# US 7,412,435 B2 · Information retrieval apparatus and information retrieval support apparatus

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- Number: US 7,412,435 B2
- Document ID: US7412435B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 11/064,121
- Filed: 2005-02-23
- Published: 2005-07-07
- Granted: 2008-08-12
- Earliest claimed: 2004-01-06
- Assignees: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Takashi Tsuzuki; Hiroshi Kutsumi; Yoshiyuki Okimoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7412435B2

## CPC

- H04N 7/17318: {Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests}
- G06F 16/40: of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data (retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70)
- H04N 7/163: {by receiver means only}
- H04N 21/4622: {Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet (web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859)}
- H04N 21/4828: {for searching programme descriptors (retrieval of video data G06F16/739)}
- H04N 21/8405: represented by keywords
- Y10S 707/99932: Access augmentation or optimizing
- Y10S 707/99933: Query processing, i.e. searching
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

There is provided an information retrieval apparatus which can properly retrieve information associated with a user's preference from one of a plurality of data bases having different use frequencies. An information retrieval apparatus includes: a retrieval instruction issue unit which identifies one of an information source A data base, an information source B data base and an information source C data base according to the user's operation; a retrieval keyword selection unit which preferentially selects, from a group of keywords indicating the user's preference, one or more strongly preferred keywords based on a number associated with the use frequency of the data base identified by the retrieval instruction issue unit; and a retrieval unit which retrieves information including the one or more keywords selected by the retrieval keyword selection unit from the data base identified by the retrieval instruction issue unit.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information retrieval apparatus that retrieves information from a plurality of data bases that accumulate different information, the information retrieval apparatus comprising:
a data base identification unit that identifies one of the plurality of data bases according to a user's operation;
a selection unit that preferentially selects, from a group of keywords indicating the user's preferences, one or more strongly preferred keywords based on a number associated with a use frequency of the data base identified by said data base identification unit; and
a retrieval unit that retrieves information including the one or more keywords selected by said selection unit from the data base identified by said data base identification unit,
wherein said selection unit includes:
a keyword storage unit that stores, in advance, the group of keywords and a weight value indicating a degree of the user's preference for each of the keywords included in the group of keywords;
a threshold storage unit that stores thresholds, in advance, each of the thresholds being associated with a use frequency for a corresponding one of the plurality of data bases; and
a keyword selection unit that reads out the threshold associated with the data base identified by said data base identification unit, and that selects, from the group of keywords stored in said keyword storage unit, one or more keywords having a weight value which is (i) equal to or larger than the read-out threshold or (ii) equal to or smaller than the read-out threshold.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
an information reception unit that receives, according to the user's operation, desired information for the user from among the information retrieved by said retrieval unit;
an analysis unit that extracts a keyword based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit, and that derives a weight value associated with the extracted keyword; and
a write unit that writes the extracted keyword and the weight value derived by said analysis unit into said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said write unit updates the weight value of the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit to the weight value derived by said analysis unit in the case where the extracted keyword is already stored in said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:
a write judgment unit for judging that judges whether or not the weight value derived by said analysis unit should be written into said keyword storage unit, according to a use frequency of a data base which is the source of the information received by said information reception unit,
wherein said write unit writes the extracted keyword and the weight value derived by said analysis unit into said keyword storage unit in the case where said write judgment unit judges that the weight value should be written into said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said write judgment unit reads out a threshold of the data base which is the source of the information received by said information reception unit, and judges that the weight value derived by said analysis should be written into said keyword storage unit in the case where the read-out threshold is smaller or larger than a predetermined value.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the extracted keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
the weight value associated with the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit; and
the threshold stored in said threshold storage unit in association with the data base which accumulates the information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the extracted keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
a weight value directly analyzed, regardless of information stored in said keyword storage unit, based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit; and
the threshold stored in said threshold storage unit in association with the data base which accumulates the user's desired information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the extracted keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
the weight value associated with the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit; and
a weight value directly analyzed, regardless of information stored in said keyword storage unit, based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 9 (depends on 3)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:
a threshold update unit that updates the threshold of the data base which has been used for retrieval among the thresholds stored in said threshold storage unit in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has been used for retrieval.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:
a period threshold update unit that updates the thresholds, each of the thresholds being stored in said threshold storage unit in association with a corresponding one of the plurality of data bases, according to an elapsed period for which the plurality of data bases have not been used for retrieval.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:
an update width storage unit that stores an update width of a threshold for each of a plurality of calendar attributes,
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has been used for retrieval, said threshold update unit identifies an update width associated with a current calendar attribute in said update width storage unit, and updates the threshold of the data base which has been used for the retrieval by the identified update width, and
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has not been used and a predetermined period has elapsed, said period threshold update unit identifies an update width associated with the current calendar attribute from said update width storage unit, and updates, by the identified update width, the threshold of the data base which has not been used for the retrieval.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising
an update width storage unit that stores an update width of each of the thresholds, each of the thresholds corresponding to one of the plurality of data bases,
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has been used for retrieval, said threshold update unit identifies, from said update width storage unit, an update width associated with the data base that has been used for the retrieval, and updates a threshold of the data base by the identified update width, and
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has not been used for retrieval, and a predetermined period has elapsed, said period threshold update unit identifies an update width associated with the data base that has not been used for the retrieval, and updates the threshold of the data base by the identified update width.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising
an update width storage unit that stores an update width of each of the thresholds, each of the thresholds corresponding to one of a plurality of calendar attributes and one of the plurality of data bases,
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has been used for retrieval, said threshold update unit identifies, from said update width storage unit, an update width associated with a current calendar attribute and the data base that has been used for the retrieval, and
updates the threshold of the data base by the identified update width, and
wherein in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has not been used for retrieval, and a predetermined period has elapsed, said period threshold update unit identifies an update width associated with the data base that has not been used for the retrieval, and updates the threshold of the data base by the identified update width.

### Claim 14 (depends on 3)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:
a reception unit that receives an identification of a data base desired by the user and a threshold associated with the desired data base according to the user's operation; and
a threshold manual update unit for updating that updates, to the threshold received by said reception unit, the threshold associated with the user's desired data base.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group of keywords is one group of a plurality of groups of keywords,
wherein each of the plurality of data bases is associated with a different one of the plurality of groups of keywords, and
wherein said selection unit selects one or more keywords from a group of keywords associated with the data base identified by said data base identification unit among the plurality of groups of keywords respectively associated with each of the data bases.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the group of keywords is one group of a plurality of groups of keywords,
wherein each of the plurality of data bases is associated with a different one of the plurality of groups of keywords, and
wherein said selection unit selects one or more keywords from a group of keywords associated with a data base having a higher use frequency than the data base identified by said data base identification unit among the plurality of groups of keywords respectively associated with each of the data bases.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 16, wherein in the case where the use frequency of the data base identified by said data base identification unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined number, said selection unit selects one or more keywords from a group of keywords associated with the data base identified by said data base identification unit, and
wherein in the case where the use frequency is lower than the predetermined number, said selection unit selects one or more keywords from a group of keywords associated with another data base whose use frequency is higher than the use frequency of the data base identified by said data base identification unit.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection unit selects one or more keywords from the group of keywords, regardless of the data base identified by said data base identification unit.

### Claim 19

An information retrieval support apparatus which supports, via a network, information retrieval of a retrieval device that retrieves information from a plurality of data bases that accumulate different information, the information retrieval support apparatus comprising:
a data base identification unit that identifies one of the plurality of data bases according to a user's operation;
a selection unit that preferentially selects, from a group of keywords indicating the user's preferences, one or more strongly preferred keywords based on a number associated with a use frequency of the data base identified by said data base identification unit; and
a notification execution unit that notifies the retrieval device of the one or more keywords selected by said selection unit, and for causing that causes the retrieval device to execute retrieval of information including the one or more keywords selected from the identified data base,
wherein said selection unit includes:
a keyword storage unit that stores, in advance, the group of keywords and a weight value indicating a degree of the user's preference for each of the keywords included in the group of keywords;
a threshold storage unit that stores thresholds, in advance, each of the thresholds being associated with a use frequency for a corresponding one of the plurality of data bases; and a keyword selection unit that reads out the threshold associated with the data base identified by said data base identification unit, and that selects, from the group of keywords stored in said keyword storage unit, one or more keywords having a weight value which is (i) equal to or larger than the read-out threshold or (ii) equal to or smaller than the read-out threshold.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:
an acquisition write unit that acquires a keyword and a weight value transmitted via the network from the retrieval device, and that writes the acquired keyword and the acquired weight value into said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising:
an information reception unit that receives desired information for the user from among the information retrieved by the retrieval device;
an analysis unit that extracts a keyword based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit, and that derives a weight value associated with the extracted keyword; and
a write unit that writes the extracted keyword and the weight value derived by said analysis unit into said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 21,
wherein said write unit updates the weight value of the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit to the weight value derived by said analysis unit in the case where the extracted keyword is already stored in said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the extracted keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
the weight value associated with the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit; and
the threshold stored in said threshold storage unit in association with the data base which accumulates the information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 24 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the extracted keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
a weight value directly analyzed, regardless of information stored in said keyword storage unit, based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit; and
the threshold stored in said threshold storage unit in association with the data base which accumulates the user's desired information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 25 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein in the case of deriving the weight value associated with the keyword, said analysis unit derives the weight value by using:
the weight value associated with the extracted keyword stored in said keyword storage unit; and a weight value directly analyzed, regardless of information stored in said keyword storage unit, based on the information retrieved by said retrieval unit and the user's desired information received by said information reception unit.

