Patent ID: 6708174
Filing Date: 2004-03-16
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
A system for retrieving information for a user, comprising:a database containing values for a plurality of parameters of a plurality of available items, each available item having corresponding parameter values; and a matching server operable to receive values for a plurality of parameters of at least one target item, the parameters for the target item being organized into a plurality of parameter subsets, the matching server further operable to: apply the parameter values for each of the plurality of parameter subsets for the target item against the database; for at least one available item and for each of the plurality of parameter subsets of the target item, compute a distance between the parameter values for the parameter subset for the available item and the parameter values for the parameter subset for the target item according to a distance measure specified for the parameter subset, the distance measure specified for at least one parameter subset being different than the distance measure specified for at least one other parameter subset; for each of the plurality of parameter subsets, apply a weight to the distance to compute a weighted distance for the parameter subset; compute an overall distance between the available item and the target item according to the weighted distances for the plurality of parameter subsets; and return results to the user reflecting the overall distance for the available item.