Fuzzy logic entity behavior profiler

• US 5,724,488 A
• Filed: 08/30/1996
• Issued: 03/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Prezioso, Robert Theodore
• Primary Examiner(s): Downs, Robert W.
• Application Number:
  US08/697,900
• Time in Patent Office: 550 Days
• Field of Search: 395/61, 395/3, 395/900, 395/50, 364/401
• US Class Current: 706/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The behavior of entities with common characteristics is profiled using fuzzy logic. First, behavior characteristics, or indicators of a target behavior, are determined. Norms and fuzzy sets are established for each behavior characteristic and then fuzzy logic is used to develop a series of scores. A behavior profile is developed from a collection of scores, and is organized either linearly or in a hierarchy, that can be used to compare the degree to which an entity within a peer group is, or is not, associated with a set of behavior characteristics relative to others in the same peer group. The number and organization of the behavior characteristics in the profile is expandable and the importance of characteristics can be weighted.

Claims

1. A system for profiling behavior of an entity comprising:

a. means for identifying a peer group having a plurality of entities, each entity exhibiting one or more behavioral characteristics;

b. means for determining a behavioral characteristic set of two or more of the behavioral characteristics that contribute to an entity profile that indicates a target behavior;

c. means for determining an amount of behavior characteristic each entity exhibits for each behavior characteristic in the behavior characteristic set;

d. means for defining a behavior characteristic fuzzy set for each behavior characteristic in the behavior characteristic set, each behavior characteristic fuzzy set defined using statistics of the respective amount of behavior characteristic exhibited by the entities in the peer group and each behavior characteristic fuzzy set being a function that represents an amount of membership one or more individual entities has in the respective behavior characteristic for an amount of behavior characteristic the individual entity exhibits;

e. means for using the behavior characteristic fuzzy sets to determine the amount of membership the individual entity has in each respective behavior characteristic in the behavior characteristic set;

f. means for scoring the amount of membership of each behavior characteristic for the individual entity to determine a score of each of the behavior characteristics in the behavior characteristic set for the individual entity, the score determined from a scoring fuzzy set having a scoring surface that maps the amount of membership of the behavior characteristic to the score; and

g. means for combining the the scores of each of the behavior characteristics in the behavior characteristic set for the individual entity to develop a composite used as an entity profile, the composite representing the degree of membership that the individual entity has in the target behavior.