System for improving the performance of information retrieval-type tasks by identifying the relations of constituents

• US 7,299,238 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2004
• Issued: 11/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Hisami, Corston-Oliver, Simon H., Dolan, William B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones; Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Choi; Michele C.
• Application Number:
  US10/979,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125404A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,113 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/5, 707/4, 707/101, 707/102, 707/103.R, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 707/749
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 15/00 Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 15/0053 Forms specially designed for commercial use, e.g. bills, receipts, offer or order sheets, coupons
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3344 using natural language analysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/954 Relational
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system is utilized for determining a relationship between first and second textual inputs. The system identifies constituents in the first textual input, having predetermined characteristics indicative of usefulness in determining the relationship. The relationship is then determined based on the constituents identified. The constituents can be eliminated from the first textual input, weighted in the first textual input, or simply annotated in one of a variety of ways.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium storing instructions and executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform a method of determining a relationship between a first textual input and a second textual input, the method comprising:

analyzing the first textual input to obtain relations of constituents thereof, the relations comprising at least one of grammatical relations and case;

determining a relative importance of the constituents in determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the relations obtained;

calculating the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the constituents and the relative importance of the constituents; and

outputting an indication of the relationships between the first textual input and the second textual input.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining a threshold importance; and

wherein determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input comprises determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based only on constituents having a relative importance above the threshold importance.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:

assigning a weighting value to each constituent based on the relative importance corresponding to each constituent; and

wherein determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input comprises determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the weighting values associated with the constituents.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the first textual input comprises a document and the second textual input comprises a query;

and

wherein determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input comprises determining a similarity in meaning between the document and the query.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the first textual input comprises a first document and the second textual input comprises a second document;

and

wherein determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input comprises determining a similarity in meaning between the documents.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 5 wherein determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input further comprises determining whether the first textual input and the second textual input are to be clustered in a logical cluster based on the similarity in meaning between the first document and the second document.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the analyzing step comprises obtaining case information corresponding to the constituents in the first textual input.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein determining a relative importance comprises determining a relative importance of the constituents based on the corresponding case information.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the analyzing step comprises obtaining grammatical relations corresponding to the constituents in the first textual input.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 wherein determining a relative importance comprises determining a relative importance of the constituents based on the corresponding grammatical relations.

11. A computer system having a processor and a memory for determining a relationship between a first textual input and a second textual input, the computer system comprising:

a constituent marking component configured to perform steps of;

analyzing the first textual input to obtain relations of constituents thereof, the relations comprising at least one of grammatical relations and case;

determining a relative importance of the constituents in determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the relations obtained; and

a relationship determination component configured to;

calculate the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the constituents and the relative importance of the constituents; and

output an indication of the relationships between the first textual input and the second textual input.

12. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the constituent marking component is further configured to obtain a threshold importance;

and

wherein calculation of the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input comprises determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based only on constituents having a relative importance above the threshold importance.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the constituent marking component is further configured to assign a weighting value to each constituent based on the relative importance corresponding to each constituent;

and

wherein the relationship determination component is configured to calculate the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input by determining the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input based on the weighting values associated with the constituents.

14. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the first textual input comprises a document and the second textual input comprises a query;

and

wherein the relationship determination component is configured to determine the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input by determining a similarity in meaning between the document and the query.

15. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the first textual input comprises a first document and the second textual input comprises a second document;

and

wherein the relationship determination component is configured to determine the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input by determining a similarity in meaning between the first document and the second document.

16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the relationship determination component is configured to determine the relationship between the first textual input and the second textual input by determining whether the first textual input and the second textual input are to be clustered in a logical cluster based on the similarity in meaning between the first document and the second document.

17. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the constituent marking component is configured to perform the analyzing step by obtaining case information corresponding to the constituents in the first textual input.

18. The computer system of claim 17 wherein the constituent marking component is configured to determine a relative importance by determining a relative importance of the constituents based on the corresponding case information.

19. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the constituent marking component is configured to perform the analyzing step by obtaining grammatical relations corresponding to the constituents in the first textual input.

20. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the constituent marking component is configured to determine relative importance by determining a relative importance of the constituents based on the corresponding grammatical relations.