Method and system for matching names and addresses

• US 5,724,597 A
• Filed: 07/29/1994
• Issued: 03/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: US West Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Zhu, Jianhua, Kovacevic, Srdjan N., Nassif, Rodolphe J., Cuthbertson, Robert John, Pfeffer, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Gail O.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Poinvil, Frantzy
• Application Number:
  US08/282,945
• Time in Patent Office: 1,313 Days
• Field of Search: 364/419.1, 364/419.17, 364/419.06, 364/419.07, 395/145, 395/600, 395/650, 395/601, 395/606, 395/792, 395/793, 395/761, 395/778
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90344 by using string matching techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method and system for matching textual strings representing customer names/addresses is disclosed. The textual strings are first transformed by a plurality of predefined filters. The transformed textual strings are then compared utilizing a plurality of predefined comparators to determine if the two transformed textual strings match. A score is determined based on the comparison of the two transformed textual strings utilizing a scoring procedure. Based on the score and a matching procedure, it is determined whether or not the textual strings match.

Claims

1. A computerized method for determining if a first textual string corresponds to a second textual string stored in a database, the method comprising:

receiving the first textual string;

retrieving the second textual string from the database;

transforming each of the first and second textual strings into a plurality of components based on a plurality of predefined filters;

comparing the plurality of components of the first transformed textual string to the plurality of components of the second transformed textual string utilizing a plurality of predefined comparison algorithms to obtain a plurality of differences between each pair of compared components;

generating a scoring matrix including a penalty for each of the compared components representing a least degree of difference among the plurality of differences determined by each of the plurality of comparison algorithms; and

generating a match signal indicating the first textual string corresponds to the second textual string based on the scoring matrix.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the step of comparing each of the plurality of components of the first transformed textual string with each of the plurality of components of the second transformed textual string to obtain the plurality of compared components.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the step of comparing each of the plurality of components of the first transformed textual string with a corresponding component of the plurality of components of the second transformed textual string.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of generating the scoring matrix comprises the steps of:

applying a predetermined weight factor to the penalty of each of the compared components representing the relative importance of each of the components;

applying a predetermined penalty or merit factor to the penalty of each of the compared components based on the absence or presence of predetermined components, respectively; and

determining a score based on the weight, penalty and merit factors.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transforming includes the step of eliminating non-alphanumerical words or symbols from the first and second textual strings.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transforming includes the step of breaking the first and second textual strings according to predetermined delimiters.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transforming includes the step of excluding components having only one or two characters.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the step of determining if the first and second textual strings sound alike.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the step of determining a number of edits made to convert the first textual string into the second textual string.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of comparing includes the step of determining if three consecutive letters or symbols are common in each of the components of the first and second textual strings.

11. A computerized system for determining if a first textual string corresponds to a second textual string stored in a database, the computerized system comprising:

a transformer for transforming each of the first and second textual strings into a plurality of components based on a plurality of predefined filters;

means for receiving the first textual string;

means for retrieving the second textual string from the database;

a comparator for comparing the plurality of components of the first transformed textual string to the plurality of components of the second transformed textual string utilizing a plurality of predefined comparison algorithms to obtain a plurality of differences between each pair of compared components;

a controller for generating a scoring matrix including a penalty for each of the compared components representing a least degree of difference among the plurality of differences determined by each of the plurality of comparison algorithms; and

a matcher for generating a match signal indicating the first textual string corresponds to the second textual string based on the scoring matrix.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the transformer is implemented as a filter object.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the comparator is implemented as a comparator object.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the plurality of predefined comparison algorithms are implemented as subclasses of the comparator object.