Hierarchical Content Alignment via Dynamic Programming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital content processing systems face challenges in aligning and matching content from different hierarchical structures, such as those found in online bookstores and media applications, due to lack of standardization and structural differences.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that represent content sequences in a hierarchical structure using an ordered root element sequence and sub-tree structure, employing dynamic programming to determine a desired alignment between sequences, thereby enabling effective content alignment across different taxonomies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If different hierarchical structures are used for organizing content in media applications, then content can be organized according to application-specific needs, but alignment and matching between different structures becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by creating a unified alignment framework that can handle multiple different hierarchical structures (such as Amazon's taxonomy and Yahoo! Shopping's taxonomy) using the same dynamic programming approach. The system treats diverse content structures uniformly by representing them as hierarchical trees with root elements and sub-trees, enabling cross-platform content matching without requiring structure-specific alignment logic for each taxonomy type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment representation that mediates between different hierarchical structures. By representing both input sequences as structured trees with root elements and sub-trees, and using dynamic programming to compute alignments between these intermediate representations, the system bridges the gap between incompatible taxonomies. The alignment result serves as a mediator that can then be used for various downstream tasks like content integration or cross-platform searching.
2Device complexity
If standardization is imposed on hierarchical structures, then alignment becomes easier, but flexibility in organizing content according to specific application needs is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves this balance by designing a universal alignment algorithm that works across diverse hierarchical structures without imposing a specific standardized format on the input data. The dynamic programming approach can process any hierarchical structure that can be represented as a tree with root elements and sub-trees, maintaining application-specific organizational flexibility while providing a standardized computational framework for alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by allowing the alignment computation to adapt to different structural parameters of input hierarchies. The dynamic programming algorithm can handle varying numbers of root elements, different sub-tree configurations, and diverse element types by adjusting its computation based on the actual input structure rather than enforcing a fixed parameter set. This enables the system to maintain flexibility while providing consistent alignment functionality.
3Measurement precision
If dynamic programming is used to determine optimal alignment, then alignment accuracy is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the alignment problem into smaller sub-problems that can be solved independently and then combined. The dynamic programming approach segments the hierarchical structures into root elements and sub-trees, computing alignments at different levels of the hierarchy. This segmentation allows the system to achieve optimal alignment accuracy by considering all possible alignments while breaking down the computational task into manageable pieces that can be processed efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for content alignment. The method includes obtaining a first content sequence and a second content sequence different from the first content sequence. The method also includes representing each of the first content sequence and the second content sequence in a hierarchical structure containing an ordered root element sequence and a sub-tree structure. The ordered root element sequence includes a plurality of root elements and each root element is associated with a sub-tree of elements. The method also includes determining a desired alignment between the first content sequence and the second content sequence using dynamic programming, and outputting results of the desired alignment between the first content sequence and the second content sequence.