Method and apparatus for processing natural language
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for deducing meaning from a natural language input, said program instructions performing steps comprising:
- (a) receiving an ordered string of separate word objects of a selected language, where each of said word objects includes at least one alphanumeric character and is delimited from an adjacent word object, said ordered string having a length equal to the number of said word objects and having a natural language meaning;
(b) selecting a word window length that is initially at least two and that is no greater than said length of said ordered string;
(c) successively moving said word window along said ordered string, and removing a substring of word objects that fall within said word window from said ordered string when said substring has a recognized meaning, until all substrings of said ordered string that fit within said window have been analyzed; and
(d) adjusting said word window length and repeating step (c) until only an unrecognized residual of word objects of said ordered string remains.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for processing natural language and deducing meaning from a natural language input characterized by the steps of (a) receiving an ordered string of word objects having a natural language meaning, (b) selecting a word window length, and (c) successively moving the word window along the ordered string and analyzing the meaning of a substring of word objects that fall within the word window. The substring is removed from the ordered string if the substring has a recognized meaning, until all substrings of the ordered string that fit within the window have been analyzed. In a step (d), the word window length is reduced and step (c) is repeated until only an unrecognized residual of the ordered string remains. The meaning of the substring is analyzed by mapping the substring against a database using one or more mapping routines. The mapping routines are preferably arranged in a hierarchy, wherein a successive mapping routine is used to analyze the substring when a previous mapping routine in the hierarchy cannot map the substring. A computer-implemented task is determined from the recognized substrings and performed by the computer system. The apparatus of the present invention implements the method on a pen-based computer system, and the ordered string is preferably received from strokes entered by a stylus on a display screen of the pen-based computer or from a microphone receiving speech input.
412 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for deducing meaning from a natural language input, said program instructions performing steps comprising:
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(a) receiving an ordered string of separate word objects of a selected language, where each of said word objects includes at least one alphanumeric character and is delimited from an adjacent word object, said ordered string having a length equal to the number of said word objects and having a natural language meaning; (b) selecting a word window length that is initially at least two and that is no greater than said length of said ordered string; (c) successively moving said word window along said ordered string, and removing a substring of word objects that fall within said word window from said ordered string when said substring has a recognized meaning, until all substrings of said ordered string that fit within said window have been analyzed; and (d) adjusting said word window length and repeating step (c) until only an unrecognized residual of word objects of said ordered string remains. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer apparatus with natural language recognition capabilities comprising:
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a digital processor; read/write memory coupled to said digital processor; an input device coupled to said digital processor, said input device being receptive to an ordered string of separate word objects, where each of said word objects is delimited from an adjacent word object, said ordered string having a length equal to the number of said word objects and having a natural language meaning; means for selecting a word window length that is initially at least two and that is no greater than said length of said ordered string; and means for (a) successively moving said word window along said ordered string, analyzing the meaning of a sub-string of word objects that fall within said word window, removing said substring from said ordered string if said sub-string has a recognized meaning, until all sub-strings of said ordered string that fit within said window have been analyzed, (b) adjusting said word window length and (c) repeating (a) and (b). - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for processing natural language input into a computer system by a user, the program instructions performing steps comprising:
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(a) developing a string of separate recognized words from a natural language user input, where each word is delimited from an adjacent word; (b) selecting a substring word length that is greater than one but no greater than a total number of recognized words of said string; (c) mapping a substring of said string of said substring word length into a database using a mapping routine; (d) decreasing said substring word length when said mapping routine does not map said substring; and (e) repeating step (c) and step d until said mapping routine is able to map said substring. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification