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US 6,411,950 B1Granted
Dynamic query expansion
AssigneeCompaq Information Technologies Group, L.P.
InventorsMichael Z. Moricz, Louis M. Monier, Jean-Claude Michelou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dynamic search result refinement for refining a general search query into a more specific search query. For a general search query, a user is presented with a list of more specific queries. The entries in the list selected from a log-file of queries according to the index frequency of each query. The user can choose a new query from the list of more specific queries and run a database search. The user also has the option to be presented with a list of even more specific queries based on the chosen query and to have a database search run with one of these queries.
Claims29
A method for searching a plurality of stored records, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases:
- identifying at least one subphrase of the query phrase that, in combination with the query phrase, meets at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion, and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the first new query phrase;
- retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein:
- the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase;
- and
- a subset of phrases in the plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs are multi-word phrases.
9 more elements
A method for searching a plurality of stored records, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases:
- computing a frequency for the query phrase and at least one subphrase of the query phrase;
- determining whether the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency for the query phrase;
- identifying the subphrase and the query phrase as meeting at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion when the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency of the query phrase;
- and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the first new query phrase;
- retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase.
9 more elements
A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:
- instructions for generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases, instructions for:
- identifying at least one subphrase of the query phrase that, in combination with the query phrase, meets at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion, and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- instructions for receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- instructions for searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the the first new query phrase;
- instructions for retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- instructions for transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein:
- the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase;
- and
- a subset of phrases in the plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs are multi-word phrases.
9 more elements
A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:
- instructions for generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases, instructions for:
- computing a frequency for the query phrase and at least one subphrase of the query phrase;
- determining whether the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency for the query phrase;
- identifying the subphrase and the query phrase as meeting at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion when the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency of the query phrase;
- and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- instructions for receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- instructions for searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the the first new query phrase;
- instructions for retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- instructions for transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase.
9 more elements
A computer system for locating a particular record included in a plurality of records, the computer system comprising:
- a first storage device for storing a plurality of previously submitted query phrases;
- a processor connected to the first storage device, the processor configured for:
- generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of the previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases:
- identifying at least one subphrase of the query phrase that, in combination with the query phrase, meets at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion, and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the the first new query phrase;
- retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein:
- the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase;
- and
- a subset of phrases in the plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs are multi-word phrases.
11 more elements
A computer system for locating a particular record included in a plurality of records, the computer system comprising:
- a first storage device for storing a plurality of previously submitted query phrases;
- a processor connected to the first storage device, the processor configured for:
- generating a query refinement index comprising a plurality of phrase and refinement phrase pairs from a set of the previously submitted query phrases, including, for each query phrase of a plurality of the previously submitted query phrases:
- computing a frequency for the query phrase and at least one subphrase of the query phrase;
- determining whether the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency for the query phrase;
- identifying the subphrase and the query phrase as meeting at least one predefined phrase-refinement criterion when the frequency for the subphrase is greater than the frequency of the query phrase;
- and
- storing the identified subphrase and query phrase in the query refinement index as a phrase and refinement phrase pair;
- receiving a first new query phrase from a user;
- searching the query refinement index to identify a refinement phrase in the query refinement index that is a refinement of the the first new query phrase;
- retrieving the identified refinement phrase from the query refinement index;
- and
- transmitting the retrieved refinement phrase to the user;
- wherein the retrieved refinement phrase is a suggested second new query phrase.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.