System and methods for managing rules

• US 20090144217A1
• Filed: 11/30/2007
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stratus Technologies Ireland Ltd. (Stratus Technologies Bermuda Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Stratus Technologies Bermuda Ltd. (Stratus Technologies Bermuda Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Bergsten, Bjorn, McDermott, Christopher K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,958,076 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data

Abstract

A method of automatically determining firing priority in a plurality of rules. The method includes the steps of determining a level of dependency of each rule; and generating a hierarchy of rules in response to the level of dependency of each rule, wherein the firing priority corresponds to the hierarchy of rules. In another embodiment, the method further includes the step of determining if the hierarchy results in an inconsistency. In another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of determining if the hierarchy results in a loop. In yet another embodiment, the step of determining a level of dependency of each rule is performed in response to an initial event.

Claims

1. A method of automatically determining firing priority in a plurality of rules, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a level of dependency of each rule; and

generating a hierarchy of rules in response to the level of dependency of each rule,

wherein the firing priority corresponds to the hierarchy of rules.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of determining if the hierarchy results in an inconsistency.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of determining if the hierarchy results in a loop.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining is performed in response to an initial event.

5. A system for automatically determining firing priority in a plurality of rules, the system comprising:

means for determining a level of dependency of each rule; and

means for generating a hierarchy of rules in response to the level of dependency of each rule, the means for generating in communication with the means for determining,

wherein the firing priority corresponds to the hierarchy of rules.

6. The system of claim 5 further comprising means for determining if the hierarchy results in an inconsistency.

7. The system of claim 5 further comprising means for determining if the hierarchy results in a loop.

8. The system of claim 5 further comprising means for storing the hierarchy of rules.

9. A system for automatically determining firing priority in a plurality of rules, the system comprising:

a rule dependency determining module;

a rule hierarchy builder in communication with the rule dependency determining module,

wherein the rule dependency determining module determines a level of dependency of each rule,

wherein the rule hierarchy builder generates a hierarchy of rules in response to the level of dependency of each rule, and

wherein the firing priority corresponds to the hierarchy of rules.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising an inconsistency detection module in communication with the rule hierarchy builder wherein the inconsistency detection module determines if the hierarchy results in an inconsistency.

11. The system of claim 9 further comprising a loop detection module in communication with the rule hierarchy builder wherein the loop detection module determines if the hierarchy results in a loop.

12. The system of claim 9 further comprising a memory unit in communication with the rule hierarchy builder wherein the memory unit stores the hierarchy of rules.

13. A method of automatically executing a set of rules, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules; and

recursively removing the rule with the lowest level of dependency until the set is empty.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein a plurality of rules with the same level of dependency are removed simultaneously.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of determining if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of checking consistencies between the rules in the set of rules.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of determining is performed in response to an initial event.

18. A system for automatically executing a set of rules, the system comprising:

means for determining a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules; and

means for recursively removing the rule with the lowest level of dependency until the set is empty,

wherein the means for determining a level of dependency of each rule is in communication with the means for recursively removing the rule with the lowest level of dependency.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising means for determining if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

20. The system of claim 18 further comprising means for checking consistencies between the rules in the set of rules.

21. The system of claim 18 further comprising means for storing the level of dependency of each rule.

22. A system for automatically executing a set of rules, the system comprising:

a rule dependency determining module; and

a rule firing module in communication with the rule dependency determining module,

wherein the rule dependency determining module determines a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules, and

wherein the rule firing module recursively removes the rule with the lowest level of dependency until the set is empty.

23. The system of claim 22 further comprising a loop checking module in communication with the rule dependency determining module wherein the loop checking module determines if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

24. The system of claim 22 further comprising a consistency checking module in communication with the rule dependency determining module wherein the consistency checking module for checking consistencies between the rules in the set of rules.

25. The system of claim 22 further comprising a memory unit in communication with the rule dependency determining module wherein the memory unit stores the level of dependency of each rule.

26. A method of automatically executing a set of rules, the method comprising the steps of:

a) determining a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules;

b) selecting a rule with the lowest dependency from the set of rules;

c) firing the rule;

d) excluding the rule from the set of rules; and

e) repeating steps (b)-(d) until the set of rules is empty.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of determining if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

28. The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of checking consistencies between a plurality of rules in the set of rules.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein the step of determining is performed in response to an initial event.

30. A system for automatically executing a set of rules, the system comprising:

means for determining a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules;

means for selecting a rule with the lowest dependency from the set of rules, the means for selecting in communication with the means for determining;

means for firing the rule, the means for firing in communication with the means for selecting; and

means for excluding the rule from the set of rules, the means for excluding in communication with the means for firing.

31. The system of claim 30 further comprising means for determining if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

32. The system of claim 30 further comprising means for checking consistencies between a plurality of rules in the set of rules.

33. The system of claim 30 further comprising means for storing the levels of dependencies of each rule.

34. A system for automatically executing a set of rules, the system comprising:

a rule dependency determining module;

a rule selection module in communication with the rule dependency determining module;

a rule firing module in communication with the rule selection module; and

a rule exclusion module in communication with the rule firing module,

wherein the rule dependency determining module determines a level of dependency of each rule in the set of rules,

wherein the rule selection module selects a rule with the lowest dependency from the set of rules,

wherein the rule firing module fires the selected rule, and

wherein the rule exclusion module excludes the selected rule from the set of rules.

35. The system of claim 34 further comprising a loop detecting module in communication with a rule dependency determining module wherein the loop detecting module determines if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.

36. The system of claim 34 further comprising a consistency checking module in communication with a rule dependency determining module wherein the consistency checking module checks for consistencies between a plurality of rules in the set of rules.

37. The system of claim 34 further comprising a memory unit in communication with a rule dependency determining module for storing the levels of dependencies of each rule.

38. A method of firing a set of rules in an expert system, the method comprising the steps of:

automatically ranking the rules in the set of rules based on each rule'"'"'s dependency on other rules; and

firing the rules based on their rankings.

39. The method of claim 38 further comprising the step of determining if the ranking of the rules results in an inconsistency.

40. The method of claim 38 wherein the step of ranking is performed in response to an initial event.

41. A system for firing a set of rules in an expert system, the system comprising:

means for automatically ranking the rules in the set of rules based on each rule'"'"'s dependency on other rules; and

means for firing the rules based on their rankings, the means for firing in communication with the means for automatically ranking.

42. The system of claim 41 further comprising means for of determining if the ranking of the rules results in an inconsistency.

43. The system of claim 42 further comprising means for storing the rankings of each rule.

44. A system for firing a set of rules in an expert system, the system comprising:

a rule ranking module; and

a rule firing module in communication with the rule ranking module,

wherein the rule ranking module automatically ranks the rules in the set of rules based on each rule'"'"'s dependency on other rules, and

wherein the rule firing module fires the rules based on their rankings.

45. The system of claim 44 further comprising a consistency checking module in communication with the rule ranking module wherein the consistency checking module determines if the ranking of the rules results in an inconsistency.

46. The system of claim 45 further comprising a memory unit for storing the rankings of each rule, the memory unit in communication with the rule ranking module.