Patent Application
20170140048
The present patent document claims the benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510792570.3, filed Nov. 17, 2015, and entitled “Information Processing Method, Information Processing Apparatus, Terminal and Server,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of mobile communication, and in particular relates to methods and systems for processing structured and unstructured data objects.
The development of the internet has changed how users live their lives, as many interactions either take place on, or are facilitated by, the Internet. Users, for example, may purchase different products or book travel accommodations on different retailer websites. These interactions often times result in the generation and delivery of automated messages to the user. Websites, for example, may send a customer a purchase confirmation via e-mail for a product that they purchased and/or notify the customer that there order has shipped via a mobile text message (i.e., an SMS message). As another example, customers who book a flight through a travel agency web site may receive a ticket confirmation e-mail following their booking as well as notifications or updates regarding the flight status.
While users may want to take certain actions in response to receiving these automated messages, for example, including a product purchase within their weekly or monthly budget or adding a reminder to the user's calendar for their travel plans, taking responsive action often time requires a great deal of manual intervention, which can be a laborious process that is prone to human error. Accordingly, in order to improve the user experience, it may be helpful to simplify and/or automate the processing of messages received by a user. Challenges arise, however, where information is densely distributed within a message, and existing methods are poorly suited to accurately and efficiently extract information from a message. By leveraging the fact that automated messages generated for a particular user interaction may be similarly formatted and contain common elements of information, a prioritized template-based method for information extraction may be used to overcome the shortcomings of existing methods and automatically and accurately extract elements from a received message object.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided that involves receiving one or more data templates from a remote information processing server and storing the data templates in a local database, receiving a data object from a third-party server, and when the data object has been received, determining whether the data object comprises a particular type of data, comparing a determined data type to the one or more data templates in the local database to identify a matching data template, extracting data elements from the data object using the matching data template, and utilizing the extracted data elements to automatically perform a task.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided that involves receiving a plurality of data objects from one or more remote terminal devices, processing the plurality of data object to identify one or more data fields, generating one or more data templates based on the identified data fields, and distributing the data templates to the one or more remote terminal devices.
According to a third aspect, a message transmission apparatus is provided, which includes a processor and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to receive one or more data templates from a remote information processing server and store the data templates in a local database, receive a data object from a third-party server, and when the data object has been received, determine whether the data object comprises a particular type of data, compare a determined data type to the one or more data templates in the local database to identify a matching data template, extract data elements from the data object using the matching data template, and utilize the extracted data elements to automatically perform a task.
According to a fourth aspect, a message transmission apparatus is provided, which includes a processor and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to receive a plurality of data objects from one or more remote terminal devices, process the plurality of data object to identify one or more data fields, generate one or more data templates based on the identified data fields, and distribute the data templates to the one or more remote terminal devices.
It should be understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention.
The innovation may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of systems, apparatuses and methods consistent with aspects of the present disclosure, which may be recited in the appended claims.
In the present disclosure, the terms used are aimed at describing the specific embodiments but not limiting the present disclosure. The terms “a”, “the” and “this” used in the present disclosure and the accompanying claims which are in singular forms are also aimed at comprising plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings. It shall also be appreciated that the terms “and/or” used in the text refers to one or more correlated items listed, comprising any or all possible combinations thereof.
It shall be appreciated that, although terms such as first, second and third may be employed in the present disclosure to describe various elements, the elements should not be thus limited. These terms are only used to distinguish elements of the same type from each other. For example, in a case not departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first element may also be called a second element, and similarly, the second element may be referred to as the first element. Furthermore, depending on the context, the word “if” used herein can be explained as “while . . . ” or “when . . . ” or “responsive to a determination that . . . .”
