US6434550B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Temporal updates of relevancy rating of retrieved information in an information search system
Assignee: Oracle OTC Subsidiary LLC
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Filing: 2000-04-14
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Granted: 2002-08-13
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Expires: 2020-04-14
Abstract
Abstract An information retrieval system allows a user to search a database of informational items for a desired informational item, and presents the search result in the form of matching index entries in the order of relevance. The information retrieval system in accordance with the principles of the present invention assigns a relevance rating to each of the index entries without requiring an explicit input from the user with respect to the usefulness or the relevance of the retrieved information corresponding to the respective index entries. When the user selects and retrieves an informational item through a list of index entries presented by the retrieval system, as a result of a search, the relevance rating of the selected informational item is increased by a predetermined amount. The relevance rating of the selected informational item is further adjusted based on any actions the user takes subsequent to the initial selection of the informational item if the subsequent act indicates that the relevance of the selected informational item may be less than what is reflected by the rating increase by the predetermined amount. Ratings of the informational items in the database are determined from implicit suggestions from the usage of the retrieval system and the database by the user rather than from an explicit user input. In another aspect of the present invention, the ratings are allowed to decay over time to minimize the tendencies for historical usage biased rating, and to provide more temporally accurate ratings. The most recently accessed time of each of the informational items in the database is compared to a predetermined stale access time threshold, and if the most recently accessed time is older than the threshold, than the rating of the corresponding informational item is decreased to reflect the dated nature of the information contained within the item.
Inventors
- 👤 Douglas K. Warner
- 👤 James N. Richter
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 13:31
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99937
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 36
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
A method of temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, comprising: detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
120 words
A method of temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, comprising: detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising: updating said most recently accessed time to be equal to a time of said detected present access of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising: storing said adjusted relevancy rating for said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 2 , further comprising: storing said updated most recently accessed time of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said step of adjusting said relevancy rating comprises: decreasing said relevancy rating by a predetermined temporal adjustment factor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 5 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 6 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined empirically.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 5 , further comprising: allowing a user of said information retrieval system to directly input said temporal adjustment factor.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 1 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 9 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined empirically.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of temporally updating relevancy ratings in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising: allowing a user of said information retrieval system to directly input said stale access time threshold value.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
128 words
An apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, comprising: means for detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; means for determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; means for comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and means for adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
128 words
An apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, comprising: means for detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; means for determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; means for comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and means for adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 12 , further comprising: means for updating said most recently accessed time to be equal to a time of said detected present access of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 13 , further comprising: means for storing said updated most recently accessed time of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 14 , further comprising: an input interface adapted to receive said stale access time threshold value from a user of said information retrieval system.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 13 , wherein: said means for adjusting said relevancy rating is adapted to decrease said relevancy rating by a predetermined temporal adjustment factor.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 16 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 17 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined empirically.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 16 , further comprising: an input interface adapted to receive said temporal adjustment factor from a user of said information retrieval system.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 12 , further comprising: means for storing said adjusted relevancy rating for said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 12 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus for temporally updating relevancy ratings according to claim 21 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined empirically.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
141 words
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for implementing a method of temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, said computer program comprising a set of instructions for: detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
141 words
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for implementing a method of temporally updating relevancy ratings of a plurality of informational items in a information retrieval system, said computer program comprising a set of instructions for: detecting an access of at least one of said plurality of informational items, said at least one of said plurality of informational items having a most recently accessed time, said most recently accessed time indicating time at which said at least one of said plurality of informational items was lastly accessed; determining an elapsed time since said most recently accessed time; comparing said elapsed time with a predetermined stale access time threshold value; and adjusting a relevancy rating of said at least one of said plurality of informational items if said elapsed time exceeds said predetermined stale access time threshold value.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
49 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein said computer program further comprising one or more instructions for: updating said most recently accessed time to be equal to a time of said detected present access of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
39 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 24 , wherein said computer program further comprising one or more instructions for: storing said updated most recently accessed time of said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
37 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein said computer program further comprising one or more instructions for: storing said adjusted relevancy rating for said at least one of said plurality of informational items.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
31 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein: said instructions for adjusting said relevancy rating are adapted to decrease said relevancy rating by a predetermined temporal adjustment factor.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
20 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 27 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined empirically.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
29 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein: said stale access time threshold value is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
27 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined based on a desired temporal sensitivity of said relevancy ratings.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
18 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 30 , wherein: said temporal adjustment factor is determined empirically.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
38 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein said computer program further comprising one or more instructions for: allowing a user of said information retrieval system to directly input said stale access time threshold value.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
36 words
The computer readable storage medium according to claim 23 , wherein said computer program further comprising one or more instructions for: allowing a user of said information retrieval system to directly input said temporal adjustment factor.
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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) | 2005-08-12 | 2006-02-11 | 2006-08-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-08-12 | 2010-02-11 | 2010-08-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-08-12 | 2014-02-11 | 2014-08-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |