BACKGROUND
[0001] The invention relates generally to a system and method for managing relationships, and particularly to facilitating real-time relationships between multiple users over a secure network.
[0002] A variety of online relationship facilitating websites and services such as online dating services are available. Instead of providing localized exposure to the dating community through traditional means, such as newspapers or local bulletin boards, the internet based service provide a larger pool of potential matches for the users. However, the process of coordinating the relationships through these systems is often quite cumbersome and requires specific mechanisms to ensure the security and privacy of the users prior to their decision to take the relationships forward. Moreover, such systems disclose information about the user seeking a relationship to one or more other users that are not part of the intended relationship. Unfortunately, this becomes a source of embarrassment to some users and prevents a substantially large population from using such services.
[0003] Furthermore, most of these services through the internet are available to the users at substantially low costs. As a result, the users can access these services using fake identities thereby posing a challenge in user identity validation during enrolment and usage of such services.
[0004] Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a relationship management system that facilitates creation of secure relationships between users of the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0005] Briefly, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a system for managing relationship between a plurality of users is provided. The system includes a relationship management server accessible via computing devices of the plurality of users. The relationship management server includes an input module configured to receive relationship initiation requests from each of the plurality of users, the relationship initiation request from each user being indicative of an interest for relationship with another selected user. The relationship management server also includes a messaging module configured to send intimation messages to the computing devices of the selected users in response to the corresponding received relationship requests and a relationship matching module configured to receive relationship matching requests from the selected users. Each relationship matching request comprises an identifier of a contemplated user and wherein the relationship matching module is configured to compare the identifier of the contemplated user with an identifier of the user initiating the relationship to initiate or reject relationship between the user and other selected user.
[0006] In accordance with another aspect, a method for managing a relationship is provided. The method includes receiving a relationship initiation request from a first user having a first identifier, wherein the relationship initiation request is indicative of an interest for relationship with a second user and sending an intimation message to the second user in response to the received relationship request. The method also includes receiving a relationship matching request from the second user with an identifier of a contemplated user and comparing the identifier of the contemplated user with the first identifier of the first user to initiate the relationship between the first and second users.
[0007] In accordance with another aspect, a system for managing a relationship is provided. The system includes a relationship management server accessible via computing devices of first and second users. The relationship management server includes an input module configured to receive a relationship initiation request from the first user having a first identifier. The relationship initiation request being indicative of an interest for relationship with the second user. The relationship management server also includes a messaging module configured to send intimation message to the computing device of the second user in response to the corresponding received relationship request and a relationship matching module configured to receive one or more relationship matching requests from the second user. The one or more relationship matching requests comprise an identifier of a contemplated user and the relationship matching module is configured to compare the identifier of the contemplated user with the first identifier to initiate or reject relationship between the first and second users.

DRAWINGS
[0008] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for managing relationship between a plurality of users in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the relationship management server of FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of managing a relationship in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
[0012] FIG. 4 is an exemplary message sequence from the first user sent to the relationship management server of the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
[0013] FIG. 5 is an exemplary message sequence from the relationship management server to the first and second users of the system of FIG. 1 in response to the relationship initiation request sent by the first user in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
[0014] FIG. 6 is an exemplary message sequence from the relationship management server to the first and second users of the system of FIG. 1 in response to a relationship matching request from the second user in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] As discussed in detail below, the embodiments of the present invention function to provide a system and method for managing social relationships such as friendship, companionship and marriage, among others. In particular, the present technique facilitates initiation of such relationships using a secure computational environment by sharing identity and other information only between users interested in the relationship.
[0016] References in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an exemplary embodiment”, indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
[0017] Turning now to drawings and referring first to FIG. 1, a system 10 for managing relationship between a plurality of users such as represented by reference numerals 12, 14 and 16 is illustrated. The system 10 includes a relationship management server 18 accessible via computing devices 20, 22 and 24 of the users 12, 14 and 16 respectively. The relationship management server 18 may be any web server application configured to execute a relationship matching algorithm, as will be described in a greater detail below, for communicating with users 12, 14 and 16 over a network 26. Examples of the web application server 18 include Apache web servers, Linux web servers, and the like. While depicted as a single device, in certain embodiments, the relationship management server 18 may be implemented using a cluster of multiple web servers.