The communication network(s) 150 may be a public network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, or a combination thereof, and may include intermediate network devices or logic operating according to any communication mediums, protocols, topologies, or standards. The communication networks 150, for example, may include terrestrial networks, including as examples, Ethernet, cable, DSL, Multimedia over Coax Alliance, power line, Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON), or Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) networks, cellular networks, including standards-based networks (e.g., 2G, 3G, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), GSM® Association, Long Term Evolution (LTE)™, or more), WiMAX networks, Bluetooth networks, near field communication (NFC) networks, WiFi (including 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac or others) networks, WiGig networks, Global Positioning System (GPS) networks, any other networks available at the time of the filing of this application, and/or networks that may be developed in the future.
The terminal devices 110 may be any intelligent terminal having communication capabilities, for example, taking the form of a smartphone, tablet computer, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or other similar devices. As illustrated in
The information processing server 120 may include one or more input/output interfaces 121, one or more communication interfaces 122, a remote database repository 123, and processing circuitry 124, including one or more processors 125 and memory 126, which may all be in electronic communication with one another. The communication interfaces 122 may include wireless communication circuitry, LAN communication circuitry, or the like. The information processing server 120 may use the one or more communication interfaces 122 to communicate with the terminal devices 110 and third-party servers 130 over the communication network(s) 150. The remote database repository 123 may include a database that stores data templates for various types of information. The remote database repository 123, for example, may include a keyword template database 123a, which may store keyword templates, along with corresponding production rules and associated tags, for various types of information. The keyword template database 123a may also store source-type associations, and other associations, that are maintained by the information processing server 120.
The third-party servers 130 may be any system with which a terminal device 110 or information processing server 120 may interact with. By way of example, a user 101 may use their terminal device 110 to make a purchase with an e-commerce platform operated on a third-party server 130 of a retailer. As another example, a user 101 may use their terminal device 110 to book a train ticket on a travel agency website (i.e., a third-party server 130), which may generate an automated message for the terminal device 110 or information processing server 120 confirming that the ticket has been booked and providing details regarding the booking (e.g., train number, seat number, time of departure, etc.). The third-party server 130 may then transmit the generated message to the terminal device 110 of the user 101 and/or the information processing server 120. In some embodiments, the automated messages may be sent directly to the terminal device 110 and/or information processing server 120. In other implementations, the automated messages may be sent directly to the terminal device 110, which may in turn relay the message to the information processing server 120, or to the information processing 120, which may in turn relay the message to the terminal device 110. The third-party server 130 may deliver the automated message to the terminal device 110 and/or information processing server 120 using any mode currently in existence or to be developed in the future, for example, transmitting the automated message via e-mail or mobile messaging (e.g., MMS or SMS messaging) over the communications network 150. While the following description may make reference to the examples of a purchase confirmation or a train ticket booking, it should be appreciated that the scope of the present disclosure is not thus limited and may be readily adapted to messages containing different types of information.
As it relates to the processing of messages received (either directly or indirectly) from third-party servers 130, the terminal device 110 and/or information processing server 120 may be responsible for the generation of one or more keyword templates. The keyword templates may be exchanged directly between terminal devices 110 or indirectly through the information processing server 120. The terminal devices 110 in processing subsequently received messages may rely on available keyword templates to automatically extract information elements from incoming messages. The terminal device 110 in selecting a keyword template to use for processing an incoming message may perform a topological sorting of the keyword templates to identify the most applicable keyword template. While the topological sorting scheme is sufficiently efficient, barriers may arise when dealing with a large number of keyword templates. In such circumstances, filter conditions may be applied to obtain a limited set of matching keyword templates from which the most applicable keyword template may be selected. It may also be the case that none of the keyword templates are found to be applicable, in which case the terminal device 110 may analyze the message itself and generate a keyword template, which may then be sent to the information processing server 120, or relay the message to the information processing server 120 for analysis and keyword template generation. The keyword template that is found to be most applicable may be used to extract the relevant information elements from the incoming message object. And, in some cases, certain tasks may be automatically triggered in the terminal device 110 and/or at the information processing server 120.
