Patent ID: 8566271

Claim:
A method for aggregating information, comprising: receiving information defining a first valuation, wherein the first valuation indicates a level of support for each of a first set of configurations; generating a configuration identifier for each of the first set of configurations; storing the configuration identifiers for the first set of configurations in a first ordered list; receiving information defining a second valuation, wherein the second valuation indicates a level of support for each of a second set of configurations; generating a configuration identifier for each of the second set of configurations; storing the configuration identifiers for the second set of configurations in a second ordered list; comparing the first ordered list to the second ordered list; identifying, based on the comparison of the first ordered list and the second ordered list, a third set of configurations that are included in both the first set of configurations and the second configurations; generating a third valuation based on the third set of configurations, wherein the third valuation indicates a level of support for each of the third set of configurations; storing at least a portion of the third valuation in an electronic memory; selecting a target variable frame from among a first variable frame associated with the first valuation and a second variable frame associated with the second valuation; determining a joint variable frame based on an intersection of the first variable frame and the second variable frame, and wherein: generating a configuration identifier for each of the first set of configurations comprises generating a configuration identifier for each of the first set of configurations based on the joint variable frame; generating a configuration identifier for each of the second set of configurations comprises generating a configuration identifier for each of the second set of configurations based on the joint variable frame; and generating the third valuation comprises generating the third valuation over the target variable frame.