Information access using ontologies
First Claim
1. A method for accessing data in a computer system including a set of diverse data sources comprising data, the method comprising:
- defining an ontology for application to said set of diverse data sources comprising data;
defining data access rights with respect to the ontology;
collecting information in an ongoing manner regarding characteristics of the data sources;
storing said information in a storage device on said computer system;
employing at least one of wrappers and agents to automatically discover new or altered data sources associated with versions of said ontology;
automatically generating new ontology mappings of said data sources and said data access rights to said versions of said ontology in order to accommodate said new or altered data sources, without disrupting responses to queries on the basis of earlier versions of said ontology;
automatically generating new versions of said wrappers and agents to correspond with new versions of said ontology; and
automatically generating new versions of query plans to correspond with new versions of said ontology,said automatically generating new ontology mappings, said automatically generating new versions of said wrappers and agents and said automatically generating new versions of query plans taking place without disruption of query response functionality of said computer system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for data access includes defining an ontology for application to a set of diverse data sources (58) comprising data having predefined semantics, and associating with the ontology one or more logical rules applicable to the semantics of the data in the data sources. Upon receiving a query from a user regarding the data, a query plan is determined for responding to the query by selecting one or more of the data sources responsively to the ontology and by identifying an operation to be applied to the data responsively to the applicable logical rules. A response to the query is then generated in accordance with the query plan.
88 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for accessing data in a computer system including a set of diverse data sources comprising data, the method comprising:
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defining an ontology for application to said set of diverse data sources comprising data; defining data access rights with respect to the ontology; collecting information in an ongoing manner regarding characteristics of the data sources; storing said information in a storage device on said computer system; employing at least one of wrappers and agents to automatically discover new or altered data sources associated with versions of said ontology; automatically generating new ontology mappings of said data sources and said data access rights to said versions of said ontology in order to accommodate said new or altered data sources, without disrupting responses to queries on the basis of earlier versions of said ontology; automatically generating new versions of said wrappers and agents to correspond with new versions of said ontology; and automatically generating new versions of query plans to correspond with new versions of said ontology, said automatically generating new ontology mappings, said automatically generating new versions of said wrappers and agents and said automatically generating new versions of query plans taking place without disruption of query response functionality of said computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer software product, comprising a computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to:
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receive a definition of an ontology for application to a set of diverse data sources comprising data and a definition of data access rights with respect to the ontology; collect information in an ongoing manner regarding characteristics of the data sources; store said information in a computer-readable manner; employ at least one of wrappers and agents to automatically discover new or altered data sources associated with versions of said ontology; automatically generate new ontology mappings of said data sources and said data access rights to said versions of said ontology in order to accommodate said new or altered data sources, without disrupting responses to queries on the basis of earlier versions of said ontology; automatically generate new versions of said wrappers and agents to correspond with new versions of said ontology; and automatically generate new versions of query plans to correspond with new versions of said ontology, wherein said automatically generate new ontology mappings, said automatically generate new versions of said wrappers and agents and said automatically generate new versions of query plans take place without disruption of query response functionality of said product. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification