a third-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures to third-party-content objects. A notification controller may provide information regarding content objects to a client system 130. Information may be pushed to a client system 130 as notifications, or information may be pulled from client system 130 responsive to a request received from client system 130. Authorization servers may be used to enforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networking system 160. A privacy setting of a user determines how particular information associated with a user can be shared. The authorization server may allow users to opt in or opt out of having their actions logged by social-networking system 160 or shared with other systems (e.g. third-party system 170), such as, for example, by setting appropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may be used to store content objects received from third parties, such as a third-party system 170. Location stores may be used for storing location information received from client systems 130 associated with users. Ad-pricing modules may combine social information, the current time, location information, or other suitable information to provide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to a user.
In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to a user of social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g. an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g. of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or over social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, when a user registers for an account with social-networking system 160, social-networking system 160 may create a user node 202 corresponding to the user, and store the user node 202 in one or more data stores. Users and user nodes 202 described herein may, where appropriate, refer to registered users and user nodes 202 associated with registered users. In addition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 202 described herein may, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered with social-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may be associated with information provided by a user or information gathered by various systems, including social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or her name, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, marital status, family status, employment, education background, preferences, interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding to information associated with a user. In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to one or more webpages.
In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to a concept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept may correspond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater, restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, a website associated with social-network system 160 or a third-party website associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as, for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); a resource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digital photo, text file, structured document, or application) which may be located within social-networking system 160 or on an external server, such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (such as, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea, photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory; another suitable concept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node 204 may be associated with information of a concept provided by a user or information gathered by various systems, including social-networking system 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of a concept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g. an image of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g. an address or a geographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL); contact information (e.g. a phone number or an email address); other suitable concept information; or any suitable combination of such information. In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding to information associated with concept node 204. In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to one or more webpages.
In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 200 may represent or be represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profile page”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible to social-networking system 160. Profile pages may also be hosted on third-party websites associated with a third-party server 170. As an example and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to a particular external webpage may be the particular external webpage and the profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 204. Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of other users. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 202 may have a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding user may add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself or herself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node 204 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or more users may add content, make declarations, or express themselves, particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node 204.
In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may represent a third-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 170. The third-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements, content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object (which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHP codes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by way of limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon such as “like,” “check in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action or activity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an action by selecting one of the icons (e.g. “eat”), causing a client system 130 to transmit to social-networking system 160 a message indicating the user's action. In response to the message, social-networking system 160 may create an edge (e.g. an “eat” edge) between a user node 202 corresponding to the user and a concept node 204 corresponding to the third-party webpage or resource and store edge 206 in one or more data stores.
In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 200 may be connected to each other by one or more edges 206. An edge 206 connecting a pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes. In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may include or represent one or more data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationship between a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, a first user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the first user. In response to this indication, social-networking system 160 may transmit a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirms the “friend request,” social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 connecting the first user's user node 202 to the second user's user node 202 in social graph 200 and store edge 206 as social-graph information in one or more of data stores 24. In the example of
The social-networking system may access content, user generated or third-party generated, provided by user nodes 202 that are connected to the user of the client system through relationship (e.g. “friend”) edge 206. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may access content provided user nodes 202 to select content that is associated with the current location of the client system. As described above, the social-networking system may send a notification to one or more client systems 130 associated with a user. The notification sent to the client device may include user-generated content associated with the current geo-location of the client device. In the example of
As described above, the social-networking system may access various types of items or objects, supported by the social-networking system, such as for example events or calendar entries, to determine a current geo-location or predict a future geo-location of interest to a user. As illustrated in the example of
As described above, the social-networking system may access content from third-party systems in conjunction with social-graph information to determine a current geo-location or predict a future geo-location of users that have a relationship. As illustrated in the example of
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may determine a future geo-location of users based at least in part on location data, mapping data, and social-graph information. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system may determine user “A”, user “B”, and user “D” are meeting for a meal at a particular restaurant when user “A”, user “B”, and user “D” each have a trajectory of movement that substantially intersects at the particular restaurant, such as for example, the “Old Pro”. In particular embodiments, this determination may be supported by social-graph information, such as for example, user “B” “liking” the “Old Pro”, as illustrated in the example of
In particular embodiments, an edge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 may represent a particular action or activity performed by a user associated with user node 202 toward a concept associated with a concept node 204. As an example and not by way of limitation, as illustrated in
In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 in social graph 200. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing a concept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or a special-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 130) may indicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the concept node 204 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause the user's client system 130 to transmit to social-networking system 160 a message indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with the concept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networking system 160 may create an edge 206 between user node 202 associated with the user and concept node 204, as illustrated by “like” edge 206 between the user and concept node 204. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may store an edge 206 in one or more data stores. In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may be automatically formed by social-networking system 160 in response to a particular user action. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first user uploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 206 may be formed between user node 202 corresponding to the first user and concept nodes 204 corresponding to those concepts. Although this disclosure describes forming particular edges 206 in particular manners, this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 206 in any suitable manner.
In particular embodiments, the social-networking system or the third-party system may poll or “ping” mobile device 10 using a activation signal to obtain location information. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system may poll the application of mobile device 10 for location data by sending the activation signal activate the location service of mobile device 10. The activation signal may be transmitted using a wireless communication protocol such as for example, WI-FI or third-generation mobile telecommunications (3G) and received by mobile device 10 through one or more antennae 14A-B. In particular embodiments, the location service of mobile device 10 may use one or more methods of location determination, such as for example, using the location of one or more cellular towers, crowd-sourced location information associated with a WI-FI hotspot, or the global-positioning system (GPS) function of mobile device 10.
As described above, the social-networking system may, automatically and without manual input, determine a geo-location associated with mobile device 10 based in part on the location data provided by mobile device 10. Alternatively, social-networking 160 or third-party 170 system may receive location data of client system 130 through user 101 initiating a location update, through a “check-in” performed by user 101, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may send a notification to mobile device 10 associated with a user based at least in part on the location data from mobile device 10. The notification may be modal window that displays content provided by another user on a display of mobile device 10 in response to determining mobile device 10 to be at or near a particular geo-location. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user who got engaged at Coit Tower may post a photograph of the engagement on the social-networking system. A notification that includes the engagement photograph may be sent to mobile device 10 in response to the user associated with mobile device 10 having a relationship (e.g. “friend”) with the other user and determining mobile device 10 is currently at or near Coit Tower. As another example, user “D” may post a status update to the social-networking system from Coit Tower announcing an engagement. Mobile device 10 associated with user “A” may receive a notification that is a modal window that reads “user “D” got engaged at Coit Tower” in response to the social-networking system determining mobile device 10 is currently located near or at Coit Tower.
As described above, the content displayed in a notification may include information associated with a geo-location of a user. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may poll respective mobile devices 10 of user “A” and user “D” to determine the geo-location associated with each user. The location data of respective mobile devices 10 may be correlated by the social-networking system to particular geo-locations based at least in part on mapping data, such as for example, GIS data. As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking system may determine user “D” is located at an airport and user “A” is on a road heading toward the airport. As discussed above, based on social-graph information, location data, and mapping data, the social-networking system may predict the airport is the future geo-location of user “A” and may further determine an arrival time based at least in part on real-time traffic data. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may send a notification to mobile device 10 associated with user “D”, where the notification may include information providing an updated arrival time for user “A” at the airport. As an example and not by way of limitation, a notification displayed on mobile device 10 associated with user “D” may read “user “A” is about 5 minutes from airport.” Although this disclosure describes sending particular notifications that include particular content to a mobile device, this disclosure contemplates sending any suitable notification that includes any suitable content to any suitable device.
This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems 60. This disclosure contemplates computer system 60 taking any suitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation, computer system 60 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system 60 may include one or more computer systems 60; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple data centers; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or more computer systems 60 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more computer systems 60 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. One or more computer systems 60 may perform at different times or at different locations one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein, where appropriate.
In particular embodiments, computer system 60 includes a processor 62, memory 64, storage 66, an input/output (I/O) interface 68, a communication interface 70, and a bus 72. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular computer system having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.
In particular embodiments, processor 62 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 62 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 64, or storage 66; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 64, or storage 66. In particular embodiments, processor 62 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 62 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 62 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 64 or storage 66, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 62. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 64 or storage 66 for instructions executing at processor 62 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 62 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 62 or for writing to memory 64 or storage 66; or other suitable data. The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 62. The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 62. In particular embodiments, processor 62 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 62 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 62 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors 62. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.
In particular embodiments, memory 64 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 62 to execute or data for processor 62 to operate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system 60 may load instructions from storage 66 or another source (such as, for example, another computer system 60) to memory 64. Processor 62 may then load the instructions from memory 64 to an internal register or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 62 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them. During or after execution of the instructions, processor 62 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor 62 may then write one or more of those results to memory 64. In particular embodiments, processor 62 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 64 (as opposed to storage 66 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 64 (as opposed to storage 66 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 62 to memory 64. Bus 72 may include one or more memory buses, as described below. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 62 and memory 64 and facilitate accesses to memory 64 requested by processor 62. In particular embodiments, memory 64 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 64 may include one or more memories 64, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.
In particular embodiments, storage 66 includes mass storage for data or instructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 66 may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage 66 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate. Storage 66 may be internal or external to computer system 60, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 66 is non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 66 includes read-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. This disclosure contemplates mass storage 66 taking any suitable physical form. Storage 66 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 62 and storage 66, where appropriate. Where appropriate, storage 66 may include one or more storages 66. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.
In particular embodiments, I/O interface 68 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication between computer system 60 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system 60 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a person and computer system 60. As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 68 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 68 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 62 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 68 may include one or more I/O interfaces 68, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.
In particular embodiments, communication interface 70 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as for example, packet-based communication) between computer system 60 and one or more other computer systems 60 or one or more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communication interface 70 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication interface 70 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system 60 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As an example, computer system 60 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computer system 60 may include any suitable communication interface 70 for any of these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 70 may include one or more communication interfaces 70, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication interface.
In particular embodiments, bus 72 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of computer system 60 to each other. As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 72 may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 72 may include one or more buses 72, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.
Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.
Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.
The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.
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