1. A method for real time alert, comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information packet, said information packets either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms, said matching term information being stored in a storage means that is configured to allow fast insertion and fast deletion of content;
- processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
- storing the information packet and related control data in the storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage means holds an index data structure.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing is preceded by at least one preprocessing step selected from the group consisting of:
- adding control data to said information packet,
- filtering the information packet,
- processing an extracted term by adding control information to said extracted term, and
- filtering the extracted term, wherein said filtered extracted terms are matched against alert terms.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted term is extracted out of the information packet by parsing and stemming the information packet; and wherein the step of filtering further comprises a step selected from the group consisting of: (a) discarding a term constructed of a one-letter word; (b) discarding a term constructed of a frequently used word; (c) discarding a term constructed of a stop-word; and (d) discarding a term constructed of a predefined word.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising deleting the information packet; and deleting the linked matching extracted term information.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of deleting the information packet further comprises the steps of:
- receiving an information packet identification;
- reading the information packet identification from the messages hash table;
- obtaining relevant entries of said matching extracted terms belonging to said information packet; and
- accessing a matching extracted terms inverted file for each of said matching extracted terms entry pointed to by said terms inverted file.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of deleting further comprises the step of decreasing a value of said total instances by a value of said instances number for each of said matching extracted terms entry pointed to by said terms inverted file.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of deleting further comprises deleting an extracted term by a garbage collection process; and canceling a link between said term in said terms hash table and said terms inverted file.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert terms and associated matching extracted term information are stored in an alert terms hash;
- wherein alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map; and
- wherein the linked information packets are stored in a message hash.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single matching extracted term comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time, and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising of a plurality of matching terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein each matching term inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising of a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the information source is selected from the group consisting of: data network providers, chat channels providers, news providers, and music providers.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the information packets comprises content selected from the group consisting of: text, audio, video, multimedia, and executable code streaming media.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing further comprises computing a similarity between an alert criterion and matching term extracted information indicating a reception of group of at least one matching information packet.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the group of at least one information packet comprises of at least one information packet received from a single information source.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the similarity reflects at least one of the following parameters:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of matching extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a matching extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of matching extracted terms in at least one information source;
- an extracted term in proximity to a matching extracted term;
- a part of speech of a matching extracted term; and
- a matching extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing implements complex matching techniques.
24. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of issuing an alert further comprises determining to which client system to send an alert.
25. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of issuing an alert further comprises:
- determining a format of an alert to be sent to a client system, according to a predefined client system format; and
- formatting the alert according to said client system format.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein said predetermined client format is selected from the group consisting of:
- HTML format,
- WAP format,
- PDA compatible format,
- Digital television compatible format,
- electronic mail format, and
- multimedia stream format.
27. The method of claim 1, wherein the link field allows the at least one client system to receive additional information is selected from the group consisting of:
- a multimedia stream originated by said information source,
- a stream of information packets originated by said information source,
- a multimedia stream associated to the information packet from which the extracted term was extracted,
- a stream of information packets, comprising the extracted term.
28. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one client system is configured to generate a unique information source category indication in response to a reception of said information source category identification; and wherein the at least one client system is configured to generate a unique information source indication and in response to a reception of said information source identification.
29. A method for real time alert, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information packet, said information packets either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching extracted term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms during a predetermined period of time;
- processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
32. The method of claim 29, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is undated during a predetermined period of time.
33. The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps of:
- storing the information packet and related control data in a storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein the alert term and associated matching term information are stored in an alert hash, the alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and the linked information packet is stored in a message hash.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single matching extracted term comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time;
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time;
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time; and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising of a plurality of terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein each inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information;
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet; and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
38. The method of claim 29, further comprising deleting the information packet; and deleting the linked extracted term information.
39. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of determining whether to issue an alert is based upon a parameter selected from the group consisting of:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval,
- a number of relevant extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval,
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval,
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a relevant extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval,
- a position of relevant extracted terms in at least one information source;
- extracted term in proximity to a relevant extracted term,
- a part of speech of a relevant extracted term, and
- a relevant extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein the group of at least one information packet comprises at least one information packet received from a single information source.
41. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
42. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of processing implements complex matching techniques.
43. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of processing further comprises computing a similarity between an alert criteria and information indicating a reception of a group of at least one matching information packet.
44. A method for real time alert, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information packet; said information packets either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching extracted term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert, in response to a reception of a matching extracted term; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
46. The method of claim 45, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
47. The method of claim 44, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
48. The method of claim 44, wherein the matching extracted term information is representative of a reception of matching extracted terms during a predetermined period of time, and wherein said matching term information is stored in a storage means that is configured to allow fast insertion and fast deletion of content.
49. The method of claim 44, further comprising the steps of:
- storing the information packet and related control data in the storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information, wherein a deletion of an information packet is followed by a step of deleting the linked extracted term information.
50. The method of claim 49, wherein alert terms and associated matching extracted terms information are stored in an alert terms hash, alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and the linked matching extracted term information is stored in a message hash.
51. The method of claim 49 wherein the step of deleting the information packet further comprises of the steps of:
- receiving an information packet identification;
- reading the information packet identification from the messages hash table in said terms index data structure;
- obtaining relevant entries of said extracted terms belonging to said information packet in said messages data; and
- accessing said terms inverted file for each of said terms entry pointed to by said terms inverted file.
52. The method of claim 44, wherein the storage means holds a term index data structure.
53. The method of claim 44, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single matching extracted term comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time;
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time; and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising a plurality of terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein each inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
55. The method of claim 44, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
56. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing further comprises computing a similarity between an alert criteria and information indicating a reception of a group of at least one matching information packet.
57. The method of claim 56, wherein the group of at least one matching information packet comprises at least one information packet received from a single information source.
58. The method of claim 56, wherein the similarity reflects at least one of the following parameters:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of matching extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a matching extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of matching extracted terms in at least one information source;
- extracted term in proximity to a relevant extracted term;
- a part of speech of a matching extracted term; and
- a relevant extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
59. The method of claim 46, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
60. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of processing implements complex matching techniques.
61. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of issuing an alert further comprises:
- determining to which client system to send an alert,
- determining a format of an alert to be sent to a client system, according to a predefined client system format; and
- formatting the alert according to said client system format.
62. The method of claim 44, wherein the link field allows the at least one client system to receive additional information is selected from the group consisting of:
- a multimedia stream originated by said information source,
- a stream of information packets originated by said information source,
- a multimedia stream associated to the information packet from which the extracted term was extracted,
- a stream of information packets, comprising the extracted term.
63. A method for real time alert, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information stream, said information stream either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- generating a plurality of information packets from said information stream;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packets;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
64. The method of claim 63, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
65. The method of claim 64, wherein the at least one alert criteria comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
66. The method of claim 63, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
67. The method of claim 63, further comprising the steps of:
- storing an information packet and related control data in a storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
68. The method of claim 63, further comprising deleting the information packet; and deleting the linked extracted term information.
69. The method of claim 63, wherein the alert terms are stored in an alert terms hash, the alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and the linked matching extracted term information is stored in a terms hash.
70. The method of claim 63, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single alert term comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time, and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising of a plurality of terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
71. The method of claim 70, wherein each inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
72. The method of claim 71, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
73. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of determining whether to issue an alert is based upon a parameter out of the group consisting of:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of relevant extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a relevant extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of relevant extracted terms in at least one information source;
- extracted term in proximity to a relevant extracted term;
- a part of speech of a relevant extracted term; and
- a relevant extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
74. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
75. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of processing implements complex matching techniques.
76. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of processing further comprises computing a similarity between an alert criteria and information indicating a reception of a group of at least one matching information packet.
77. The method of claim 76, wherein the group of at least one information packet comprises at least one information packet received from a single information source.
78. A method for real time alert, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information packet, said information packet either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- processing a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert, said portion representative of a reception of at least one matching information from a single information source; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
79. The method of claim 78, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
80. The method of claim 79, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
81. The method of claim 78, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
82. The method of claim 78, further comprising the steps of:
- storing an information packet and related control data in a storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
83. The method of claim 78, further comprises deleting the information packet; and deleting the linked extracted term information.
84. The method of claim 78, wherein alert terms are stored in an alert terms hash, an alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and wherein the linked matching extracted term information is stored in a terms hash.
85. The method of claim 78, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single matching extracted term comprising of at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time, and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising of a plurality of terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
86. The method of claim 85, wherein each inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
87. The method of claim 86, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
88. The method of claim 78, wherein the step of determining whether to issue an alert is based upon a parameter out of the group consisting of:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of relevant extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a relevant extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of relevant extracted terms in at least one information source;
- extracted term in proximity to a relevant extracted term;
- a part of speech of a relevant extracted term; and
- a relevant extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
89. The method of claim 78, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
90. The method of claim 78, wherein the step of processing implement complex matching techniques.
91. A method for real time alert, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an information stream, said information stream either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- determining whether the information stream comprises information packets, and if the information stream is not comprised of information packets, then generating a plurality of information packets from said information stream;
- extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet;
- determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly updating a matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert; and
- issuing at least one alert to at least one client system, according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
92. The method of claim 91, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
93. The method of claim 92, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
94. The method of claim 91, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is undated during a predetermined period of time.
95. The method of claim 91, further comprising the steps of:
- storing an information packet and related control data in a storage means; and
- linking between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
96. The method of claim 91, further comprising deleting the information packet; and deleting the linked extracted term information.
97. The method of claim 91, wherein alert terms are stored in an alert terms hash, alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and the linked matching extracted term information is stored in a terms hash.
98. The method of claim 91, wherein the matching extracted term information is associated to a single matching extracted term comprising at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time, and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising of a plurality of terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
99. The method of claim 98, wherein each inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
100. The method of claim 99, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
101. The method of claim 91, wherein the step of determining whether to issue an alert is based upon a parameter out of the group consisting of:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of relevant extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a relevant extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of relevant extracted terms in at least one information source;
- extracted term in proximity to a relevant extracted term;
- a part of speech of a relevant extracted term; and
- a relevant extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
102. The method of claim 91, wherein the step of processing implements a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
103. The method of claim 91, wherein the step of processing implements complex matching techniques.
104. The method of claim 91, wherein the step of processing further comprises computing a similarity between an alert criteria and information indicating a reception of a group of at least one matching information packet.
105. The method of claim 104, wherein the group of at least one information packet comprises at least one information packet received from a single information source.
106. The system of claim 104, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
107. A system for real time alert, said system comprising:
- an information packet processor for receiving an information packet and extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet, said information packets either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- a storage means, configured to allow fast insertion and fast deletion of content, for storing matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- a storage means controllers coupled to the information packet processor and to the storage means, for receiving the at least one extracted term, for determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly for updating the matching term information; and
- an alert module coupled to the storage means, for processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert, and for issuing at least one alert to at least one client system according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
108. The system of claim 107, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
109. The system of claim 108, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
110. The system of claim 107, the storage means controller further adapted to store the information packet and related control data in the storage means, and to link between the stored information packet and the matching extracted term information.
111. The system of claim 107, wherein the storage means holds a term index data structure.
112. The system of claim 107, wherein the information packet processor is further adapted to perform at least one preprocessing step selected from the group consisting of: adding control data to said information packet, filtering the information packet, processing an extracted term by adding control information to said extracted term, and filtering the extracted term, wherein said filtered extracted terms are matched against alert terms.
113. The system of claim 107, wherein the information packet processor is configured to extract an extracted term from an information packet by parsing and stemming the information packet.
114. The system of claim 107, wherein the storage means controller is adapted to delete information packets from the storage means, after a predetermined period has lapsed; and wherein a deletion of an information packet is followed by a deletion of the linked extracted term information.
115. The system of claim 107, wherein alert terms and matching terms information are stored in an alert terms hash, alert criteria are stored in an alert criteria map, and wherein the linked information packets are stored in a message hash.
116. The system of claim 107, wherein the matching extracted term information comprises at least one information field selected from the group consisting of:
- a last modification time field, indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term, during a predetermined period of time,
- a number of channels containing term, indicating a number of information sources that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- a total instances field, indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time, and
- a terms inverted entries map, comprising a plurality of matching terms inverted file entries, each entry holding information representative of a reception of the matching extracted term from a single information source during a predetermined period of time.
117. The system of claim 116, wherein each matching term inverted file entry comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a channel identifier, for identifying the information source that provided the matching extracted term during a predetermined period of time,
- an instances number, for indicating a total amount of receptions of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time, and
- a time of last appearance, for indicating a most recent time of reception of the matching extracted term from an information source during a predetermined period of time.
118. The system of claim 117, wherein each information packet is further associated to a message terms key map, said message terms key map comprising of a plurality of message characteristic entries, each message characteristic entry associated to a matching extracted term being extracted from the information packet, said message characteristic entry comprising at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- a term inverted file, for pointing to the matching extracted term information,
- an instance of number, for indicating a number of times said matching extracted term appeared in the information packet, and
- an inverted file entry, for pointing to a terms inverted file entry.
119. The system of claim 118, wherein the storage means controller is further adapted to determine a deletion of an information packet and associated matching extracted term information.
120. The system of claim 107, wherein the storage means controller is adapted to access the message hash table, to obtain relevant entries of said matching extracted terms belonging to said information packet; and to access said matching extracted terms inverted file for each said matching extracted terms entry pointed to by said matching extracted terms inverted file.
121. The system of claim 107, wherein the alert module is adapted to rank information sources according to a similarity between at least a portion of information packets provided by said information sources and between an alert criteria.
122. The system of claim 107, wherein the said rank is based upon a parameter selected from the group consisting of:
- a total amount of extracted terms provided by an information source in a predefined time interval,
- an elapsed time since the extracted term was provided by the information source in said predefined time interval, and
- an extracted term position in the information source.
123. The system of claim 107, wherein the information source is selected from the group consisting of: data network providers, chat channels providers, news providers, and music providers.
124. The system of claim 107, wherein information packets comprise content selected from the group consisting of: text, audio, video, multimedia, and executable code streaming media.
125. The system of claim 107, further adapted to compute a similarity between an alert criteria and information indicating a reception of a group of at least one matching information packet.
126. The system of claim 125, wherein the group of at least one information packet comprises at least one information packet received from a single information source.
127. The system of claim 126, wherein the similarity reflects at least one of the parameters selected from the group consisting of:
- a total amounts of extracted terms being received from at least one information source during a predefined time interval;
- a number of matching extracted terms being received from at least one information source during the predefined time interval;
- a total number of information sources being searched during the predefined time interval;
- an elapsed time since a last appearance of a matching extracted term from an information source during the predefined time interval;
- a position of matching extracted terms in at least one information source;
- an extracted term in proximity to a matching extracted term;
- a part of speech of a matching extracted term; and
- a matching extracted term frequency and importance in a language of the information source.
128. The system of claim 107, wherein the alert module is further adapted to implement a matching technique selected from the group consisting of:
- Boolean based matching,
- probabilistic matching,
- fuzzy matching,
- proximity matching, and
- vector based matching.
129. The system of claim 107, wherein the alert module is further adapted to implement complex matching techniques.
130. The system of claim 107, wherein the alert module is further adapted to determine to which client system to send an alert.
131. The system of claim 107, wherein the alert module is further adapted to determine a format of an alert to be sent to a client system, according to a predefined client system format, and to format the alert according to said client system format.
132. The system of claim 131, wherein said predetermined client format is selected from the group consisting of:
- HTML format,
- WAP format,
- PDA compatible format,
- Digital television compatible format,
- electronic mail format, and
- multimedia stream format.
133. The system of claim 107, wherein the link field allows the at least one client system to receive additional information selected from the group consisting of:
- a multimedia stream originated by said information source,
- a stream of information packets originated by said information source,
- a multimedia stream associated to the information packet from which the extracted term was extracted, and
- a stream of information packets, comprising the extracted term.
134. The system of claim 133, wherein the client system is configured to generate a unique information source category indication in response to a reception of said information source category identification.
135. The system of claim 107, wherein the client system is configured to and to generate a unique information source indication in response to a reception of said information source identification.
136. The system of claim 107, wherein the information packet processor comprises at least one module selected from a group of modules consisting of:
- a message coordinator module adapted to coordinate an handling of a plurality of information packets;
- a message filter module for filtering the plurality of information packets according to predefined rules;
- a term extractor module for performing parsing and stemming on said plurality of information packets; and
- a terms filter for excluding extracted terms according to predefined rules.
137. The system of claim 107, wherein the storage means holds a term index data structure, said term index data structure further comprising:
- an alert terms hash table to hold alert terms;
- a matching extracted terms inverted file pointed to by said alert term hash table holding a matching extracted terms inverted entry map;
- a messages hash table to hold information packets identification;
- a messages data table to hold information packets data; and
- a channel map to hold a list of information sources and the related number of index terms of said information source.
138. The system of claim 137, wherein the terms inverted file further comprises:
- a matching extracted terms inverted entries map table;
- a total instances of said matching extracted term;
- a number of information sources containing said matching extracted term; and
- a last modification time of said matching extracted term.
139. The system of claim 138, further comprising:
- a message terms keyed map;
- an information source identification; and
- an information packet time of arrival.
140. The system of claim 139, wherein the message terms keyed map further comprises:
- a pointer to said matching extracted terms inverted file;
- an instances number of said matching extracted term in said information packet; and
- a pointer to said inverted file entry related to said matching extracted term.
141. The system of claim 140, wherein the matching extracted terms inverted entries map further comprises:
- an information source identification;
- an instances number of said matching extracted term in said information source informational content; and
- a time of last appearance of said matching extracted term in said information source informational content.
142. The system of claim 107, wherein the storage means further allows timely deletions of irrelevant or time-decayed terms and query-terms.
143. The system of claim 107, further comprising an alert criteria module coupled to the storage means to the storage means controller, and to a plurality of client systems for handling client system requests for updating alert criteria.
144. The system of claim 143, wherein the alert criteria module comprises at least one module selected from the group consisting of:
- an alert criteria coordinator module to coordinate the processing of alert criteria,
- an alert term extractor to parse and stem incoming alert criteria in order to extract and process operative alert terms, and
- an alert terms filter for excluding specific alert terms in a predefined manner.
145. A system for real time alert, said system comprising:
- an information packet processor for receiving an information packet and extracting at least one extracted term out of the information packet, said information packets either provided by an information source or representative of a portion of a received signal provided by an information source;
- a storage means for storing matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms;
- a storage means controller coupled to the information packet processor and to the storage means, for receiving the at least one extracted term, for determining whether an extracted term out of said at least one extracted term matches an alert term within an alert criteria, and accordingly for updating the matching term information; and
- an alert module coupled to the storage means, for processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information to determine whether to issue an alert, and for issuing at least one alert to at least one client system according to said determination,
- wherein the alert comprises at least one field selected from the group consisting of:
- an information source identifier field,
- a link field, and
- an information source category identification.
146. The system of claim 145, wherein the processing at least a portion of the matching extracted term information is determined by at least one alert criterion.
147. The system of claim 145, wherein the at least one alert criterion comprises at least one alert term that matches the at least one matching extracted term.
148. The system of claim 145, wherein the matching term information representative of a reception of matching extracted terms is updated during a predetermined period of time.
149. The system of claim 145, further comprising an information interface coupled to the information packet processor, said information interface adapted to receive information streams and to provide information packets to the information packet processor.
150. The system of claim 145, wherein the information interface is further coupled to the storage means controller, for allowing a storage of said information packets in the storage means.
