Supplying enhanced computer user's context data

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information indicating a time at which the indicated value was generated;
• storing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• in response to receiving requests from clients for a value of the indicated state attribute, supplying the stored value to the clients while a difference from a current time to the time at which the stored value was generated is less than a threshold.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information indicating a time at which the indicated value is most accurate;
• storing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• in response to receiving requests from clients for a value of the indicated state attribute, supplying the stored value to the clients while a difference from a current time to the time at which the stored value is most accurate is less than a threshold.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information including a likelihood of accuracy of the indicated value that decays over time;
• storing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• in response to receiving requests from clients for a value of the indicated state attribute, supplying the stored value to the clients if a current decayed likelihood of accuracy of the stored value satisfies an accuracy threshold.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• and
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information indicating an uncertainty of the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• receiving from a source without request a current value of a specified state attribute and descriptive information for the current value;
• and
• in response to the receiving of the current value,
• determining at least one client having an interest in receiving the received current value for the specified state attribute, the determining based at least in part of the received descriptive information;
• and
• sending the received current value to each of the determined clients.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• after obtaining from a source a second value for the indicated attribute and descriptive information for the second value, supplying the second value to the first client, the second value distinct from the indicated value, and the descriptive information for the second value the same as the descriptive information for the indicated value.

A method in a computer for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• and
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• after obtaining from a source a second value for the indicated attribute and descriptive information for the second value, supplying the second value to the first client, the second value the same as the indicated value, and the descriptive information for the second value distinct from the descriptive information for the indicated value.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to provide information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, by performing a method comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information indicating a generation time for the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the clients;
• storing the indicated value;
• and
• in response to receiving requests from clients for a value of the indicated state attribute, supplying the stored value to the clients while a difference from a current time to the generation time for the stored value is less than a threshold.

A computer-readable generated data signal transmitted via a transmission medium, the generated data signal having encoded contents that cause a computer system to provide information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes by performing a method comprising:

• receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• after receiving an indication of the indicated attribute from a first client,
• determining that the first source is available to supply a value for the indicated attribute;
• obtaining from the first source an indication of the value and information describing the indicated value, the descriptive information indicating a time at which the indicated value was generated;
• storing the indicated value;
• determining based at least in part on the descriptive information whether the indicated value is appropriate to be supplied to the client;
• and
• when it is determined that the indicated value is appropriate, supplying the indicated value to the client;
• and
• in response to receiving requests from clients for a value of the indicated state attribute, supplying the stored value to the clients while a difference from a current time to the time at which the stored value was generated is less than a threshold.

A computing device for providing information about a current state that is represented with multiple attributes, comprising:

• an attribute mapping module that is capable of receiving from a first source an indication of an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the attributes of the current state and of receiving from a second source an indication of an ability to supply values for another of the attributes of the current state;
• an attribute value request module that is capable of receiving an indication from a first client of the indicated attribute;
• and
• an attribute value supplier module that is capable of, after the receiving of the indication from the first client, requesting the first source to supply a value of the indicated attribute, receiving from the first source an indication of the requested value and descriptive information for the received value that indicates a time at which the received value was generated, determining based on the received descriptive information whether the received requested value is appropriate to be supplied to the client, supplying the received value to the client when it is determined that the received requested value is appropriate, and supplying to other clients in response to received requests the received value while a difference from a current time to the time at which the received value was generated is less than a threshold.

A method in a portable computer for providing information about a context that is modeled with multiple context attributes, comprising:

• receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of an ability to supply values for at least one of the context attributes of the modeled context;
• receiving from each of multiple clients an indication of a desire to receive multiple values for one of the context attributes of the modeled context;
• for each of the multiple clients,
• receiving multiple requests from the client for a value for the one context attribute for which the client has indicated the desire to receive values;
• and
• after the receiving of each of the multiple requests, retrieving the requested value by,
• determining multiple sources currently having an ability to supply values for the one context attribute for which the client has indicated the desire to receive values;
• requesting each of the determined sources to supply a value for the one context attribute;
• receiving from each of multiple determined sources a value for the one context attribute and information characterizing the value based at least in part on an indicated generation time for the value;
• determining at least one of the received values to send to the client based on the received information characterizing the received values;
• and
• sending the determined received values to the client;
• and
• after a received request from a client for a value of an indicated context attribute, supplying to the client a previously received value for that indicated context attribute if received information for that value indicates a generation time whose difference from a current time is less than a threshold.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions that when executed cause a computing device to provide information about a context that is modeled with multiple context attributes, by performing a method comprising:

• receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of an ability to supply values for at least one of the context attributes of the modeled context;
• receiving from each of multiple clients an indication of a desire to receive multiple values for one of the context attributes of the modeled context;
• for each of the multiple clients,
• receiving multiple requests from the client for a value for the one context attribute for which the client has indicated the desire to receive values;
• and
• after the receiving of each of the multiple requests, retrieving the requested value by,
• determining multiple sources currently having an ability to supply values for the one context attribute for which the client has indicated the desire to receive values;
• requesting each of the determined sources to supply a value for the one context attribute;
• receiving from each of multiple determined sources a value for the one context attribute and information characterizing the value by indicating a generation time for the value;
• determining at least one of the received values to send to the client based on the received information characterizing the received values;
• and
• sending the determined received values to the client;
• and
• after a received request from a client, supplying to the client a previously received value for an indicated context attribute if received information for that value indicates a generation time whose difference from a current time is less than a threshold.

A portable computer for providing information about a context that is represented with multiple attributes, comprising:

• an attribute mapping module that is capable of receiving from each of multiple sources an indication of an ability to supply values for at least one of the attributes of the context and of receiving from each of multiple clients an indication of a desire to receive multiple values for one of the attributes of the context;
• and
• an attribute value supplier module that is capable of receiving from each of the multiple clients multiple requests for a value for the one attribute for which the client has indicated the desire to receive values, of determining after the receiving of each of the multiple requests whether any of the multiple sources currently have an ability to supply values for the one attribute, of requesting after the determining that each determined source supply a value for the one attribute, of receiving from each of multiple determined sources a value for the one attribute and information characterizing the value based at least in part on an indicated generation time for the value, of determining at least one of the received values to send to the client based on the received information characterizing the received values, of sending the determined received values to the requesting client, and of supplying to a client a received value for an indicated context attribute if received information for that value indicates a generation time whose difference from a current time is less than a threshold.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source, the received first descriptive information indicating that the first value was generated at an indicated time;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute based on a current time differing from the time at which the first value was generated by more than a recency threshold;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source;
• and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source, the received third descriptive information indicating that the third value is most accurate at an indicated time;
• and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state, the using including suspending use of the third value after a current time differs from the time at which the third value is most accurate by more than a recency threshold.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source, the received first descriptive information indicating an accuracy estimate for the first value;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute, the sending based on the accuracy estimate of the first value being less than an accuracy limit;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source;
• and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source, the received third descriptive information indicating an uncertainty of the third values;
• and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state, including declining to use the third value when the uncertainty of the third value is more than an uncertainty threshold.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source, the received third descriptive information indicating that the third value is a constant value for the second state attribute, and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state, including halting additional requests for the value of the second state attribute based on the indication that the third value is a constant value.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to provide information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, by performing a method comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source, the received first descriptive information indicating a generation time for the first value;
• sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute based on a current time differing from the generation time for the first value by more than a recency threshold;
• receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source;
• sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source;
• and
• using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state.

A computing device for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• a first module capable of sending to an intermediary module a first request for a value of a first of the state attributes, of sending to the intermediary module a second request for a value of the first state attribute based on a current time differing by more than a recency threshold from a time at which an earlier value for the first state attribute was generated, and of sending to the intermediary module a third request for a value of a second of the state attributes;
• a second module capable of receiving from the intermediary module a first value for the first state attribute and first information describing the first value that indicates a time of generation for the first value, the first value and the first descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a first source, of receiving from the intermediary module a second value for the first state attribute and second information describing the second value, the second value and the second descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a second source, and of receiving from the intermediary module a third value for the second state attribute and third information describing the third value, the third value and the third descriptive information supplied to the intermediary module from a third source;
• and
• a third module capable of using at least one of the received values and the received descriptive information for the at least one received value to perform processing based on the modeled current state.

A computer-implemented method for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a registration message indicating an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• and
• for each of multiple requests for a value of the one state attribute,
• receiving the request from the intermediary module, the sending of the request by the intermediary module based on an request received by the intermediary module from a client;
• and
• in response to the receiving of the request,
• retrieving multiple pieces of input information about the modeled current state,
• generating a value for the one state attribute based at least in part on the retrieved input information;
• determining information that describes that generated value, the determined descriptive information including an uncertainty value associated with generation of the generated value;
• and
• sending to the intermediary module an indication of the generated value and of the determined descriptive information so that the intermediary module can use the descriptive information to determine whether to supply the generated value to a client and so that the client can determine how to use the generated value.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to provide information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, by performing a method comprising:

• sending to an intermediary module a registration message indicating an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state, and
• for each of multiple requests for a value of the one state attribute,
• receiving the request from the intermediary module, the sending of the request by the intermediary module based on an request received by the intermediary module from a client;
• and
• in response to the receiving of the request,
• retrieving multiple pieces of input information about the modeled current state,
• generating a value for the one state attribute based at least in part on the retrieved input information;
• determining information that describes that generated value, the determined descriptive information including an uncertainty value associated with generation of the generated value;
• and
• sending to the intermediary module an indication of the generated value and of the determined descriptive information so that the intermediary module can use the descriptive information to determine whether to supply the generated value to a client and so that the client can determine how to use the generated value.

A computer system for providing information about a current state that is modeled with multiple state attributes, each of the state attributes having multiple sources available to supply values for the attribute, comprising:

• a first module capable of sending to an intermediary module a registration message indicating an ability to supply values for an indicated one of the state attributes of the modeled current state;
• and
• a second module capable of, for each of multiple requests for a value of the one state attribute,
• receiving the request from the intermediary module, the sending of the request by the intermediary module based on an request received by the intermediary module from a client;
• and
• in response to the receiving of the request,
• retrieving multiple pieces of input information about the modeled current state,
• generating a value for the one state attribute based at least in part on the retrieved input information;
• determining information that describes that generated value, the determined descriptive information including an uncertainty value associated with generation of the generated value;
• and
• sending to the intermediary module an indication of the generated value and of the determined descriptive information so that the intermediary module can use the descriptive information to determine whether to supply the generated value to a client and so that the client can determine how to use the generated value.