Event-Based Search Index via Distributed Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current search systems in enterprise environments are inadequate for locating and indexing content across distributed resources, as they require direct access to resources, are limited in comprehensiveness, and provide irrelevant results due to content-based indexing, which complicates the search process and increases storage and processing demands.
Innovation Solution
An event-based search system that utilizes a search index created based on user interactions with content, where agents distributed across user devices monitor and generate events associated with content access, allowing the determination of content importance based on user interaction metrics such as frequency and recency, rather than content content itself.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If existing search systems index all content on resources by crawling and processing, then comprehensive content coverage is achieved, but storage requirements and processing complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential identifying information (URLs, titles, metadata) from content rather than indexing the full content. Search agents collect and store minimal content descriptors that enable search functionality without requiring comprehensive content processing and storage, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining search capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing and processing actual content, the system creates lightweight copies in the form of search index entries containing URLs, titles, and metadata. These copies suffice for search operations without requiring the original content to be stored or processed, significantly reducing storage and processing demands.
2Loss of information
If search systems require direct access to resources for indexing, then comprehensive indexing is possible, but integration complexity and authentication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces search agents as intermediary components that operate within the user's browser environment rather than requiring direct system integration. These agents collect content information through normal browsing activities and submit URLs to the search system, eliminating the need for complex authentication and direct resource access while maintaining indexing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The search system leverages the user's own browsing behavior and existing content access patterns to automatically collect indexing information. Users don't need to configure integrations or provide authentication credentials - the system self-services by observing and recording content access during normal usage, thereby reducing integration complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If content-based indexing is used, then all content is searchable, but search relevance decreases due to irrelevant results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the indexing parameters from content-based (full text, keywords) to metadata-based (URLs, titles, user interaction data). By indexing structural and behavioral parameters rather than content semantics, the system maintains broad search coverage while improving relevance through parameters that better reflect user intent and content importance.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of indexing content to find relevant results, the system inverts the approach by using user interaction patterns and metadata to identify important content, then making that content searchable. This inversion prioritizes content based on actual usage and importance rather than keyword matching, thereby improving search relevance while maintaining coverage.
4Loss of information
If workers manually locate and search content across multiple resources, then comprehensive content discovery is possible, but time consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary indexing of content metadata and URLs as users browse, so that when searches are conducted, the index is already prepared and ready for immediate querying. This preliminary collection and organization of search data eliminates the need for real-time content retrieval and processing during user searches, significantly reducing search time while maintaining discoverability.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of an event based search system utilizing an event based search index are disclosed. These events may be associated with user interaction with content such that the search index is reflective of content with which users have interacted. The event based search index can be constructed utilizing agents distributed across users' devices within an enterprise. An agent on a user's device may be configured to monitor user interactions with content across a variety of resources and generate events based on these interactions. These events are provided to the search system to create the search index. The search results returned by these search systems are based on these events and thus are also reflective of user interactions with the content. Moreover, as different events may be created for multiple users' interactions with content, the events may be reflective of the importance of content within an enterprise.