WO2008078884A1

WO2008078884A1 - Retrieval system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2008078884A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/006423
Authority: WO
Inventors: Do-Hwan Kang
Original assignee: Nhn Corporation
Priority date: 2006-12-22
Filing date: 2007-12-11
Publication date: 2008-07-03
Also published as: KR20080058634A

Abstract

A retrieval system and a retrieval method are provided. The retrieval system includes a search database including a plurality of search lists; a query analyzer for splitting a first search word and a second search word from a query including the first search word and the second search word input from a user terminal; a searcher for receiving the first and second search words from the query analyzer, extracting a first search list by inquiring the search database of the first search word, and extracting a second search list by inquiring the search database of the second search word; and a search result provider for generating a web page including the first and second search lists and providing the generated web page to the user terminal.

Description

Description RETRIEVAL SYSTEM AND METHOD

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a retrieval system and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a retrieval system and method for enabling a user to acquire his/her intended search results more conveniently. Background Art

[2] With prevalence of very high data rate Internet, the Internet is a must in the present- day life. Most Internet users access to the Internet through a browser and search information in an Internet portal site. When the user inputs a search word in the Internet portal search box, the Internet portal extracts various information corresponding to the search word from a database and provides the extracted information to the user as the search results. The extracted information is sorted to a dictionary, a knowledge search (e.g., Knowledge iN of Naver), a blog, a caf, an expertise, a site, a book, news, a web page, and a video, and then represented to the user.

[3] Mostly, to book a movie ticket, the user tends to acquire information about various movies in release through the Internet search and then finally selects the movie to book. However, to acquire the information about the various released movies, the user needs to search the movies individually. That is, when the user requests the search on a movie, the search service portal provides the corresponding search results to the user in response. When the user requests to search another movie, the search service portal has to provide the corresponding search results to the user in response. Accordingly, the previous search view is disappeared or hidden behind the new search view. Similar to the movie, the user requests to retrieve books or products in a shopping mall and the shopping mall site provides the search results to the user. However, the search request and the search result representation cause inconvenience to the users in various aspects. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[4] An aspect of the present invention is to provide a retrieval system and method enabling a user to acquire his/her intended search results more conveniently. Technical Solution

[5] According to an aspect of the present invention, a retrieval system includes search database including a plurality of search lists; a query analyzer for separating a first search word and a second search word from a query including the first search word and the second search word input from a user terminal; a searcher for receiving the first and second search words from the query analyzer, extracting a first search list by inquiring the search database of the first search word, and extracting a second search list by inquiring the search database of the second search word; and a search result provider for generating a web page including the first and second search lists and providing the generated web page to the user terminal.

[6] The retrieval system may further include a keyword sorting database for sorting and storing keywords based on categories. The query analyzer may provide the first and second search words individually to the searcher when first and second keywords corresponding to the first and second search words respectively are stored to the keyword sorting database and the first and second keywords belong to the same category.

[7] The search result provider may arrange the first and second search lists by dividing the web page to contrast the first and second search lists.

[8] The search result provider may provide the first and second search lists in formats preset based on the categories of the first and second search words.

[9] The searcher may receive the query from the query analyzer, extract a third search list corresponding to the query by inquiring the search database, and provide the third search list to the search result provider.

[10] The search result provider may generate and provide the web page further including the third search list to the user terminal.

[11] According to another aspect of the present invention, a retrieval method includes receiving a query including first and second search words from a user terminal; separating the first and second search words; extracting first and second search lists corresponding to the first and second search words respectively; and generating a web page including the first and second search lists and providing the generated web page to the user terminal.

[12] The retrieval method may further include sorting and storing keywords based on categories. The extracting step may extract the first and second search lists when the first and second search words correspond to first and second keywords respectively and the first and second keywords belong to the same category.

[13] The providing step may include arranging the first and second search lists by dividing the web page to contrast the first and second search lists.

[14] The providing step may further include providing the first and second search lists in formats preset based on the categories of the first and second search words.

[15] The retrieval method may further include extracting a third search list corresponding to the query.

[16] The providing step may include generating and providing a web page further including the third search list to the user terminal.

[17] A computer readable medium includes a program to execute the above method at a computer.

Advantageous Effects

[18] In response to the search request for the query including the plurality of search words, when the search words belong to the same category, the search words are inquired individually and their search results are contrasted and represented in the single search result screen. Therefore, the user can easily compare the search results of the search words. Further, by acquiring the search result contrast screen through a single search request, the user can attain his/her intended search results more conveniently. Brief Description of the Drawings

[19] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[20] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a search server of FIG. 1.

[21] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a web page presented by the retrieval system as search result according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[22] FIG. 4 is a diagram of a web page presented by the retrieval system as search result according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[23] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations of the retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[24] < Description of the reference numerals in the drawings>

[25] 10: communication network 100: retrieval system

[26] 110: search server 112: query analyzer

[27] 114: searcher 116: search result provider

[28] 120: keyword sorting database 130: search database

[29] 200: user terminal

Mode for the Invention

[30] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

[31] First, a retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2.

[32] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a search server of FIG. 1.

[33] The retrieval system 100 of FIG. 1 includes a search server 110, a keyword sorting database 120, and a search database 130 which are connected to each other and connected to a plurality of user terminals 200 via a communication network 10. [34] The user terminal 200 is a device for communicating with the retrieval system 100 for a user's Internet search, and exchanges information via the communication network 10. The user terminal 200 can be implemented using not only a desktop computer but also a terminal with operational capability by including a memory means and a microprocessor, such as a notebook computer, a work station, a palmtop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a webpad.

[35] The communication network 10 can be any one of a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), and Internet. The communication scheme can be wired or wireless.

[36] The keyword sorting database 120 sorts and stores keywords into categories. For instance, the categories can be, but not limited to, product categories to be compared by the user, such as movies, books, and items in a shopping mall.

[37] The keywords can be sorted to the categories directly by an operator of the retrieval system 100 and input to the keyword sorting database 120. According to embodiments of the present invention, a web robot (not shown) may analyze words included to web documents collected during a periodic patrol on websites, sort words of high relation to keywords of the same category, and store the words to the keyword sorting database 120. Herein, the relation between the words can be calculated based on the number of times the words are included in the web page in the same time. For instance, if 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille' are movie titles in release, it is highly likely that the web page about the information of the released movies includes both 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille'. Hence, those two words have the high relation. While it is highly likely that words like 'reservation', 'ranking', and 'screens' are included in the web page of the currently released movie information all together, it is meaningless to classify them to the same category. Those words are stopwords and thus excluded from the category classification.

[38] The keyword sorting database 120 can store a synonym which can be inferred as the corresponding keyword, together with the corresponding keyword. For example, the synonym can be a noun or a pronoun included to the keyword but not necessarily. Synonyms of the keyword 'Pirates of the Caribbean' can include 'Caribbean Pirates' or 'Pirates Caribbean' without the preposition 'of. In addition, the synonyms of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' can include 'Pirates Caribbean', 'Pirates of Caribbean', 'Pirates the Caribbean', and 'Caribbean Pirates' without 'of or 'the'.

[39] The search database 130 stores information about web pages collected by the search robot (not shown) in the web. The web page information can be arranged and stored as a plurality of search lists based on a self-criterion of the retrieval system 100. Each search list can include a title, a URL, and description and index of the web pages. Herein, the title is a name given to the corresponding web page and the URL is a network address of the corresponding web page. The search list can also include the keywords stored to the keyword sorting database 120 and information relating to the keywords.

[40] Referring to FIG. 2, the search server 110 includes a query analyzer 112, a searcher

114, and a search result provider 116. The search server 110 provides a web page including the search box to the user terminal 200, receives a query from the user, properly retrieves the query, and then provides the search results to the user.

[41] The query analyzer 112 determines whether the query includes a plurality of search words by analyzing (e.g., parsing) the query received from the user. Herein, the query indicates a word set input by the user in the search box of the web page to request the retrieval, and the search words indicate meaningful words, phase, sentence, or the set of those included in the query. The query analyzer 112 can extract the search words from the query by referring to the keywords and the synonyms of the keyword sorting database 120. For instance, when the user inputs the query 'Evan Almighty Shrek 3', the query analyzer 112 can extract the effective search words 'Evan Almighty' and 'Shrek 3' as the movie titles by analyzing the query and referring to the keyword sorting database 120.

[42] When the query include a plurality of search words, the query analyzer 112 inquires the keyword sorting database 120 and determines whether the keywords corresponding to the search words belong to the same category. When the corresponding keywords belong to the same category according to the result of the determination, the query analyzer 112 provides the search words to the searcher 114 so that the searcher 114 can retrieve the search words respectively. Herein, if necessary, the query analyzer 112 can provide the query to the searcher 114 so that the searcher 114 retrieves the query. Alternatively, when the search words are synonyms, the query analyzer 112 can provide the searcher 114 with keywords corresponding to the synonyms, instead of the search words, so that the searcher 114 retrieves the keywords.

[43] When the query is a single search word, there is/are no keyword(s) corresponding to the search words although the query includes a plurality of search words, or the keywords do not belong to the same category although there are the keywords corresponding to the search words, the query analyzer 112 provides the query to the searcher 114 so that the search 114 can retrieve the query.

[44] The searcher 114 inquires the search database 130 of the search words or the query received from the query analyzer 112, extracts search lists including the index of the received search words or query from the search database 130, and provides the extracted search lists to the search result provider 116.

[45] For instance, when the user inputs the query 'Transformers Ratatouille', the query analyzer 112 splits the input query to 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille' and inquires the keyword sorting database 120 of each search word. When 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille' are present in the category, for example, 'Movie' as the keywords in the keyword sorting database 120, the query analyzer 112 provides 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille' to the searcher 114. The searcher 114 inquires the search database 130 of 'Transformers' and 'Ratatouille' individually, extracts a search list of 'Transformers' and a search list of 'Ratatouille' from the search database 130, and provides the extracted search lists to the search result provider 116. Alternatively, the query analyzer 112 can provide the query 'Transformers Ratatouille' to the searcher 114. Accordingly, the searcher 114 can inquire the search database 130 of 'Transformers Ratatouille', extract a search list of 'Transformers Ratatouille' from the search database 130, and provide the extracted search list to the search result provider 116.

[46] So far, while the searcher 114 retrieves both the search words and the query, the searcher 114 may be divided to a part for retrieving the search words and a part for retrieving the query if necessary. While the query includes two search words by way of example, the present invention is applicable to a case where the query includes three or more search words.

[47] The search result provider 116 generates a web page including the search lists of the search words or the query extracted at the searcher 114 and provides the user terminal 200 with the generated web page as the search results of the query input by the user.

[48] While the query analyzer 112 and the search result provider 116 are included in the search server 110, the query analyzer 112 or the search result provider 116 can be provided outside the search server 110 or included to a separate server (not shown).

[49] Now, the method for the search result provider 116 to generate the web page including the search lists is explained by referring to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[50] FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams of web pages presented by the retrieval system as search results according to an embodiment of the present invention. Particularly, FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a case where the user inputs the query 'Transformers Ratatouille' in a search box 405 of a web page 400.

[51] In FIG. 3, the search list 410 of 'Transformers' is positioned on the left of the web page 400, the search list 420 of the 'Ratatouille' is positioned on the right of the web page 420, and items in the search lists 410 and 420 are arranged to contrast with each other. While the web page 400 is divided to the left section and the right section and the search lists 410 and 420 are positioned right and left in FIG. 3, they can be variously positioned if necessary. For instance, the web page 400 can be divided to an upper section and a lower section and the search lists 410 and 420 can be positioned up and down. If three or more search words belong to the same category, the web page 400 can be divided up and down or right and left in accordance with the number of the search words and then the search lists can be positioned properly. [52] The search result provider 116 can provide the search lists 410 and 420 extracted for the respective search words in preset formats of the category of the search words so that the user can easily compare the search lists 410 and 420. For instance, when the search word belongs to the category 'Movie', the search lists 410 and 420 can be provided in the movie category format which includes brief movie information including the movie title, the genre, the running time, the release date, the director, the cast, the film rating, and the poster image, the netizen ranking, and the critics so that the user can easily compare them.

[53] In FIG. 4, the search list 410 of 'Transformers' is disposed in the upper left area of the web page 400, the search list 420 of 'Ratatouille' is disposed in the upper right area of the web page 400, and the search list 430 of 'Transformers Ratatouille' is disposed at the bottom of the web page 400. The search result provider 116 can generate the web page 400 to include both the search lists of the search words and the search list of the query as shown in FIG. 4.

[54] To provide the search results which meet the user's search purpose, the user can define in advance whether the search results of the search words are provided individually, and the positions of the search lists 410, 420 and 430 on the web page 400 in the retrieval system 100 of the present invention.

[55] As such, by contrasting and displaying the search results of the search words in the single search result screen according to the query input by the user, the user can easily compare the search results of the plurality of the search words. Also, by acquiring the search result contrast screen through the single search request, the user can get his/her intended search results more conveniently.

[56] Additionally, by dividing the single search result screen to a plurality of sections and displaying the search results in the respective sections, advertisement can be separately placed in each section. Thus, an advertiser can have more chances in the advertising exposure and the retrieval system operator can make higher profit from the advertisement.

[57] Now, operations of the retrieval system 100 are explained in further detail by referring to FIG. 5.

[58] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations of the retrieval system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[59] When the retrieval system 100 operates and receives a query from the user terminal

200 (S500), the query analyzer 112 determines whether the query includes a plurality of search words by analyzing the query input by the user (S 510). When the query includes a plurality of search words according to the result of the determination, the query analyzer 112 determines whether there exist keywords corresponding to the search words by referring to the keyword sorting database 120. When there are keywords corresponding to the search words, the query analyzer 112 determines whether the corresponding keywords belong to the same category (S520). When the search words belong to the same category according to the result of the determination, the query analyzer 112 provides the individual search word or the individual keyword corresponding to the search word to the searcher 114.

[60] The searcher 114 extracts a search list of the index including the search word from the search database 130 by inquiring the search database 130 with respect to the individual search word, and provides the search lists to the search result provider 116 (S530).

[61] Next, the query analyzer 112 provides the query to the searcher 114. The searcher

114 extracts a search list of the index including the query by inquiring the search database 130 of the query and provides the search list to the search result provider 116 (S540). After the step S530 is performed, the step S540 can be selectively performed.

[62] By contrast, when the query is a single search word (S510), there are no keywords corresponding to the search words (S520), or the search words do not belong to the same category, the query analyzer 112 provides the query to the search 114. The searcher 114 inquires the search database 130 of the query itself, extracts a search list, and provides the search list to the search result provider 116 (S540).

[63] The search result provider 116 generates a web page including the search list of the step S530 and/or the search list of the step S540 and provides the generated web page to the user terminal 200 as the search result of the query input by the user (S550).

[64] The embodiment of the present invention includes a computer-readable medium including program commands to execute operations realized by various computers. The medium contains a program or a process for executing the retrieval method according to the present invention. The medium can contain program commands, data files, and data structures alone or in combination. Examples of the medium include a magnetic medium such as hard disk, floppy disk, and magnetic tape, an optical recording medium such as CD and DVD, a magneto-optical medium such as floptical disk, and a hardware device containing and executing program commands, such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory. The medium can be a transmission medium, such as optical or metallic line and waveguide, including subcarriers which carry signals to define program commands and data structure. Examples of the program commands include a machine language created by a compiler and a high-level language executable by the computer using an interpreter.

[65] While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

[1] A retrieval system comprising: a search database including a plurality of search lists; a query analyzer for separating a first search word and a second search word from a query including the first search word and the second search word input from a user terminal; a searcher for receiving the first and second search words from the query analyzer, extracting a first search list by inquiring the search database of the first search word, and extracting a second search list by inquiring the search database of the second search word; and a search result provider for generating a web page including the first and second search lists and providing the generated web page to the user terminal.

[2] The retrieval system of claim 1, further comprising: a keyword sorting database for sorting and storing keywords based on categories, wherein the query analyzer provides the first and second search words individually to the searcher when first and second keywords corresponding to the first and second search words respectively are stored to the keyword sorting database and the first and second keywords belong to the same category.

[3] The retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the search result provider arranges the first and second search lists by dividing the web page to contrast the first and second search lists.

[4] The retrieval system of claim 3, wherein the search result provider provides the first and second search lists in formats preset based on the categories of the first and second search words.

[5] The retrieval system of claim 1, wherein the searcher receives the query from the query analyzer, extracts a third search list corresponding to the query by inquiring the search database, and provides the third search list to the search result provider.

[6] The retrieval system of claim 5, wherein the search result provider generates and provides the web page further including the third search list to the user terminal.

[7] A retrieval method comprising: receiving a query including first and second search words from a user terminal; separating the first and second search words; extracting first and second search lists corresponding to the first and second search words respectively; and generating a web page including the first and second search lists and providing the generated web page to the user terminal. [8] The retrieval method of claim 7, further comprising: sorting and storing keywords based on categories, wherein the extracting comprises extracting the first and second search lists when the first and second search words correspond to first and second keywords respectively and the first and second keywords belong to the same category. [9] The retrieval method of claim 7, wherein the generating and providing comprises: arranging the first and second search lists by dividing the web page to contrast the first and second search lists. [10] The retrieval method of claim 9, wherein the generating and providing further comprises: providing the first and second search lists in formats preset based on the categories of the first and second search words. [11] The retrieval method of claim 7, further comprising: extracting a third search list corresponding to the query. [12] The retrieval method of claim 11, wherein the generating and providing comprises: generating and providing a web page further including the third search list to the user terminal. [13] A computer readable medium including a program to execute the method of one of claims 7 through 12.