1. An information processing apparatus comprising:
grouping means for organizing delivered contents into groups each constituted by the contents which are given the same group identification (ID) for having degrees of similarity higher than a predetermined value regarding a grouping item including at least one attribute item representative of a content attribute;
calculating means for calculating frequency of uses of the contents with respect to each of the group IDs;
generating means for generating user preference information indicating preferences of a user based on the use frequency calculated by said calculating means, said generating means generating the user preference information based on a normalized use frequency for each group, said normalized use frequency normalized by dividing each use frequency of each content in each respective group by a number of all the contents in the respective group delivered during a time period corresponding to a use history; and
recommending means for giving content recommendations based on said user preference information generated by said generating means.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a grouping attribute constituted by an attribute item indicating a broadcast time slot and by at least one other attribute item is established for said information processing apparatus; and wherein said grouping means organizes said delivered contents into groups by the established grouping attribute.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grouping item constituted by at least an attribute item indicating a broadcast time slot and the grouping item formed by other attribute items are established for said information processing apparatus; and wherein said grouping means organizes said delivered contents into groups by each of the established grouping items.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said grouping means morphologically analyzes constituent items making up said attribute item of said contents, and determines degrees of similarity between constituent items making up said grouping item based on results of the analysis.
5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said generating means does not utilize the use frequency of the group constituted by the contents failing to meet a predetermined condition when generating said user preference information.
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recommending means comprises:
determining means for determining whether or not said use frequency calculated by said calculating means is higher than a predetermined set value; and
setting means for setting a staple flag indicating that the recommended contents have been viewed frequently to said content recommendation information if said use frequency is found higher than said predetermined set value by said determining means.
7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said generating means comprises extracting means for acquiring metadata about the contents constituting the groups of which said use frequency calculated by said calculating means is higher than a predetermined set value, said extracting means further extracting vectors representing an amount of characteristics of said metadata; and wherein said generating means generates said user preference information based on said vectors extracted by said extracting means.
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said generating means comprises staple determining means for determining whether or not the contents constituting the groups of which said use frequency is found higher than said predetermined set value correspond to said content recommendation information to which is set a staple flag indicating that the recommended contents have been viewed frequently; and wherein, if said staple determining means determines that said contents do not correspond to said content recommendation information carrying the set staple flag, then said extracting means acquires the metadata about said contents and extracts vectors representing an amount of characteristics of said metadata.
9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said user preference information is constituted by a plurality of attributes and by values representing degrees of importance of said attributes.
10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said generating means comprises familiarity setting means for setting degrees of familiarity with said contents based on the use frequency calculated by said calculating means; and wherein said generating means assigns weights to degrees of importance of said user preference information based on said degrees of familiarity.
11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said generating means comprises:
searching means for searching for contents of which said use frequency is lower than a predetermined value on the basis of a history of uses of said contents; and special preference information generating means for generating special preference information based on metadata about the contents retrieved by said searching means.
12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:
first extracting means for extracting vectors representing an amount of characteristics of either said user preference information or said special preference information;
second extracting means for acquiring metadata about the contents broadcast in a predetermined set time slot, and extracting vectors representing an amount of characteristics of said meta; and
calculating means for calculating degrees of similarity between the vectors extracted by said first extracting means and those extracted by said second extracting means;
wherein said recommending means selects a predetermined set number of the vectors extracted by said second extracting means, said vectors being selected in descending order of said degrees of similarity, said recommending means further giving content recommendations based on the metadata about the selected vectors.
13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recommending means recommends content for which the normalized use frequency exceeds a preference threshold.
14. An information processing method comprising:
organizing delivered contents into groups each constituted by the contents which are given the same group identification (ID) for having degrees of similarity higher than a predetermined value regarding a grouping item including at least one attribute item representative of a content attribute;
calculating frequency of uses of the contents with respect to each of the group IDs;
generating user preference information indicating preferences of a user based on the use frequency calculated in said calculating, said generating including generating the user preference information based on a normalized use frequency for each group, said normalized use frequency normalized by dividing each use frequency of each content in each respective group by a number of all the contents in the respective group delivered during a time period corresponding to a use history; and
giving content recommendations based on said user preference information generated in said generating.
15. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium including computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
organizing delivered contents into groups each constituted by the contents which are given the same group identification (ID) for having degrees of similarity higher than a predetermined value regarding a grouping item including at least one attribute item representative of a content attribute;
calculating frequency of uses of the contents with respect to each of the group IDs;
generating user preference information indicating preferences of a user based on the use frequency calculated in said calculating, said generating including generating the user preference information based on a normalized use frequency for each group, said normalized use frequency normalized by dividing each use frequency of each content in each respective group by a number of all the contents in the respective group delivered during a time period corresponding to a use history; and
giving content recommendations based on said user preference information generated in said generating.
