US 2017/0366633 A1 · System for Synchronizing Nodes on a Network

Abstract

A system of computers on a wide area network establishes connections between nodes on the basis of their multidimensional similarity at a particular point in time in a certain setting, such as a social learning network, and sends information of value to those nodes. Dimensions in the definition of similarity include a plurality of attributes in time and community space. Examples of such dimensions and attributes may include a position in a learning community's project cycle, titles of readings and projects, the genre or subject matter under consideration, age, grade, or level of the participants, and language. The network's nodes are represented as a tensor field and are searched efficiently and adaptively through a variety of multidimensional data structures and mechanisms. The system includes a master clock that can transform a participant's time coordinates on the network, such as a social learning network, into Universal Time, and the synchronizer coordinates the position of each participant.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A connected computer network determines node similarity by calculating a comparative distance for each pair of a plurality of nodes on the connected computer network, wherein each node comprises a plurality of attributes and each attribute includes a value comprising a computer that:

a. identifies a plurality of attributes corresponding to each node of the plurality of nodes on the connected computer network;
b. compares a first attribute corresponding to a first node on the connected computer network to a first attribute corresponding to a second node on the connected computer network, wherein the comparison comprises determining a relative difference between the first attribute of the first node on the connected computer network and the first attribute of the second node on the connected computer network without reference to a point of origin for either the first node on the connected computer network or the second node on the connected computer network;
c. repeats step (b) for each attribute corresponding to the second node on the connected computer network;
d. repeats steps (b) and (c) for each attribute corresponding to the first node on the connected computer network;
and
e. assesses the similarity between the first and second nodes on the connected computer network by calculating the comparative distance based on a plurality of relative differences determined at the step (b).

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System for Synchronizing Nodes on a Network

Life of this patent

System for Synchronizing Nodes on a Network

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12