Concept bridge and method of operating the same

• US 20070011151A1
• Filed: 06/21/2006
• Published: 01/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brainspace Corporation (Reveal Data Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Pure Discovery, Inc.
• Inventors: Jernigan, Stephen, Copps, David, Hagar, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,312,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3329 Natural language query formulation or dialogue systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A concept bridge employable with a search engine, method of operating the same and computer information system employing the concept bridge and method. In one embodiment, the concept bridge includes an extractor configured to derive concept terms by extracting significant terms from search text and inferring relevant terms therefrom. The concept bridge also includes a query generator configured to generate a query consistent with an index of a search engine as a function of the concept terms.

Claims

1. A concept bridge employable with a search engine, comprising:

an extractor configured to derive concept terms by extracting significant terms from search text and inferring relevant terms therefrom in accordance with a concept matrix; and

a query generator configured to generate a query consistent with an index of a search engine as a function of said concept terms.

2. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 further comprising a filter configured to remove noise terms that are unrelated to said significant terms.

3. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 wherein said search text is selected from the group consisting of:

a document,

an e-mail, and

a Web page.

4. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 wherein said concept matrix is built by employing a latent semantic analysis of information.

5. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 wherein said query generator includes a cluster module configured to cluster concept terms in synonym groups with an operator therebetween.

6. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 wherein said query generator includes an expression module configured to generate said query conforming to a Boolean expression.

7. The concept bridge as recited in claim 1 wherein said concept bridge is employable with another search engine and said query generator is configured to generate a different query consistent with an index of said another search engine as a function of said concept terms.

8. A method of generating a query for a search engine, comprising:

deriving concept terms by extracting significant terms from search text and inferring relevant terms from said significant terms in accordance with a concept matrix; and

generating a query consistent with an index of a search engine as a function of said concept terms.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 further comprising removing noise terms that are unrelated to said significant terms.

10. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said search text is selected from the group consisting of:

a document,

an e-mail, and

a Web page.

11. The method as recited in claim 8 further comprising building said concept matrix.

12. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said generating includes clustering concept terms in synonym groups with an operator therebetween.

13. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said query conforms to a Boolean expression.

14. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said method is employable with another search engine and said generating includes generating a different query consistent with an index of said another search engine as a function of said concept terms.

15. A computer information system, comprising:

a first search engine having a first index;

a second search engine having a second index different from said first index; and

a concept bridge, including;

an extractor configured to derive concept terms by extracting significant terms from search text and inferring relevant terms therefrom; and

a query generator configured to generate a first query for said first index and a second query for said second index as a function of said concept terms.

16. The computer information system as recited in claim 15 wherein said concept bridge further includes a filter configured to remove noise terms that are unrelated to said significant terms.

17. The computer information system as recited in claim 15 wherein said search text is selected from the group consisting of:

a document,

an e-mail, and

a Web page.

18. The computer information system as recited in claim 15 wherein said extractor is configured to employ a concept matrix to derive said concept terms.

19. The computer information system as recited in claim 15 wherein said query generator includes a cluster module configured to cluster concept terms in synonym groups with an operator therebetween.

20. The computer information system as recited in claim 15 further comprising a ranking subsystem configured to rank search results from at least one of said first and second search engines.