System for ranking search results from a collection of documents using spreading activation techniques
US6272507A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 7, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99935
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for ranking the results of a search on a collection of linked documents. Documents found on the Web are typically referred to as Web pages. The system utilizes various information relating to the collection of linked documents, including the topology, content and historical usage of the linked collections of documents. The ranking is based on historical patterns and information about the current context of interest (e.g. what the user or group seems to be currently interested in doing). A spreading activation technique is used to identify the frequency of activation of the documents in the search results. Spreading activation techniques are based on representations of Web pages as nodes in graph networks representing usage, content, and hypertext relations among Web pages. After performing the spreading activation based on an initial set defined by the search results, each document from the results may be ranked based on their level of activation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.