Method for fuzzy logic rule based multimedia information retrival with text and perceptual features

A method for searching a database of multimedia documents the method comprising, in a computer:

• (a) inputting a search string that comprises a plurality of search string arguments comprising one or more key words, and one or more perceptual feature search specifications, wherein the plurality of search string arguments are connected by one or more search operators, and wherein at least one of the plurality of search string arguments is associated with a user specified confidence level;
• (b) searching the database of multimedia documents using each of the search string arguments to obtain an answer set of multimedia documents for each of the search string arguments;
• (c) for each ith record in the answer set of each mth search string argument among the plurality of search criteria arguments, computing a retrieval relevance value by a method that comprises mapping a distance measure corresponding to the mth search string argument and the ith record into a finite range;
• for each ith record in the answer set of each mth search string argument including a perceptual feature search specification, computing a retrieval relevance value by evaluating a function of the following form:
• RRVi,mC=(1−H(GF(Xi−Xm)))η
• where,
• RRVi,mc is a retrieval relevance value of an ith media file to a mth search criteria basis media file based on a cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• xi is a quantitative characterization of the ith media file based on the cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• xm is a quantitative characterization of the mth search criteria basis media file based on the cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• GF is a distance function;
• H is a mapping function that maps an argument into a finite range;
• and
• η is a constant exponent;
• (d) for each answer set corresponding to a search string argument associated with a user specified confidence level, adjusting retrieval relevance values associated with multimedia documents in the answer set based on the confidence level;
• (e) for each particular search operator performing an operation specified by the particular search operator on answer sets that are arguments of the particular search operator to form an answer set for the particular operator;
• (f) for each multimedia document in the answer set for a particular operator, assigning a retrieval relevance to each multimedia document in the answer set for the particular operator that is derived from one or more retrieval relevance values associated with the multimedia document in answer sets that are arguments of the particular search operator;
• and
• repeating steps (e)–(f) until the search string is evaluated.

A method for searching a database comprising, in a computer:

• inputting a search string that comprises a plurality of search string arguments connected by one or more search operators, and wherein at least one of the plurality of search string arguments is associated with a user specified confidence level;
• searching the database using each particular search string argument to obtain an answer set of records for the particular search string argument;
• for each ith record in the answer set of each mth search string argument among the plurality of search criteria arguments, computing a retrieval relevance value by evaluating a function of the following form:
• RRVi,mC=(1−H(GF(Xi−Xm)))η
• where,
• RRVi,mc is a retrieval relevance value of an ith record to a mth search criteria basis file based on a cth retrieval algorithm;
• xi is a quantitative characterization of the ith record based on the cth retrieval algorithm;
• xm is a quantitative characterization of the mth search criteria basis file based on the cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• GF is a distance function;
• H is a mapping function that mans an argument into a finite range;
• and
• η is a constant exponent;
• for each answer set corresponding to a search string argument that is associated with a user specified confidence level, adjusting retrieval relevance values associated with records in the answer set based on the confidence level;
• for each kth particular search operator performing an operation specified by the kth particular search operator on answer sets associated with arguments of the kth particular search operator to form an answer set for the kth particular operator;
• and
• for each nth record in the answer set for each kth particular operator, assigning a retrieval relevance value to the nth record in the answer set that is derived from one or more retrieval relevance values associated with the record in answer sets associated with arguments of the particular search operator.

A computer readable medium including programming instructions for searching a database including programming instructions for:

• inputting a search string that comprises a plurality of search string arguments connected by one or more operators wherein each search string argument specifies a search criteria;
• computing a distance measure between a quantitative characterizations corresponding to each of one or more of the search criteria, and quantitative characterizations of each of a plurality of records;
• selecting records for inclusion in answer sets for each mth search criteria among the one or more search criteria based, at least in part, on a plurality of distance measures each involving a quantitative characterization corresponding to the mth search criteria, and a quantitative characterization corresponding to one of the plurality of records;
• for each jth record in the answer set of each mth search criteria among the one or more search criteria, computing a retrieval relevance value by a method that comprises mapping a distance measure corresponding to the mth search criteria and the jth record into a finite range;
• for each ith record in the answer set of an mth content based retrieval algorithm based query, computing a retrieval relevance value by evaluating a function of the following form:
• RRVi,mC=(1−H(GF(Xi−Xm)))η
• where,
• RRVi,mc is a retrieval relevance value of an ith media file to a mth search criteria basis media file based on a cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• xi is a quantitative characterization of the ith media file based on the cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• xm is a quantitative characterization of the mth search criteria basis media file based on the cth content based retrieval algorithm;
• GF is a distance function;
• H is a mapping function that mans an argument into a finite range;
• and
• η is a constant exponent;
• for each kth operator of the search string performing an operation specified by the kth operator on answer sets that are arguments of the kth operator to form a kth answer set for the kth operator;
• and
• for each nth record in the kth answer set for each kth operator, assigning a retrieval relevance value to the nth record in the kth answer set, wherein the retrieval relevance value is a mathematical function of one or more quantitative characterizations associated with the nth record in answer sets that are arguments of the kth operator.