Patent ID: 7761458

Claim:
A method of hierarchically segmenting a sequence of records, comprising: (a) obtaining a first sequence of data records; (b) specifying a plurality of windows, each window encompassing a portion of the first sequence; (c) for each specified window, calculating, by a computer system, a function of the data records within said specified window in order to generate a function value for said specified window; (d) based on the function values, defining, by the computer system, a first hierarchical arrangement in which the first sequence is divided into a plurality of segments and the segments are divided into smaller segments; (e) applying steps (a)-(d) to a second sequence in order to obtain a second hierarchical arrangement for the second sequence; (f) comparing the first hierarchical arrangement to the second hierarchical arrangement in order to identify matching subsequences of the first sequence and the second sequence; and (g) outputting information based on the matching subsequences identified.