Using web ranking to resolve anaphora
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a first voice query;
receiving a second, follow-up voice query;
determining that an anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query by determining that the second, follow-up voice query includes a pronoun that refers to an entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query;
in response to determining that the anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query, determining that the first voice query is associated with a plurality of possible entities;
generating a plurality of candidate queries, wherein each candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is generated by replacing the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query with a corresponding possible entity;
determining that a corresponding possible entity in a first candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is an entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query, wherein the entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query is the entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query and is referred to by the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query; and
based on determining that the corresponding possible entity in the first candidate query is the entity associated with the anaphora, providing the first candidate query to a search engine and obtaining search results for the first candidate query from the search engine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The specification relates to a method of receiving a first query and a second query. The method analyzes the second query for a presence of anaphora. If anaphora is present, the method analyzes the first query for a presence of an entity that can be associated with the anaphora. If the analysis analyzing the first query returns two or more associated entities, the method forms a third query wherein the anaphora of the second query is replaced with one of the associated entities and forms a fourth query wherein the anaphora is replaced with the other of the associated entities. The third query and the fourth query are sent to a query-ranking engine. The third query and the fourth query receive a ranking and the higher-ranked query is sent to a search engine.
9 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a first voice query; receiving a second, follow-up voice query; determining that an anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query by determining that the second, follow-up voice query includes a pronoun that refers to an entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query; in response to determining that the anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query, determining that the first voice query is associated with a plurality of possible entities; generating a plurality of candidate queries, wherein each candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is generated by replacing the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query with a corresponding possible entity; determining that a corresponding possible entity in a first candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is an entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query, wherein the entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query is the entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query and is referred to by the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query; and based on determining that the corresponding possible entity in the first candidate query is the entity associated with the anaphora, providing the first candidate query to a search engine and obtaining search results for the first candidate query from the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that when executed by the one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
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receiving a first voice query; receiving a second, follow-up voice query; determining that an anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query by determining that the second, follow-up voice query includes a pronoun that refers to an entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query; in response to determining that the anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query, determining that the first voice query is associated with a plurality of possible entities; generating a plurality of candidate queries, wherein each candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is generated by replacing the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query with a corresponding possible entity; determining that a corresponding possible entity in a first candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is an entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query, wherein the entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query is the entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query and is referred to by the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query; and based on determining that the corresponding possible entity in the first candidate query is the entity associated with the anaphora, providing the first candidate query to a search engine and obtaining search results for the first candidate query from the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. One or more non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
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receiving a first voice query; receiving a second, follow-up voice query; determining that an anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query by determining that the second, follow-up voice query includes a pronoun that refers to an entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query; in response to determining that the anaphora is present in the second, follow-up voice query, determining that the first voice query is associated with a plurality of possible entities; generating a plurality of candidate queries, wherein each candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is generated by replacing the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query with a corresponding possible entity; determining that a corresponding possible entity in a first candidate query of the plurality of candidate queries is an entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query, wherein the entity associated with the anaphora from the second, follow-up voice query is the entity that is not present in the second, follow-up voice query and is referred to by the pronoun in the second, follow-up voice query; and based on determining that the corresponding possible entity in the first candidate query is the entity associated with the anaphora, providing the first candidate query to a search engine and obtaining search results for the first candidate query from the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification