Selecting an optimal path through a relationship graph

An article of manufacture comprising a nonvolatile storage having stored thereon executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:

• searching a relationship graph having nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between entities for one or more entities matching a search criteria specified by a requestor;
• identifying a plurality of potential paths through the relationship graph to a single matching entity, each of the potential paths including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the plurality of nodes;
• for each of the plurality of potential paths, specifying a node in the potential path as a connector for the potential path;
• removing duplicate paths from the plurality of potential paths, wherein a potential path is a duplicate path if it shares the connector with another path;
• calculating a quality of contact between each pair of directly connected nodes in the plurality of potential paths, the quality of contact varying between different pairs of directly connected nodes, wherein the quality of contact is calculated automatically based on a first set of data without requiring a user to input data that corresponds to a quality of contact value;
• calculating a frequency of contact between each pair of directly connected nodes in the plurality of potential paths based on a second set of data;
• calculating a strength of relationship weight for each of the edges in the plurality of potential paths, the strength of relationship weight depending on the quality of contact and the frequency of contact;
• calculating a relevance value for, and associating the relevance value to, each of the plurality of potential paths to the single matching entity, the relevance value being based upon a length of the potential path and the strength of relationship weights associated with the edges in the potential path, the relevance value being further based on at least one of a likelihood of responsiveness and a strength of influence;
• and
• selecting a path to the single matching entity from the plurality of potential paths to the single matching entity based upon the calculated relevance values.

A system comprising:

• a processor coupled to a memory through a bus and further coupled to an I/O interface;
• and
• a search process executed from the memory by the processor to cause the processor to search a relationship graph having nodes representing entities and edges representing relationships between entities for one or more entities matching a search criteria specified by a requestor, identify a plurality of potential paths through the relationship graph to a single matching entity, each of the potential paths including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the plurality of nodes, specify a node in the potential path as a connector for the path for each of the plurality of potential paths, remove duplicate paths from the plurality of potential paths, wherein a potential path is a duplicate path if it shares the connector with another path, calculate a quality of contact between each pair of directly connected nodes in the plurality of potential paths, the quality of contact varying between different pairs of directly connected nodes, wherein the quality of contact is calculated automatically based on a first set of data without requiring a user to input data that corresponds to a quality of contact value, calculate a frequency of contact between each pair of directly connected nodes in the plurality of potential paths based on a second set of data, calculate a strength of relationship weight associated with edges in the potential path, the strength of relationship weight depending on the quality of contact and the frequency of contact, calculate a relevance value for, and associate the relevance value to, each of the plurality of potential paths to the single matching entity, the relevance value being based upon a length of the potential path and the strength of relationship weight associated with the edges in the potential path, the relevance value being further based on at least one of a likelihood of responsiveness and a strength of influence, and select a path to the single matching entity from the plurality of potential paths to the single matching entity based upon the calculated relevance values.