# US 11,308,412 B2 · Estimation of similarity of items

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- Number: US 11,308,412 B2
- Document ID: US11308412B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/487,671
- Filed: 2017-04-14
- Published: 2018-10-18
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-04-14
- Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation
- Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation
- Inventors: Tetsuro Morimura
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11308412B2

## CPC

- G06N 7/01: Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
- G06Q 30/0202: Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
- G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS
- 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

Similarity of items can be estimated by using a method including generating a prediction model that predicts an indicator of a target based on one or more attributes for items, by estimating a weight set, among weight sets, for each of the items, and estimating a similarity among the items for the target based on the weight sets of the prediction model.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory computer program product having instructions embodied therewith, the instructions executable by a processor or programmable circuitry to cause the processor or programmable circuitry to perform operations comprising:
generating a prediction model that predicts an indicator of a target based on one or more attributes of each of a plurality of items, by estimating a weight set having a plurality of weights, among a plurality of weight sets, each of the one or more attributes are values representing characteristics of the target;
estimating a similarity among the plurality of items for the target based on the plurality of weight sets of the prediction model, the similarity derived at least from distances between one or more of the plurality of weight sets;
grouping the plurality of items into two or more groups based on the similarity derived from the distances between the one or more of the plurality of weight sets; and
displaying on a display device an illustrative diagram having a representation of the indicator and the one or more attributes of the plurality of items in accordance with the similarity,
wherein the generating of the prediction model includes estimating a posterior probability distribution of each of the plurality of weight sets, and
wherein the estimating of the posterior probability distribution of the plurality of weight sets is performed by calculating the posterior probability distribution p(w/D) according to:
p(w|D)=N(w|mD,SD),
where D≡{(x1, y1), (x2, y2) . . . (xN, yN)}, N is a number of the one or more data sets, xn (1≤n≤N) is a vector including the one or more attributes for the target and M attribute sets for M items in an n-th data set, yn is the indicator of the target in the n-th data set, w is a vector including the one or more weights for the target and M weight sets for M items, mD is a vector derived from SD, a sum of multiplication of xn, and yn for n=1, . . . ,N, and SD is a matrix derived from a sum of multiplication of xnT and xn for n=1, . . . , N.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the generating of the prediction model includes estimating one or more weights for the target, wherein the prediction model predicts the indicator of the target further based on the one or more weights for the target.

### Claim 3

An apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
one or more computer readable mediums collectively including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:
generating a prediction model that predicts an indicator of a target based on one or more attributes of each of a plurality of items, by estimating a weight set having a plurality of weights, among a plurality of weight sets, each of the one or more attributes are values representing characteristics of the target,
estimating a similarity among the plurality of items for the target based on the plurality of weight sets of the prediction model, the similarity derived at least from distances between one or more of the plurality of weight sets;
grouping the plurality of items into two or more groups based on the similarity derived from the distances between the one or more of the plurality of weight sets; and
displaying on a display device an illustrative diagram having a representation of the indicator and the one or more attributes of the plurality of items in accordance with the similarity,
wherein the generating of the prediction model includes estimating a posterior probability distribution of each of the plurality of weight sets, and
wherein the estimating of the posterior probability distribution of the plurality of weight sets is performed by calculating the posterior probability distribution p(w/D) according to:
p(w|D)=N(w|mD,SD),
where D≡{(x1, y1), (x2, y2) . . . (xN, yN)}, N is a number of the one or more data sets, xn (1≤n≤N) is a vector including the one or more attributes for the target and M attribute sets for M items in an n-th data set, yn is the indicator of the target in the n-th data set, w is a vector including the one or more weights for the target and M weight sets for M items, mD is a vector derived from SD, a sum of multiplication of xn, and yn for n=1, . . . ,N, and SD is a matrix derived from a sum of multiplication of xnT and xn for n=1, . . . , N.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the generating of the prediction model includes estimating one or more weights for the target, wherein the prediction model predicts the indicator of the target further based on the one or more weights for the target.