Process and apparatus for management of multimedia databases
First Claim
1. A method of managing a multimedia database, the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
- creating an identifier allocator agent for associating a unique reference with each representative element of a multimedia document at each step of the processing;
acquiring a multimedia document of heterogeneous content comprising information belonging to at least one of the following categories;
image, video, sound, text, animated vector graphics;
indexing the multimedia document, where indexing comprises;
a1) analyzing the multimedia document both to extract both homogeneous components each belonging to a category of the same type, and also to extract relationships between said homogeneous components;
b1) characterizing the content of each of the homogeneous components and establishing relationships between the elements of the content of each of said homogeneous components;
c1) establishing the relationships, if any, between the elements belonging to the contents of different homogeneous components; and
d1) producing a composite signature combining the indices of each of the homogeneous components, the previously identified relationships, and all of the previously acquired identifiers;
storing the indexed multimedia document together with its composite signature; and
searching a multimedia document as previously indexed and stored on the basis of a composite request, searching comprising;
a2) analyzing the composite request to extract firstly homogeneous requests referring to a category of a single type, and secondly user constraint relationships expressed in the composite request;
b2) processing homogeneous requests;
c2) formulating results of processing homogeneous requests while taking user constraint relationships into account; and
d2) establishing a pertinence order for the results and presenting the results.
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Abstract
The management system comprises a set of specialized operational units with an acquisition module, a multimedia database, indexing and search agents that can be subdivided into subagents, an agent dedicated to managing information relating to the structure of documents, a module for analyzing and structuring document components, a user interface including a document indexing interface and a document search interface, a module for creating a multimedia database, and a module for opening a session. The management system also comprises a set of specialized functional units with an agent for arranging the various units of the system, agents for driving document indexing and searching, and an identifier manager. A platform provides interconnection and intercommunication between the specialized operational functional units.
48 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of managing a multimedia database, the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
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creating an identifier allocator agent for associating a unique reference with each representative element of a multimedia document at each step of the processing;
acquiring a multimedia document of heterogeneous content comprising information belonging to at least one of the following categories;
image, video, sound, text, animated vector graphics;
indexing the multimedia document, where indexing comprises;
a1) analyzing the multimedia document both to extract both homogeneous components each belonging to a category of the same type, and also to extract relationships between said homogeneous components;
b1) characterizing the content of each of the homogeneous components and establishing relationships between the elements of the content of each of said homogeneous components;
c1) establishing the relationships, if any, between the elements belonging to the contents of different homogeneous components; and
d1) producing a composite signature combining the indices of each of the homogeneous components, the previously identified relationships, and all of the previously acquired identifiers;
storing the indexed multimedia document together with its composite signature; and
searching a multimedia document as previously indexed and stored on the basis of a composite request, searching comprising;
a2) analyzing the composite request to extract firstly homogeneous requests referring to a category of a single type, and secondly user constraint relationships expressed in the composite request;
b2) processing homogeneous requests;
c2) formulating results of processing homogeneous requests while taking user constraint relationships into account; and
d2) establishing a pertinence order for the results and presenting the results. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system for managing a multimedia database, the system being characterized in that it comprises:
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a) a set of specialized operational units comprising at least;
a1) an acquisition module;
a2) a multimedia database;
a3) at least one indexing agent that can be subdivided into at least two subagents each using a specific mode of processing;
a4) at least one search agent that can be subdivided into at least two subagents each using a specific mode of processing;
a5) an agent dedicated to managing information relating to document structure;
a6) a module for analyzing the content of an input multimedia document and for extracting and structuring components from the document;
a7) a user interface having;
a7-1) a document indexing interface; and
a7-2) a document search interface;
a8) a module for creating, starting, and destroying a multimedia database; and
a9) a module enabling a user to open a session and control the module for creating, starting, and destroying a multimedia database;
b) a set of specialized functional units comprising at least;
b1) an agent for arranging various units of the system;
b2) an agent for driving document indexing;
b3) an agent for driving document searching; and
b4) an identifier manager; and
c) an interconnection and intercommunication platform for the specialized operational units and the specialized functional units. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification