System and method for facilitating the growth of a mobile community

Abstract

A system for automatically matching a plurality of mobile subscribers includes a processor for executing commands that direct operations of the system and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing code operable when executed with the at least one processor, a server for receiving from each mobile subscriber within the plurality of mobile subscribers a contact list, wherein the server is configured to process the contact list to produce a set of normalised contact information for each subscriber in the system, compare the set of normalized contact information of a selected subscriber with the processed normalized contact information of each subscriber in the system to identify matched entries, determine at least a match between the identified entries of the selected subscriber and each subscriber in the system, and add the matched entries in a buddy list of the selected subscriber based on the determined match.

1 . A system for automatically matching a plurality of mobile subscribers, said system including:
 at least one processor for executing commands that direct operations of the system and a memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing code operable when executed with the at least one processor; and   at least one server for receiving from each mobile subscriber within the plurality of mobile subscribers a contact list, wherein the server is configured to:
 process the contact list to produce a set of normalised contact information for each subscriber in the system; 
 compare the set of normalized contact information of a selected subscriber with the processed normalized contact information of each subscriber in the system to identify matched entries; 
 determine at least a match between the identified entries of the selected subscriber and each subscriber in the system; and 
 add the matched entries in a buddy list of the selected subscriber based on the determined match. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determined matches include full matches, one-way matches and no matches. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to add the matched entries directly in the buddy list of the selected subscriber based on the determined full match. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to send a request message to add or block the selected subscriber based on the determined one-way match. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to send an invite via SMS messaging service to the identified entries in case of a no-match determination. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to allow the selected subscriber to initiate a communication with the matched entries and receive presence information of the matched entries. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to automatically synchronize the buddy list of the selected subscriber on a time basis or change basis or manually at the subscriber's request. 
     
     
         8 . A method of automatically matching a plurality of mobile subscribers, wherein the method comprises
 receiving from each mobile subscriber within the plurality of mobile subscribers a contact list;   processing the contact list to produce a set of normalised contact information for each subscriber in the system;   comparing the set of normalized contact information of a selected subscriber with the processed normalized contact information of each subscriber in the system to identify matched entries;   determining at least a match between the identified entries of the selected subscriber and each subscriber in the system; and   adding the matched entries in a buddy list of the selected subscriber based on the determined match.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the determined matches include full matches, one-way matches and no matches. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method comprises adding the matched entries directly in the buddy list of the selected subscriber based on the determined full match. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method comprises sending a request message to add or block the selected subscriber based on the determined one-way match. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method comprises sending an invite via SMS messaging service to the identified entries in case of a no-match determination. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method comprises allowing the selected subscriber to initiate a communication with the matched entries and receive presence information of the matched entries. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method comprises automatically synchronizing the buddy list of the selected subscriber on a time basis or change basis or manually at the subscriber's request.