Patent Application Titled “Granular Data Update Sharing” Published Online (USPTO 20220392590): Apple Inc.

2022 DEC 22 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors Azimi, Reza (San Francisco, CA, US); DePalma, Glen R. (Fremont, CA, US); Villanueva, Blanca Isabel C. (Berkeley, CA, US); Winstrom, Lucas O. (Palo Alto, CA, US), filed on June 3, 2022, was made available online on December 8, 2022.

The assignee for this patent application is Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Electronic devices, especially portable electronic user devices, are quickly becoming ubiquitous in every modern society. Such devices can be used to collect and store personal information, such as health data, about a user.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “A system of one or more computers can be configured to perform particular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them installed on the system that in operation causes or cause the system to perform the actions. One or more computer programs can be configured to perform particular operations or actions by virtue of including instructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the actions. One general aspect includes a computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes responsive to a first user input at a first user device, identifying a second user associated with a second user device to receive health data updates associated with a first user of the first user device. The computer-implemented method also includes responsive to a second user input at the first user device, identifying a set of authorization identifiers that each represent a type of health data update to be shared with the second user device. The computer-implemented method also includes generating a sharing request that identifies the set of authorization identifiers and a unique identifier that identifies the second user. The computer-implemented method also includes sharing information associated with the sharing request with the second user device. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

“Another general aspect includes another computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes receiving, at a first user device associated with a first user, a sharing request associated with sharing health data of a second user associated with a second user device with the first user device. The computer-implemented method also includes requesting, from a server, transaction data stored by a server. The computer-implemented method also includes in response to requesting the transaction data, receiving, from the server, a first transaction package including first one or more health data updates associated with the health data of the second user. The computer-implemented method also includes extracting the first one or more health data updates from the first transaction package. The computer-implemented method also includes populating a user interface of the first user device with information associated with the first one or more health data updates. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

“Another general aspect includes another computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes determining a first change point in a first type of health data. The computer-implemented method also includes determining a second change point in a second type of health data that is correlated with the first type of health data. The computer-implemented method also includes in accordance with a determination that the first change point meets a first set of notification criteria, generating a notification that includes first information associated with the first change point. The computer-implemented method also includes in accordance with a determination that the second change point meets a second set of notification criteria, including second information associated with the second change point in the notification. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

“Another general aspect includes another computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes accessing first health data of a first data type collected during a time window. The computer-implemented method also includes comparing a first quantity of the first health data associated with a first time sub-window of the time window with a second quantity of the first health data associated with a second time sub-window of the time window to identify a first change in the first health data. The computer-implemented method also includes in accordance with a first evaluation of the first and second quantities of the first health data with respect to a first set of change point criteria, determining that the first change is a first change point in the first health data. The computer-implemented method also includes generating a notification that includes information about the first change point. The computer-implemented method also includes including information, in the notification, about a second change point in second health data when a second evaluation of the second health data with respect to a second set of change point criteria is indicative of the second change point. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: accessing first health data of a first data type collected during a time window; comparing a first quantity of the first health data associated with a first time sub-window of the time window with a second quantity of the first health data associated with a second time sub-window of the time window to identify a first change in the first health data; in accordance with a first evaluation of the first and second quantities of the first health data with respect to a first set of change point criteria, determining that the first change is a first change point in the first health data; generating a notification that includes information about the first change point; and including information, in the notification, about a second change point in second health data when a second evaluation of the second health data with respect to a second set of change point criteria is indicative of the second change point.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second health data is of a second data type that is distinct from the first data type and is collected during the time window.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first set of change point criteria comprises a first set of thresholds and the second set of change point criteria comprises a second set of thresholds that is distinct from the first set of thresholds.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the second set of thresholds is relaxed with respect to the first set of thresholds.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first set of change point criteria comprises a first statistical significance criterion and a first statistical magnitude criterion, and the second set of change point criteria comprises a second statistical significance criterion and a second statistical magnitude criterion.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the time window comprises at least one of about one month or about six months.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising iteratively evaluating portions of the first health data from differently-sized sub-windows within the time window to define the first time sub-window and the second time sub-window.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first change point comprises a data point in the first time sub window when the first health data is indicative of an upward trend or a downward trend.

“9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising: accessing first health data of a first data type collected during a time window; comparing a first quantity of the first health data associated with a first time sub-window of the time window with a second quantity of the first health data associated with a second time sub-window of the time window to identify a first change in the first health data; in accordance with a first evaluation of the first and second quantities of the first health data with respect to a first set of change point criteria, determining that the first change is a first change point in the first health data; generating a notification that includes information about the first change point; and including information, in the notification, about a second change point in second health data when a second evaluation of the second health data with respect to a second set of change point criteria is indicative of the second change point.

“10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein the first change point is statistically correlated with the second change point.

“11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform additional operations comprising providing the notification for presentation at a display of a user device.

“12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 11, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform additional operations comprising refraining from generating additional notifications for a fixed period time following providing the notification for presentation at the display of the user device.

“13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein the notification comprises one or more graphical elements corresponding to at least one of the first change point or the second change point.

“14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein the first health data and the second health data are collected by one or more sensors of a user device.

“15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein a first change point criterion of the first set of change point criteria is unique to the first data type and a second change point criterion of the first set of change point criteria is common with a corresponding third change point criterion of the second set of change point criteria.

“16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, further comprising additional computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform additional operations comprising: comparing a third quantity of the first health data associated with a third time sub-window of the time window with a fourth quantity of the first health data associated with a fourth time sub-window of the time window to identify a third change in the first health data; in accordance with a third evaluation of the third and fourth quantities of the first health data with respect to the first set of change point criteria, determining that the third change is a third change point in the first health data; and selecting between the first change point and the third change point based on respective magnitudes of the first change and the third change, and wherein generating the notification comprises generating the notification that includes information about the selected change point.

“17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein the first and second health data are associated with a user, and wherein the first change point and the second change point are related to a change in behavior of the user relating to health.

“18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 9, wherein the first health data are collected by a first user device associated with a first user, and wherein accessing the first health data comprises receiving, by a second user device associated with a second user, the first health data from the first user device.

“19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices of claim 18, wherein receiving the first health data from the first user device comprises the second user device requesting the first health data from a cloud-based server that stores the first health data on behalf of the first user.

“20. A computer system, comprising: a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least: access first health data of a first data type collected during a time window; compare a first quantity of the first health data associated with a first time sub-window of the time window with a second quantity of the first health data associated with a second time sub-window of the time window to identify a first change in the first health data; in accordance with a first evaluation of the first and second quantities of the first health data with respect to a first set of change point criteria, determine that the first change is a first change point in the first health data; generate a notification that includes information about the first change point; and include information, in the notification, about a second change point in second health data when a second evaluation of the second health data with respect to a second set of change point criteria is indicative of the second change point.”

For more information, see this patent application: Azimi, Reza; DePalma, Glen R.; Villanueva, Blanca Isabel C.; Winstrom, Lucas O. Granular Data Update Sharing. U.S. Patent Application Number 20220392590, filed June 3, 2022 and posted December 8, 2022. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20220392590)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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