System and method for structuring information

• US 20080300856A1
• Filed: 09/21/2004
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Palo Alto Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Talkflow Systems LLC
• Inventors: Lieberman, Eric, Kirk, Randal J., Kirk, Julian P.
• Application Number:
  US10/945,428
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300856A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/4
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/00 Sorting according to destination collating the pages of a book B42C1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3329 Natural language query formulation or dialogue systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/345 Summarisation for human users
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2061 Language aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing

Abstract

A translational language system and method for structuring irregular, or unstructured, information are provided. The language system comprising at least one compulsory characteristic for defining a particular nuance of an irregular communication; and at least one term or phrase corresponding to the at least one compulsory characteristic for further defining the particular nuance of the irregular communication.

Claims

1. A translation language for structuring irregular information, comprising:

at least one compulsory characteristic for defining a particular nuance of an irregular communication; and

at least one term or phrase corresponding to the at least one compulsory characteristic for further defining the particular nuance of the irregular communication.

2. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the at least one compulsory characteristic and the at least one term or phrase are in a predetermined relationship.

3. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the predetermined relationship determines the granularity of the translation language.

6. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the at least one compulsory characteristic is determined by a live human agent.

7. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the at least one term or phrase is determined by a live human agent.

8. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the irregular communication comprises unstructured data.

9. The translation language of claim 1 wherein the at least one compulsory characteristic and the at least one term or phrase corresponding to the at least one compulsory characteristic collectively define a particular meaning of the irregular information.

4. The translation language of claim one wherein the at least one compulsory characteristic relates to at least one organizationally relevant meaning.

5. The translation language of claim 4 wherein the at least one term or phrase corresponding to the at least one compulsory characteristic further defines the at least one organizationally relevant meaning.

10. A system for structuring information, comprising:

means for encountering information; and

means for structuring the information by translating or interpreting it using a translation language.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the means for encountering information comprises an information processing system.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the information processing system comprises in whole or in part a meta (or translational) language system.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the translation language comprises a predetermined number of compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the means for encountering information comprises an information encounter module.

15. A process for structuring unstructured information, comprising:

receiving unstructured information; and

structuring the unstructured information by translating it using a translation language, the translation language comprising a predetermined number of compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein the each compulsory characteristic relates to a part of speech having a particular vocabulary.

17. The process of claim 15 wherein the predetermined number of compulsory characteristics is based on the granularity desired for the translation language.

18. The process of claim 15 wherein the values of each predetermined compulsory characteristic is determined by a live operator.

19. The process of claim 15 wherein the predetermined compulsory characteristics act in concert (i.e., collectively) to define the meaning of the previously unstructured information.

20. A process for structuring information, comprising:

receiving information content in a first language; and

translating the information content to a second language by associating at least one particular nuance of the information'"'"'s content to at least one part of the speech of the second language.

21. The process of claim 20, wherein the parts of speech in the second language act in concert (i.e., collectively) to define the meaning of the information.

22. A process for structuring communication or information using a translation language, comprising:

creating at least one part of speech of a translational language for use in translating incoming information; and

associating at least one particular nuance of the incoming information with the at least one part of speech.

23. The process of claim 22 further comprising the step of structuring the communication or information by determining a particular meaning.

24. The process of claim 22 wherein said meaning is determined based on the association of the at least one particular nuance of the incoming information with the at least one part of speech.

25. A method for structuring communication/information, comprising:

receiving information/communication in a first language;

translating the information/communication to a finite number of characteristics in a second language based on the information/communication'"'"'s content; and

structuring the information/communication based on the particular combination of characteristics.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the structured information/communication has a predetermined meaning or significance.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the finite number of characteristics have a corresponding vocabulary.

28. The method claim 27 wherein the finite number of characteristics and corresponding vocabulary define a predetermined number of potential meanings or translations.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein the structure of the information/communication comprises a meta (or translational) language.

30. A process for translating an incoming communication, comprising:

receiving a communication;

winnowing the communication down to a predetermined number of characteristics using a translation language, the translation language comprising a predetermined number of organizationally relevant compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information; and

determining the meaning of the incoming communication based on the predetermined number of organizationally relevant compulsory characteristics.

31. The process of claim 30 wherein determining the meaning of the incoming communication comprises resolving the predetermined number of organizationally relevant compulsory characteristics against at least one predetermined business rule.

32. The process of claim 30 wherein the winnowing step is performed by a live agent.

33. The process of claim 30 wherein the predetermined number of organizationally relevant compulsory characteristics each have a corresponding vocabulary.

34. The process of claim 30 wherein the communications comprises unstructured data.

35. A method for translating incoming communications, comprising:

receiving an incoming communication;

forwarding the incoming communication to a live operator for translation; and

learning how to translate similar incoming communications in the future using a translation language, the translation being based on the live operator'"'"'s resolution.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the incoming communication is examined prior to being forwarded to the live operator for translation.

37. A process for structuring information, comprising:

encounter unstructured information;

determining whether the unstructured information is processable;

forwarding the information to a live agent for processing using a translational language; and

learning how to process similar unstructured information in the future based on the live agent'"'"'s resolution.

38. The process of claim 37 wherein the unstructured information comprises unstructured data.

39. The process of claim 37 wherein the translation language comprises a predetermined number of compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information.

40. A method for processing incoming communications, comprising:

receiving an incoming communication;

translating all or part of a percentage of the incoming communication using a human agent utilizing a translation meta language, the translation meta language comprising a predetermined number of compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information;

assessing how the incoming communication has been or is being processed by the human agent or other human operators; and

refining all or part of the automated translation system based on such assessment.

41. A method for structuring information, comprising:

encountering unstructured information;

translating all or part of the unstructured information; and

refining the translation of all or part of the unstructured information based on a live agent'"'"'s translation of all or part of the unstructured information.

42. The process of claim 41 wherein the unstructured information comprises unstructured data.

43. The process of claim 41 wherein the translation language comprises a predetermined number of compulsory characteristics relating to particular nuances of the unstructured information.

44. The process of claim 41 wherein the live agent'"'"'s translation occurs simultaneously.

45. The process of claim 41 wherein the refined translation is stored for future access.

46. A method for translating recursive information comprising:

encountering recursive information;

translating all or part of the recursive information; and

refining the translation of all or part of the recursive information based on a live agent'"'"'s translation of all or part of the recursive information.

47. A method for structuring information, comprising:

encountering audio or visual information; and

translating all or part of the audio or visual information using a translation language.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein the audio or visual information comprises any number or combination of images, moving pictures, diagrams, songs, spoken words, or other noises.

49. A method for systematically describing and structuring information, comprising:

encountering audio or visual information; and

describing or classifying the said information using a meta (or translational) language system in order to improve accessibility and utility of said information.

50. A system for structuring information, comprising:

means for encountering audio or visual information; and

means for translating all or part of the audio or visual information using a translation language.

51. A method for processing a search request, comprising:

receiving a request for information from a user;

translating the request for information into an organizationally relevant format;

resolving the organizationally relevant format against a database of information; and

providing the user with information responsive to the request for information.

52. A system for processing information, comprising:

a reception module for receiving incoming audio or visual information; and

a translation module for translating the incoming audio or visual information using a translation language.

53. A system for processing a request for information, comprising:

a reception module for receiving a request for information; and

a refining module for refining the search request to an organizationally relevant format using a translation language.