Enterprise-wide resource planning (ERP) system with integrated data aggregation engine
First Claim
1. A stand-alone data aggregation server comprising:
- an aggregation engine that is integrated with a multidimensional datastore and an interface;
the aggregation engine performing data aggregation operations on data loaded from a database and storing the resultant aggregated data in the multidimensional datastore; and
the interface receiving requests communicated from any one of a plurality of different computing systems, accessing the aggregation engine to retrieve from the multidimensional datastore aggregated data pertaining to said requests, and communicating the aggregated data corresponding to said requests to said one computing system that communicated said requests.
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Abstract
Improved method of and apparatus for aggregating data elements in multidimensional databases (MDDB). In one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is realized in the form of a high-performance stand-alone (i.e. external) aggregation server which can be plugged-into conventional OLAP systems to achieve significant improments in system performance. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the stand-alone aggregation server contains a scalable MDDB and a high-performance aggregation engine that are integrated into the modular architecture of the aggregation server. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can uniformly distribute data elements among a plurality of processors, for balanced loading and processing, and therefore is highly scalable. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can be used to realize (i) an improved MDDB for supporting on-line analytical processing (OLAP) operations, (ii) an improved Internet URL Directory for supporting on-line information searching operations by Web-enabled client machines, as well as (iii) diverse types of MDDB-based systems for supporting real-time control of processes in response to complex states of information reflected in the MDDB. In another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is integrated within a database management system (DBMS). The improved DBMS can be used to realize achieving a significant increase in system performance (e.g. deceased access/search time), user flexibility and ease of use. The improved DBMS system of the present invention can be used to realize an improved Data Warehouse for supporting on-line analytical processing (OLAP) operations or to realize an improved informational database system, operational database system, or the like.
137 Citations
151 Claims
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1. A stand-alone data aggregation server comprising:
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an aggregation engine that is integrated with a multidimensional datastore and an interface;
the aggregation engine performing data aggregation operations on data loaded from a database and storing the resultant aggregated data in the multidimensional datastore; and
the interface receiving requests communicated from any one of a plurality of different computing systems, accessing the aggregation engine to retrieve from the multidimensional datastore aggregated data pertaining to said requests, and communicating the aggregated data corresponding to said requests to said one computing system that communicated said requests. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 124, 125, 126, 149, 150, 151)
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16. A relational database management system (RDBMS) comprising:
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a relational datastore storing fact data;
an aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the fact data and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational multidimensional datastore;
a reference generating mechanism for generating a first reference to aggregated fact data generated by the aggregation module; and
a query processing mechanism for processing a given query statement, wherein, upon identifying that the given query statement is on said first reference, communicates with said aggregation module to retrieve portions of aggregated fact data pointed to by said first reference that are relevant to said given query statement. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 99, 100, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133)
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32. A relational database management system (RDBMS) comprising:
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a relational datastore storing fact data; and
an integrated aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the fact data and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational multidimensional datastore. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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- 42. The RDBMS of claim 42, wherein user operations in querying the relational datastore and non-relational multi-dimensional datastore generate natural language queries communicated from a client machine.
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46. In a relational database management system (RDBMS) comprising a relational datastore storing fact data, a method for aggregating the fact data and providing query access to the aggregated data comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing an integrated aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the fact data and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational multi-dimensional datastore;
(b) in response to user input, generating a reference to aggregated fact data generated by the aggregation module; and
(c) processing a given query statement generated in response to user input, wherein, upon identifying that the given query statement is on said reference, retrieving from the integrated aggregation module portions of aggregated fact data pointed to by said reference that are relevant to said given query statement. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A database management system (DBMS) comprising:
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a relational datastore storing data in tables;
an aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the data stored in the tables of the relational datastore and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational datastore;
a reference generating mechanism for generating a first reference to data stored in the relational datastore and a second reference to aggregated data generated by the aggregation module and stored in the non-relational datastore; and
a query processing mechanism for processing query statements, wherein, upon identifying that a given query statement is on said second reference, the query processing mechanism communicates with said aggregation module to retrieve portions of aggregated data identified by said reference that are relevant to said given query statement. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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84. A database management system (DBMS) comprising:
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a relational datastore storing data in tables; and
an integrated aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the data stored in the tables of the relational datastore and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational datastore. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104)
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105. In a database management system (DBMS) comprising a relational datastore storing data in tables, a method for aggregating the data stored in the tables of the relational datastore and providing query access to the aggregated data, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing an integrated aggregation module, operatively coupled to the relational datastore, for aggregating the data stored in the relational datastore and storing the resultant aggregated data in a non-relational datastore;
(b) in response to user input, generating a reference to aggregated data generated by the aggregation module; and
(c) processing a given query statement generated in response to user input, wherein, upon identifying that the given query statement is on said reference, retrieving from the integrated aggregation module portions of aggregated data identified by said reference that are relevant to said given query statement. - View Dependent Claims (106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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134. A method of aggregating data comprising the steps of:
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(a) loading data from a data source into a mutidimensional datastore, wherein the data is logically partitioned into N dimensions;
(b) performing a first stage of data aggregation operations along a first dimension in the multi-dimensional datastore; and
(c) performing a second stage of aggregation operations for a given slice in the first dimension along N−
1 dimensions other than the first dimension in the multi-dimensional datastore.
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135. In a database system comprising data having at least one dimension logically organized into multiple hierarchies of items, a method for transforming the multiple hierarchies of items into a single hierarchy that is functionally equivalent to the multiple hierarchies, the method comprising the step of:
linking a given child item with a parent item in the single hierarchy when no other child item linked to the parent item has a child item in common with the given child item. - View Dependent Claims (136)
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137. A data aggregation engine comprising:
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a hierarchy transformation module that identifies at least one dimension of data logically organized into multiple hierarchies of items, and transforms the multiple hierarchies of items into a single hierarchy (that is functionally equivalent to the multiple hierarchies) by linking a given child item with a parent item in the single hierarchy when no other child item linked to the parent item has a child item in common with the given child item;
an aggregation module that aggregates the data based upon the single hierarchy. - View Dependent Claims (138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148)
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Specification