System and method for signature-based unsupervised clustering of data elements

An apparatus for performing unsupervised clustering of data elements, comprising:

• an interface for allowing access to a plurality of data elements;
• at least one processing unit;
• a storage unit for storing at least one cluster of data elements;
• and
• a memory coupled to the at least one processing unit, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing unit, configure the apparatus to:
• receive a plurality of clusters, each cluster comprising a data element;
• generate an upper triangular matrix respective of the clusters, the upper triangular matrix stored in the memory;
• generate a signature for each of the clusters, wherein a signature is generated from multiple patches of a multimedia data element, wherein multiple patches are of random length and random position within the multimedia data element;
• generate a match score between each of two different clusters;
• store the match score in a cell of the upper triangular matrix corresponding to the two clusters of the match score;
• determine whether any of the match scores is above a predefined threshold value;
• cluster every two clusters that are determined to have a score above a predetermined threshold;
• and
• repeat the generation of the upper triangular matrix respective of the clusters until a single cluster is reached, wherein the clustering on the respective generated signatures creates clusters that include a collection of signatures respective of the multimedia data elements.