Weighted Determination in Configuration Management Systems
First Claim
1. A computer-based method for providing configurable item configuration data, comprising the steps of:
- receiving from a plurality of sources including at least one configuration management database a plurality of configuration data sets pertaining to a configurable item, said configurable item having a plurality of configurable elements;
assigning weight values to configurable elements reported in said data sets using one or more weighting rules and preferences;
creating a new configuration data set for said configurable item by selecting configurable elements having greater assigned weight values;
assigning a confidence factor to configurable elements in said new configuration data set according to weight comparisons between said plurality of data sets; and
updating a configuration management database entry for said configurable item according to said new data set and said confidence factors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and medium for providing configurable item configuration data by receiving a plurality of configuration data sets from a plurality of sources, all which pertain to the same configurable item (CI), then using weighting rules and preferences to assign weight values for each option, feature, and component in each report according to discrepancies and commonalities between the data sets, creating a new data set for the configurable item by selecting options, features, and components having the greatest weight values among all of the data sets, assigning confidence factors to each option, feature, and component by weight comparisons between the plurality of data sets; updating a configuration management database entry for the configurable item accordingly. The confidence factors are useful for inhibiting regulated processes, such as software release processes and change control processes, and for generating human-readable configuration reports indicating confidence levels of the reports and their contents.
161 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A computer-based method for providing configurable item configuration data, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a plurality of sources including at least one configuration management database a plurality of configuration data sets pertaining to a configurable item, said configurable item having a plurality of configurable elements;
assigning weight values to configurable elements reported in said data sets using one or more weighting rules and preferences;
creating a new configuration data set for said configurable item by selecting configurable elements having greater assigned weight values;
assigning a confidence factor to configurable elements in said new configuration data set according to weight comparisons between said plurality of data sets; and
updating a configuration management database entry for said configurable item according to said new data set and said confidence factors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer-readable medium comprising:
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a computer-readable medium suitable for storing one or more computer-executable codes; and
one or more computer-executable codes stored by said computer-readable medium for causing a computer to perform steps comprising;
(a) receiving from a plurality of sources including at least one configuration management database a plurality of configuration data sets pertaining to a configurable item, said configurable item having a plurality of configurable elements;
(b) assigning weight values to configurable elements reported in said data sets using one or more weighting rules and preferences;
(c) creating a new configuration data set for said configurable item by selecting configurable elements having greater assigned weight values;
(d) assigning a confidence factor to configurable elements in said new configuration data set according to weight comparisons between said plurality of data sets; and
(e) updating a configuration management database entry for said configurable item according to said new data set and said confidence factors. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system comprising:
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a plurality of configuration data sets pertaining to a same configurable item, said data sets being received from a plurality of sources including at least one configuration management database, said configurable item having a plurality of configurable elements;
a weight value generator which employs one or more rules and preferences to assign weight values to configurable elements in said configuration data sets;
a new data set creator configured to create a new data set for said configurable item by selecting configurable elements having greater weight values, and to assign confidence factors to selected configurable elements by performing weight comparisons between said plurality of data sets; and
an updater configured to update a configuration management database entry for said configurable item according to said new data set and said confidence factors. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification