Methods and systems for editing a network of interconnected concepts

• US 9,268,839 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2013
• Issued: 02/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Weissman, Adam J., Elbaz, Gilad Israel
• Primary Examiner(s): Saeed, Usmaan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Paul
• Application Number:
  US13/861,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20130232145A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/36 Creation of semantic tools, e.g. ontology or thesauri
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/367 Ontology
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/953 Organization of data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/96 Object-relational

Abstract

Systems and methods that create and edit a network of interconnected concepts are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semantic engine implements a method comprising receiving a primary term representing a first concept to be added to a network of interrelated concepts, receiving at least one related term related to the primary term, receiving at least one relationship between the first concept and a second concept, receiving a strength value associated with the relationship, and adding the first concept to the network.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable medium tangibly embodying a computer program product comprising instructions to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

storing, in an entity database, entity data that defines a plurality of entities, the entity data indicating, for each of the plurality of entities, an identifier associated with the entity, a set of terms that are related to the entity, and one or more attributes associated with the entity, wherein storing the data that defines the plurality of entities comprises storing, for each of at least some of the plurality of entities, (i) data indicating a plurality of different synonyms representing different identifiers for the entity and (ii) data that designates a particular one of the different synonyms as a primary identifier for the entity;

storing, in the entity database, data structures that each associate a respective pair of entities and that each indicate a relationship type for a relationship that exists between the respective pair of entities, wherein each of the relationship types is one of a plurality of predetermined relationship types, the plurality of predetermined relationship types comprising multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, and wherein the entity database comprises data structures that respectively indicate relationships corresponding to the multiple different types of hierarchical relationships;

receiving data indicative of an input to associate, in the entity database, a first entity with a second entity with a relationship having a specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types; and

in response to receiving the data indicative of the input, storing, in the entity database, a particular data structure that associates the first entity with the second entity, the particular data structure comprising;

(i) data identifying the first entity,

(ii) data identifying the second entity, and

(iii) data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have a relationship of the specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, for one or more of the entities, the data that defines the entity further comprises frequency data that reflects a frequency of occurrence of the identifier for the entity in a set of documents.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of predetermined relationship types comprises four or more different relationship types;

and

wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have the relationship of the specified relationship type comprises data that specifies that a hierarchical relationship exists between the first entity and the second entity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have the relationship of the specified relationship type comprises data that specifies that a non-hierarchical relationship exists between the first entity and the second entity.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein storing the data that defines the plurality of entities comprises storing, for at least some of the plurality of entities, (i) data indicating a part of speech of the synonym designated as the primary identifier, and (ii) a user-submitted description for the entity.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of predetermined relationship types include:

(i) a first relationship type indicating that an entity is a kind of another entity,

(ii) a second relationship type indicating that an entity is a part of another entity, and

(iii) a third relationship type indicating that an entity is a member of a group represented by another entity.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have a relationship of the specified relationship type is data that indicates the first relationship type and indicates that the first entity is a kind of the second entity;

wherein the operations further comprise storing a data structure comprising data that indicates the second relationship type and indicates that the first entity is a part of a third entity; and

wherein the operations further comprise storing a data structure comprising data that indicates the third relationship type and indicates that the first entity is a member of a group represented by a fourth entity.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the data indicative of an input to associate a first entity with a second entity comprises receiving data indicative of user input provided through a user interface, the user input specifying the first entity, the second entity, the specified relationship type, and a direction that a relationship of the specified relationship type exists between the first entity and the second entity.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein receiving the data indicative of user input provided through the user interface further comprises receiving data indicative of user-specified terms related to the first entity;

and

wherein the operations further comprise storing, in the entity database, entity data that indicates the user-specified terms as the set of terms that are related to the first entity.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the data indicative of the input further indicates a strength of the relationship between the first entity and the second entity;

and

wherein the particular data structure that associates the first entity with the second entity comprises data indicating the strength of the relationship between the first entity and the second entity.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the data indicating the strength of the relationship comprises a first value that indicates a strength of the relationship between the first entity and the second entity in a first direction;

wherein the entity database further stores a second value that indicates a strength of the relationship between the first entity and the second entity in a second direction, the second value indicating a level of strength for the second direction that is different from the level of strength that the first value indicates for the first direction.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first value and the second value each represent levels of strength for a direct connection between the first entity and the second entity in a network of interconnected entities.

5. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable medium tangibly embodying a computer program product comprising instructions to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

storing, in an entity database, entity data that defines a plurality of entities, the entity data indicating, for each of the plurality of entities, an identifier associated with the entity, a set of terms that are related to the entity, and one or more attributes associated with the entity;

storing, in the entity database, data structures that each associate a respective pair of entities and that each indicate a relationship type for a relationship that exists between the respective pair of entities, wherein each of the relationship types is one of a plurality of predetermined relationship types, the plurality of predetermined relationship types comprising multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, and wherein the entity database comprises data structures that respectively indicate relationships corresponding to the multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, wherein the plurality of predetermined relationship types include;

(i) a first relationship type indicating that an entity is a kind of another entity,

(ii) a second relationship type indicating that an entity is a part of another entity, and

(iii) a third relationship type indicating that an entity is a member of a group represented by another entity;

receiving data indicative of an input to associate, in the entity database, a first entity with a second entity with a relationship having a specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types; and

in response to receiving the data indicative of the input, storing, in the entity database, a particular data structure that associates the first entity with the second entity, the particular data structure comprising;

(i) data identifying the first entity,

(ii) data identifying the second entity, and

(iii) data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have a relationship of the specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein, for one or more of the entities, the data that defines the entity further comprises frequency data that reflects a frequency of occurrence of the identifier for the entity in a set of documents.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have the relationship of the specified relationship type comprises data that specifies that a hierarchical relationship exists between the first entity and the second entity.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have the relationship of the specified relationship type comprises data that specifies that a non-hierarchical relationship exists between first entity and the second entity.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing, in an entity database, entity data that defines a plurality of entities, the entity data indicating, for each of the plurality of entities, an identifier associated with the entity, a set of terms that are related to the entity, and one or more attributes associated with the entity, wherein storing the data that defines the plurality of entities comprises storing, for each of at least some of the plurality of entities, (i) data indicating a plurality of different synonyms representing different identifiers for the entity and (ii) data that designates a particular one of the different synonyms as a primary identifier for the entity;

storing, in the entity database, data structures that each associate a respective pair of entities and that each indicate a relationship type for a relationship that exists between the respective pair of entities, wherein each of the relationship types is one of a plurality of predetermined relationship types, the plurality of predetermined relationship types comprising multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, and wherein the entity database comprises data structures that respectively indicate relationships corresponding to the multiple different types of hierarchical relationships;

receiving data indicative of an input to associate, in the entity database, a first entity with a second entity with a relationship having a specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types; and

in response to receiving the data indicative of the input, storing, in the entity database, a particular data structure that associates the first entity with the second entity, the particular data structure comprising;

(i) data identifying the first entity,

(ii) data identifying the second entity, and

(iii) data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have a relationship of the specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, for one or more of the entities, the data that defines the entity further comprises frequency data that reflects a frequency of occurrence of the identifier for the entity in a set of documents.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have the relationship of the specified relationship type comprises data that specifies that a hierarchical relationship exists between the first entity and the second entity.

20. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing, in an entity database, entity data that defines a plurality of entities, the entity data indicating, for each of the plurality of entities, an identifier associated with the entity, a set of terms that are related to the entity, and one or more attributes associated with the entity;

storing, in the entity database, data structures that each associate a respective pair of entities and that each indicate a relationship type for a relationship that exists between the respective pair of entities, wherein each of the relationship types is one of a plurality of predetermined relationship types, the plurality of predetermined relationship types comprising multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, and wherein the entity database comprises data structures that respectively indicate relationships corresponding to the multiple different types of hierarchical relationships, wherein the plurality of predetermined relationship types include;

(i) a first relationship type indicating that an entity is a kind of another entity,

(ii) a second relationship type indicating that an entity is a part of another entity, and

(iii) a third relationship type indicating that an entity is a member of a group represented by another entity;

receiving data indicative of an input to associate, in the entity database, a first entity with a second entity with a relationship having a specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types; and

in response to receiving the data indicative of the input, storing, in the entity database, a particular data structure that associates the first entity with the second entity, the particular data structure comprising;

(i) data identifying the first entity,

(ii) data identifying the second entity, and

(iii) data indicating that the first entity and the second entity have a relationship of the specified relationship type that is selected from the plurality of predetermined relationship types.