Hebbian Learning-based Recommendations for Social Networks

Content Provider	The Lens
Abstract	A network device applies Hebbian-based learning to provide content recommendations in content-based social networks. The method includes obtaining customer activity data for a content-based social network; modeling the customer activity data as nodes and edges within the content-based social network, the nodes representing users and the edges representing connections between the users; assigning initial weights to the edges, that correspond to a connection strength, based on user-designated of relationships between the nodes; adjusting the initial weights in response to temporally correlated activity between the nodes from the customer activity data, to provide adjusted weights; identifying a content recommendation for a particular node based on an activity to access content by another node and one or more of the adjusted weights; storing a customer profile including the content recommendations associated with a node; and providing the content recommendation to a user device associated with the customer profile.
Related Links	https://www.lens.org/lens/patent/010-289-185-126-77X/frontpage
Language	English
Publisher Date	2019-10-10
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Patent
Jurisdiction	United States of America
Date Applied	2019-06-11
Applicant	Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc
Application No.	201916437332
Claim	A method comprising: obtaining, by a network device, customer activity data for a content-based social network; modeling, by the network device, the customer activity data as nodes and edges within the content-based social network, the nodes representing users and the edges representing connections between the users; assigning, by the network device, initial weights to the edges, that correspond to a connection strength, based on designated relationships between the nodes; adjusting, by the network device, the initial weights in response to temporally correlated selections of a content item by two or more of the nodes, as indicated in the customer activity data, to provide adjusted weights, wherein the adjusting further comprises: increasing one or more of the initial weights by an amount based on a difference between an expected outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item and an actual outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item, wherein the expected outcome includes selection of particular content by a particular node of the two or more nodes, which was previously selected by another node of the two or more nodes, within a time window; identifying, by the network device, a content recommendation for the particular node of the two or more nodes based on an activity to access content by the other node and one or more of the adjusted weights; and providing, by the network device, the content recommendation to a user device associated with the particular node. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer activity data includes a record of selection of a content item from a catalog of available content items or a record of selection of a recommended content item. The method of claim 1 , wherein the edges further represent unidirectional connections between the users, and wherein assigning the initial weights further comprises assigning a weight based on: bidirectional relationships from user-designated social media connections agreed upon by two of the users, unidirectional relationships from user-designated social media connections of a single user to receive information from another of the users, or non-designated relationships between the users. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting further comprises: decreasing one or more of the initial weights by an amount based on the difference between the expected outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item and the actual outcome of the temporally correlated selection of the content item. The method of claim 1 , wherein the expected outcome further includes: failing to select the particular content by the particular node of the two or more nodes, which was previously selected by a another different node of the two or more nodes, within the time window. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: storing, by the network device, a customer profile, including the content recommendation, associated with the particular node. The method of claim 6 , wherein the customer profile further includes a group association of the customer based on the adjusted weights. The method of claim 7 , wherein providing the content recommendation includes sending the content recommendation to all nodes within a same group association as a node that previously selected particular content. The method of claim 6 , wherein the customer profile further includes a connection strength threshold for notifications, and wherein providing the content recommendation includes sending the content recommendation to all nodes that are connected to the particular node and have edges with adjusted weights that exceed the connection strength threshold. A device comprising: one or more memories to store instructions; and a processor to execute the instructions to: obtain customer activity data for a content-based social network; model the customer activity data as nodes and edges within the content-based social network, the nodes representing users and the edges representing connections between the users; assign initial weights to the edges, that correspond to a connection strength, based on designated relationships between the nodes; adjust the initial weights in response to temporally correlated selections of a content item by two or more of the nodes, as indicated in the customer activity data, to provide adjusted weights, wherein the adjusting further comprises: increasing one or more of the initial weights by an amount base on a difference between an expected outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item and an actual outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item, wherein the expected outcome includes selection by a particular node of particular content, which was previously selected by another node of the two or more nodes, within a time window; identify a content recommendation for the particular node of the two or more nodes based on an activity to access content by the other node and one or more of the adjusted weights; and provide the content recommendation to a user device associated with the particular node. The device of claim 10 , wherein the customer activity data includes a record of a selection of a content item from a catalog of available content items or a record of a selection of a recommended content item. The device of claim 10 , wherein the content item includes one or more of advertising content, television content, video-on-demand content, or peer-to-peer content. The device of claim 10 , wherein the edges further represent unidirectional connections between the users, and wherein when assigning the initial weights to the edges, the processor further executes the instructions to assign a weight based on: bidirectional relationships from user-designated social media connections agreed upon by two of the users, unidirectional relationships from user-designated social media connections of a single user to receive information from another of the users, or non-designated relationships between the users. The device of claim 10 , wherein the expected outcome includes failing to select the particular content, which was previously selected by another different node of the two or more nodes, within the time window. The device of claim 10 , wherein the processor further executes the instructions to: store a customer profile, including the content recommendation, associated with the particular node. The device of claim 15 , wherein the customer profile includes one or more of: a group association of the customer based on the connection strengths, an influencer designation, or an influenced designation. The device of claim 10 , wherein when providing the content recommendation, the processor further executes the instructions to: identify a viewership trend for particular content, and provide the content recommendation based on the viewership trend. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a device, which when executed cause the device to: obtain customer activity data for a content-based social network; model the customer activity data as nodes and edges within the content-based social network, the nodes representing users and the edges representing connections between the users; assign initial weights to the edges, that correspond to a connection strength, based on designated relationships between the nodes; adjust the initial weights in response to temporally correlated selections of a content item by two or more of the nodes, as indicated in the customer activity data, to provide adjusted weights, wherein the adjusting further comprises: increasing one or more of the initial weights by an amount based on a difference between an expected outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item and an actual outcome of the temporally correlated selections of the content item, wherein the expected outcome includes selection by a particular node of particular content, which was previously selected by another node of the two or more nodes, within a time window; identify a content recommendation for the particular node of the two or more nodes based on an activity to access content by the other node and one or more of the adjusted weights; and provide the content recommendation to a user device associated with the particular node. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions to assign the initial weights to the edges further comprise instructions to: assign the initial weights to the edges, and the processor further executes the instructions to assign a weight based on unidirectional relationships from user-designated social media connections of a single user to receive information from another of the users. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further storing instructions executable by the processor of the device to: store a customer profile, including the content recommendation, associated with the particular node.
CPC Classification	TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION; e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION; e.g. TELEVISION ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
Extended Family	095-634-424-719-520 163-353-379-876-175 156-664-762-970-978 010-289-185-126-77X
Patent ID	20190312950
Inventor/Author	Srinivasaraghavan Haripriya
IPC	H04L29/08 G06F11/34 H04L12/26
Status	Active
Owner	Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
Simple Family	095-634-424-719-520 163-353-379-876-175 156-664-762-970-978 010-289-185-126-77X
CPC (with Group)	H04L67/306 H04L67/10 H04N21/252 H04N21/25891 H04N21/4532 H04N21/4662 H04N21/4668 H04N21/4788 H04N21/4826 H04N21/84 G06F11/34 G06F11/3438 H04L43/04 H04L67/30 H04L67/53
Issuing Authority	United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Kind	Patent Application Publication