System for determining probable meanings of inputted words

• US 20070136689A1
• Filed: 12/13/2005
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patel, Devesh, Riise, Soren, Stipp, Eugene, Richardson-Bunbury, David, Grealish, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,681,147 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/816
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/295 Named entity recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis

Abstract

A system is disclosed for determining probable meanings of words. An input of a word is obtained. Probable meanings of the word may be determined in accordance with a prior probability of probable meanings of the word and a context frequency probability of probable meanings of the word.

Claims

1. A method for determining probable meanings of inputted words, the method comprising:

obtaining an input of at least one word; and

determining a probable meaning of the at least one word in accordance with a prior probability of probable meanings of the word and a context frequency probability of probable meanings of the word.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a result in accordance with the probable meanings of at least one inputted word.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the meaning with the highest probability is displayed first.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an advertisement in accordance with the probable meanings of at least one inputted word.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the advertisement is geographically relevant to the user in accordance with the probable meaning of the word.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising indexing web pages for a search in accordance with the probable meanings of the inputted word.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising plotting locations on a map in accordance with the probable meanings of the inputted word.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating enhanced statistics for use in a query analysis in accordance with the probable meaning of the word.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the context frequency probability comprises the meaning of the word in a context of terms immediately preceding or immediately following the word.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the context frequency probability comprises the meaning of the word in a context of terms both immediately preceding and immediately following the word.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising applying an inverse to combine function to combine the probabilities of the context frequency for the terms immediately preceding and immediately following the word.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the prior probability comprises a probability that the word refers to a predetermined meaning irregardless of the context in which the word is used.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the prior probability and the context frequency probability are combined using combine mathematical function.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a conditional probability that a given context implies a predetermined meaning of the word.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying an adjustment value to normalize the probabilities of the meaning of the words.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein after the adjustment value is applied, a sum of all the probabilities of the possible meanings of the words equals about one-hundred percent.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the adjustment value is determined by an iterative mathematical process, not directly.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the prior probability comprises a location related probability which includes the probability that the word refers to a location.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing a disambiguators in accordance with a text in which the word is used.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the disambiguators comprise specific disambiguators which includes the meaning of the word as determined in a context of a text that includes the word, other than the text immediately preceding or following the word.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the disambiguators comprise general disambiguators which includes a term in a text that uses the word, wherein the term shares an attribute with the word being disambiguated.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the words are inputted as a search query.

23. A system to determine probable meanings of words, comprising:

means for obtaining an input of at least one word; and

means for analyzing the inputted word and determining a probable meaning of the word in accordance with a prior probability of probable meanings of the word and a context frequency probability of probable meanings of the word.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the input comprises at least part of a search query.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the prior probability comprises a probability that the word refers to a predetermined meaning irregardless of the context in which the word is used.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the context frequency probability comprises the meaning of the word in a context of terms immediately preceding or immediately following the word.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for displaying an advertisement in accordance with the probable meanings of at least one inputted word.

28. The system of claim 23 wherein a meaning of the word comprises a geographic location.

29. A client/server network for determining probable meanings of words, comprising:

a client to enter at least one word on the network;

a server to obtain an input of the at least one word from the network; and

a processor to determine a probable meaning of the word in accordance with a prior probability of probable meanings of the word and a context frequency probability of probable meanings of the word.

30. The client/server network of claim 29, wherein the input comprises at least part of a search query.

31. The client/server network of claim 29, wherein the prior probability comprises a probability that the word refers to a predetermined meaning irregardless of the context in which the word is used.

32. The client/server network of claim 29, wherein the context frequency probability comprises the meaning of the word in a context of terms immediately preceding or immediately following the word.

33. The client/server network of claim 29 wherein a meaning of the word comprises a geographic location.