Distributed Search System Using Customized Dictionaries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current internet search systems are inefficient in locating and accessing relevant information across multiple data sources, leading to high abandonment rates of websites by potential customers, as they rely on advertiser-based listings and aggregated product catalogs rather than dynamic supplier networks that can precisely match consumer needs.
Innovation Solution
A distributed search system and method that allows natural language queries to be translated into specific queries for various data sources, including databases and text documents, enabling customized searches across multiple servers and data sources without pre-integration, and providing secure access behind firewalls, with results formatted for presentation and potential purchase processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If distributed search across multiple data sources is implemented, then search accuracy and relevance are improved, but system complexity and integration requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a search engine as an intermediary component that mediates between the user's natural language query and the distributed data sources. The search engine translates user queries into appropriate search operations across multiple heterogeneous databases and data sources, eliminating the need for users to directly manage the complexity of distributed search integration while maintaining high search accuracy through coordinated querying of multiple sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the search functionality into independent modular components: a natural language processing module, a query translation module, and multiple data source interfaces. Each component handles specific aspects of the search process independently, allowing the system to achieve accurate distributed search results without requiring complex tight-coupling integration between different data sources and search operations.
2Ease of operation
If natural language query translation is implemented, then ease of use is improved, but query processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and storing metadata about available data sources, including their schemas, supported query types, and relevance weights. This preliminary preparation allows the search engine to quickly translate natural language queries into optimized search operations without performing extensive analysis at query time, thus maintaining ease of use while reducing processing delays.
3Measurement precision
If customized queries are generated for each data source, then search precision is improved, but computational resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by generating customized queries tailored to each specific data source's schema, format, and characteristics. Each data source receives a query optimized for its particular structure and content type, maximizing search precision. The system achieves this without excessive computational overhead by using template-based query generation and caching strategies that reuse query patterns across similar data sources.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for providing distributing a query to devices on a communications network, such as servers on the internet, using an application that can survey a subscriber's server that can include text documents and databases, and use the formatting information and data from the survey to create at least one dictionary customized to the subscriber's data sources. A user seeking information can initiate a search or query from an initiating device using keywords, natural language terms, connectors, expressions, etc., and the query can be transmitted to various subscriber customized dictionaries. The customized dictionaries can customize the query based on respective subscriber databases and text documents, text search engines, etc., to produce an customized query result. The query results can be filtered and integrated for presentation to the initiating device. Search results can be customized using user preference or profile information.