Patent Document ID: 6104989
Application ID: 09124075

Base Claim:
1. A method for real time identification of topics in text, comprising the steps of: forming a battery of topics from training data; detecting topic changes in said text, using said battery and a first threshold ratio; identifying topics in said text, using said battery and a second threshold ratio; wherein said detecting and identifying steps are applied to said text in real time, wherein said first and second threshold ratios compare a metric having a likelihood measure, and wherein a topic can be identified for a current segment of said text prior to detecting a topic change in said segment.

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Claim 5:
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting step further comprises the steps of: successively looking backward from a current word to a prior word, beginning where said prior word is said current word, determining for each step in said succession whether a comparative topic metric is greater than said first threshold ratio, said metric including some likelihood measure that a word string from said current word to said prior word will be found in a context of a topic in said battery, not including a neutral topic; if said determination is YES, declaring said prior word an onset point of a new topic different from a current topic; if said determination is NO, moving said prior word back one word and repeating said succession until said prior word is a regeneration point; if all said successive determinations are less than one, declaring said current word a new regeneration point, otherwise advancing said current word by one word and repeating said successive determinations.