Detecting overlapping clusters
US8949237B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 6, 2012 |
| Grant date | Feb 3, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 16, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q50/01
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A technique for identifying overlapping clusters of items in a data set. The technique may be used in connection with a social network or other on-line environment in which users express approval for other users, such as through votes, tags or other inputs. These expressions of approval may be used to form clusters such that entities assigned to a cluster have a higher metric of approval from other entities within the cluster than from outside the cluster. Such clusters may be arrived at through a computationally efficient approach that involves randomly selecting one or more entities as a seed for a cluster. The cluster may be grown by testing other entities, similar to those already in the cluster, to determine whether they are more preferred by those already in the cluster than those outside the cluster. Once a cluster is grown to a desired size, it may be pruned.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.