In processing incoming messages, the terminal device 110 and information processing server 120 may implement various natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze structured or unstructured information (e.g., an incoming message object). For example, whether processed by the terminal device 110 or information processing server 120, the automated messages may be used to generate one or more keyword templates. In doing so, the terminal device 110 and/or information processing server 120 may perform one or more natural language processing functions including, for example, tokenization, text segmentation and sentence detection, part-of-speech tagging, named entity recognition, dependency parsing, and semantic class identification. The information processing server 120 and/or terminal devices 110 may process received messages using a pipelined approach. The information processing server 120, for example, may use ClearNLP, Stanford's CoreNLP, which are generally available as an open-source product, or some other commercial natural language parsers, which may be built upon Apache's Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA), which is also available an open-source product
Based on the implementation, the terminal device 110 and information processing server 120 may be configured to perform NLP tasks independently or in a coordinated fashion. By way of example, the information processing server 120 may generate one or more keyword templates and distribute some or all of the keyword templates to terminal devices 110. The terminal devices 110 may then perform a topological sorting of the keyword templates and extract information elements from incoming messages based on matching keyword templates. Based on the extracted information elements, the terminal devices 110 may automatically take certain actions and/or invoke certain actions by the information processing server 120. The terminal device 110 and information processing server 120, in order to assist with taking certain actions, may access context specific information (e.g., weather information, traffic information, travel guides, etc.) from the third-party servers 130.
As mentioned above, the terminal device 110 and/or information processing server 120 may generate one or more keyword templates.
The information processing server 120 may receive one or more messages for processing (210). As noted above, in some implementations, the information processing server 120 may receive the automated messages directly from third-party servers 130. In other implementations, the terminal devices 110 may receive automated messages from third-party servers 130 and may forward the messages on to the information processing server 120. The messages may be automatically forwarded to the information processing servers 120 upon receipt by the terminal devices 110. Alternatively, the messages may be sent from the terminal device 110 to the information processing servers 120 in an asynchronous fashion. The terminal device 110, for example, may send received messages to the server once an hour or once a day.
The information processing server 120 may process the received messages to identify one or more keyword fields corresponding to significant information elements within the received messages and generate one or more keyword templates, which may be used to extract information from newly received messages that may be matched to the keyword template (220). In doing so, the information processing server 120 may take advantage of the fact that automated messages generated by a third-party system 130 for a particular user interaction may contain common information elements and be similarly formatted and structured. The information processing server 120 may process the messages as they are received or may aggregate messages (e.g., those received within a set period of time) for batch processing. The information processing server 120 may utilize a set of one or more of the same type of automated message to “train” itself to identify patterns within a particular message and across multiple messages. In some implementations, for instance, the information processing server 120 may employ vocabulary-syntactic pattern matching techniques in order to identify significant keyword fields, which is suited for intensive knowledge extraction with a high level of accuracy. The information processing server 120 may perform a syntactic analysis on a segmented message to map specific elements to common field names according to predefined mapping relationships and rules. In other implementations, the information processing server 120 may also employ different analytical approaches to identify structural and syntactic patterns across messages and identify common keyword fields. The keyword fields in a particular keyword template may be associated with the type of information included in the received messages from which it was generated, and referenced using a respective identifier. When applied to subsequent messages, the elements in the message corresponding to the keyword fields may be extracted and separately stored as a specific instance of the template, having a corresponding instance identifier.
The keyword templates that are generated may employ a context-free grammar (CFG) that specifies a set of rules (or productions) for the template. Each rule has a left-hand side, which may include a non-terminal symbol (e.g., an expression starting with “<?”), and a right-hand side, which may define its alternative component parts. The keyword template itself may be represented as a production. By way of example, the information processing server 120 may receive the following message (hereinafter referred to as the “First Message”), confirming the purchase of a train ticket, from a terminal device 110 of a user:
As used in the productions above, “|” represents a logical or, “<#ENG>” matches with an English character string, “<#NUM>” matches with a numerical character string, “MM”, “dd”, “HH” and “mm” respectively match with month, day, hour, and minute, “<*>” matches with any character string.
As another example, the information processing server 120 may receive the following message (hereinafter referred to as the “Second Message”), confirming the purchase of a train ticket for two passengers, from a terminal device 110 of a user:
The template may employ the following productions, which as can be seen may be recursive in nature, in addition to those identified in the previous example:
While the above examples may specify particular keyword fields in a ticket information template, it should be understood that the ticket information template is not thus limited. A ticket information template, for example, may contain other keyword fields that may be found in ticket purchase confirmation messages including, for example, an arrival station, a seat type (e.g., sleeping berth, hard seat, second class seat, business class seat, etc.), a type of train, an estimated time of travel, or the like.
The information processing server 120 may also apply tags to the keyword templates that may identify particular attributes or qualities associated with the keyword template (230). The keyword templates, for example, may be given tags that identify the type of information to which the keyword template may apply and/or the source of the information to which the keyword template may apply. As a more specific example, the keyword templates described above may be given a “ticket confirmation” tag, as they would apply to messages containing ticket confirmation information, and/or a tag of “China Railway,” as the confirmation message may be generated in response to a purchase made through China Railway's e-commerce platform. As another example, the keyword templates may be tagged based on the source of the received messages that were used to generate the keyword template, for example, the e-mail address, telephone number, or partial telephone number (e.g., a common prefix or suffix) from which the received message was sent. In some embodiments, the information processing server 120 may also identify and maintain associations between different information sources (e.g., information source tags) and the type of information that may be provided by those sources. The information processing server 120, for example, may associate China Railway (i.e., an information source) with ticket confirmation information (a type of information).
The generated keyword templates, along with their corresponding production rules and associated tags, and any source-type associations may be stored in the keyword template database 123a on the information processing server 120 (240). The information processing server 120 may also use the received messages to test (i.e., validate or invalidate) existing keyword templates and ensure that keyword templates adapt to changes in the format and structure of the message (e.g., addition of a new term). The information processing server 120 may also distribute the keyword templates to the terminal devices 110 (250), which may use the information in processing newly received messages, as detailed below. The information may be distributed to the terminal devices 110 in response to update requests received from the terminal devices 110, or may be automatically pushed to the terminal devices 110 by the information processing server 120 at periodic intervals (e.g., every hour) or on an event-driven basis (e.g., as new templates are generated or existing templates are modified). In some implementations, the terminal device 110 may request a limited set of keyword templates by specifying certain filter criteria (e.g., a particular source association).
While some of the logic above is described with reference to the information processing server 120, the terminal device 110 may be similarly configured to process messages to generate one or more keyword templates. The terminal device 110, for example, may receive one or more messages from different third-party servers 130, and may process the received messages to identify one or more keyword fields within the received messages and generate one or more keyword templates as described above. The terminal device 110 may process the messages as they are received and/or process messages that may have been aggregated over a period of time. The terminal device 110 may also apply tags to the keyword templates and identify and maintain source-type associations. The keyword templates, along with their corresponding production rules and associated tags, and any source-type associations may be stored in the local database repository 113, which may be used by the terminal device 110 in processing newly received messages, as detailed below. While the current description may be provided with reference to keyword templates that are generated by processing messages, the present disclosure is not thus limited and may more broadly apply to the processing of structured or unstructured data objects (e.g., messages, images, videos, or the like) to identify significant data fields (e.g., keyword fields) within the data objects relating to a particular type of information and generate a data template (e.g., a keyword template), which may subsequently be used to extract information from newly received data objects.
In greater detail, the terminal device 110 of a user may receive one or more keyword templates, along with their corresponding production rules and associated tags, from the remote information processing server 120, and may store the received keyword templates in a local database repository 113 (310). The terminal device 110 may also receive source-type associations from the information processing server 120, which may also be stored in the local database repository 113. The information stored in the local database repository 113 may be updated based on requests sent from the terminal device 110 to the information processing server 120, which may be sent periodically (e.g., every 3 hours) or on an on-demand basis (e.g., when a new message is received for processing), or may be updated whenever update data is pushed to the device from the information processing server 120.
The terminal device 110 may receive an incoming message from a third-party server 130 (315). The terminal device 110, for example, may receive an e-mail or text message from a ticket-booking agency confirming the purchase of a ticket by the user. The user, for instance, may have purchased a ticket (e.g., train ticket, an airline ticket, an entrance ticket, a movie ticket, a theater ticket, etc.) from a ticket-booking agency website, which may have generated the confirmation message and sent it to the terminal device 110 of the user in response. The terminal device 110 may process the message to determine whether it contains, or pertains to, a particular type of information (320). The terminal device 110, for example, may process the message received from the ticket-booking agency and determine that the message pertains to ticket information for a ticket that the user purchased. Next, the terminal device 110 may compare the determined type of information to the database of keyword templates stored on the terminal device 110 and identify a set of one or more matching keyword templates (330). The terminal device 110 may sort the keyword templates, for example, using the topological sorting approach described below, and select the highest ranked keyword template as the matching keyword template. The terminal device 110 may then extract information element from the message corresponding to the keyword fields of the matching keyword template (340). The extracted information elements may be separately stored in the local database repository as an instance of the keyword template. The terminal device 110 may utilize the extracted information to automatically perform one or more specific tasks (350).
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110, in determining whether a received message pertains to a particular type of information, may extract source information from the received message, for example, by parsing the message and identifying a company name provided in the message (e.g., the name of the ticket-booking agency for a ticket confirmation message, or the name of a bank provided in a credit card billing message) and/or a telephone number or e-mail address provided in the message, for example, within the body of the message or as part of the message itself (e.g., in the header information of the message) (321). The terminal device 110 may then determine whether the extracted source is associated with a particular type of information, for example, using the source-type associations in the local database repository 113, which are provided by the information processing server 120 (322). If a source-type association exists, the terminal device 110 may determine that the received message includes a particular type of information. If no source-type association exists, the terminal device 110 may proceed to analyze the message contents to determine a type of information contained therein.
As noted above, the information processing server 120 may provide database updates to the terminal device 110, which may include source-type associations. In the context of determining whether a source-type association exists, the terminal device 110 may issue a request (i.e., an on-demand request) to the information processing server 120 requesting an update of the source-type associations. Alternatively, the information processing server 120 may push source-type associations to the terminal device 110 as they are determined by the information processing server 120. By updating the source-type associations in this way, a more timely and accurate determination of the type of information in the received message may be obtained.
In some cases where no source-type association exists, the terminal device 110 may not have previously received a message from the particular source and may not have a keyword template corresponding to the type of information contained within the message. The terminal device 110, for example, may receive a message from a third-party server 130 for the first time, but may not have a keyword template associated with the particular source. In such cases, the terminal device 110 may process the received message to identify various keyword fields and generate a keyword template, as described above, which may be sent to the information processing server 120 and used for processing subsequent messages. In other embodiments, the received message may be sent to the information processing server 120, which may process the received message to identify keyword fields and generate a keyword template as described above.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110, in identifying a matching keyword template for a determined type of information, may group similar keyword templates together (e.g., those templates associated with the determined type of information), store the grouped templates as a template set, sort the keyword templates in the template set based on a relative priority of the templates within the set, and select a matching keyword template from the sorted template set. In doing so, the terminal device 110 may be able to improve the efficiency of the template matching process since only a subset of the keyword templates is being considered to be a match.
