Back to results
US 2006/0212449 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for generating relevance-sensitive collation keys
OwnerAlon Novyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for generating collation keys that can be used by sorting methods so as to arrange a sequence of data objects in order of their semantic relevance to the user or their relevance to an operating context. The constituent data values of each data object are “weighted” according to semantic relevance and a composite collation key is generated that reflects the data object's overall relevance.
Claims11
A method comprising:
- (a) providing a plurality of ranking values for each of a plurality of data objects, the data objects for sorting, such that a ranking value is generated for each sort field for each data object;
- (b) providing a function of a plurality of the ranking values corresponding to a plurality of sort fields, and using the provided function to generate to generate a single collation key value for the data objects, the collation key arranged to provide for ordering the plurality of data objects, the function indicative of the relative degree to which the ranking value for each of the plurality of sort fields influences the collation key.
A carrier medium carrying computer-readable instructions that when executed by at least one processor of a processing system cause the processor to carry out a method comprising:
- (a) providing a plurality of ranking values for each of a plurality of data objects, the data objects for sorting, such that a ranking value is generated for each sort field for each data object;
- (b) providing a function of a plurality of the ranking values corresponding to a plurality of sort fields, and using the provided function to generate to generate a single collation key value for the data objects, the collation key arranged to provide for ordering the plurality of data objects, the function indicative of the relative degree to which the ranking value for each of the plurality of sort fields influences the collation key.
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) means for generating a plurality of ranking values for each of a plurality of data objects, the data objects for sorting, such that a ranking value is generated for each sort field for each data object;
- (b) means for generating a weight value for each of the ranking value for each sort field indicative of the degree to which the ranking value for the sort field influences a collation key for sorting the data objects, the generating of the weight order according to a weight generating function;
- and
- (c) means for generating a value of the collation key for each of the data objects, the collation key arranged to provide for ordering the plurality of data objects according to their respective relevance to a user, user operating context, or a system acting as a user system.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.