Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
87 words
A system for unifying data, comprising: a data structure that includes a first data unit and a context identifier identifying a context; the context identifier and the first data unit being associated; and a processor for performing unification, the processor being adapted to access the first data unit in order to unify it with a second data unit, and to access the context identifier associated with the first data unit to use the context identifier to determine whether the first and second data units can be unified.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
87 words
A system for unifying data, comprising: a data structure that includes a first data unit and a context identifier identifying a context; the context identifier and the first data unit being associated; and a processor for performing unification, the processor being adapted to access the first data unit in order to unify it with a second data unit, and to access the context identifier associated with the first data unit to use the context identifier to determine whether the first and second data units can be unified.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 1, in which the data structure includes the second data unit.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
83 words
The system of claim 2, in which the data structure further includes a second context identifier in addition to the first above-mentioned context identifier, the second context identifier identifying a second context; the second data unit and the second context identifier being associated; the processor further accessing the second data unit in order to unify the first and second data units, the processor accessing the second context identifier and using it to determine whether the first and second data units can be unified.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
75 words
The system of claim 3, in which the first and second contexts correspond respectively to first and second disjuncts of a disjunction within a disjunctive 'system, the first disjunct including a first value and the second disjunct including a second value different from the first value, the first data unit including a first value token corresponding to the first value and the second data unit including a second value token corresponding to the second value.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
67 words
The system of claim 4, in which each of the first and second disjuncts includes a feature that can take the first and second values, the data structure further including a feature token corresponding to the feature; the processor further producing a third data unit as a result of unifying the first and second data units, the processor associating the third data unit with the feature token.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
32 words
The system of any preceding claim, in which the context identifier includes a first number identifying a set of genuine alternatives that includes the context, and a second number identifying the context.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
44 words
A method for unifying data, comprising: accessing a first data unit, a second data unit, and a context identifier associated with the first data unit, the context identifier identifying a context, and unifying the first and second data units based on the context identifier
Claim 9
Independent Claim
44 words
A method for unifying data, comprising: accessing a first data unit, a second data unit, and a context identifier associated with the first data unit, the context identifier identifying a context, and unifying the first and second data units based on the context identifier
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 7, further comprising accessing a second context identifier associated with the second data unit, the second context identifier identifying a context, the unifying step being based on both the first and second context identifiers.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 8, in which the context identified by the first context identifier is a first context and the context identified by the second context identifier is a second context different from the first context, the unifying step further comprising determining whether the first and second contexts are genuine alternatives, based on the first and second context identifiers.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 9, in which each of the first and second data units includes a respective value token corresponding to a value; the substep of unifying the first and second data units comprising determining whether they are consistent, based on whether their respective value tokens are consistent.