# US 10,482,137 B2 · Nonlinear models for member searching > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,482,137 B2 - Document ID: US10482137B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/852,857 - Filed: 2017-12-22 - Published: 2019-06-27 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-12-22 - Assignees: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Applicants: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Inventors: Bo Hu; Shan Zhou; Qi Guo; Xianren Wu; Anish Ramdas Nair; Patrick Cheung - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10482137B2 ## CPC - G06N 5/01: Dynamic search techniques; Heuristics; Dynamic trees; Branch-and-bound - G06F 16/951: Indexing; Web crawling techniques - G06N 5/04: Inference or reasoning models - G06N 20/00: Machine learning - G06Q 10/42: Determination of affinities or common interests between users - G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A system and method includes receiving a search query and obtaining, from a database, member data of a member. For each of a plurality of nonlinear models, the nonlinear model is traversed based on a comparison of characteristics to conditions to obtain a score, wherein, among the nonlinear models, at least one characteristic is an inferred characteristic based on at least one of: activities by the member in an online networking system; and connections by the member in the online networking system. The score obtained from each of the nonlinear models is combined to obtain a combined score and a user interface to displays information related to the member based, at least in part on the combined score. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A processor-implemented method, comprising: receiving a search query; obtaining, from a database of an online social networking system, member data of a member of the online social networking system; for each of a plurality of nonlinear models, traversing the nonlinear model based on a comparison of individual characteristics to an associated condition to obtain a score, wherein, among the nonlinear models, at least one characteristic is an inferred characteristic based on at least one of: activities by the member in the online social networking system; and connections by the member in the online social networking system; combining the scores obtained from each of the nonlinear models to obtain a combined score; and causing a user interface to display information related to the member based, at least in part on the combined score. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each of the nonlinear models includes a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, the nodes including characteristic nodes and result nodes, each characteristic node including a characteristic and a condition to traverse to another node, each result node including a score, wherein traversing the nonlinear model is by: comparing, for each characteristic node arrived at, the characteristic of the node against the member data and traversing to another one of the nodes based on the comparison relative to the associated condition, in response to arriving at a result node, outputting the score. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the nonlinear models are binary search trees. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the result nodes are hierarchically lowest nodes of the binary search trees. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristics further comprise content characteristics and context characteristics. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: distributing the nonlinear models to a plurality of processors, each nonlinear model distributed to one processor, each processor receiving at least one nonlinear model; and wherein traversing the nonlinear models is performed in parallel by the plurality of processors. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining a combined score for each of a plurality of members of the online social networking system, and wherein causing the user interface to display the information comprises displaying the members ranked according to their respective scores. ### Claim 8 A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when performed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receive a search query; obtain, from a database of an online social networking system, member data of a member of the online social networking system; for each of a plurality of nonlinear models, traverse the nonlinear model based on a comparison of individual characteristics to an associated condition to obtain a score, wherein, among the nonlinear models, at least one characteristic is an inferred characteristic based on at least one of: activities by the member in the online social networking system; and connections by the member in the online social networking system; combine the scores obtained from each of the nonlinear models to obtain a combined score; and cause a user interface to display information related to the member based, at least in part on the combined score. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein each of the nonlinear models includes a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, the nodes including characteristic nodes and result nodes, each characteristic node including a characteristic and a condition to traverse to another node, each result node including a score, wherein traversing the nonlinear model is by: comparing, for each characteristic node arrived at, the characteristic of the node against the member data and traversing to another one of the nodes based on the comparison relative to the associated condition; in response to arriving at a result node, outputting the score. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the nonlinear models are binary search trees. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the result nodes are hierarchically lowest nodes of the binary search trees. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the characteristics further comprise content characteristics and context characteristics. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform operations comprising: distribute the nonlinear models to a plurality of processors, each nonlinear model distributed to one processor, each processor receiving at least one nonlinear model; and wherein traversing the nonlinear models is performed in parallel by the plurality of processors. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform operations comprising: obtaining a combined score for each of a plurality of members of the online social networking system; and wherein causing the user interface to display the information comprises displaying the members ranked according to their respective scores. ### Claim 15 A system, comprising: a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when performed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receive a search query; obtain, from a database of an online social networking system, member data of a member of the online social networking system; for each of a plurality of nonlinear models, traverse the nonlinear model based on a comparison of individual characteristics to an associated condition to obtain a score, wherein, among the nonlinear models, at least one characteristic is an inferred characteristic based on at least one of: activities by the member in the online social networking system; and connections by the member in the online social networking system; combine the scores obtained from each of the nonlinear models to obtain a combined score; and cause a user interface to display information related to the member based, at least in part on the combined score. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein each of the nonlinear models includes a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, the nodes including characteristic nodes and result nodes, each characteristic node including a characteristic and a condition to traverse to another node, each result node including a score, wherein traversing the nonlinear model is by: comparing, for each characteristic node arrived at, the characteristic of the node against the member data and traversing to another one of the nodes based on the comparison relative to the associated condition; in response to arriving at a result node, outputting the score. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the nonlinear models are binary search trees. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the result nodes are hierarchically lowest nodes of the binary search trees. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the characteristics further comprise content characteristics and context characteristics. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform operations comprising: distribute the nonlinear models to a plurality of processors, each nonlinear model distributed to one processor, each processor receiving at least one nonlinear model; and wherein traversing the nonlinear models is performed in parallel by the plurality of processors.