EP0251594A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Database system for parallel processor
Assignee: Thinking Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1987-06-19
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2007-06-19
Abstract
Abstract A method is disclosed for using a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) computer (10) which makes it possible to perform thousands of operations in parallel. The words of each document are stored by surrogate coding in tables in one or more of the processors (35) of the SIMD computer. To determine which documents of the database contain a word that is the subject of a query, a query is broadcast from a central computer (10) to all the processors (35) and the query operations are simultaneously performed on the documents stored in each processor (35). The results of the query are then returned to the central computer (10). After all the search words have been broadcase to the processors (35) and point values accumulated as appropriate, the point values associated with each document are reported to the central computer (10). The documents with the largest point values are then ascertained and their identification is provided to the user.
Inventors
- 👤 Brewster Kahle
- 👤 Craig W. Stanfill
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 23:02
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/901; G06F16/9014; G06F16/20; G06F16/24; G06F16/245; G06F16/2453; G06F16/24532; G06F16/30; G06F16/33; G06F16/332; G06F16/3325; G06F16/3326; G06F16/903; G06F16/90335; G06F16/90339; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99935
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
151 words
A process for searching for relevant documents in a database comprising the steps of: a) storing in each of a plurality of digital data processors at least one table of hash codes representing words in a document; b) forming a query having at least one word and a point value of relevance assigned to each word; c) testing for the presence of the queried word in the database by; 1) determining the bit locations in the table at which the hash code corresponding to the queried word is stored; and 2) simultaneously testing in each of the processors the bit locations corresponding to the queried word; d) adding the point value associated with the queried word to a total point value for the document if the hash code is found at all the bit locations tested in a processor; and e) providing identification of those documents with high total point values.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
151 words
A process for searching for relevant documents in a database comprising the steps of: a) storing in each of a plurality of digital data processors at least one table of hash codes representing words in a document; b) forming a query having at least one word and a point value of relevance assigned to each word; c) testing for the presence of the queried word in the database by; 1) determining the bit locations in the table at which the hash code corresponding to the queried word is stored; and 2) simultaneously testing in each of the processors the bit locations corresponding to the queried word; d) adding the point value associated with the queried word to a total point value for the document if the hash code is found at all the bit locations tested in a processor; and e) providing identification of those documents with high total point values.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
56 words
The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of forming a query comprises: a) identifying a group of relevant documents; b) determining the frequency at which the words in the documents occur among all the relevant documents; and c) generating a query based on the frequency of occurrence of words in the relevant documents.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
85 words
The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the step of adding the point value of a queried word to the total point value of a document comprises: a) setting a flag in the processor to indicate the presence of the queried word in the table; b) communicating simultaneously from the central computer to each of the processors a command to add the point value specified to the total point value of the table if the flat in the processor is set.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
83 words
The process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the step of providing the identification of those documents with high total point values comprises: a) testing the most significant bit of the point values stored in the processor/memories; b) setting a flag in the processor/memories if the most significant bits is set; c) testing the second most significant bit of the point values in those processor/memories where the flag is set; and d) repeating the above steps down to the least significant bit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
86 words
The process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a document may be represented by a chain of tables, each of which stores a representation of a portion of the document, the computation of the total point value of the document comprising the steps of: a) communicating the point value of the portion of the document represented by each lower table in the chain to the preceding table in the chain; b)accumulating the point values of all the tables in the first table of the chain.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
68 words
The process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the storing of document data in the processors comprises the steps of: a) initializing the table of bits in memory to zero; b) generating a plurality of independent hash codes for each word with values in the address range of the table; and c) setting a vit at the address in the table corresponding to each hash code value.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.