US6356899B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method for interactively creating an information database including preferred information elements, such as preferred-authority, world wide web pages
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1999-03-03
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Granted: 2002-03-12
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Expires: 2019-03-03
Abstract
Abstract A method for identifying, filtering, ranking and cataloging information elements; as for example, World Wide Web pages, of the Internet in whole, part, or in combination. The method is preferably implemented in computer software and features steps for enabling a user to interactively create an information database including preferred information elements such as preferred World Wide Web pages in whole, part, or in combination. The method includes steps for enabling a user to interactively create a frame-based, hierarchical organizational structure for the information elements, and steps for identifying and automatically filtering and ranking by relevance, information elements, such as World Wide Web pages for populating the structure, to form; for example, a searchable, World Wide Web page database. Additionally, the method features steps for enabling a user to interactively define a frame-based, hierarchical information structure for cataloging information, identifying a preliminary population of information elements for a particular hierarchical category arranged as a frame, based upon the respective frame attributes, and thereafter, expanding the information population to include related information, and subsequently, automatically filtering and ranking the information based upon relevance, and then populating the hierarchical structure with the a definable portion of the filtered, ranked information elements.
Inventors
- 👤 Soumen Chakrabarti
- 👤 Byron Edward Dom
- 👤 David Andrew Gibson
- 👤 Prabhakar Raghavan
- 👤 Sridhar Rajagopalan
- 👤 Shanmugasundaram Ravikumar
- 👤 Andrew Tomkins
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 13:43
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/95; G06F16/954; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99934; Y10S707/99935; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944; Y10S707/99945
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 53
Claim 1
Independent Claim
90 words
A method for cataloging and ranking information comprising the steps of: a. enabling a user to interactively define a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category; b. selecting a category of the structure; c. identifying a population of information elements for the selected category automatically based upon the respective category attributes; d. ranking the information elements for the particular category automatically based upon relevance to category attributes; and e. populating the selected category with ranked information elements.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
90 words
A method for cataloging and ranking information comprising the steps of: a. enabling a user to interactively define a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category; b. selecting a category of the structure; c. identifying a population of information elements for the selected category automatically based upon the respective category attributes; d. ranking the information elements for the particular category automatically based upon relevance to category attributes; and e. populating the selected category with ranked information elements.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 further including filtering the information elements to improve ranking accuracy.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 2 wherein filtering includes applying filtering at predetermined points during ranking.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
73 words
The method of claim 3 wherein identifying information elements includes identifying links between information elements, and ranking information elements includes iteratively determining relevance of the information elements to the respective category attributes based upon the affinity between information elements, and wherein one or more sources of spurious effects arise during the determining of relevance which adversely affect ranking accuracy, and wherein filtering includes steps for diminishing one or more sources of spurious effects.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the sources of spurious effects include self-promotion and filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of self promotion.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 5 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of self-promotion include discarding links from information elements of a first source of information elements to information elements of a second source of information elements, where the first information source and the second information source are the same.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
115 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the information elements are pages of the World Wide Web, and information sources for the pages are Web sites, the Web including at least four classes of Web sites designated, respectively, class A, class B, class C and class D, each respective class having a Web address including four octets of identification, and wherein Web sites are considered the same where: the two most significant octets of the addresses for class A and class B sites are the same; and the three most significant octets of the addresses for class C sites are the same; and all four octets of the addresses for class D sites are the same.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of self-promotion are applied proximate the beginning of determining information element ranking.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the information elements include hubs and authorities, and the sources of spurious effects include redundant hubs, and wherein filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of redundant hubs.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 9 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of redundant hubs includes identifying a hub having the highest number of links at approximately the end of a ranking iteration, and setting to zero the authority values of information elements that are linked to by the hub having the highest number of links, re-computing hub values and iterating determination of ranking.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 9 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of redundant hubs are applied proximate the end of determining information element ranking.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the information elements include hubs and authorities, and the sources of spurious effects include false authority, and wherein filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of false authority.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of false authority includes allowing each link in an information element to have its own hub value, such that the hub value of the information element becomes a function of the particular link, and, when ranking authorities, allowing a value associated with the authority to be incremented by the hub value of the link, and when ranking hubs, allowing, the value of the authority linked to, be used to increment the hub value.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 12 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of false authority are applied during the determining of information element ranking.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the information elements include hubs and authorities, and the sources of spurious effects include related-page factors, and wherein filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of related-page factors.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing related-page factors includes, re-packing the authority of any source of information elements prior to iterating a determination of ranking by setting to zero all authority values of the same information element source, except the largest authority value.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
115 words
The method of claim 16 wherein the information elements are pages of the World Wide Web, and information sources for the pages are Web sites, the Web including at least four classes of Wed sites designated, respectively, class A, class B, class C and class D, each respective class having a Web address including four octets of identification, and wherein Web sites are considered the same where: the two most significant octets of the addresses for class A and class B sites are the same; and the three most significant octets of the addresses for class C sites are the same; and all four octets of the addresses for class D sites are the same.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of related-page factors are applied during the determining of information element ranking.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
126 words
The method of claim 4 wherein the sources of spurious effects include self-promotion; redundant hubs; false authority; and related-page factors; and filtering includes steps for diminishing the spurious effects by combining steps for reducing self-promotion, redundant hubs; false authority and related page factors, and wherein the filtering steps for diminishing the effects of self-promotion are applied proximate the beginning of determining information element ranking; filtering steps for diminishing the effects of redundant hubs are applied proximate the end of determining information element ranking; filtering steps for diminishing the effects of false authority are applied during the determining of information element ranking; and filtering steps for diminishing the effects of related-page factors are applied during the determining of information element ranking prior to iteration of ranking determinations.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 wherein enabling a user to define an information structure includes providing a display interface having fields at which the user can enter attributes to be associated with the information structure categories.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 20 wherein identifying a population of information elements includes automatically generating a search query based upon the category attributes entered at the interface.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 21 wherein providing the interface includes providing the interface with one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 22 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions, includes providing at least one partition for enabling modification of category attributes.