Patent ID: 7720846

Claim:
A method for linking an unlinked entity reference to a given entity, wherein the given entity consists of a collection of linked entity references, and wherein the unlinked entity reference is not initially linked to the given entity, using one or more constructed ghost entity references distinct from the unlinked entity reference and each of the collection of linked entity references, the method comprising the steps of: constructing at least one ghost entity reference, distinct from a first entity reference and a second entity reference, comprising a first field value from the first entity reference linked to the given entity and a second field value from the second entity reference linked to the given entity, wherein the first entity reference differs from the second entity reference and the first field value differs from the second field value, wherein the at least one ghost entity reference represents at least one potential entity reference for the given entity; and linking the unlinked entity reference to the given entity as a result of a match probability between the unlinked entity reference and the at least one ghost entity reference being greater than a defined threshold.