[0018] In the illustrated embodiment, the system 10 includes mobile phones 20, 22 and 24 configured to communicate with the relationship management server 18. In one exemplary embodiment, the computing devices may include personal computers such as laptops generally represented by reference numerals 28, 30 and 32. However, various other types of computing devices that can be connected to the relationship management server 18 may be used.
[0019] In the illustrated embodiment, the relationship management server 18 includes an input module 34 configured to receive relationship initiation requests from at least one user such as represented by reference numeral 12. In this exemplary embodiment, the relationship initiation request is indicative of an interest for relationship with another selected user 14, for example. The relationship initiation request may be an encrypted message and may includes details such as a code of the service provider (e.g., a mobile service provider), code of the type of message and an identifier of the selected user 14 with whom the relationship is intended to be initiated. In this exemplary embodiment, the identifier is the mobile phone number of the selected user 14. In certain other embodiments, the identifier includes a uniform resource locator (URL).
[0020] The relationship management server 18 also includes a messaging module 36 configured to send confirmation messages to the computing device 20 of the user 12 and to send intimation messages to the computing device, like the mobile telephone 22 the selected user 14 in response to the corresponding received relationship initiation requests. The messaging module 36 sends the intimation message to the computing device such as mobile phone 22of the selected user 14 over a telecommunication network.
[0021] In this exemplary embodiment, the intimation message is an encrypted message and may include details such as the code of the service provider (e.g., a mobile service provider), code of the type of message, a guess code such as an identifier of a contemplated user and text message such as asking the selected user 14 to respond with an appropriate guess code. It should be noted that the intimation message does not include any identification information of the user 12 sending the relationship initiation request.
[0022] Moreover, the relationship management server 18 includes a relationship matching module 38 configured to receive one or more relationship matching requests from the selected user 14 in response to the intimation message. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the relationship matching requests includes an identifier of a contemplated user. In this exemplary embodiment, the identifier includes a mobile telephone number of the contemplated user.
[0023] Again, the relationship matching requests may include details such as the code of the service provider (e.g., a mobile service provider), code of the type of message, and the identifier of the contemplated user. In this exemplary embodiment, the messaging module 36 is configured to send a confirmation message to the selected user 14 on receipt of the relationship matching requests from the user 14. Moreover, the relationship management server 18 also includes a database configured to store the relationship initiation requests and the relationship matching requests from the users 12, 14 and 16 of the system 10.
[0024] In operation, the relationship matching module 38 compares the identifier of the contemplated user provided by the selected user 14 with the identifier of the user 12 to initiate or reject the relationship. The messaging module 36 sends a relationship acceptance message to the users 12 and 14 if the identifier of the contemplated user matches with the identifier of the user 12. In an alternate embodiment, the messaging module 36 sends a relationship rejection message to the user 12, if the identifier of the contemplated user does not match with the identifier of the user 12.
[0025] In the illustrated embodiment, the relationship initiation requests and the relationship matching requests are transmitted through short message service (SMS), or multimedia messaging service (MMS), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), or combinations thereof. Further, such messages are encoded using appropraite encoding techniques such as Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5) encoding and secure hash algorithm encoding, among others.
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment 50 of the relationship management server 18 of FIG. 1. The relationship management server 50 includes a bus 52 to which the various components are coupled. In certain embodiments, the bus 52 includes a collection of a plurality of buses such as a system bus, a Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) bus, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) bus, etc. Representation of these buses as a single bus 52 is provided for ease of illustration, and it should be understood that the relationship management server 50 is not so limited. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the relationship management server 50 may have any suitable bus architecture and may include any number of combination of buses.
