US6014639A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electronic catalog system for exploring a multitude of hierarchies, using attribute relevance and forwarding-checking
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1997-11-05
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Granted: 2000-01-11
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Expires: 2017-11-05
Abstract
Abstract This electronic catalog searching system first, calculates attribute relevance (e.g., strongly-relevant, weakly-relevant, and irrelevant) for each node in a hierarchy (e.g., abstraction hierarchy, decompositional hierarchy) based on assignment constraints made at the nodes representing real-world concrete entities and then combines attribute relevance with a forward-checking parametric search to implement a hierarchical exploration scheme that can be enabled over a multitude of hierarchies residing on a base of concrete entities.
Inventors
- 👤 Steffen Michael Fohn
- 👤 Arthur Reginald Greef
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 20:43
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q30/00; G06Q30/06; G06Q30/0601; G06Q30/0623; G06Q30/0625; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/904; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
63 words
An electronic catalog, searching, and navigation system, comprising: hierarchical navigating means for searching in an electronic catalog said navigating means being characterized by, means for providing attribute relevance for attributes at each node in a hierarchy based on assignment constraints for the nodes which represent concrete entities, and means for combining said attribute relevance of said concrete entities with a forward-checking parametric search.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
63 words
An electronic catalog, searching, and navigation system, comprising: hierarchical navigating means for searching in an electronic catalog said navigating means being characterized by, means for providing attribute relevance for attributes at each node in a hierarchy based on assignment constraints for the nodes which represent concrete entities, and means for combining said attribute relevance of said concrete entities with a forward-checking parametric search.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system as described in claim 1 including a means of implementing said a hierarchical navigation system over a multitude of said hierarchies residing on a base of said concrete entities.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
62 words
A method in an electronic catalog, searching, and navigation system, comprising the steps of: arranging catalog objects as concrete entities in a node hierarchy, calculating attribute relevance for attributes of the concrete entities at each node in the hierarchy based on assignment constraints made for said concrete entities, and, combining said attribute relevance of the entities with a forward-checking parametric search technique.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
62 words
A method in an electronic catalog, searching, and navigation system, comprising the steps of: arranging catalog objects as concrete entities in a node hierarchy, calculating attribute relevance for attributes of the concrete entities at each node in the hierarchy based on assignment constraints made for said concrete entities, and, combining said attribute relevance of the entities with a forward-checking parametric search technique.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method as describe din claim 3 including enabling searching over a multitude of hierarchies residing on a base of said concrete entities.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method as described in claim 3, including using a parametric search technique that facilitates both hierarchical navigation and browsing.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
A software product on a computer usable medium that is used with a computer for interrogating an electronic catalog where catalog objects are arranged as entities at nodes in a node hierarchy, said product comprising: a mechanism for providing attribute relevance values for attributes of the entities; and a mechanism for combining the attribute relevance values of the attributes with forward-checking parametric searching.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
63 words
A software product on a computer usable medium that is used with a computer for interrogating an electronic catalog where catalog objects are arranged as entities at nodes in a node hierarchy, said product comprising: a mechanism for providing attribute relevance values for attributes of the entities; and a mechanism for combining the attribute relevance values of the attributes with forward-checking parametric searching.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The software product of claim 6, wherein said mechanism for attributing attribute relevance values provides attribute relevance values from the group consisting of strongly relevant, weakly relevant and irrelevant.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
The software product of claim 6, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance value provides an attribute of strongly relevant to an attribute relevant to all entities of node in the hierarchy.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
The software product of claim 6, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance value provides an attribute relevance value of weakly relevant to an attribute relevant to only a subset of the entities of a node in the hierarchy.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
34 words
The software product of claim 6, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance provides an attribute relevance value of irrelevant to an attribute which is irrelevant to any entities of a node in a hierarchy.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
88 words
The software product of claim 6, including a mechanism for displaying as a node focus the highest level node in the node hierarchy that a user chooses as start point of for exploration; a mechanism for displaying to the user the attribute relevance values for the node focus and allowing the user to select at least one of the attributes based on its attribute relevance value; and a mechanism for selecting a new node focus based on the at least one of the attributes selected by the user.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
The software product of claim 11, wherein said mechanism for attributing attribute relevance values provide attribute relevance values from the group consisting of strong relevant, weakly relevant and irrelevant.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
The software product of claim 11, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance values provides an attribute relevance value of strongly relevant to an attribute relevant to all entities of the node focus.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
43 words
The software product of claim 11, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance values provides an attribute relevance value of weakly relevant to an attribute relevance value of weakly relevant to an attribute relevant to a subset of the entities of the node focus.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
The software product of claim 11, wherein the mechanism for attributing relevance values provides an attribute of irrelevant to an attribute which is irrelevant to any entities of the node focus.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
48 words
A computer-implemented method for interrogating an electronic catalog where catalog objects are arranged as entities at nodes in a node hierarchy, said method comprising: providing attribute relevance value for attributes of the entities; and enabling use of said attribute relevance values of the attributes in forward-checking parametric searching.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
48 words
A computer-implemented method for interrogating an electronic catalog where catalog objects are arranged as entities at nodes in a node hierarchy, said method comprising: providing attribute relevance value for attributes of the entities; and enabling use of said attribute relevance values of the attributes in forward-checking parametric searching.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 16, wherein said attributing attribute relevance provides attributes from the group consisting of strongly relevant, weakly relevant, and irrelevant.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 16, including attributing an attribute relevance value of strongly relevant to an attribute relevant to all entities of a node in the hierarchy.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 16, including attributing an attribute relevance value of weakly relevant to an attribute applicable to only a subset of the entities of a node in the hierarchy.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 16, including attributing an attribute relevance value of irrelevant to an attribute which is irrelevant to any entities of a node in a hierarchy.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method of claim 16, including displaying as a node focus the highest level node in the node hierarchy that a user chooses as start point for exploration; displaying to the user the attributes and their relevant attribute values for the node focus and allowing the user to select at least one of the attributes; and selecting a new node focus based on the at least one attribute selected by the user.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 21, wherein said attributing attribute relevance values provides attribute relevance values from the group consisting of strongly relevant, weakly relevant, and irrelevant.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 21, including attributing a relevance value of strongly relevant to an attribute relevant to all entities of the node focus.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 21, including attributing a relevance value of weakly relevant to an attribute applicable to only a subset of the entities of the node focus.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 21, including attributing a relevance value of irrelevant to an attribute which is irrelevant to any entities of the node focus.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-01-10 | 2003-07-12 | 2004-01-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-01-10 | 2007-07-12 | 2008-01-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-01-10 | 2011-07-12 | 2012-01-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |