Weight-Ordered Enumeration of Referents and Cutting Off Lengthy Enumerations
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- enumerating, by a computer, a first plurality of candidate referents for a referring expression in a natural language expression in semi-descending order of weight using a first enumeration source; and
cutting off, by the computer, the enumeration before all available candidates have been enumerated in response to set criteria for previously enumerated candidates having been met.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In many reference resolution problems there are many candidate referents, and the overhead of enumerating them can be considerable. The overhead is reduced by stopping enumeration before all candidate referents have been enumerated, utilizing the properties of ordered and semi-ordered enumerators. Converting semi-ordered enumerators into ordered enumerators and combining several ordered enumerators into a single using dynamic weightings for handling determiner interpretations are disclosed.
29 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
enumerating, by a computer, a first plurality of candidate referents for a referring expression in a natural language expression in semi-descending order of weight using a first enumeration source; and cutting off, by the computer, the enumeration before all available candidates have been enumerated in response to set criteria for previously enumerated candidates having been met. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. An apparatus comprising:
-
a natural language interface comprising a reference resolver; a first semi-ordered enumerator coupled to the reference resolver; and a cutoff logic coupled to the enumerator for terminating enumeration before all available candidates have been enumerated in response to set criteria for previously enumerated candidates having been met. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A computer comprising:
-
a means for resolving references in a natural language expression; a means, coupled to the means for resolving references, for enumerating candidates for a referring expression in a natural language expression in descending order of weight; a means, coupled to the means for enumerating, for cutting off the enumeration before all available candidates have been enumerated in response to set criteria for previously enumerated candidates having been met. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
-
-
32. A computer program product stored on a tangible computer-readable medium, operable to cause a computer to resolve references for a referring expression in a natural language expression, the product comprising:
-
a computer readable program code means for enumerating a first plurality of weighted candidate referents for the referring expression in semi-descending order; and a computer readable program code means for cutting off the enumeration before all available candidates have been enumerated in response to set criteria for previously enumerated candidates having been met. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
Specification