Text abstraction method and apparatus
AssigneeLotus Development Corporation
InventorsEdward Marcus Batchelder, R. Pito Salas
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Abstract
A text message abstraction system and method allowing for the selection of important pieces of information based upon a number of criteria and for the removal of unnecessary components of a message. The abstraction system of the present invention is provided with an input message, a command set and a maximum message length and attempts to generate a message conveying all of the important information contained within the text message but within the maximum message length constraint.
Claims46
A method for abstracting input text into output text having a given maximum length, said method comprising the steps of:
- dividing said input text into a plurality of chunks, said chunks having at least one word;
- assigning a significance to said words of a chunk;
- assigning a significance to at least some of said plurality of chunks based upon the significance of words contained within said chunks;
- and
- selecting a subset of said chunks for inclusion in said output text based upon the relative significances of said chunks.
A method for abstracting a textual message consisting of a plurality of words, said abstraction comprising the steps of:
- dividing said textual message into a plurality of chunks, said chunks having at least one word;
- classifying said chunks according to predetermined criteria;
- assigning a significance value to said words according to the classification of the chunk containing said words;
- assigning a significance value to said chunks according to the total significance values for the words contained in said chunks;
- writing said chunks to an output buffer in order of significance of said chunks wherein most significant chunks are written to said output buffer prior to any less significant chunks.
A paging system comprising:
- an input source for receiving textual information;
- a memory operatively connected to said input source for storing said received textual information;
- text abstraction means for abstracting said received textual information;
- and
- a controller communicating with said memory and with said text abstraction means for controlling the operation of said paging system;
- an output buffer for storing said abstracted textual information.
A device for abstracting a text message, said device comprising:
- input means for receiving said text message;
- means for dividing said text message into a plurality of chunks, said chunks having at least one word;
- means for classifying said chunks according to predetermined criteria;
- means for assigning a significance value to said words according to the classification of the chunk containing said words;
- means for assigning a significance value to said chunks according to the total significance values for the words contained in said chunks;
- an output buffer;
- and
- means for writing said chunks to said output buffer in order of decreasing significance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.