16. An information processing apparatus comprising:
a grouping unit configured to organize delivered contents into groups each constituted by the contents which are given the same group identification (ID) for having degrees of similarity higher than a predetermined value regarding a grouping item including at least one attribute item representative of a content attribute;
a calculating unit configured to calculate frequency of uses of the contents with respect to each of the group IDs;
a preference generating unit configured to generate user preference information indicating preferences of a user based on the use frequency calculated by said calculating unit, said preference generating unit configured to generate the user preference information based on a normalized use frequency for each group, said normalized use frequency normalized by dividing each use frequency of each content in each respective group by a number of all the contents in the respective group delivered during a time period corresponding to a use history; and
a recommending unit configured to give content recommendations based on said user preference information generated by said preference generating unit.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1) A circuit board comprising:
a first electrically conductive member having a first surface, a second surface, and a stepped aperture extending through said first and second surfaces;
a first dielectric material which is coupled to said first surface;
a second dielectric material which is coupled to said second surface;
a first circuit assembly having a second electrically conductive member which is coupled to said first dielectric material, said first circuit assembly further including a third electrically conductive member and a first core member which is contained between said second and said third electrically conductive members and which includes at least one air-bridge; and
a second circuit assembly having a fourth electrically conductive member which is coupled to said second dielectric material, said second circuit assembly further including a fifth electrically conductive member and a second core member which is contained between said fourth and said fifth electrically conductive members and which includes at least one air-bridge, said second circuit assembly cooperating with said first circuit assembly and with said first and second dielectric material and with said first electrically conductive member to form a multilayer electric circuit board.
2) The circuit board of claim 1 wherein said first, second, and third electrically conductive members each comprises copper.
3) The circuit board of claim 1 wherein said first and second core members comprise aluminum.
4) The circuit board of claim 1 wherein said stepped aperture has a first interior surface which is partially covered by said first dielectric material.
5) The circuit board of claim 4 further comprising a second aperture which has a second interior surface which is cooperatively covered by said first and second dielectric materials.
6) The circuit board of claim 5 wherein said first electrically conductive member is coupled to a source of electrical ground potential.
7) The circuit board of claim 5 wherein said first and second apertures contain electroplated material which is disposed upon said first and second interior surfaces.
8) A method for making a circuit assembly comprising the steps of:
providing a core member;
forming a stepped aperture within said core member;
attaching a plurality of layers of electrically conductive material to said core member; and
extending said stepped aperture within said plurality of layers of electrically conductive material.
9) The method of claim 8 wherein said core member is electrically conductive.
10) The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of placing dielectric material within said stepped aperture.
11) The method of claim 10 wherein said core member is coupled to a source of electrical ground potential.
12) The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of forming a second aperture within said core member having a concave surface.
13) The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of covering said concave surface with dielectric material.
14) A method for making a circuit board comprising the steps of:
providing a first member having a first surface and a second surface;
applying an etch resistant material to certain portions of said first and second surfaces, thereby exposing at least a first and a second portion of said first surface and at least a first and a second portion of said second surface, said first portion of said first surface being aligned with the first portion of said second surface and said second portion of said first surface being offset from said second portion of said second surface;
creating a first aperture within said first member, said first aperture extending through said second portion of said first surface and said second portion of said second surface and having an interior surface which is substantially covered by said etch resistant material;
selectively removing said second portion of said first surface and said second portion of said second surface, effective to create a second aperture within said first member and to cause said etch resistant material to flow within said second aperture;
providing a first pre-circuit assembly;
attaching said first pre-circuit assembly to a portion of said etch resistant material, effective to cause said first pre-circuit assembly to overlay said first and second apertures;
selectively removing portions of said first pre-circuit assembly, thereby creating at least one air-bridge and lengthening said first and second apertures; and
plating said first and second apertures, thereby creating a multi-layer circuit board.
15) The method of claim 8 wherein said first member comprises an electric ground plane.
16) The method of claim 14 wherein said first pre-circuit assembly is formed by a process comprising the steps of:
providing an electrically conductive member;
placing an etchable adhesive material upon said electrically conductive member;
selectively removing portions of said etchable adhesive material thereby forming certain exposed portions of said electrically conductive member; and
etching said electrically conductive member, effective to form a first aperture through a first and a second of said exposed portions and a second aperture through a third and a fourth of said exposed portions, thereby forming said first pre-circuit assembly.
17) The method of claim 14 wherein said first pre-circuit assembly is formed by a process comprising the steps of:
providing an electrically conductive member;
placing photo resistive material upon first portions of said electrically conductive member;
placing a dry adhesive material upon second portions of said electrically conductive member;
removing said photo resistive material from said electrically conductive member; and
creating at least one aperture within said electrically conductive member through said first portions, thereby forming said pre-circuit assembly.
18) The method of claim 14 wherein said first pre-circuit assembly is formed by a process comprising the steps of:
providing an electrically conductive member;
placing a photo-imageable layer of dielectric etch resistant material upon portions of said electrically conductive member; and
etching said electrically conductive member, effective to form at least one aperture, thereby creating said first pre-circuit assembly.
19) The method of claim 14 wherein said first pre-circuit assembly is formed by a process comprising the steps of:
providing an electrically conductive member;
placing dielectric adhesive material upon said member;
forming an aperture within said electrically conductive member, effective to allow said dielectric adhesive material to partially extend over said aperture; and
coupling a second electrically conductive member to said dielectric adhesive material.
20) The method of claim 14 wherein said second aperture has a second ridged interior surface.