Patent ID: 7925598

Claim:
A machine-implemented method for performing weighted consistent sampling, the machine-implemented method comprising: transforming each respective consistent uniformly distributed non-negative random number, representing a corresponding element of a plurality of sets, to a transformed value according to a formula h x ← a - ( 1 - h ⁡ ( x ) ) 1 w ⁡ ( x ) b , where h(x) is a consistent uniformly distributed non-negative random number representing a corresponding element x of a set, a and b are constants, and w(x) is a weight assigned to the corresponding element x; determining a respective minimum transformed value for each of the plurality of sets or a respective maximum transformed value for each of the plurality of sets; and determining which of the plurality of sets are at least similar based on the respective determined minimum transformed value for each of the plurality of sets or the respective determined maximum transformed value for each of the plurality of sets, wherein the machine-implemented method is implemented by at least one processing device.