Patent ID: 8856181

Claim:
A method for semantic matching performed by one or more processors, the method comprising: representing, using the one or more processors, concepts in one or more ontologies as a configuration, with the configuration representing the concepts as having a set of contiguous positions in a metric space, with a concept being a cognitive unit of meaning and with each concept having an area in the metric space; calculating, using the one or more processors, an estimate of an area of intersection between a first concept and a second concept in a pair of concepts and calculating, using the one or more processors, an estimate for an area of union for the first concept and the second concept to perform, similarity judgments between pairs of concepts in the configuration to assign judgment values, where negative judgment values imply dissimilarity and positive judgment values imply similarity between a pair of concepts, with a value of a similarity judgment being the ratio of common area in the metric space between two concepts to the combined/total area of the two concepts; initially positioning, using the one or more processors, concepts in the metric space to reflect anticipated similarity judgments between the concepts; employing, across one or more processors, a potential energy function to model the initial similarity judgments and a large number of constraints, represented by ontologies, as a part of the configuration; assigning, using the one or more processors, potential energy values to pairs of concepts in the configuration with a lower potential energy absolute value assigned to pairs of concepts separated by a large distance and a higher potential energy absolute value assigned to pairs of concepts separated by a small distance; scaling, using the one or more processors, each potential energy value of a pair of concepts in the configuration by a factor proportional to the negative of the judgment value between the pair of concepts, where a negative potential energy value implies that the first and second concepts attract and a positive potential energy value implies that the first and second concepts repel; optimizing, using the one or more processors, the configuration to minimize potential energy of the concepts in the configuration by adjusting the positions between concepts in the metric space to minimize the potential energy as calculated by a molecular dynamics potential energy minimization function; using spatial subdivision of the metric space, across one or more small computers, and grouping relatively closely located concepts in a same subdivision to distribute processing of large number of concepts across the one or more small computers to achieve “cloud” scale; and in response to user input requesting a second concept semantically similar to a first concept, outputting, using the one or more processors, a second concept where the ratio of overlap of the areas of the first and second concepts to the combined areas of the first and second concepts is a maximum.