System and methods for intelligent database management using abductive reasoning

• US 5,712,960 A
• Filed: 04/15/1996
• Issued: 01/27/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CV Soft SRL
• Original Assignee: CV Soft SRL
• Inventors: Chiopris, Carlo, Losi, Franco
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Application Number:
  US08/641,013
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• Field of Search: 395/10-11, 395/13, 395/54, 395/50-51, 395/60-62, 395/77, 395/64
• US Class Current: 706/61
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24565 Triggers; Constraints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application

Abstract

A system of the present invention includes a computer having a processor and a memory, which includes general-purpose components providing support for application tasks processing. In a preferred embodiment, the general-purpose components include a Database Management System (50), a Deductive Database (40), and an Abductive Metainterpreter (30); the latter including an engine for abducing new information from known facts stored in the database. In this fashion, a user may model an environment or domain of interest (e.g., a communication network). Once defined, the environment is automatically maintained by the system of the present invention. In response to a user request for modifying the environment, for example, the system automatically generates transactions which satisfy the request.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method for automatically maintaining a domain of objects, the method comprising:

(a) defining the domain by storing known information of the objects in a knowledgebase;

(b) specifying constraints which the domain must obey;

(c) receiving a request from a user for altering the domain;

(d) from the known information, deducing new information from the known information in response to the request from the user for altering the domain;

(e) if the new information is not sufficient for satisfying the request from the user for altering the domain, abducing additional new information which, when combined with the new information would satisfy the request from the user for altering the domain;

(f) verifying that the domain does not violate the constraints if the new information and the additional new information is stored in the knowledgebase; and

(g) storing the new information and the additional new information in the knowledgebase, whereupon a new domain satisfying the request from the user for altering the domain is defined.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing the new information and the additional new information includes inserting and deleting objects in the knowledgebase.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the known information includes attributes of the objects and relationships between the objects.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of storing the new information and the additional new information includes inserting and deleting relationships between objects in the knowledgebase.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the relationships between the objects includes a "contain" relationship, in which one object serves as a container for at least one other object.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the relationships between the objects includes a "know" relationship, wherein one object knows how to communicate with at least one other object.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before step (g):

(h) repeating steps (d)-(f) a plurality of times, whereupon a plurality of new information and a plurality of additional new information is generated; and

(i) displaying the plurality of new information and the plurality of additional new information to the user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step:

(i) selecting one of the plurality of new information and one of the plurality of additional new information, whereupon only the one new information and the one additional new information is stored in the knowledgebase in step (g).

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before step (g):

explaining to the user how the new information and the additional new information was obtained.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after step (f):

if storing the new information and the additional new information in the knowledgebase would cause the domain to violate the constraints, rejecting the new information and the additional new information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step:

defining a new domain by repeating step (a) by storing known information of a new group of objects in the knowledgebase.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step:

repeating steps (b)-(g) with a new request from the user for altering the domain, whereupon the new domain of objects satisfies the new request from the user for altering the domain.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects include data structures stored in a memory device for modeling observable environments.

14. In a system having a database means, the improvement comprising:

(a) means for storing known facts in the database means for defining a state of the system;

(b) means for storing constraints which maintain the system in a desired configuration;

(b) requesting means for allowing the user to entering a request for a new state of the system; and

(c) means for abducing new facts from the known facts until the new state of the system is satisfied without violating the constraints.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the known facts includes information known about objects in the system, attributes of the objects in the system, and relationships between objects in the system.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the constraints include generic logical formulas which specify conditions under which the system is considered consistent.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the requesting means includes a User Interface for entering the request from the user for the new state of the system.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the User Interface is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for displaying the known facts as objects on a display means.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the GUI displays objects in the system as icons and relationships between objects in the system as arcs.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the request from the user for the new state in the system is entered by graphically manipulating selected ones of the icons and arcs.

21. In a communication network having a plurality of nodes, a system for maintaining a proper configuration of the communication network, the system comprising:

(a) means for storing information known about the nodes as base facts;

(b) means for storing constraints which define the proper configuration of the communication network;

(c) means for requesting a change in selected nodes;

(d) means for deducing deduced facts from the base facts;

(e) means for abducing abduced facts which, when applied to the deduced facts, satisfy the change in selected nodes; and

(f) means for verifying that the constraints are not violated if the deduced facts and the abduced facts are accepted for satisfying a the change in selected nodes.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the base facts include information about attributes and relationships of the nodes.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

means for reconfiguring the communication network by storing new constraints.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the change in selected nodes includes adding and deleting the selected nodes from the communication network.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the change in selected nodes includes specifying that a node may communicate with selected other nodes.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the requesting means includes a User Interface (UI) for displaying screen representations of the nodes and relationships between the nodes, wherein the change in selected nodes is requested by manipulating the screen representations.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the verifying means rejects the abduced facts as false if the constraints would be violated.

28. The system of claim 21, wherein the constraints specify a communication protocol permissible between two of the nodes.

29. The system of claim 21, wherein the constraints specify a permissible communication network topology.