System and method for processing sentence based queries
DCFirst Claim
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1. An electronic query response system, comprising:
- a first software routine configured on a client device to form a text string from text words associated with a user query;
a server system coupled to the client device through an Internet protocol based communications channel;
a first database coupled to the server system that stores responsive answer data items which can be presented in response to the user query;
a second software routine executing on the server system, the second software routine being configured to generate database queries to the first database based on the text string, and to cause the first database to retrieve and identify candidate sets of responsive answer data items for the database queries; and
a third software routine executing on the server system, the third software routine being configured (1) to generate a first list of word phrases from the text string, (2) to pass the first list of word phrases to the second software routine such that the second software routine combines the first list of word phrases with the text string using one or more search predicates, makes a single combined database query to the first database, and identifies a first candidate set of responsive answer data items as a result of the combined database query, (3) to compare the first list of word phrases with second lists of word phrases identified in each of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items, and (4) to determine, based on the comparison of the first and second lists of word phrases, which of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items is the best match for the user query, such that the best match may be communicated to the client device.
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Abstract
Sentence based queries from a user are analyzed to determine appropriate answers from an electronic database. Text in the queries is dissected to identify different phrases; the phrases in turn are matched against candidate phrases to determine best matching answers responsive to the user'"'"'s question. The system and methods are useful for Internet based search engines, as well as distributed speech recognition systems such as a client-server system. The latter are typically implemented on an intranet or over the Internet based on user queries at his/her computer, a PDA, or a workstation using a speech input interface.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An electronic query response system, comprising:
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a first software routine configured on a client device to form a text string from text words associated with a user query; a server system coupled to the client device through an Internet protocol based communications channel; a first database coupled to the server system that stores responsive answer data items which can be presented in response to the user query; a second software routine executing on the server system, the second software routine being configured to generate database queries to the first database based on the text string, and to cause the first database to retrieve and identify candidate sets of responsive answer data items for the database queries; and a third software routine executing on the server system, the third software routine being configured (1) to generate a first list of word phrases from the text string, (2) to pass the first list of word phrases to the second software routine such that the second software routine combines the first list of word phrases with the text string using one or more search predicates, makes a single combined database query to the first database, and identifies a first candidate set of responsive answer data items as a result of the combined database query, (3) to compare the first list of word phrases with second lists of word phrases identified in each of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items, and (4) to determine, based on the comparison of the first and second lists of word phrases, which of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items is the best match for the user query, such that the best match may be communicated to the client device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An electronic query response system, comprising:
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a first software routine configured on a client device to form a text string from text words associated with a user query; a server system coupled to the client device through an Internet protocol based communications channel; a first database coupled to the server system that stores responsive answer data items which can be presented in response to the user query; second and third respective software routines executing in parallel on the server system and being presented with the text string simultaneously, the second software routine being configured to generate an initial database query based on the text string, and the third software routine being configured to generate a natural language text string from the text string while the second software routine generates the initial database query and to pass the natural language text string to the second software routine such that the second software routine combines the natural language text string with the initial database query using one or more search predicates to form a final database query, makes the final database query to the first database, and identifies a first candidate set of responsive answer data items as a result of the final database query; one or more fourth software routines executing on the server system, the one or more fourth software routines being configured to compare the natural language text string with natural language text strings identified in each of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items, and to determine, based on the comparison, which of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items is the best match for the user query, such that the best match may be communicated to the client device. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An electronic query response system, comprising:
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a first software routine configured on a client device to form a text string from text words associated with a user query; a server system coupled to the client device through an Internet protocol based communications channel; a first database coupled to the server system that stores responsive answer data items which can be presented in response to the user query; second and third respective software routines executing in parallel on the server system and being presented with the text string simultaneously, the second software routine being configured to generate an initial database query based on the text string, and the third software routine being configured (1) to generate a natural language text string from the text string using one or both of grammars or dictionaries appropriate for a context of the user query while the second software routine generates the initial database query, and (2) to pass the natural language text string to the second software routine such that the second software routine formulates a final database query using the natural language text and the text string, the execution of which on the first database will result in the retrieval of all potentially relevant responsive answer data items to be considered as a best match, makes the final database query to the first database, and identifies a first candidate set of responsive answer data items as a result of the final database query; one or more fourth software routines executing on the server system, the one or more fourth software routines being configured to compare the natural language text string with natural language text strings identified in each of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items, and to determine, based on the comparison, which of the first candidate set of responsive answer data items is the best match for the user query, such that the best match may be communicated to the client device.
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Specification