[0027] A processing device 54 is coupled to the bus 52. The processing device 54 may include any suitable processing device or system, including a microprocessor (e.g., a single core or a multi-core processor), a network processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any similar device. It should be noted that although Fig. 2 shows a single processing device 54, the relationship management server 50 may include more processing devices.
[0028] The relationship management server 50 further includes system memory 56 coupled to the bus 52. The system memory 56 may include any suitable type and number of memories, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), or double data rate DRAM (DDRDRAM). During operation of the relationship management server 50, an operating system and other applications may be resident in the system memory 56.
[0029] The relationship management server 50 may further include a read-only memory (ROM) 58 coupled to the bus 52. The ROM 58 may store instructions for the processing device 54. The relationship management server 50 may also include the database/storage device (or devices) 40 coupled to the bus 52. The storage device 40 includes any suitable non-volatile memory, such as, for example, a hard disk drive. Further, devices (not shown) for accessing removable storage media (e.g., a floppy disk drive or a CD ROM drive) may be coupled to the bus 52.
[0030] The relationship management server 50 may also include the input module/ user interface 34 configured to receive relationship intimation requests from the computing devices 20, 22 and 24 of the plurality of users 12, 14 and 16 (see FIG. 1) to the relationship management server 50. In the illustrated embodiment, the user interface 34 enables users 12, 14 and 16, system administrators and computer programmers to communicate with the relationship management server 50 through separate computing devices such as 20, 22 and 24 (see FIG. 1).
[0031] In certain embodiments, the user interface 34 may include one or more Input/Output (I/O) devices (not shown) coupled to the bus 52. Common input devices include mobile phone keyboards, pointing devices such as a mouse, as well as other data entry devices. Further, common output devices include video displays, printing devices, and audio output devices. It will be appreciated that these are but a few examples of the types of I/O devices that may be coupled to the bus 52.
[0032] The relationship initiation and relationship matching requests transferred to the relationship management server 50 from the mobile telephones 20, 22 and 24 of the users 12, 14 and 16 are stored in the storage device/database 40 of the relationship management server 50. In certain embodiments, such information may be stored on a secondary storage device (not shown) coupled to the bus 52. In addition, the storage device 60 may be a segmented database stored in multiple locations.
[0033] The relationship management server 50 may further comprise the relationship matching module 38 configured to compare the identifier of a contemplated user with the identifier of the user initiating the relationship. In certain embodiments, the relationship matching module 38 is configured to monitor a number of relationship inititation requests, a number of relationship matching requests, a number of matched relationship requests, or combinations thereof for the users. Using such metric, information such as most popular user receiving a high number of relationship initiation requests in a specific region may be obtained. The messaging module 36 may send intimations messages to such users.
[0034] The relationship management server 50 may further comprise a network interface 62 and a display 64 coupled to the bus 52. The network interface 62 comprises any suitable hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software that is capable of coupling the relationship management server 50 with a network (e.g., a network interface card). The network interface 62 may establish a link with the network over any suitable medium (e.g., wireless, copper wire, fiber optic, or a combination thereof) supporting exchange of information via any suitable protocol such as TCP/IP (Transmission Control protocol/Internet Protocol), HTTP (Hyper-Text Transmission Protocol, as well as others. In particular, the network interface 62 may include components such as a modulator/demodulator (e.g., digital subscriber line, a cable modem), a radio frequency transceiver, a telephonic interface, a router etc.
[0035] It should be understood that relationship management server 50 illustrated in Fig. 2 is intended to represent an embodiment of such a system and, further, that this system may include any additional components, which have been omitted for clarity and ease of understanding. Also, it should be understood that the relationship management server 50 may not include all the components shown in Fig. 1.
[0036] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 70 of managing a relationship in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. At block 72, a relationship initiation request is received from a first user having a first identifier. The relationship initiation request is from the first user is indicative of an interest for relationship with a second user. In this exemplary embodiment, the first user sends the relationship initiation request to a relationship management server using a computing device such as a mobile telephone.
