Method and apparatus for determining relevant search results using a matrix framework

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform a method, the method comprising:

• receiving search results identifying a plurality of documents resulting from a search, the plurality of documents containing one or more terms;
• generating a first matrix containing a term column representing the one or more terms and a document column representing the documents, wherein at least one row of the first matrix correlates one of the plurality of documents with one of the terms;
• selecting the document column of the first matrix or the term column of the first matrix as a sort preference;
• sorting the first matrix according to the sort preference;
• generating a second matrix containing values representing a measure of overlap between the plurality of documents and the terms, based on the sorted first matrix;
• and
• calculating cumulative confidence scores according to the values of the second matrix and ranking the search results according to the cumulative confidence scores;
• wherein the calculated cumulative confidence scores are determined by normalizing the second matrix with a third matrix, the third matrix having a plurality of element positions;
• and
• wherein, for each of the plurality of element positions, an element position has a value equaling the total number of unique words found in one or more of the plurality of documents corresponding to the element position.

An apparatus comprising:

• a memory device storing instructions for determining relevant search results;
• and
• a processor executing the instructions to perform the steps of:
• receiving search results identifying a plurality of documents resulting from a search, the plurality of documents containing one or more terms;
• generating a first matrix containing a term column representing the one or more terms and a document column representing the documents, wherein at least one row of the first matrix correlates one of the plurality of documents with one of the terms;
• selecting the document column of the first matrix or the term column of the first matrix as a sort preference;
• sorting the first matrix according to the sort preference;
• generating a second matrix containing values representing a measure of overlap between the plurality of documents and the terms, based on the sorted first matrix;
• and
• calculating cumulative confidence scores according to the values of the second matrix and ranking the search results according to the cumulative confidence scores;
• wherein the calculated cumulative confidence scores are determined by normalizing the second matrix with a third matrix, the third matrix having a plurality of element positions;
• and
• wherein, for each of the plurality of element positions, an element position has a value equaling the total number of unique words found in one or more of the plurality of documents corresponding to the element position.