Fusion Methods Based on Common Order Invariability for Meta Search Engine Systems

Fusion is an important work for running meta search engine systems. A fusion algorithm is rational iff it can satisfy three conditions, i.e. the associativity, commutativity and common order invariability. Among these conditions, the associativity and commutativity can be satisfied by all existing fusion methods, but the common order invariability is only adhered by parts of fusion methods. In this paper, we present a general fusion method, which is based on the common order invariability, for meta search engine systems. This method is essentially a framework that can combine with any other fusion method to form a rational fusion method. Therefore, it provides a simple but effective way to transform an unreasonable rank fusion method into a rational one.