Patent ID: 7266545
Filing Date: 2007-09-04
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A computer-based method of retrieving one or more items from at least one database in response to a query specified by a user via a plurality of positive and negative example sets, the method comprising the steps of: constructing a scoring function from the plurality of positive and negative example sets, wherein the scoring function is operable for use with a multidimensional indexing structure capable of supporting similarity queries and associated with the at least one database, wherein the scoring function is constructed by combining respective scoring functions of the plurality of positive and negative example sets, and wherein combining respective scoring functions comprises the steps of modifying the scoring functions of the plurality of positive and negative example sets so that the scoring functions of the positive example sets assign low scores to representative samples of the negative example sets, and so that the scoring functions of the negative example sets assign low scores to representative samples of the positive example sets, and combining the modified scoring functions of the plurality of positive and negative example sets; querying the at least one database in accordance with the scoring function, wherein higher scores are associated with database items more closely related to the query; and retrieving, via the multidimensional indexing structure, the one or more database items that have the highest score as computed using the scoring function.