Method and apparatus for providing neural intelligence to a mail query agent in an online analytical processing system

• US 5,765,028 A
• Filed: 05/07/1996
• Issued: 06/09/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Gladden, Paul Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jeanty, Romain
• Application Number:
  US08/646,216
• Time in Patent Office: 763 Days
• Field of Search: 395/11, 395/21, 395/10, 395/54, 707/2, 707/3, 707/10
• US Class Current: 706/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A neural intelligent mail query agent. The neural intelligent mail query agent includes an online analytical processing system for accessing and analyzing data in at least one database, a query-by-mail system coupled to the online analytical processing system for receiving and processing queries from users for information derived from databases, and a neural network coupled to the remote query-by-mail system for providing learning capabilities in response to the remote mail queries. An expert system provides inference functions and the neural network is trained using a data stream from the databases as it is generated by the received mail queries. The neural network reports intelligence abstracts to the query-by-mail system as well as reports and organizes new rules constructed from the intelligence abstracts and existing rules.

Claims

1. A neural intelligent mail query agent, comprising;

an online analytical processing system for accessing and analyzing data in at least one database;

a query-by-mail system, coupled to the online analytical processing system, for receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database; and

a neural network, coupled to a remote query-by-mail system, for providing learning capabilities in response to the queries.

2. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 further comprises a communication link connecting the at least one user to the query-by-mail system.

3. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 2 wherein the communication link comprises a local area network connecting the at least one user.

4. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 2 wherein the communication link is a remote communications link, the remote communication link comprising a telephone line.

5. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 2 wherein the communication link is a remote communications link, the remote communication link comprising an internet connection.

6. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the at least one database comprises at least one local database.

7. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the at least one database comprises at least one remote database.

8. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 further comprising a computer and display for supporting the online analytical processing system.

9. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 further comprising an expert system for providing inference functions.

10. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the neural network is trained using a data stream from the at least one database, the data stream being generated by an online analytical processing system client.

11. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the neural network is trained using a data stream from the at least one database, the data stream being generated by the received mail queries.

12. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the query-by-mail system comprises means for processing one-time queries, means for accepting business rule definitions for transfer into the neural net, and means for monitoring events, an event being triggered when a conditional occurs.

13. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the query-by-mail system further comprises means for performing batch queries for off-peak processing, means for performing query scheduling and reporting, and means for maintaining query histories for notification of the neural network.

14. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the query-by-mail system further comprises means for reporting query histories to the neural network based upon past queries and report activity.

15. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the query-by-mail system further comprises means for providing universal registration for all the learning by the neural network and means for executing query and report filters for ensuring queries executed upon the at least one databases are blind courtesy copied to the user.

16. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the neural network further comprises means for deriving business rules from query-by-mail input.

17. The neural intelligent mail query agent of claim 1 wherein the neural network further comprises means for reporting intelligence abstracts to the query-by-mail system and for reporting and organizing new rules constructed from the intelligence abstracts and existing rules.

18. A method for providing remote access to and processing of information contained in large databases without sacrificing response time, comprising the steps of:

receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database;

accessing and analyzing data in the at least one database in response to the received queries; and

providing learning capabilities using a neural network in response to the queries.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of connecting the at least one user to the query-by-mail system using a communication link.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the communication link comprises a local area network connecting the at least one user.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the communication link is a remote communications link, the remote communication link comprising a telephone line.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the communication link is a remote communications link, the remote communication link comprising an internet connection.

23. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of providing inference functions using an expert system.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of providing learning capabilities uses a neural network and comprises the step of training the neural network using a data stream from the at least one databases, the data stream being generated by the received mail queries.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of processing one-time queries, accepting business rule definitions for transfer into a neural net, and monitoring events, an event being triggered when a conditional occurs.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of performing batch queries for off-peak processing, performing query scheduling and reporting, and maintaining query histories for notification of a neural network.

27. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of reporting query histories to a neural network based upon past queries and report activity.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of providing universal registration for all learning by a neural network and executing query and report filters for ensuring queries executed upon the at least one databases are blind courtesy copied to the user.

29. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of deriving business rules from query-by-mail input.

30. The method of claim 18 wherein the receiving and processing queries from at least one user for information derived from the at least one database further comprises the steps of reporting intelligence abstracts to the query-by-mail system and for reporting and organizing new rules constructed from the intelligence abstracts and existing rules.