Method and apparatus for creating and utilizing information signatures

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code,
• the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
• receive queries over information sources;
• for each of the queries, generate a polynomial by defining each query against the information sources as input parameters in polynomial form;
• provide irreducible polynomials over a finite field of a degree of orthogonality by factoring polynomials generated from the queries;
• adjust the degree of orthogonality of the irreducible polynomials to provide adjusted irreducible polynomials, each of which is a signature and corresponds to a signature fragment, such that the signature fragments have overlapping portions;
• and
• cause at least in part storage of the signatures or the signature fragments in a signature domain over an information space.

A computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to perform at least the following steps:

• receiving queries over information sources;
• for each of the queries, generating a polynomial by defining each query against the information sources as input parameters in polynomial form;
• providing irreducible polynomials over a finite field of a degree of orthogonality by factoring polynomials generated from the queries;
• adjusting the degree of orthogonality of the irreducible polynomials to provide adjusted irreducible polynomials, each of which is a signature and corresponds to a signature fragment, such that the signature fragments have overlapping portions;
• and
• causing at least in part storage of the signatures or the signature fragments in a signature domain over an information space.