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 23 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry field permitting the user to add attributes.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 24 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry fields permitting the user to delete attributes.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 25 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry field permitting the user to exclude attributes.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 26 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes permitting the user to select predefined attributes with which known information elements are associated.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 22 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes providing at least one partition for presenting the information structure.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 28 wherein providing the interface with at least one partition for presenting the information structure includes providing at least one partition for presenting a graphical representation of the information structure and for enabling modification of the information structure.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 29 wherein enabling modification of the information structure includes enabling the adding, deleting, and moving of categories within the information structure.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 22 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes providing at least one partition for presenting one or more information elements having information content which populate a selected category of the information structure.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 31 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes providing at least one partition for presenting the contents of a selected information element.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 22 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes enabling navigation between screens, and further includes providing at least one partition for presenting the information structure and at least one partition for enabling modification of category attributes.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 33 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions includes providing at least one partition for presenting one or more information elements having information content which populate the selected category of the information structure.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 34 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions further includes providing at least one partition for presenting the content of an information elements which populates the selected category of the information structure.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
183 words
A method for cataloging ranking and filtering information comprising the steps of: a. presenting a display interface to a user, the interface having one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions for enabling the user to interactively define a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category; b. enabling the user to select a category of the structure; c. automatically identifying a population of information elements for the selected category based upon the respective category attributes designated by the user, and further, identifying links between information elements; d. ranking the information elements for the particular category automatically based upon relevance to category attributes by iteratively determining relevance of the information elements to the respective category attributes based upon the affinity between information elements; wherein one or more sources of spurious effects arise during the determining of relevance which adversely affect ranking accuracy; e. filtering the information elements to improve ranking accuracy by applying filtering at predetermined points during ranking; and f. populating the selected category with ranked information elements.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
183 words
A method for cataloging ranking and filtering information comprising the steps of: a. presenting a display interface to a user, the interface having one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions for enabling the user to interactively define a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category; b. enabling the user to select a category of the structure; c. automatically identifying a population of information elements for the selected category based upon the respective category attributes designated by the user, and further, identifying links between information elements; d. ranking the information elements for the particular category automatically based upon relevance to category attributes by iteratively determining relevance of the information elements to the respective category attributes based upon the affinity between information elements; wherein one or more sources of spurious effects arise during the determining of relevance which adversely affect ranking accuracy; e. filtering the information elements to improve ranking accuracy by applying filtering at predetermined points during ranking; and f. populating the selected category with ranked information elements.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 36 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes providing at least one partition for presenting the information structure and at least one partition for enabling modification of category attributes and at least one partition for presenting one or more information elements having information content.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 37 wherein the sources of spurious effects include self-promotion and filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of self-promotion applied proximate the beginning of determining information element ranking.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 37 wherein the sources of spurious effects include redundant hubs and filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects redundant hubs applied proximate the end of determining information element ranking.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 37 wherein the sources of spurious effects include false authority and filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of false authority applied during the determining of information element ranking.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 37 wherein the sources of spurious effects include related-page factors and filtering includes steps for diminishing the effects of related-page factors applied during the determining of information element ranking.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
128 words
A method for displaying an interface at which a user may interactively develop a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category, and at which interface the user may automatically populate selected categories with information elements, the method comprising the steps of; a. providing the interface with one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions; b. providing at least one partition for presenting the information structure and enabling its modification; c. providing at least one partition for presenting the attributes of a selected category and enabling modification of category attributes; and d. enabling automatic identification of a population of information elements with a search query based upon the category attributes entered at the interface.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
128 words
A method for displaying an interface at which a user may interactively develop a structure for cataloging information in one or more categories, each category having one or more attributes for defining the category, and at which interface the user may automatically populate selected categories with information elements, the method comprising the steps of; a. providing the interface with one or more screens, respectively, having one or more partitions; b. providing at least one partition for presenting the information structure and enabling its modification; c. providing at least one partition for presenting the attributes of a selected category and enabling modification of category attributes; and d. enabling automatic identification of a population of information elements with a search query based upon the category attributes entered at the interface.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 42 wherein providing the interface includes providing fields at which the user can enter attributes to be associated with the information structure categories.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 43 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions, includes enabling navigation between screens and providing at least one partition for presenting one or more information elements having information content which populate a selected category of the information structure.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 43 wherein providing the interface with one or more screens having one or more partitions further includes providing at least one partition for presenting the content of an information elements which populates the selected category of the information structure.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 45 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry field permitting the user to add attributes.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 45 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry fields permitting the user to delete attributes.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 45 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes providing an entry field permitting the user to exclude attributes.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 45 wherein enabling modification of category attributes includes permitting the user to select predefined attributes with which known information elements are associated.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 45 wherein enabling modification of the information structure includes enabling the adding, deleting, and moving of categories within the information structure.
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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) | 2005-03-11 | 2005-09-10 | 2006-03-12 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-03-11 | 2009-09-10 | 2010-03-12 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-03-11 | 2013-09-10 | 2014-03-12 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |