METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RETRIEVING REAL-TIME INFORMATION

• US 20150234883A1
• Filed: 05/01/2015
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2012
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: LI, Mengfan
• Application Number:
  US14/702,344
• Publication Number:
  US 20150234883A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2322 using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2477 Temporal data queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/319 Inverted lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a real-time information retrieval method including: acquiring a retrieval keyword and a retrieval target time period in a real-time information retrieval request; identifying, among multiple inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period by using a timestamp skip list in a data inverted index associated with the inverted real-time data blocks; retrieving information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period according to the retrieval keyword, to obtain a retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request; and returning the retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request to the requesting terminal. The present disclosure further provides a real-time information retrieval apparatus performing the real-time information retrieval method. The present disclosure implements fast real-time data retrieval, and a data distribution trend graph can be acquired in real time with reduced costs.

Claims

1. A real-time information retrieval method, comprising:

at a computer server having one or more processors and memory for storing programs to be executed by the one or more processors;

acquiring a retrieval keyword and a retrieval target time period in a real-time information retrieval request submitted by an end user from a terminal;

identifying, among a plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period by using a timestamp skip list in a data inverted index associated with the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks;

retrieving information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period according to the retrieval keyword, to obtain a retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request; and

returning the retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request to the requesting terminal.

2. The real-time information retrieval method according to claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a target time segment according to the real-time information retrieval request;

deriving real-time data distribution information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the data distribution information matching the retrieval keyword and the target time segment;

generating a real-time data distribution trend graph according to the real-time data distribution information within the target time segment; and

returning the real-time data distribution trend graph to the requesting terminal.

3. The real-time information retrieval method according to claim 1, further comprising:

acquiring a preset reference retrieval target time period and a reference target time segment when it is determined that the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request is beyond a preset time range;

identifying, among the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index;

acquiring, in the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period, real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment according to the retrieval keyword and the reference target time segment; and

estimating a retrieval result of the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request according to the real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment.

4. The real-time information retrieval method according to claim 1, wherein the step of identifying an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period by using a timestamp skip list in a data inverted index comprises:

matching the retrieval target time period with a corresponding hierarchical database by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index, the hierarchical database comprising multiple databases for separately storing inverted real-time data blocks in different time periods; and

identifying, in the hierarchical database corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period.

5. The real-time information retrieval method according to claim 1, before the step of acquiring a retrieval keyword and a retrieval target time period in a real-time information retrieval request, the method further comprising:

determining whether the retrieval keyword in the real-time information retrieval request is an invalid keyword according to a preset logic judgment rule; and

acquiring the retrieval keyword and the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request if it is determined that the retrieval keyword is not an invalid keyword.

6. A real-time information retrieval apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

memory; and

a program module group stored in the memory and executed by the processor, and the program module group further comprising;

a retrieval request acquisition module, configured to a retrieval keyword and a retrieval target time period in a real-time information retrieval request submitted by an end user from a terminal;

an inverted index module, configured to identify, among a plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period by using a timestamp skip list in a data inverted index associated with the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks; and

a retrieval module, configured to retrieve information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period according to the retrieval keyword, to obtain a retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request and return the retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request to the requesting terminal.

7. The real-time information retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a time segment acquisition module, configured to identify a target time segment according to the real-time information retrieval request;

a data distribution acquisition module, configured to derive real-time data distribution information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the data distribution information matching the retrieval keyword and the target time segment; and

a trend graph generating module, configured to generate a real-time data distribution trend graph according to the real-time data distribution information within the target time segment and return the real-time data distribution trend graph to the requesting terminal.

8. The real-time information retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a reference target time acquisition module, configured to acquire a reference retrieval target time period and a reference target time segment when it is determined that the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request is beyond a preset time range, wherein the inverted index module is further configured to identify, among the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index, and the data distribution acquisition module is further configured to acquire, in the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period, real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment according to the retrieval keyword and the reference target time segment; and

an estimation module, configured to estimate a retrieval result of the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request according to the real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment.

9. The real-time information retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the inverted index module further comprises:

a hierarchical database matching unit, configured to match the retrieval target time period with a corresponding hierarchical database by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index, the hierarchical database comprising multiple databases for separately storing inverted real-time data blocks in different time periods; and

an inverted real-time data block acquisition unit, configured to acquire, in the hierarchical database corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period.

10. The real-time information retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a logic judgment module, configured to determine whether the retrieval keyword in the real-time information retrieval request is an invalid keyword according to a preset logic judgment rule; and

acquire the retrieval keyword and the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request if it is determined that the retrieval keyword is not an invalid keyword.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program module group for execution by one or more processors of a computer server having memory for storing programs to be executed by the one or more processors, the program module group further including:

a retrieval request acquisition module, configured to a retrieval keyword and a retrieval target time period in a real-time information retrieval request submitted by an end user from a terminal;

an inverted index module, configured to identify, among a plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period by using a timestamp skip list in a data inverted index associated with the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks; and

a retrieval module, configured to retrieve information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period according to the retrieval keyword, to obtain a retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request and return the retrieval result of the real-time information retrieval request to the requesting terminal.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a time segment acquisition module, configured to identify a target time segment according to the real-time information retrieval request;

a data distribution acquisition module, configured to derive real-time data distribution information from the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the data distribution information matching the retrieval keyword and the target time segment; and

a trend graph generating module, configured to generate a real-time data distribution trend graph according to the real-time data distribution information within the target time segment and return the real-time data distribution trend graph to the requesting terminal.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a reference target time acquisition module, configured to acquire a reference retrieval target time period and a reference target time segment when it is determined that the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request is beyond a preset time range, wherein the inverted index module is further configured to identify, among the plurality of inverted real-time data blocks, an inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index, and the data distribution acquisition module is further configured to acquire, in the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the reference retrieval target time period, real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment according to the retrieval keyword and the reference target time segment; and

an estimation module, configured to estimate a retrieval result of the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request according to the real-time data distribution information in the reference target time segment.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the inverted index module further comprises:

a hierarchical database matching unit, configured to match the retrieval target time period with a corresponding hierarchical database by using the timestamp skip list in the data inverted index, the hierarchical database comprising multiple databases for separately storing inverted real-time data blocks in different time periods; and

an inverted real-time data block acquisition unit, configured to acquire, in the hierarchical database corresponding to the retrieval target time period, the inverted real-time data block corresponding to the retrieval target time period.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the program module group further comprises:

a logic judgment module, configured to determine whether the retrieval keyword in the real-time information retrieval request is an invalid keyword according to a preset logic judgment rule; and

acquire the retrieval keyword and the retrieval target time period in the real-time information retrieval request if it is determined that the retrieval keyword is not an invalid keyword.