Network of networks of associative memory networks for knowledge management

• US 20060095653A1
• Filed: 11/03/2004
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Saffron Technology, Inc. (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Fleming, James S., Aparicio, Manuel IV, McGiverin, Brian J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,478,192 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/108
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90339 by using parallel associative memories or content-addressable memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation

Abstract

Associative memory systems, methods and/or computer program products include a network of networks of associative memory networks. A network of entity associative memory networks is provided, a respective entity associative memory of which includes associations among a respective observer entity and observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on input documents. A network of feedback associative memory networks includes associations among observed entities for a respective positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user. A network of document associative memory networks includes associations among observed entities in a respective observed input source, such as a respective input document. A network of community associative memory networks includes associations among a respective observer entity, observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, and observed tasks of users in which the observer entity was queried. Associations may be observed into and imagined from the network of networks of associative memory networks.

Claims

1. An associative memory system comprising:

a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

a network of entity associative memory networks, a respective entity associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on a plurality of input documents; and

a network of feedback associative memory networks, a respective feedback associative memory network comprising associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

a processing system that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks.

2. An associative memory system according to claim 1 wherein the network of networks of associative memory networks further comprises:

a network of document associative memory networks, a respective document associative memory network comprising associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document; and

a network of community associative memory networks, a respective community associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried.

3. An associative memory system according to claim 1 wherein the processing system comprises:

an observer system that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents, and to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

a query system that is configured to imagine associations of entities, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks in response to user queries.

4. An associative memory system according to claim 2 wherein the processing system comprises:

an observer system that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents, to observe into the network of document associative memory networks, the associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document, to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user, and to observe into the network of community associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried; and

a query system that is configured to imagine associations of entities, documents, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks, the network of document associative memory networks, the network of feedback associative memory networks and the network of community associative memory networks, in response to user queries.

5. An associative memory system according to claim 4 wherein the observer system comprises:

an entity observer that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents; and

a document observer that is configured to observe into the network of document associative memory networks, the associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document.

6. An associative memory system according to claim 4 wherein the observer system comprises:

a feedback observer that is configured to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

a community observer that is configured to observe into the network of community associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried.

7. An associative memory system according to claim 1 wherein the processing system comprises:

a plurality of itineraries; and

a controller that is configured to control the processing system to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks, according to a selected one of the plurality of itineraries.

8. An associative memory system according to claim 7 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the processing system.

9. An associative memory system according to claim 5 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a reader system that is responsive to the input documents and is configured to produce document IDs and document data therefrom;

a parser that is responsive to the document data and is configured to extract entities from the document data; and

a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the entity observer and the document observer.

10. An associative memory system according to claim 9 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a controller that is configured to control the reader system, the parser and the context-generator according to a document itinerary; and

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the reader system, the parser and the context generator.

11. An associative memory system according to claim 6 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a task input system that is responsive to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task, and is configured to produce user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data therefrom;

a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the feedback observer.

12. An associative memory system according to claim 11 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a feedback itinerary; and

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

13. An associative memory system according to claim 6 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a task input system that is responsive to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task, and is configured to produce user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data therefrom;

a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the community observer.

14. An associative memory system according to claim 13 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a feedback itinerary; and

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

15. An associative memory system according to claim 4 wherein the query system comprises:

an entity query system that is configured to query the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of entities and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries;

a document query system that is configured to query the network of document associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of documents and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries; and

a community query system that is configured to query the network of community associative memory networks to imagine associations of other user-tasks in response to user queries.

16. An associative memory system according to claim 15 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a task input system that is responsive to user queries and is configured to produce user-task IDs and query data therefrom;

a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the query data; and

a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the entity query system, the document query system and the community query system.

17. An associative memory system according to claim 16 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a query itinerary; and

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

18. An associative memory system according to claim 4 wherein the query system is further configured to identify entities, associations, documents, users and/or tasks that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

19. An associative memory system according to claim 4 wherein the query system is further configured to identify entities, associations and/or documents that were evaluated to be interesting by another user in response to a query by a given user.

20. An associative memory system according to claim 2 wherein the network of networks of associative memory networks further comprises:

a network of directory memory associative memory networks, a respective directory memory associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed non-entity attributes that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on a plurality of input documents.

