US6205443B1
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Overlapping subdocuments in a vector space search process
Assignee: JustSystems Evans Research Inc
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Filing: 1999-01-04
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Granted: 2001-03-20
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Expires: 2019-01-04
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is a method and apparatus for retrieving information from a database. Initially, the documents within the database are divided into mutually exclusive subdocuments that generally correspond to paragraphs of text. The present invention further creates a second set of subdocuments that overlap adjacent paragraphs of text. In particular, the location of the overlapping subdocuments depends on the size of the initial paragraphs. This second set of overlapping subdocuments are scored just as the mutually exclusive subdocuments are scored. The scores from both the mutually exclusive and overlapping subdocuments are used in ranking the relevance of documents to a query. The use of both sets of subdocument scores improves the effectiveness of the scoring algorithm.
Inventors
- 👤 David A. Evans
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-10 00:58
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; G06F16/33; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99935
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
88 words
A method for displaying documents from a database, comprising: generating a plurality of paragraph subdocuments for a plurality of documents in a database; generating a plurality of overlapping subdocuments from adjacent paragraphs for a plurality of documents n the database; generating a score for each of the paragraph subdocuments and overlapping subdocuments wherein said score relates a subdocument to a query of said database; sorting the subdocuments into a rank order based on said score; and displaying text from a document from which said highest ranked subdocument originates.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
88 words
A method for displaying documents from a database, comprising: generating a plurality of paragraph subdocuments for a plurality of documents in a database; generating a plurality of overlapping subdocuments from adjacent paragraphs for a plurality of documents n the database; generating a score for each of the paragraph subdocuments and overlapping subdocuments wherein said score relates a subdocument to a query of said database; sorting the subdocuments into a rank order based on said score; and displaying text from a document from which said highest ranked subdocument originates.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: generating said query.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 2 , wherein the generating said query step includes using a keyboard.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 2 , wherein the generating said query step includes using a mouse.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
92 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for searching a database, said sequences of instructions comprising: generating a plurality of paragraph subdocuments for a plurality of documents in a database; generating a plurality of overlapping subdocuments for a plurality of documents in the database; generating a score for each of the paragraph and overlapping subdocuments wherein said score relates a subdocument to a query of said database; sorting the subdocuments into a rank order based on said score; and displaying text from a document from which said highest ranked subdocument originates.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
92 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for searching a database, said sequences of instructions comprising: generating a plurality of paragraph subdocuments for a plurality of documents in a database; generating a plurality of overlapping subdocuments for a plurality of documents in the database; generating a score for each of the paragraph and overlapping subdocuments wherein said score relates a subdocument to a query of said database; sorting the subdocuments into a rank order based on said score; and displaying text from a document from which said highest ranked subdocument originates.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein said sequence of instructions further comprise: generating said overlapping subdocuments from at least two paragraphs in one of said documents.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
29 words
The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein said sequence of instructions further comprise: generating a plurality of subdocuments from a single paragraph in one of said documents.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein said sequence of instructions further comprise: displaying text from a plurality of documents wherein an order for said display corresponds to said order of said ranked subdocuments.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the sequence of instruction for generating at least one overlapping subdocument includes instructions for generating said at least one overlapping subdocument from adjacent paragraphs.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein said sequence of instructions further comprises: generating said query.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein said sequence of instructions for generating said query further comprises: using a mouse to generate said query.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein said sequence of instructions for generating said query further comprises: using a keyboard to generate said query.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
58 words
A method of ranking documents from a database, comprising the steps of: retrieving a database having at least one document from memory; generating at least two overlapping paragraph subdocuments from each document; inputting a query; calculating a score for each subdocument wherein each score relates said subdocument to said query; and ranking the subdocuments based on the score.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
58 words
A method of ranking documents from a database, comprising the steps of: retrieving a database having at least one document from memory; generating at least two overlapping paragraph subdocuments from each document; inputting a query; calculating a score for each subdocument wherein each score relates said subdocument to said query; and ranking the subdocuments based on the score.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 13 , wherein the generating step includes generating at least one overlapping subdocument from at least two paragraphs in said at least one document.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 14 , wherein said at least two paragraph are adjacent.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-03-19 | 2004-09-18 | 2005-03-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-03-19 | 2008-09-18 | 2009-03-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-03-19 | 2012-09-18 | 2013-03-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |