Patent ID: 7284012

Claim:
A method for comparing objects, each object having multiple attributes, comprising: selecting a plurality of attributes common to objects being compared, wherein different objects being compared can have different attributes relative to each other; defining at least one value space for each attribute of the “plurality of attributes selected, wherein the at least one value space specifies the possible values that each attribute can take, and wherein each selected attribute associated with an object being compared can have a value space that is different from a value space of the same attribute associated with a different object being compared; defining a plurality of ordering systems, wherein an ordering system is defined for each value space of the at least one value space, and wherein the defining of an ordering system for a value space comprises selecting whether the value space consists of non-ordered values, partially ordered values, or fully ordered values; defining a plurality of objective functions, wherein an objective function is defined for each ordering system of the plurality of ordering systems and wherein an objective function maps a pair of values of a value space to a number value that defines a difference, or a distance, between the pair of values in the value space; normalizing each objective function of the plurality of objective functions, and wherein each normalized objective function maps a difference of two values in a first value space to a single non-negative number in a range from 0 to 1; and defining a mapping from the plurality of normalized objective functions to a general objective function, wherein a result of an execution of the mapping from the plurality of normalized objective functions to the general objective function is a distance value representing a comparison between objects, and wherein such distance value is a non-negative value, and further wherein such general objective function is a convex function.