Deterministic User Device Identification Across Dynamic IP Addresses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for identifying user devices on the Internet are unreliable due to the reuse of limited IP addresses and dynamic assignment of network identifiers, leading to inaccurate user identification and difficulty in providing personalized content without authentication.
Innovation Solution
A deterministic user device identification system that utilizes mapping data from ISPs and local networks to correlate unique device identifiers with external network identifiers, ensuring accurate identification by maintaining mapping data with timestamps and querying relevant instances to determine the user or device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If HTTP cookies are used to track users without authentication, then user identification is simplified and personalized content can be provided, but the approach fails when users access the Internet through different web browsers or when third-party cookies are blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (the content provider's server) that receives device identifiers from user devices and maps them to unique user profiles. This intermediary mapping mechanism allows reliable user identification across different browsers and devices without requiring cookies to be stored on the user's device, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and identification reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of relying on cookies that may be blocked or invalidated, the system creates a virtual copy of the user's device identifier mapping in the content provider's database. This copied mapping data allows the system to identify users consistently across different access scenarios without depending on the user's browser cookie storage capabilities.
2Reliability
If user authentication is required to provide personalized content, then user identification accuracy is improved, but the process becomes cumbersome and resource-intensive for both users and content providers
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service user identification by automatically capturing device identifiers when users access content and mapping them to user profiles without requiring any active participation from users. The content provider's server autonomously performs the identification and personalization process, eliminating the need for users to manually authenticate while maintaining accurate identification.
3Ease of operation
If IP addresses are used to identify user devices, then device identification is simplified, but the identification becomes unreliable due to IP address reuse and dynamic assignment by ISPs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the identification process into two independent parts: capturing the device's network identifier (IP address, MAC address, or device ID) at the network level, and mapping it to a unique user profile at the application level. This segmentation allows the system to use simple network identifiers while achieving reliable user identification through the mapping database, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and identification reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are described for deterministic user identification by content providers. The process receives instance(s) of mapping data from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other sources, in an embodiment. The instances have been generated by mappings of identifiers assigned gateway devices to user devices when the gateway device(s) are used to route a content request(s) from the user devices to content providers on the Internet. The process receives an identification request for a content request that was received by a content provider and which indicates the external network identifier for the user device. In an embodiment, the process queries the instances of mapping data based, at least in part, on the external network identifier for the user device and obtains a unique identifier associated with the user device. This unique identifier is temporally static and unique among user devices. The unique identifier is sent to the content provider to identify the user device or the user thereof.