[0037] At block 74, the relationship management server sends a confirmation message to the first user in response to the relationship initiation request. Moreover, at block 76, an intimation message is sent to the second user by the relationship management server in corresponding to the received relationship initiation request from the first user. Subsequently, the relationship management server receives a relationship matching request from the second user if the second user is interested in exploring/initiating the relationship (block 78).
[0038] In this exemplary embodiment, the relationship matching request includes an identifier of a contemplated user guessed by the second user as the originator of the relationship initiation request. In certain embodiments, the second user may not respond to the intimation message. In certain embodiments, the second user may send a message indicative of his disinterest in the service. The relationship management server may then delete the relationship initiation request and may discontinue sending of any related messages to the second user.
[0039] At block 80, the relationship management server compares the identifier of the contemplated user with the first identifier of the first user to initiate or reject the relationship. If the identifier of the contemplated user matches with the first identifier, then relationship acceptance messages are sent to the first and second users. If the identifier of the contemplated user does not match with the first identifier, then relationship rejection message is sent to the first and second users. In certain embodiments, the relationship initiation request is deleted from the relationship management server if the identifier of the contemplated user does not match the first identifier for pre-determined successive number of matching attempts. In one exemplary embodiment a threshold for matching attempts is three.
[0040] FIGS. 4 -6 illustrate exemplary message sequence transmitted to users 12 and 14 of the relationship management server 10 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an exemplary message sequence 90 from the first user 12 to the relationship management server 18. The relationship initiation request from the first user 12 to the relationship management server 18 is represented by reference numeral 92. The relationship initiation request 92 is an encrypted message that includes fields like code of the service provider (SCode), code of the message type (MCode) and identifier or address (Addr) of the second user 14. The code of the service provider and the code of the message type may include a mnemonic or a number, or combinations thereof. Further, the identifier of the second user 14 may include the phone number of the second user 14.
[0041] In the illustrated embodiment, a back-off message from the first user 12 to the relationship management server 18 is represented by reference numeral 94. The back-off message 94 is utilized to cancel the relationship initiation request 92, and is typically sent within a pre-determined time period after the relationship initiation request 92 was sent to the relationship management server 18. Again, the back-off message 94 may include fields such as code of the service provider (SCode), code of the message type (MCode) and identifier or address (Addr) of the second user 14.
[0042] FIG. 5 is an exemplary message sequence 94 from the relationship management server 18 to the first and second users 12 and 14 in response to the relationship initiation request 92. As illustrated, the confirmation message from the relationship management server 18 to the first user 12 is represented by reference numeral 98. The confirmation message 98 is an encrypted message that includes fields like code of the service provider (SCode), and appropriate text for the message.
[0043] Moreover, an intimation message from the relationship management server 18 to the second user 14 is represented generally by reference numeral 100. The intimation message 100 is an encrypted message that includes fields like code of the service provider (SCode), a guess code and an appropriate text for the message. The intimation message 100 intimates the second user 14 about the received relationship initiation request 92 and requests the second user to respond to the relationship management server 18 with details such as an identifier of a contemplated user.
[0044] In response to the intimation message 100, the second user 14 sends a relationship matching request as represented by reference numeral 102. The relationship matching request 102 may include fields like as code of the service provider (SCode), code of the message type (MCode) and identifier or address (Addr) of a contemplated user. In this exemplary embodiment, the relationship matching request includes the mobile telephone number of the contemplated user guessed by the second user 14 as the initiator of the relationship initiation request 92. In certain embodiments, the second user 14 may send a message represented by reference numeral 104 to the relationship management server 18 indicative of his disinterest in the service and/or taking the relationship forward. Again, the message 104 may include fields such as code of the service provider (SCode), code of the message type (MCode) and the guess code (GCode).
