SEARCHING TEXT AND OTHER TYPES OF CONTENT BY USING A FREQUENCY DOMAIN

• US 20110238698A1
• Filed: 03/25/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Asikainen, Joonas, Olson, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 8,725,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3347 using vector based model
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/634 Query by example, e.g. query by humming

Abstract

A method and a system are provided for searching content (e.g., text, metadata and/or a fingerprint, etc.). In one example, the system receives content and a query for matching the content. The content includes computer readable data. The system generates a feature vector for the content. Generating the feature vector comprises generating a signal from the content, generating a spectrogram from the signal, and generating the feature vector from the spectrogram. The system searches for at least one feature vector that matches the feature vector for the content.

Claims

1. A method for searching content, wherein the method is to be carried out by a computer system, the method comprising:

receiving content and a query for matching the content, wherein the content includes computer readable data;

generating a feature vector for the content, wherein generating the feature vector comprises generating a signal from the content, generating a spectrogram from the signal, and generating the feature vector from the spectrogram; and

searching for at least one feature vector that matches the feature vector for the content.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

finding zero or more matching feature vectors that match the feature vector for the content; and

sending to a user device a result of the searching and the finding.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein searching for at least one feature vector comprises searching in a database including one or more feature vectors, wherein each of the feature vectors in the database is generated in a substantially similar manner in which the feature for the content is generated.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

comparing the feature vector for the content with one or more feature vectors in a database, wherein comparing the features determines if the feature vector for the content is substantially similar to one or more feature vectors in the database;

determining that the feature vector for the content is substantially similar to one or more feature vectors in the database;

determining that the content is substantially similar to content associated with one or more feature vectors in the database; and

grouping together contents that are substantially similar.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the feature vector for the content with one or more features in a database, wherein comparing the feature vector with other feature vectors is faster than comparing the content with other content.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the content and the query are received from the user device, wherein a server is configured for carrying out the method for searching content, wherein the server is further configured for communicating with the user device via a network.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein a user device is at least one of:

a laptop computer;

a desktop computer;

a CD player;

a DVD player;

a Blu-ray Disc player;

a smart phone;

a cell phone;

a personal media device;

a portable media player;

an iPod™

;

a Zune™

Player;

a palmtop computer;

a mobile phone;

an mp3 player;

a digital audio recorder;

a digital video recorder;

an IBM-type personal computer (PC);

an Apple™

computer;

hardware having a JAVA-OS operating system; and

Sun Microsystems Workstation having a UNIX operating system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the signal from the content comprises at least one of:

generating normalized content by normalizing the content, wherein normalizing the content is a process by which content is transformed to make the content more consistent for computer reading purposes;

generating content blocks from the normalized content;

generating values for the content blocks by generating a value for each content block; and

generating the signal for the content based on the values of the content blocks, wherein the signal includes a representation of the values versus time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the content includes at least one of:

text;

metadata; and

a fingerprint.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is in a standard format that comports with at least one of:

Unicode;

Universal Character Set;

International Organization for Standardization;

American National Standards Institute; and

American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

11. A system for searching content, wherein the system is configured for:

receiving content and a query for matching the content, wherein the content includes computer readable data;

generating a feature vector for the content, wherein generating the feature vector comprises generating a signal from the content, generating a spectrogram from the signal, and generating the feature vector from the spectrogram; and

searching for at least one feature vector that matches the feature vector for the content.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system is further configured for at least one of:

finding zero or more matching feature vectors that match the feature vector for the content; and

sending to a user device a result of the searching and the finding.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein searching for at least one feature vector comprises searching in a database including one or more feature vectors, wherein each of the feature vectors in the database is generated in a substantially similar manner in which the feature for the content is generated.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the system is further configured for at least one of:

comparing the feature vector for the content with one or more feature vectors in a database, wherein comparing the features determines if the feature vector for the content is substantially similar to one or more feature vectors in the database;

determining that the feature vector for the content is substantially similar to one or more feature vectors in the database;

determining that the content is substantially similar to content associated with one or more feature vectors in the database; and

grouping together contents that are substantially similar.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the system is further configured for comparing the feature vector for the content with one or more features in a database, wherein comparing the feature vector with other feature vectors is faster than comparing the content with other content.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the content and the query are received from the user device, wherein a server is configured for carrying out operations of the system for searching content, wherein the server is further configured for communicating with the user device via a network.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the user device is at least one of:

a laptop computer;

a desktop computer;

a CD player;

a DVD player;

a Blu-ray Disc player;

a smart phone;

a cell phone;

a personal media device;

a portable media player;

an iPod™

;

a Zune™

Player;

a palmtop computer;

a mobile phone;

an mp3 player;

a digital audio recorder;

a digital video recorder;

an IBM-type personal computer (PC);

an Apple™

computer;

hardware having a JAVA-OS operating system; and

Sun Microsystems Workstation having a UNIX operating system.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein generating the signal from the content comprises at least one of:

generating normalized content by normalizing the content, wherein normalizing the content is a process by which content is transformed to make the content more consistent for computer reading purposes;

generating content blocks from the normalized content;

generating values for the content blocks by generating a value for each content block; and

generating the signal for the content based on the values of the content blocks, wherein the signal includes a representation of the values versus time.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the content includes at least one of:

text;

metadata; and

a fingerprint.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the content is in a standard format that comports with at least one of:

Unicode;

Universal Character Set;

International Organization for Standardization;

American National Standards Institute; and

American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

21. A computer readable medium comprising one or more instructions for searching content, wherein the one or more instructions are configured for causing one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving content and a query for matching the content, wherein the content includes computer readable data;

generating a feature vector for the content, wherein generating the feature vector comprises generating a signal from the content, generating a spectrogram from the signal, and generating the feature vector from the spectrogram; and

searching for at least one feature vector that matches the feature vector for the content.