Caller ID Aggregation via Pooled Address Book
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile devices often lack caller ID information for unknown telephone numbers, leading to incomplete caller identification, especially with incomplete operator databases and lack of sharing between competitors, resulting in limited caller ID services for users.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that aggregates caller ID information from multiple mobile devices into a pooled address book, allowing identification and blocking of nuisance calls by analyzing request patterns and providing accurate caller ID information to mobile devices even for numbers not stored locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If telephone operators maintain databases of user telephone numbers, then caller ID information can be provided for known customers, but the databases remain incomplete because operators do not share customer information with competitors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges caller ID information from multiple independent telephone operator databases into a unified pooled address book. This combination allows the system to access caller ID information across different operators without requiring direct sharing between competitors, thereby improving information availability while maintaining operational independence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a pooled address book as an intermediary layer between multiple operator databases. This mediator aggregates and standardizes caller ID information from various sources, enabling universal access without direct inter-operator data sharing, thus resolving the contradiction between information completeness and operator independence.
2Loss of information
If a mobile device uses only its local address book for caller ID lookup, then data privacy is maintained, but caller ID information is incomplete for numbers not stored locally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the traditional two-dimensional local address book concept by adding a third dimension - the pooled address book accessible via network. This dimensional expansion allows devices to access comprehensive caller ID information without increasing local storage requirements or complexifying the core address book management system.
Solution Approach 2:
The pooled address book serves as an intermediary that handles the complexity of aggregated data management externally. Mobile devices can query this intermediary for additional caller ID information without needing to implement complex data aggregation, normalization, and management systems themselves, thus maintaining device simplicity while improving information completeness.
3Reliability
If telephone operators provide caller ID services using only their own customer databases, then data security and privacy are maintained, but caller ID services are limited and inaccurate for non-customers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines data from multiple operator databases into a pooled address book, enabling more accurate caller ID identification by cross-referencing against a broader dataset. This merging improves reliability for identifying both legitimate and nuisance calls while maintaining individual operator data security through centralized aggregation rather than direct data sharing between operators.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where caller ID lookup results, including nuisance call identifications, are used to improve future lookups. The pooled address book accumulates patterns and information from multiple sources, enabling progressively better identification accuracy and nuisance call detection while maintaining the security boundaries of individual operator databases.
Data Source
AI summary
A caller information server provides caller identification (ID) information to a mobile device. The server receives caller ID information from local address books stored on multiple mobile devices. The caller information server aggregates the received caller ID information to generate a pooled address book. The caller information server may determine whether names within the caller ID information are legitimate and store or filter the information accordingly. When a mobile device receives a call from a telephone number for which it lacks caller ID information in its local address book, the mobile device sends a request for the caller ID information for the telephone number, to the caller information server. The server identifies caller ID information associated with the telephone number in the pooled address book, and sends this information to the mobile device.