By way of example, the terminal device 110 may process an incoming message to determine a source of the received information. The terminal device 110, for example, may process a ticket purchase confirmation message and determine the name of the ticket-booking agency through which the ticket was purchased. The terminal device 110 may then select one or more keyword templates from the local database repository 113 and may store, or otherwise group, the keyword templates in a template set (331). The terminal device 110, for example, may construct a mapping relationship between a particular source of, and terms in, a keyword template and a template set. As a more specific case, continuing with the previous example, the terminal device 110 may be able to group keyword templates associated with the determined ticket-booking agency in a template set, since the telephone number of a ticket-booking agency may have certain regularities (e.g., the same telephone number prefix or suffix) and the messages received from those telephone numbers contain common terms or elements (e.g., identifying the same company name).
Since the productions for a particular keyword template may include expressions that can be matched against any character string (e.g., the wildcard operator “<*>”), it may be possible for a received message to be matched with one or more keyword templates in a template set. In such cases, it may be necessary to calculate a relative priority of each keyword template to determine which keyword template may be the best match. The terminal device 110, for example, may calculate a relative priority of each key word template within the template set (332). The terminal device 110, for example, may compare each keyword template in the template set to one another. If the set of messages that match a first keyword template is a proper subset of the set of messages that match a second keyword template, the terminal device 110 may assign the first keyword template a higher relative priority value than the second keyword template. But if the set of matching messages for the first keyword template and the set of matching messages for the second keyword template are identical, the terminal device 110 may assign the same value to both the first and second keyword template. In such cases, the terminal device 110 may choose to discard (or delete) one of the keyword templates. In more general terms, where S_A and S_B represent the set of messages that can be matched against keyword template A and keyword template B, respectively, the priority of keyword template A is higher than that of keyword template B when S_A is a proper subset of S_B, the priority of keyword template B is higher than that of keyword template A when S_B is a proper subset of S_A, and the priority of keyword template A and keyword template B are the same where S_A is a subset of S_B and S_B is a subset of S_A.
As a more specific example, the terminal device 110 may receive the following message (the Second Message described earlier):
No. 03B, Anshan West”; and
and the second keyword template (similar to the Second Template described earlier) produces the following set of matching terms:
As indicated in the received message, the user may have purchased two tickets for two seats corresponding to two passengers. Since the second keyword template includes keyword fields for a first and second seat number, the set of messages that will match it will be a proper subset of the messages that will match with the first keyword template, which only includes keyword fields for a first seat number, and so the terminal device 110 may assign the second keyword template a higher priority. With the relative priority of each keyword template within the set of templates calculated, the terminal device 110 may be able to perform a topological sorting of the keyword templates in the template set based on the calculated priorities, for example, sorting the keyword templates from high priority to low priority (333). The terminal device 110 may then select the keyword template having the highest priority as the keyword template that may best match the received message.
As noted above, the terminal device 110 may use the matching keyword template to extract information from the received message and may utilize the extracted information to automatically perform certain tasks. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may present the extracted information to the user via the display 117 of the terminal device 110 according to a preset display format. The terminal device 110, for example, may present the received message on the display 117 with the extracted information being identified with a visual identifier (e.g., the extracted information may be highlighted or displayed in a particular color).
