US 12,147,427 B2
Method and system for estimating the cardinality of information
Michael Sheppard, Holland, MI (US); Edward Murphy, Montville, CT (US); and Jonathan Sullivan, Hurrican, UT (US)
Assigned to The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, New York, NY (US)
Filed by The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, New York, NY (US)
Filed on Dec. 28, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/398,519.
Application 18/398,519 is a continuation of application No. 17/460,679, filed on Aug. 30, 2021, granted, now 11,934,399.
Prior Publication US 2024/0134856 A1, Apr. 25, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 16/23 (2019.01); G06F 16/22 (2019.01); G06F 16/2453 (2019.01); G06F 16/2455 (2019.01); G06F 16/2458 (2019.01); G06F 16/951 (2019.01); G06Q 30/0242 (2023.01)
CPC G06F 16/24545 (2019.01) [G06F 16/2255 (2019.01); G06F 16/2264 (2019.01); G06F 16/2462 (2019.01); G06F 16/951 (2019.01); G06Q 30/0246 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for efficiently estimating a number of unique elements in a collection of elements, the method comprising:
generating, via hash logic, hash values associated with the collection of elements, wherein the hash values specify bit positions within an array of bits, wherein hash values output from the hash logic conform to a geometric distribution of bits such that bit positions of the array of bits corresponding to lower orders bits are more likely to be generated than bit positions corresponding to higher-order bits;
setting bits of the array of bits corresponding to the bit positions;
counting a number of bits of the array of bits that are set; and
estimating, by estimation logic, a number of unique elements of the collection of elements as a function of the number of bits of the array of bits that are set,
wherein the estimation logic is configured to estimate the number of unique elements according to the function:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
where S corresponds to the number of bits, γ is a Euler-Mascheroni constant of 0.577216, ρ specifies the geometric distribution of bits across the array of bits, and n corresponds to an estimate of the number of unique elements of the collection of elements.