Method and apparatus for retrieving data representing a postal address from a plurality of postal address
First Claim
1. A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the method comprising:
- a) receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and
c) outputting data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses. The invention can feature receiving input data having input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database of postal addresses where each postal address is formed of a plurality of postal address elements, searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the input terms, determining that each entry in the dictionary that corresponds to the input terms corresponds to postal address elements of one or more postal addresses in the first database, and outputting data representing the desired postal address. The desired postal address is found in the first database if an address in that database has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms.
51 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the method comprising:
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a) receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and
c) outputting data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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24. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a memory storing a program;
a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
a dictionary of entries, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements;
a processor in communication with the memory;
in which the processor is directed by the program to;
receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from the first database;
search the dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms; and
output data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data.
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25. A computer-readable medium for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the computer-readable medium storing instructions that direct a microprocessor to:
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a) receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) search a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and
c) output data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data.
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26. A computer-readable medium that stores data accessible by a program executable on a
data processing system, the data being organised according to a data structure that includes: -
data in a first database representing a plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
a dictionary of entries, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and
data linking a given entry in the dictionary with one or more of the postal addresses in the first database having a postal address element that corresponds to the given entry in the dictionary.
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27. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a) means for receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) means for searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to one or more of the input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein the dictionary is in the form of a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes representing one of the postal address elements; and
c) means for outputting data representing a postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that correspond to the input data.
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28. A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the method comprising:
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a) receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein one of the entries in the dictionary corresponds to one of the input terms if the input term is identical to the entry or has a lower quality correspondence with the entry; and
c) outputting data representing the postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms.
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35. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a memory storing a program;
a first database including data representing the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
a dictionary of entries, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database;
a processor in communication with the memory;
in which the processor is directed by the program to;
receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from the first database;
search the dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, wherein one of the entries in the dictionary corresponds to one of the input terms if the input term is identical to the entry or has a lower quality correspondence with the entry; and
output data representing the postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms.
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36. A computer-readable medium for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the computer-readable medium storing instructions that direct a microprocessor to:
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a) receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) search a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein one of the entries in the dictionary corresponds to one of the input terms if the input term is identical to the entry or has a lower quality correspondence with the entry; and
c) output data representing the postal address, if any, represented in the first 10 database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms.
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37. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a) means for receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements;
b) means for searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database, wherein one of the entries in the dictionary corresponds to one of the input terms if the input term is identical to the entry or has a lower quality correspondence with the entry; and
c) means for outputting data representing the postal address, if any, represented in the first database that has postal address elements that correspond with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms.
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38. A method for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the method comprising:
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a) receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements, wherein the first database is formed as a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes being representative of one of the postal addresses;
b) searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database;
c) matching each entry in the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms with one or more postal address elements of one or more postal addresses in the first database;
d) determining, with use of the organization of the nodes in the first database, that a particular postal address in the first database has postal address elements that match with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms; and
e) outputting data representing the particular postal address.
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43. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a memory storing a program;
a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements, wherein the first database is formed as a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes being representative of one of the postal addresses;
a dictionary of entries, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database;
a processor in communication with the memory;
in which the processor is directed by the program to;
receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from the first database;
search the dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms;
match each entry in the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms with one or more postal address elements of one or more postal addresses in the first database;
determine, with use of the organization of the nodes in the first database, that a particular postal address in the first database has postal address elements that match with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms; and
output data representing the particular postal address.
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44. A computer-readable medium for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the computer-readable medium storing instructions that direct a microprocessor to:
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a) receive input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements, wherein the first database is formed as a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes being representative of one of the postal addresses;
b) search a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database;
c) match each entry in the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms with one or more postal address elements of one or more postal addresses in the first database;
d) determine, with use of the organization of the nodes in the first database, that a particular postal address in the first database has postal address elements that match with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms; and
e) output data representing the particular postal address.
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45. A computer readable medium that stores data accessible by a program executable on a data processing system, the data being organized according to a data structure that includes:
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a) data in a first database representing a plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements, wherein the first database is formed as a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a muliplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes being representative of one of the postal addresses, the nodes being organized in a linear store such that all of the descendants of any given node are located after that given node in the linear store, and before the next node in the linear store that is not a descendent of the given node;
b) a dictionary of entries, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database; and
c) data associated with the entries in the dictionary, the data providing for each given entry in the dictionary;
i) the one or more locations of the nodes in the first database corresponding to the postal address element that corresponds to the given entry in the dictionary; and
ii) in respect of each location, an off set value representing the distance to the next node, if any, in the linear store that is not a descendant of the node at that location, whereby the organization of the first database is such that said data may be used to assess whether a pair of nodes of the first database, at different locations in the linear store relate to the same postal address.
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46. An apparatus for retrieving a desired postal address from a plurality of postal addresses, the apparatus comprising:
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a) means for receiving input data having one or more input terms for finding the desired postal address from a first database including the plurality of postal addresses, each postal address being formed of one or more postal address elements, wherein the first database is formed as a tree data structure having a plurality of nodes including a root node and a multiplicity of leaf nodes, a path from the root node to one of the leaf nodes being representative of one of the postal addresses;
b) means for searching a dictionary for entries in the dictionary corresponding to the one or more input terms, each entry in the dictionary corresponding to at least one of the postal address elements of the first database;
c) means for matching each entry in the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms with one or more postal address elements of one or more postal addresses in the first database;
d) means for determining, with use of the organization of the nodes in the first database, that a particular postal address in the first database has postal address elements that match with each of the entries of the dictionary that corresponds to one or more of the input terms; and
e) means for outputting data representing the particular postal address.
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Specification