System and method for piecemeal relevance evaluation

• US 6,598,045 B2
• Filed: 04/07/1998
• Issued: 07/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Light, John J., Pandit, Milind S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi, Hani M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Colbert, Ella
• Application Number:
  US09/056,061
• Publication Number:
  US 20010049684A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,932 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/3, 707/5, 707/6, 707/513, 707/102, 715/513
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3347 using vector based model
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

Systems and methods are introduced for evaluating the relevance of rich media material. A topic and a document are received, and the document is divided into various pieces. The relevance of each piece is evaluated with respect to the received topic, and these individual evaluations are combined in some way into a surrogate representation of the relevance.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating the relevance of a document, comprising:

a. receiving a query;

b. receiving a document;

c. dividing the document into a plurality of pieces according to natural boundaries;

d. evaluating the relevance of each piece contained in a subset of the plurality of pieces with respect to that query; and

e. creating an evaluation surrogate based upon the result of the evaluation of step d;

f. examining the document for features that represent natural boundaries.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surrogate comprises a vector based on the relevance of each piece of the document.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surrogate is the maximal relevance value of the individual pieces.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

g. correlating a display technique to the evaluation surrogate; and

h. performing the display technique.

5. The method in claim 4, wherein said correlating operation further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) displaying a static graph of the relevance of each piece of the document along with the document.

6. The method in claim 4, wherein said correlating operation further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) displaying a dynamic indicator of relevance.

7. The method in claim 4, wherein said correlating operation further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) sounding an audible alarm when relevant portions of the document are viewed.

8. An apparatus for evaluating the relevance of documents comprising:

a. a processor;

b. a port coupled to said processor; and

c. a memory coupled to said processor storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to;

(i) receive a query;

(ii) receive a document;

(iii) divide the document into a plurality of pieces;

(iv) evaluate the relevance of each piece from a subset of the plurality of pieces with respect to that query; and

(v) combine the individual evaluations into an evaluation surrogate;

(vi) examine the document for features that represent natural boundaries.

9. The apparatus in claim 8, wherein the surrogate comprises a vector based on the relevance of each piece of the document.

10. The apparatus in claim 8, wherein the surrogate is the maximal relevance value of all the pieces.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, said memory further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to

(vi) divide the documents according to natural boundaries.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, said memory further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to

(vi) receive a command as to how to divide the document.

13. A computer readable medium that stores instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

a. receiving a query;

b. receiving a document;

c. dividing the document into a plurality of pieces according to natural boundaries;

d. evaluating the relevance of each piece from a subset of the plurality of pieces with respect to that query;

e. combining the individual evaluations into an evaluation surrogate.

14. The computer readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the surrogate comprises a vector based on the relevance of each piece of the document.

15. The computer readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the surrogate is the maximal relevance value of all the pieces.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, the method further comprising:

f. correlating a display technique to the evaluation surrogate;

g. performing the display technique.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

h. displaying the document; and

i. displaying a static graph of the relevance of each piece of the document along with the document.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

h. displaying the document; and

i. displaying a dynamic indicator of relevance.

19. A method for evaluating the relevance of a document, comprising:

a. receiving a query;

b. receiving a document;

c. examining the document for features that represent natural boundaries, natural boundaries being selected from a group consisting of chapters, pages, paragraphs, and sentences;

d. dividing the document into a plurality of pieces according to natural boundaries;

e. evaluating a relevance of each piece contained in the plurality of pieces with respect to that query; and

f. creating an evaluation surrogate based upon the relevance of the plurality of pieces.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the evaluation surrogate comprises a vector based on the relevance of each piece of the document.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the evaluation surrogate is the maximal relevance value of the individual pieces.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

g. correlating a display technique to the evaluation surrogate; and

h. performing the display technique.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein correlating the display technique further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) displaying a static graph of the relevance of each piece of the document along with the document.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein correlating the display technique further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) displaying a dynamic indicator of relevance.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein correlating the display technique further comprises:

(i) displaying the document; and

(ii) sounding an audible alarm when relevant portions of the document are viewed.