Method and system for generating recommendations

1. A computer-implemented method of generating a recommendation list of products to a customer, said method comprising:

using OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) to analyze raw data in a multilevel and multidimensional manner;

applying a plurality of filtering processes to said raw data, as a part of said analyzing, to generate a plurality of preliminary recommendation lists at said computer;

adjusting a first preliminary recommendation list according to association rules mined within a neighborhood of said customer, wherein said first preliminary recommendation list is one of the preliminary recommendation lists;

and generating said recommendation list based on said plurality of preliminary recommendation lists.

2. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes collaborative filtering (CF).

3. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 2 further comprising generating a volume cube and a similarity cube at said computer.

4. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes information filtering (IF).

5. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes association rule based filtering (RF).

6. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 5 further comprising generating a volume cube, an association cube, a population cube, a base cube, a confidence cube, and a support cube at said computer.

7. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a neighborhood of said customer using multilevel and multidimensional collaborative filtering at said computer;

mining association rules within said neighborhood at said computer;

generating a first preliminary recommendation list based on multilevel and multidimensional collaborative filtering at said computer; and

adjusting said first preliminary recommendation list according to said neighborhood mined association rules at said computer.

8. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions stored therein for performing a method of generating a recommendation list of products to a customer, said method comprising:

using OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) to analyze raw data in a multilevel and multidimensional manner at a computer;

applying a plurality of filtering processes to said raw data, as a part of said analyzing, to generate a plurality of preliminary recommendation lists at said computer;

adjusting a first preliminary recommendation list according to association rules mined within a neighborhood of said customer, wherein said first preliminary recommendation list is one of the preliminary recommendation lists;

and generating said recommendation list based on said plurality of preliminary recommendation lists at said computer.

9. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes collaborative filtering (CF).

10. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 9 wherein said method further comprises generating a volume cube and a similarity cube.

11. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes information filtering (IF).

12. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes association rule based filtering (RF).

13. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 12 wherein said method further comprises generating a volume cube, an association cube, a population cube, a base cube, a confidence cube, and a support cube.

14. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8 wherein said method further comprises:

identifying a neighborhood of said customer using multilevel and multidimensional collaborative filtering;

mining association rules within said neighborhood;

generating a first preliminary recommendation list based on multilevel and multidimensional collaborative filtering; and

adjusting said first preliminary recommendation list according to said neighborhood mined association rules.

15. A recommendation system comprising:

a data warehouse for storing raw data representing purchases of products by customers;

a server using OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) for analyzing said raw data in a multilevel and multidimensional manner to generate a recommendation list of products to a customer, wherein said server applies a plurality of filtering processes to said raw data;

said server adjusting a first preliminary recommendation list according to association rules mined within a neighborhood of said customer, wherein said first preliminary recommendation list is one of the preliminary recommendation lists and

a computer having stored therein a multidimensional database for storing data cubes processed by said server, wherein said multidimensional database is controlled by said server.

16. The recommendation system as recited in claim 15 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes collaborative filtering (CF).

17. The recommendation system as recited in claim 16 wherein said server generates a volume cube and a similarity cube.

18. The recommendation system as recited in claim 15 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes information filtering (IF).

19. The recommendation system as recited in claim 15 wherein said plurality of filtering processes includes association rule based filtering (RF).

20. The recommendation system as recited in claim 19 wherein said server generates a volume cube, an association cube, a population cube, a base cube, a confidence cube, and a support cube.