Knowledge-based information retrieval system
First Claim
1. A method for assisting a user in solving a new problem case within a selected domain, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a database comprising global domain knowledge relating to components of the selected domain, local domain knowledge, and a plurality of previously solved cases in the selected domain, each of the previously solved cases including a plurality of case attributes, said case attributes comprising case attribute names and known values associated therewith, said local domain knowledge comprising associations between the case attributes of a previously solved case;
(b) prompting the user to select a component of the domain and to select from the case attributes a set of attributes considered to be relevant to the new problem case and to provide current values for each of the new problem case attributes;
(c) searching the database of previously solved cases for candidate solved cases that include one or more of the new problem case attributes selected by the user and generating a list of said candidate solved cases;
(d) matching the candidate solved cases to the new problem case by comparing the current value for each of the new problem case attributes to the known value for the same case attribute in each of the candidate solved cases;
(e) ranking the candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the matching and presenting a list of ranked candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the ranking;
(f) generating additional questions based upon unanswered attributes of the candidate solved cases, the unanswered attributes being those case attributes for which values have not yet been provided by the user, and based upon the local domain knowledge, thereby assisting the user to select and provide values for the unanswered attributes; and
(g) repeating steps (b) through (f) inclusive until the user is satisfied with the list of candidate solved cases.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for assisting a user in solving a new problem case within a selected domain, such as a complex apparatus. The method comprises the steps of providing a case database comprising domain knowledge for the selected domain and previously solved cases, each previously solved case including a plurality of case attributes, said case attributes comprising case attribute names and associated values, prompting the user to select from the case attributes a set of new problem case attributes considered to be relevant to the new problem case and to provide current values for each of the new problem case attributes, searching the database of solved cases for candidate solved cases that have one or more of the new problem case attributes selected by the user and generating a list of said candidate solved cases, matching the candidate solved cases to the new problem case by comparing the value for each of the case attributes in the new problem case to the value for the same case attribute in each of the candidate solved cases, ranking the candidate solved cases in descending order of similarity and presenting a list of candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the ranking, generating additional questions based upon unanswered attributes of the candidate solved cases for which values have not yet been provided by the user, to assist the user to select and provide values for the unanswered attributes and thereby appropriately order the candidate solved cases; and repeating the above steps until the user is satisfied with the list of candidate solved cases.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for assisting a user in solving a new problem case within a selected domain, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a database comprising global domain knowledge relating to components of the selected domain, local domain knowledge, and a plurality of previously solved cases in the selected domain, each of the previously solved cases including a plurality of case attributes, said case attributes comprising case attribute names and known values associated therewith, said local domain knowledge comprising associations between the case attributes of a previously solved case; (b) prompting the user to select a component of the domain and to select from the case attributes a set of attributes considered to be relevant to the new problem case and to provide current values for each of the new problem case attributes; (c) searching the database of previously solved cases for candidate solved cases that include one or more of the new problem case attributes selected by the user and generating a list of said candidate solved cases; (d) matching the candidate solved cases to the new problem case by comparing the current value for each of the new problem case attributes to the known value for the same case attribute in each of the candidate solved cases; (e) ranking the candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the matching and presenting a list of ranked candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the ranking; (f) generating additional questions based upon unanswered attributes of the candidate solved cases, the unanswered attributes being those case attributes for which values have not yet been provided by the user, and based upon the local domain knowledge, thereby assisting the user to select and provide values for the unanswered attributes; and (g) repeating steps (b) through (f) inclusive until the user is satisfied with the list of candidate solved cases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer system for assisting a user in solving a new problem case relating to a domain, comprising;
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(a) storage means for storing a database comprising a plurality of solved cases, each of said solved cases comprising a plurality of case attributes, said case attributes comprising case attribute names and known values associated therewith, and local domain knowledge for the selected domain, the local domain knowledge comprising associations between the case attributes of a previously solved case; (b) interface means for interfacing with the user, comprising output means for outputting to the user a list of case attributes of the solved cases and input means for enabling the user to select from the list of case attributes a set of attributes considered to be relevant to the new problem case, and to input current values for case attributes relating to a new problem case; and (c) processing means coupled to the storage means and the interface means for processing the current values of the new problem case attributes, comprising; (i) searching means for searching the database of previously solved cases for candidate solved cases; (ii) matching means for matching the candidate solved cases to the new problem case by comparing the current values of the new problem case attributes with known values for the same case attributes for each of the candidate solved cases and determining the overall similarity of a new problem case with each candidate solved case; and (iii) ranking means for ranking the candidate solved cases in order of relevance based upon the matching and creating a list of ranked candidate solved cases based upon said ranking. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for assisting a user in solving a new problem case within a selected domain, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a database comprising global domain knowledge relating to components of the selected domain, local domain knowledge, and a plurality of previously solved cases in the selected domain, each of the previously solved cases including a plurality of case attributes, said case attributes comprising case attribute names and known values associated therewith, said local domain knowledge comprising associations between the case attributes of a previously solved case; (b) prompting the user to select a component of the domain and to select from the case attributes a set of attributes considered to be relevant to the new problem case and to provide current values for each of the new problem case attributes; (c) searching the database of previously solved cases for candidate solved cases that include one or more of the new problem case attributes selected by the user and generating a list of said candidate solved cases; and (d) matching the candidate solved cases to the new problem case by comparing the current value for each of the new problem case attributes to the known value for the same case attribute in each of the candidate solved cases, wherein the matching step comprises generating an attribute similarity value ranging from completely dissimilar to essentially identical based upon four parameters, the parameters each defining a threshold of similarity or dissimilarity either less than or greater than a reference value. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification