Method and system for interpreting multiple-term queries
First Claim
1. A method of interpreting a query formed of at least a first term and a second term with respect to a database of items, comprising:
- identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
identifying one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations;
providing a plurality of semantic approaches for associating one or more of the candidate multiple-term interpretations with items in the database; and
determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database and at least one of said semantic approaches.
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Abstract
A query interpretation method and system uses a combination of context-independent and contextual evaluation to compute interpretations for multiple-term queries. The present invention can be used to search a collection of items, each of which is associated with one or more terms. In certain embodiments, query interpretation involves generating several candidate multiple-term interpretations and scoring them to select one or more interpretations. In certain embodiments, query interpretation involves identifying single-term interpretations for the terms in the query, determining context-independent scores for those single-term interpretations, pruning candidate single-term interpretations, identifying a plurality of candidate multiple-term interpretations, determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation, which may involve using different semantic approaches, and generating one or more multiple-term interpretations that are optimal with respect to a combination of the context-independent and contextual scoring functions.
128 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of interpreting a query formed of at least a first term and a second term with respect to a database of items, comprising:
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identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
identifying one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations;
providing a plurality of semantic approaches for associating one or more of the candidate multiple-term interpretations with items in the database; and
determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database and at least one of said semantic approaches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of interpreting a query formed of at least a first term and a second term with respect to a database of items, comprising:
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identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
pruning the candidate single-term interpretations;
identifying one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations that have not been pruned; and
determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for use in interpreting queries composed of at least a first term and a second term relative to a database of items, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
identify one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations;
provide a plurality of semantic approaches for associating candidate multiple-term interpretations with items in the database; and
determine a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database and at least one of said semantic approaches. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for use in interpreting queries composed of at least a first term and a second term relative to a database of items, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
prune the candidate single-term interpretations;
identify one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations that have not been pruned; and
determine a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of interpreting a query formed of at least a first term and a second term with respect to a database of items, comprising:
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identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
determining a context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation;
identifying one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations;
determining a combined context-independent score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation in the candidate multiple-term interpretation;
providing a plurality of semantic approaches for associating one or more of the candidate multiple-term interpretations with items in the database;
determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database and at least one of said semantic approaches, wherein for at least one candidate multiple-term interpretation the contextual score incorporates information about the semantic approach that is used; and
determining an overall score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation by using the contextual score and the combined context-independent score for the multiple-term interpretation.
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38. A method of interpreting a query formed of at least a first term and a second term with respect to a database of items, comprising:
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identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identifying at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
determining a context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation;
pruning the candidate single-term interpretations;
identifying one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations that have not been pruned;
determining a combined context-independent score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation in the multiple-term interpretation;
determining a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database; and
determining an overall score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation by using the contextual score and the combined context-independent score for the multiple-term interpretation.
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39. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for use in interpreting queries composed of at least a first term and a second term relative to a database of items, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
determine a context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation;
identify one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations;
determine a combined context-independent score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation in the multiple-term interpretation;
provide a plurality of semantic approaches for associating candidate multiple-term interpretations with items in the database;
determine a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database and at least one of said semantic approaches, wherein for at least one candidate multiple-term interpretation the contextual score incorporates information about the semantic approach that is used; and
determine an overall score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation by using the contextual score and the combined context-independent score for the multiple-term interpretation.
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40. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for use in interpreting queries composed of at least a first term and a second term relative to a database of items, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the first term;
identify at least one candidate single-term interpretation for the second term;
determine a context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation;
prune the candidate single-term interpretations;
identify one or more candidate multiple-term interpretations, wherein a candidate multiple-term interpretation is a combination of candidate single-term interpretations that have not been pruned;
determine a combined context-independent score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the context-independent score for each candidate single-term interpretation in the multiple-term interpretation;
determine a contextual score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation using the database; and
determine an overall score for each candidate multiple-term interpretation by using the contextual score and the combined context-independent score for the multiple-term interpretation.
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Specification