In other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may analyze the extracted information and determine whether the information refers to an event. For example, the terminal device 110 may recognize that the production of a keyword field refers to a calendar date or a time of day, and may determine that the extracted information pertains to a particular event. The terminal device 110 may use the extracted information to generate a reminder note that may be stored on the terminal device 110. The terminal device 110 may add the reminder to the calendar of a user or to a task list of the user, and may do so automatically or based on the selection of a button presented to the user on the display 117. In some implementations, the reminder note may also trigger an alarm or some other notification at a predetermined time before the event is set to take place. By generating a reminder note and/or triggering a notification, the terminal device 110 may be able to provide the user with a timely reminder regarding the particular event. As an example, the terminal device 110 may recognize that a received message includes details regarding a train ticket that the user has purchased, and may schedule a notification to be presented to the user at a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours before the scheduled departure), thereby assisting the user with managing their schedule so as to avoid missing the train departure.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may also request context specific information from third party servers 130 based on information extracted from the received message using the matching keyword template. With regard to a ticket confirmation message, the terminal device 110, for example, may gather information regarding the weather, traffic information, available accommodations, local food guides, or the like based on specific details extracted from the ticket confirmation message. As a more specific example, the terminal device 110 may determine that the user is taking a business trip to a particular location based on destination and arrival date information extracted from a ticket confirmation message using a keyword template with destination and arrival date keyword fields. The terminal device 110 may then generate a query to third-party servers 130 that requests context specific information based on the extracted information (i.e., the extracted destination and arrival date). The query, for example, may request information regarding the predicted weather and suggested dress, the availability and price levels of hotels, travel suggestions and restaurant recommendations, special local products and shopping guides, or the like for the planned destination and arrival date. The third-party servers 130 may provide the requested information, which the terminal device may then present to the user via the display 117 of the terminal device 110. In this way, the terminal device 110 is able to gather and present useful information that may facilitate certain actions (e.g., help the user make travel arrangements) or conveniently provide the user with relevant information.
As another example, when a user 101 purchases certain products (e.g., clothing) from an online retailer, a confirmation message may be sent to the terminal device 110. The confirmation message may include an invoice number and/or a shipment tracking number, which the terminal device 110 may extract using a specific keyword template. The terminal device 110 may invoke a status update process by the information processing server 120, where periodic requests are made to a third-party server 130 regarding the shipping status of the order. The extracted invoice number may also trigger the addition of a debit entry in a financial planner maintained by the user 101 on the terminal device 110.
In yet other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be able to identify patterns between received messages and take certain actions based on these observed patterns. The terminal device 110, for example, in processing ticket confirmation messages, may observe repeated occurrences of a particular flight or train (e.g., based on a common flight or train number and similar arrival information), and may determine that the trip is recurring in nature. In making the determination, the terminal device 110 may compare the number of repeated occurrences to a threshold value (e.g., requiring a minimum of 3 trips) and/or a ratio of the repeated occurrences to the total number of trips taken within a specified period of time to a threshold value (e.g., requiring at least 50% of the trips within the past month). If a recurring trip is identified, the terminal device 110 may be able to predict when the next trip may take place, and may generate a reminder notification providing the user with a reminder to purchase a ticket before the predicted date of the next trip. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be able to automatically book a ticket for the next predicted trip, or may communicate with a ticket-booking agency to book a ticket at a fixed time. Further, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be able to monitor pricing information for the predicted trip and book the ticket at an optimal price. The terminal device 110 may also provide the user with context specific information (e.g., weather conditions at the departure and arrival stations) regarding the predicted trip, as described above. In some cases, the terminal device 110 may also provide the user with discounts or promotions (e.g., hotel discount information) regarding the trip.
While the logic above is described with reference to the terminal device 110, the information processing server 120 may similarly extract information from a received message using a keyword template and use the extracted information to perform certain additional tasks. The information processing server 120, for example, may receive an incoming message, determine the type of information contained within the message, match the determined type of information to a keyword template stored in a local database, extract particular elements from the incoming message using the matching keyword template, and utilize the extracted information to automatically perform certain additional tasks as described above. In some implementations, the terminal device 110 may simply provide the information processing server 120 with extracted information, which may be processed to trigger certain actions. And in yet other implementations, both the terminal device 110 and information processing server 120 may process the extracted information to automatically perform certain tasks.
Corresponding to the embodiments of the aforementioned information processing method, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of an information processing apparatus, and a terminal and a server where it may be employed.
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In the above embodiment, the terminal can judge whether the received information is the predetermined type of information, when the information is the predetermined type of information, match the predetermined type of information with a key word template, and then extract key information in the information based on the successfully matched key word template. The present disclosure may be able to accurately identify and extract key information such as train number, seat, departure/arrival station, departure/arrival time, order number, passenger in ticket information in which the key information is distributed very intensively, so as to remind the user based on the key information, and thereby improves the user experience.
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Reference can be made to the implementing process of the corresponding steps in the above methods for the detailed implementing process of the functions and effects of each module in the above apparatus, which will not be elaborated herein. Since the apparatus embodiments substantially correspond to the method embodiments, similar parts of the method embodiments may be referred to for the apparatus embodiments. The apparatus embodiments above may be realized by software, hardware or a combination thereof. The apparatus embodiments, for example, may be implemented with one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or other electronic components. The above apparatus embodiments are illustrative only. The modules described as separate members may be or may not be physically separated. The members described as modules may be or may not be physical modules, may be located at the same place or may be distributed in multiple network modules. The objectives of the solutions of this disclosure may be realized by selecting some or all of the modules according to the actual needs. The above can be understood and implemented by those skilled in the art without any inventive work.
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The processing component 3102 may control overall operation of the apparatus 3100, such as the operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component 3102 may include one or more processors 3120 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps in the above described methods. Moreover, the processing component 3102 may include one or more modules which facilitate the interaction between the processing component 3102 and other components. For instance, the processing component 3102 may include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 3108 and the processing component 3102.
The memory 3104 may be configured to store various types of data to support the operation of the apparatus 3100. Examples of such data include instructions for any applications or methods operated on the apparatus 3100, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, video, etc. The memory 3104 may be implemented using any type of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a static random access memory (SRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.
The power component 3106 may provide power to various components of the apparatus 3100. The power component 3106 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and any other components associated with the generation, management, and distribution of power in the apparatus 3100.
The multimedia component 3108 may include a screen providing an output interface between the apparatus 3100 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signal from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense a boundary of a touch or swipe action, but also a period of time and a pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 3108 may include a front camera and/or a rear camera. The front camera and the rear camera may receive an external multimedia datum while the apparatus 3100 is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each of the front camera and the rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or can have focal lengths and optical zoom functionality.
The audio component 3110 may be configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 3110 may include a microphone (“MIC”) configured to receive an external audio signal when the apparatus 3100 is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, or a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory 3104 or transmitted via the communication component 3116. In some embodiments, the audio component 3110 may further include a speaker to output audio signals.
The I/O interface 3112 may provide an interface between the processing component 3102 and peripheral interface modules, such as a keyboard, a click wheel, buttons, and the like. The buttons may include, but are not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a starting button, and a locking button.
The sensor component 3114 may include one or more sensors to provide status assessments of various aspects of the apparatus 3100. For instance, the sensor component 3114 may detect an open/closed status of the apparatus 3100, relative positioning of components, e.g., the display and the keypad, of the apparatus 3100, a change in position of the apparatus 3100 or a component of the apparatus 3100, a presence or absence of user contact with the apparatus 3100, an orientation or an acceleration/deceleration of the apparatus 3100, or a change in temperature of the apparatus 3100. The sensor component 3114 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor component 3114 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 3114 may also include an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, a microwave sensor or a temperature sensor.
The communication component 3116 may be configured to facilitate communication, wired or wirelessly, between the apparatus 3100 and other devices. The apparatus 3100 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G, or 3G, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the communication component 3116 may receive a broadcast signal or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In another embodiment, the communication component 3116 may further include a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on a radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, an infrared data association (IrDA) technology, an ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, a Bluetooth (BT) technology, or other technologies.
In various embodiments, the apparatus 3100 may be implemented with one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or other electronic components, for performing the above described methods. Some embodiments may also include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as included in the memory 3104, executable by the processor 3120 in the apparatus 3100, for performing the above-described methods. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device, and the like.
Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the embodiments disclosed herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosed embodiments that follow the general principles thereof and include such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention only being limited by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201510792570.3 | Nov 2015 | CN | national |