[0045] FIG. 6 is an exemplary message sequence 106 from the relationship management server 18 to the first and second users 12 and 14 in response to the relationship initiation request 102. As illustrated, the relationship management server 18 sends confirmation messages such as represented generally by reference numerals 108 and 110 to each of the first and second users 12 and 14 respectively. The confirmation messages 108 and 110 may indicate to the first and second users 12 and 14 about the match or mismatch of the contemplated user with the initiator of the relationship. As before, each of the confirmation messages 108 and 110 may include fields such as code of the service provider (SCode), appropriate text and the identifier or address (Addr) of the respective user.
[0046] As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the foregoing example, demonstrations, and process steps may be implemented by suitable code on a processor-based system. It should also be noted that different implementations of the present technique may perform some or all of the steps described herein in different orders or substantially concurrently, that is, in parallel. Furthermore, the functions may be implemented in a variety of programming languages, such as C++ or JAVA. Such code, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, may be stored or adapted for storage on one or more tangible, machine readable media, such as on memory chips, local or remote hard disks, optical disks (that is, CD’s or DVD’s), or other media, which may be accessed by a processor-based system to execute the stored code.
[0047] The various aspects of the systems and methods described hereinabove have utility in social networking and facilitating social relationships. As described above, the technique described above facilitates creating social relationships between multiple users using computational and networking devices without sharing personal information of the users until all the involved parties mutually agree to such relationships. Further, the technique facilitates initiation of relationships between such users using mobile telephones of the users. Advantageously, this networking technique substantially reduces using of fake identities for networking while enabling secure sharing of information between users genuinely interested in the relationships.
[0048] While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

CLAIMS:
1. A system for managing relationship between a plurality of users, the system comprising:
a relationship management server accessible via computing devices of the plurality of users, the relationship management server comprising:
an input module configured to receive relationship initiation requests from each of the plurality of users, the relationship initiation request from each user being indicative of an interest for relationship with another selected user;
a messaging module configured to send intimation messages to the computing devices of the selected users in response to the corresponding received relationship requests; and
a relationship matching module configured to receive relationship matching requests from the selected users, wherein each relationship matching request comprises an identifier of a contemplated user and wherein the relationship matching module is configured to compare the identifier of the contemplated user with an identifier of the user initiating the relationship to initiate or reject relationship between the user and other selected user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the relationship management server further comprises a database configured to store the received relationship initiation requests with respective identifiers of the users and the relationship matching requests with identifiers of the contemplated users.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the database is configured to automatically delete the relationship initiation requests and the relationship matching requests over pre-determined time periods and/or on matching attempts exceeding a matching threshold.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the messaging module is configured to send relationship acceptance messages to the users if the identifier of the contemplated user matches with the identifier of the user initiating the relationship.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the messaging module is configured to send relationship rejection messages to the selected users if the identifier of the contemplated user provided by the respective selected user is different than the identifier of the user initiating the relationship.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing devices comprise mobile phones of the respective users and the identifiers comprise mobile phone numbers.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the relationship initiation requests and the relationship matching requests are transmitted to the computing devices of the users using short message service (SMS), or multimedia messaging service (MMS), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), or combinations thereof.

8. A system for managing a relationship, comprising:
a relationship management server accessible via computing devices of first and second users, the relationship management server comprising:
an input module configured to receive a relationship initiation request from the first user having a first identifier, the relationship initiation request being indicative of an interest for relationship with the second user;
a messaging module configured to send intimation message to the computing device of the second user in response to the corresponding received relationship request; and
a relationship matching module configured to receive one or more relationship matching requests from the second user, wherein the one or more relationship matching requests comprise an identifier of a contemplated user and wherein the relationship matching module is configured to compare the identifier of the contemplated user with the first identifier to initiate or reject relationship between the first and second users

9. A method for managing a relationship, the method comprising:
receiving a relationship initiation request from a first user having a first identifier, wherein the relationship initiation request is indicative of an interest for relationship with a second user;
sending an intimation message to the second user in response to the received relationship request;
receiving a relationship matching request from the second user with an identifier of a contemplated user; and
comparing the identifier of the contemplated user with the first identifier of the first user to initiate the relationship between the first and second users.

10. A system for managing a relationship substantially as herein described and illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings.