Geocoding method using multidimensional vector spaces

摘要

A process for evaluating and geocoding of GIS data elements utilizes a plurality of “locate” tests and a weighting scheme to express the match results as a multidimensional vector. Multiple inputs and data sources, as well as ambiguous and partial input data, are used to generate an output with improved precision by applying a weighting function to each input element and generating a set of test vectors (i.e., in the input data element weighted by the known accuracy of the element/source). A sum of a plurality of tests is then generated as the “characteristic vector” of the test set. By using two (or more) different sets of tests, two (or more) characteristic vectors are formed. Various well-known algebraic techniques can then be used to evaluate the results of each set of tests and select the “best match” result.