21. A knowledge management system comprising:

an associative memory system; and

an observer system that is configured to observe associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users, into the associative memory system.

22. A knowledge management system according to claim 21 further comprising:

a query system that is configured to imagine associations from the associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users that were observed into the associative memory system, in response to a query by a given user.

23. A knowledge management system according to claim 21 wherein the user queries are defined by a plurality of entities that are stored in the knowledge base, the results of user queries are defined by associations among the entities that are stored in the knowledge base and wherein the evaluations of results of user queries are defined by positive and/or negative evaluations of the associations among the entities.

24. A knowledge management system according to claim 22 wherein the query system is further configured to identify associations, user queries, results of user queries and/or users that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

25. A knowledge management system according to claim 22 wherein the querying system is further configured to identify associations that were evaluated as interesting to another user, in response to a query by the given user.

26. An associative memory system comprising:

a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

a first network of first associative memory networks, a respective first associative memory network comprising associations among a respective first observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer; and

a second network of second associative memory networks, a respective second associative memory network comprising associations among a respective second observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer; and

a processing system that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks.

27. An associative memory system according to claim 26 wherein the processing system comprises:

an observer system that is configured to observe into the first network of first associative memory networks, the associations among the respective first observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer, and to observe into the second network of second associative memory networks, the associations among the respective second observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer; and

a query system that is configured to imagine associations of the observed values from the first network of first associative memory networks and the second network of second associative memory networks in response to user queries.

28. An associative memory system according to claim 26 wherein the processing system comprises:

a plurality of itineraries; and

a controller that is configured to control the processing system to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks, according to a selected one of the plurality of itineraries.

29. An associative memory system according to claim 28 wherein the processing system further comprises:

a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the processing system.

30. An associative memory system according to claim 27 wherein the query system is further configured to identify associations that were evaluated to be interesting by another user in response to a query by a given user.

31. An associative memory method comprising:

providing a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

a network of entity associative memory networks, a respective entity associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on a plurality of input documents; and

a network of feedback associative memory networks, a respective feedback associative memory network comprising associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user;

observing associations into the network of networks of associative memory networks; and

imagining associations from the network of networks of associative memory networks.

32. An associative memory method according to claim 31 wherein the network of networks of associative memory networks further comprises:

a network of document associative memory networks, a respective document associative memory network comprising associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document; and

a network of community associative memory networks, a respective community associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried.

33. An associative memory method according to claim 31:

wherein observing comprises;

observing into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents; and

observing into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective

observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

wherein querying comprises imagining associations of entities, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks in response to user queries.

34. An associative memory method according to claim 32:

wherein observing comprises;

observing into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents;

observing into the network of document associative memory networks, the associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document;

observing into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

observing into the network of community associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried; and

wherein imagining comprises imagining associations of entities, documents, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks, the network of document associative memory networks, the network of feedback associative memory networks and the network of community associative memory networks, in response to user queries.

35. An associative memory method according to claim 34 wherein observing into the network of entity associative memory networks and observing into the network of document associative memory networks are preceded by:

producing document IDs and document data from the input documents;

extracting entities from the document data; and

identifying observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted.

36. An associative memory method according to claim 34 wherein observing into the network of feedback associative memory networks is preceded by:

producing user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data in response to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task;

extracting entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

identifying observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted.

37. An associative memory method according to claim 34 wherein observing into the network of community associative memory networks is preceded by:

producing user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data in response to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task;

extracting entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

identifying observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted.

38. An associative memory method according to claim 34 wherein imagining associations of entities, documents, users and/or tasks comprises:

querying the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of entities and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries;

querying the network of document associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of documents and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries; and

querying the network of community associative memory networks to imagine associations of other user-tasks in response to user queries.

39. An associative memory method according to claim 38 wherein imagining associations of entities, documents, users and/or tasks is preceded by:

producing user-task IDs and query data responsive to user queries;

extracting entities from the query data; and

identifying observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted.

40. An associative memory method according to claim 33 wherein querying further comprises identifying entities, associations, documents, users and/or tasks that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

41. An associative memory method according to claim 33 wherein querying further comprises identifying entities, associations and/or documents that were evaluated to be interesting by another user in response to a query by a given user.

42. A knowledge management method comprising:

observing associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users, into an associative memory system.

43. A knowledge management method according to claim 42 further comprising:

imagining associations from the associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users that were observed into the associative memory system, in response to a query by a given user.

44. A knowledge management method according to claim 42 wherein the user queries are defined by a plurality of entities that are stored in the knowledge base, the results of user queries are defined by of associations among the entities that are stored in the knowledge base and wherein the evaluations of results of user queries are defined by positive and/or negative evaluations of the associations among the entities.

45. A knowledge management method according to claim 43 further comprising:

identifying associations user queries, results of user queries and/or users that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

46. A knowledge management method according to claim 43 further comprising:

identifying associations that were evaluated as interesting to another user, in response to a query by the given user.

47. An associative memory method comprising:

providing a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

a first network of first associative memory networks, a respective first associative memory network comprising associations among a respective first observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer; and

a second network of second associative memory networks, a respective second associative memory network comprising associations among a respective second observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer;

observing associations into the network of networks of associative memory networks; and

imagining associations from the network of networks of associative memory networks.

48. An associative memory method according to claim 47:

wherein observing comprises observing into the first network of first associative memory networks, the associations among the respective first observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer, and observing into the second network of second associative memory networks, the associations among the respective second observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer; and

wherein querying comprises imagining associations of the observed values from the first network of first associative memory networks and the second network of second associative memory networks in response to user queries.

49. An associative memory method according to claim 47 wherein imagining comprises identifying associations that were evaluated to be interesting by another user, in response to a query by a given user.

50. An associative memory computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of entity associative memory networks, a respective entity associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on a plurality of input documents; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of feedback associative memory networks, a respective feedback associative memory network comprising associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks.

51. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 50 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of networks of associative memory networks further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of document associative memory networks, a respective document associative memory network comprising associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of community associative memory networks, a respective community associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried.

52. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 50 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an observer system that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents, and to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system that is configured to imagine associations of entities, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks in response to user queries.

53. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 52 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an observer system that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents, to observe into the network of document associative memory networks, the associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document, to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user, and to observe into the network of community associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system that is configured to imagine associations of entities, documents, users and/or tasks from the network of entity associative memory networks, the network of document associative memory networks, the network of feedback associative memory networks and the network of community associative memory networks, in response to user queries.

54. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 53 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a observer system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an entity observer that is configured to observe into the network of entity associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on the plurality of input documents; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a document observer that is configured to observe into the network of document associative memory networks, the associations among observed entities in a respective observer input document.

55. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 53 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an observer system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a feedback observer that is configured to observe into the network of feedback associative memory networks, the associations among a plurality of observed entities for a respective observer positive and/or negative evaluation for a respective task of a respective user; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a community observer that is configured to observe into the network of community associative memory networks, the associations among a respective observer entity, a plurality of observed entities that are observed by the respective observer entity and a plurality of observed tasks of a plurality of users in which the observer entity was queried.

56. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 50 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a plurality of itineraries; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the processing system to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks, according to a selected one of the plurality of itineraries.

57. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 56 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the processing system.

58. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 54 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a reader system that is responsive to the input documents and is configured to produce document IDs and document data therefrom;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a parser that is responsive to the document data and is configured to extract entities from the document data; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the entity observer and the document observer.

59. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 58 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the reader system, the parser and the context generator according to a document itinerary; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the reader system, the parser and the context generator.

60. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 55 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a task input system that is responsive to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task, and is configured to produce user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data therefrom;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the feedback observer.

61. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 60 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a feedback itinerary; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

62. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 55 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a task input system that is responsive to selected data that has received a positive and/or negative evaluation from a respective user during a respective task, and is configured to produce user-task IDs, related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data therefrom;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the related positive and/or negative evaluations and related selected data; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the community observer.

63. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 62 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a feedback itinerary; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

64. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 53 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an entity query system that is configured to query the network of entity associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of entities and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a document query system that is configured to query the network of document associative memory networks and the network of feedback associative memory networks to imagine associations of documents and user-task positive and/or negative evaluations in response to user queries; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a community query system that is configured to query the network of community associative memory networks to imagine associations of other user-tasks in response to user queries.

65. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 64 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a task input system that is responsive to user queries and is configured to produce user-task IDs and query data therefrom;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a parser that is responsive to the task input system and is configured to extract entities from the query data; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a context generator that is responsive to the parser and is configured to identify observer entities and observed entities from the entities that are extracted and to provide the observer entities and observed entities to the entity query system, the document query system and the community query system.

66. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 65 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the task input system, the parser and the context generator according to a query itinerary; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the task input system, the parser and the context generator.

67. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 53 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system comprises computer-readable program code that is configured to identify entities, associations, documents, users and/or tasks that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

68. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 53 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system comprises computer-readable program code that is configured to identify entities, associations and/or documents that were evaluated to be interesting by another user in response to a query by a given user.

69. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 51 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of networks of associative memory networks further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of directory memory associative memory networks, a respective directory memory associative memory network comprising associations among a respective observer entity and a plurality of observed non-entity attributes that are observed by the respective observer entity, based on a plurality of input documents.

70. A knowledge management computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an associative memory system; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to observe associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users, into the associative memory system.

71. A knowledge management computer program product according to claim 70 further comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to imagine associations from the associations among user queries, results of user queries and user evaluations of results of user queries for a plurality of users that were observed into the associative memory system, in response to a query by a given user.

72. A knowledge management computer program product according to claim 70 wherein the user queries are defined by a plurality of entities that are stored in the knowledge base, the results of user queries are defined by associations among the entities that are stored in the knowledge base and wherein the evaluations of results of user queries are defined by positive and/or negative evaluations of the associations among the entities.

73. A knowledge management computer program product according to claim 71 further comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to identify associations, user queries, results of user queries and/or users that are not known to a given user, in response to a query by the given user.

74. A knowledge management computer program product according to claim 71 further comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to identify associations that were evaluated as interesting to another user in response to a query by the given user.

75. An associative memory computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of networks of associative memory networks, comprising;

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a first network of first associative memory networks, a respective first associative memory network comprising associations among a respective first observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a second network of second associative memory networks, a respective second associative memory network comprising associations among a respective second observer and a plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks.

76. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 75 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide an observer system that is configured to observe into the first network of first associative memory networks, the associations among the respective first observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective first observer, and to observe into the second network of second associative memory networks, the associations among the respective second observer and the plurality of observed values that are observed by the respective second observer; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a query system that is configured to imagine associations of the observed values from the first network of first associative memory networks and the second network of second associative memory networks in response to user queries.

77. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 75 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a plurality of itineraries; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a controller that is configured to control the processing system to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of networks of associative memory networks, according to a selected one of the plurality of itineraries.

78. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 77 wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a processing system further comprises:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a whiteboard that is configured to store intermediate results that are produced by the processing system.

79. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 76 further comprising computer-readable program code that is configured to identify associations that were evaluated to be interesting by another user in response to a query by a given user.

80. An associative memory system, comprising:

a network of at least two networks of associative memory networks, the at least two networks of associative memory networks comprising;

a first network of first associative memory networks, wherein the first associative memory networks comprise associative memory networks of first associations; and

a second network of second associative memory networks, wherein the second associative memory networks comprise associative memory networks of second associations different from the first associations.

81. An associative memory system according to claim 80 further comprising:

a processing system that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of at least two networks of associative memory networks.

82. An associative memory system according to claim 80 wherein the first associations comprise a first context and wherein the second associations comprise a second context.

83. A method of providing an associative memory system, comprising:

dividing a plurality of associative memory networks into a plurality of networks of the associative memory networks based on common data associations in respective ones of the plurality of associative memory networks; and

providing a network of the networks of associative memory networks.

84. An associative memory method according to claim 83 further comprising:

observing associations into, and imagining associations from, the network of the networks of associative memory networks.

85. An associative memory system according to claim 83 wherein the common data associations comprise common contexts.

86. An associative memory computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to provide a network of at least two networks of associative memory networks, the at least two networks of associative memory networks comprising;

a first network of first associative memory networks, wherein the first associative memory networks comprise associative memory networks of first associations; and

a second network of second associative memory networks, wherein the second associative memory networks comprise associative memory networks of second associations different from the first associations.

87. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 86 further comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to observe associations into, and imagine associations from, the network of at least two networks of associative memory networks.

88. An associative memory computer program product according to claim 86 wherein the first associations comprise a first context and wherein the second associations comprise a second context.