Tata Teleservices IIT Bombay Centre of Excellence in Telecommunications (TICET, IIT Bombay)

 MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORM
Technical Description:
•    It is software which intelligently exploits user information effectively for developing a myriad of personalized applications.
•    “Mobile social networking is a social networking system/platform/medium where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another, using the mobile phone."
•    Mobile Social Platform Network offers service providers an effective framework to develop personalized applications and send targeted advertisements to a user in the network. These advertisements are based on user’s demographic profile, call detail records, buddy list and interests. Thus, instead of flooding the user advertisements, MSNP directs only relevant information to him.

Technology Architecture:
•    The algorithm mines the call detail records available with the service provider to search for patterns in interaction between users.
•    These patterns along with the information about set of applications that a user is currently using, and what his friends like/dislike are then analyzed to finally narrow down on a specific set of users with similar interests.
•    Anything that is popular in a user’s “cluster” has a high probability of being liked by the users of that cluster and can be recommended to them.

Technology Benefits: Simple Technology and ease of usage with simplest mobile sets and low cost
Technology Need: To introduce intelligence in the social networks formed on mobile network and also facilitate low end mobile uses in rural areas

Technology Advantages:
•    Patented Innovation: “Method for facilitating and analyzing social interactions and context for targeted recommendations in a Telecom Service Provider’s Network.”
•    Low investment/High potential: MSNP can host SMS based applications. It doesn’t require users to have a 3G phone.
•    Platform across Service Providers: The applications on MSNP can be used by all subscribers of any service providers
•    Forward compatible: Myriad of 2G and 3G applications can be deployed on this platform.
•    Intelligent built: Intelligence of this platform can be exploited to give a better user experience.
Intellectual Property (IP) Filing Status: Indian and US Patent filed in name of “Method for Facilitating and Analyzing Social Interactions and Context for Targeted Recommendations in a Telecom Service Provider’s Network” by Abhay Karandikar, Prateek Kapadia, Animesh Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Somya Sharma, Dhanshree Deval – Parakh. US Patent issued in July 2014
Target Customers: 2G/3G Mobile Users
Competitors or Competing Technologies, including those that are being developed: gypsii, mobango, mig33, limbo etc
Unique Selling Point: "The unique selling point of our platform is the advanced clustering algorithm running at the back end along to support innovative and socially popular front end applications."
Example: Technology is used for low and high end mobile users  no software installation is required It uses user's call data record (CDR), user profile, user location and user buddy list to form clusters which in turn are used for targetted advertisements and recommendations
Intellectual property rights owner: TTSL- IITB Centre of Excellence in Telecommunication (TICET)
Business status of the organization developing this technology: Existing small to medium enterprise
Technology Applications:
The currently working applications on this platform are: Important features of Mobile Social Networking Platform (MSNP)
•    MSNP can host SMS based applications. There is no need to download any additional software on mobile.
•    It does not require users to have a 3G phone. This would ensure wider penetration into Indian market where 3G is still in its infancy.
•    Intelligence of this platform can be exploited to give a better user experience.
•    Platform can also support 3G applications.
MSNP was launched by Hon’ble Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology in New Delhi on 29th August, 2011.

Contact:
Prof. Abhay Karandikar
Department of Electrical Engineering
IIT Bombay Powai Mumbai 400 076
for more detail please write as on:
Email: publisher@varindia.com