### Claim 26 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising
a threshold update unit that updates the threshold of the data base which has been used for retrieval among each of the thresholds stored in said threshold storage unit in the case where one of the plurality of data bases has been used for retrieval.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising
a period threshold update unit that updates each of the thresholds stored in said threshold storage unit in association with a corresponding one of the data bases, according to an elapsed period for which the plurality of data bases have not been used for retrieval.

### Claim 28 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:
a reception unit that receives an identification of a data base desired by the user and a threshold associated with the user's desired database according to the user's operation; and
a threshold manual update unit that updates, to the threshold received by said reception unit, the threshold associated with the user's desired data base.

### Claim 29 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising:
an acquisition unit that acquires identification information identifying one of the plurality of data bases and a threshold of the data base identified by the identification information via the network from the retrieval device; and
a threshold remote update unit that updates, to the threshold acquired by said acquisition unit, the threshold of the data base identified by the identification information acquired by said acquisition unit among each of the thresholds stored in said threshold storage unit.

### Claim 30 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising
a display unit that acquires the information retrieved by the retrieval device via the network, and that displays the acquired information.

### Claim 31 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said data base identification unit identifies one of the plurality of data bases according to data transmitted via the network from the retrieval device.

### Claim 32 (depends on 22)

The information retrieval support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said data base identification unit identifies one of the plurality of data bases according to the user's operation.

### Claim 33

An information retrieval system comprising:
a retrieval device that retrieves information from a plurality of data bases that accumulate different information details; and
an information retrieval support apparatus that supports, via a network,
information retrieval of said retrieval device information retrieval,
wherein said information retrieval support apparatus includes:
a data base identification unit that identifies one of the plurality of data bases;
a selection unit that preferentially selects, from a group of keywords indicating the user's preferences, one or more strongly preferred keywords based on a number associated with a use frequency of the data base identified by said data base identification unit; and
a notification unit that notifies said retrieval device of the one or more keywords selected by said selection unit,
wherein said retrieval device executes retrieval of information including the one or more keywords notified by said notification unit from the data base identified by said data base identification unit, and
wherein said selection unit includes:
a keyword storage unit that stores, in advance, the group of keywords and a weight value indicating a degree of the user's preference for each keyword included in the group of keywords;
a threshold storage unit that stores thresholds, in advance, each of the thresholds being associated with a use frequency for a corresponding one of the plurality of data bases; and a keyword selection unit that reads out the threshold associated with the data base identified by said data base identification unit, and for that selects, from the group of keywords stored in said keyword storage unit, one or more keywords having a weight value which is (i) equal to or larger than the read-out threshold or (ii) equal to or smaller than the read-out threshold.

### Claim 34

An information retrieval method for retrieving information from a plurality of data bases that accumulate different information, the method comprising:
identifying one of the plurality of data bases according to a user's operation;
preferentially selecting, from a group of keywords indicating the user's preferences, one or more strongly preferred keywords based on a number associated with a use frequency of the data base identified in said data base identifying; and
retrieving information including the one or more keywords selected in said selecting from the data base identified in said data base identifying,
wherein in said selecting, a threshold associated with the identified data base is read out from a threshold storage unit that stores, in advance, a plurality of thresholds, each of the thresholds being associated with a use frequency for a corresponding one of the plurality of data bases, and
wherein in said selecting, one or more keywords are selected, the one or more keywords having a weight value which is (i) equal to or larger than the read-out threshold or (ii) equal to or smaller than the read-out threshold, from a keyword storage unit that stores, in advance, the group of keywords and a weight value indicating a degree of the user's preference for each of the keywords.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

The information retrieval method according to claim 34, further comprising:
receiving desired information for the user from among the information retrieved in said retrieving;
extracting a keyword based on the information retrieved in said retrieving and the user's desired information received in said information receiving, and deriving a weight value associated with the extracted keyword; and
writing the extracted keyword and the derived weight value derived into said keyword storage unit.

### Claim 36 (depends on 1)

The information retrieval apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein each of the thresholds associated with the use frequency for each of the plurality of data bases is a value set depending on the user's use frequency for each of the plurality of data bases.