ONTOLOGY HARMONIZATION AND MEDIATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20160070769A1
• Filed: 11/16/2015
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Contiem Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Orbis Technology
• Inventors: Joshi, Sameer, Whitley, Zachery
• Granted Patent: US 9,501,539 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2452 Query translation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis

Abstract

A method and system for harmonizing and mediating ontologies to search across large data sources is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a query targeting a first ontology. The method further comprises translating the query into one or more translated queries, each translated query targeting a respective ontology different from the first ontology. For each of the queries, issuing the query to a respective database organized according to the respective ontology of the query, and receiving a respective result set for the query, wherein the respective result set corresponds to the respective ontology of the query. The method further comprises translating the respective result set into a translated result set corresponding to the first ontology, aggregating the result sets into an aggregated result set corresponding to the first ontology, and returning the aggregated results set corresponding to the first ontology.

Claims

1. A method of servicing a multi-database query, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer, a query targeting a first ontology

translating, by a computer, the query into one or more translated queries, each translated query targeting a respective ontology different from the first ontology;

for each of the queries;

issuing the query, by a computer, to a respective database organized according to the respective ontology of the query, and

receiving, by a computer, a respective result set for the query, wherein the respective result set corresponds to the respective ontology of the query;

for each of the translated queries;

translating, by a computer, the respective result set into a translated result set corresponding to the first ontology;

aggregating, by a computer, the result sets into an aggregated result set corresponding to the first ontology; and

returning, by a computer, the aggregated results set corresponding to the first ontology.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mapping, by a computer, a target ontology to a plurality of source ontologies.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said database comprises data being stored in its native data format.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

adapting, by a computer, non-standard said native data formats stored in said databases to a standard RDF format.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

maintaining, by a computer, a plurality of ontologies and ontology alignments and mappings associated with said databases through versioning and governance of metadata of said databases.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mediating, by a computer, a plurality of ontologies.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said plurality of ontologies are mediated to a central ontology in a star configuration.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said mediating a plurality of ontologies is performed using open standards comprising OWL, RDF, and EDOAL.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

describing, by a computer, each database by a database schema;

overlaying, by a computer, one or more database ontologies to each of said database schemas;

mapping, by a computer, said database ontologies to a plurality of small domain ontologies; and

combining, by a computer, said plurality of small domain ontologies to create system ontologies.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said ontology comprises a user analytic ontologies specified by a user.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

mediating a plurality of ontologies.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said plurality of ontologies are mediated to a central ontology in a star configuration.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein said mediating a plurality of ontologies is performed using open standards comprising OWL, RDF, and EDOAL.

11. A system comprising:

 

two or more databases;

 

one or more computer processing cores; and

 

one or more memories coupled to the computer processing cores and storing program instructions executable by the processing cores to implement an ontology harmonization and mediation engine configured to issue a query across said two or more databases by;

receiving a query targeting a first ontology

translating the query into one or more translated queries, each translated query targeting a respective ontology different from the first ontology;

for each of the queries;

 

issuing the query to a respective said database organized according to the respective ontology of the query, and

 

receiving a respective result set for the query, wherein the respective result set corresponds to the respective ontology of the query;

for each of the translated queries;

 

translating the respective result set into a translated result set corresponding to the first ontology;

aggregating the result sets into an aggregated result set corresponding to the first ontology; and

returning the aggregated results set corresponding to the first ontology.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising:

mapping a target ontology to a plurality of source ontologies.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein said two or more databases comprise data being stored in its native data format.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

adapting non-standard said native data formats stored in said databases to a standard RDF format.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

maintaining a plurality of ontologies and ontology alignments and mappings associated with said databases through versioning and governance of metadata of said databases.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

describing each said database by a database schema;

overlaying one or more database ontologies to each of said database schemas;

mapping said database ontologies to a plurality of small domain ontologies; and

combining said plurality of small domain ontologies to create system ontologies.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein said ontology comprises a user analytic ontology specified by a user.