Patent ID: 8626772
Filing Date: 2014-01-07
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of a correlation engine of determining a correlation between a reference user and a plurality of other users, v 1 . . . v n , where n≧2, on the basis of respective sets of ratings, each associated with the respective user, said method comprising the following steps: a) recognizing a trigger provided from a triggering entity, for determining a correlation between said users, b) collecting from a rating database a first set of user ratings associated with said reference user and a second set of user ratings associated with each of said other users and identifying all co-rated items as a set of co-rated user-pairs for said users, c) correlating a set of co-rated user-pairs by applying them in an adjusted cosine correlation function which is weighted by a first and a second weighting function, said first weighting function, compensating for the Euclidean distance of the respective set of ratings and said second weighting function, compensating for high correlations in case said set of co-rated user-pairs is a small set, d) storing the result of said correlation in a storing unit, e) repeating steps c) and d) for each set of co-rated user pairs, thereby enabling the correlated co-rated user pairs to be used for at least one of ranking and recommendation purposes, wherein said first weighting function is defined as: where u is said reference user, v is said other user, α is a scaling factor, δ is the average of all distances, |R