Data processing system
First Claim
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1. A data processing system, comprising:
- a processor for generating a data model in accordance with a data structure, the data model being adaptable to represent a change in the data structure; and
computer memory for storing the data in accordance with the generated data model, said stored data includingtransaction data representative of one or more measures associated with one or more units, said measure being determined relative to one or more references;
reference data representative of said one or more references, each element of reference data comprising information which defines an association with one or more other elements of reference data said elements of reference data further including information representative of the time of change in the data structure, the first period of validity, represented by a start date of validity and an end date of validity of a defined associationmetadata descriptive of the transaction data and the reference data.
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Abstract
A data processing system is provided for storing and managing multiple data entries. The data processing system employs a data structure which allows the storage and management of a vast number of interrelated data entries the interrelations of which change over time. The data structure reflects such changing interrelations over time and allows the querying and extracting of data entries on the basis of their interrelations as they were or are defined at any desired point in time.
34 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A data processing system, comprising:
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a processor for generating a data model in accordance with a data structure, the data model being adaptable to represent a change in the data structure; and computer memory for storing the data in accordance with the generated data model, said stored data including transaction data representative of one or more measures associated with one or more units, said measure being determined relative to one or more references; reference data representative of said one or more references, each element of reference data comprising information which defines an association with one or more other elements of reference data said elements of reference data further including information representative of the time of change in the data structure, the first period of validity, represented by a start date of validity and an end date of validity of a defined association metadata descriptive of the transaction data and the reference data.
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2. A data processing system, comprising:
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a processor for generating a data model in accordance with a data structure, the data model being adaptable to represent a change in the data structure; and computer memory for storing the data in accordance with the generated data model, said stored data includes information representative of the time of change in the data structure and said stored data comprises; transaction data representative of one or more measures associated with one or more units, said measures being determined relative to one or more references; reference data representative of said one or more references; and metadata descriptive of the transaction data and the reference data wherein the associations between the one or more measures and the one or more units are associated with a second period of validity where said second period of validity comprises a start date of validity and an end date of validity.
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3. A method for managing data in a data structure, comprising the steps of:
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storing in computer memory a data model in said data structure, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities, each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a temporal period of validity; storing in computer memory a plurality of datasets in said data structure, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure; and using a processor to relate each of said datasets to a respective subset of relationships in said data model, at least first and second ones of said datasets being related to respective first and second different ones of said subsets and to associate with each of said datasets a respective temporal period of coverage; wherein the subset of relationships related to each given one of said datasets is defined to exclude each relationship in said data model whose temporal period of validity does not overlap with the temporal period of coverage of the given dataset.
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4. A method for managing data in a data structure, comprising the steps of:
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storing in computer memory a data model in said data structure, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities, each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a temporal period of validity; storing in computer memory a plurality of datasets in said data structure, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure; and using a processor to relate each of said datasets to a respective subset of relationships in said data model, at least first and second ones of said datasets being related to respective first and second different ones of said subsets determining, in response to a query requiring data values for a specified measure distributed across entities in a specified class of entities, that not all datasets in said data structure which are required to satisfy said query are broken down according to entities in said specified class of entities; and satisfying said query from datasets in said data structure at a level of granularity of hierarchically higher class of entities which includes said specified class of entities.
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5. A method for managing data in a data structure, comprising the steps of:
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storing in computer memory a data model in said data structure, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities, each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a temporal period of validity; storing in computer memory a plurality of datasets in said data structure, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure; and using a processor to relate each of said datasets to a respective subset of relationships in said data model, at least first and second ones of said datasets being related to respective first and second different ones of said subsets; identifying, in response to a query, a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query; selecting, in accordance with a predetermined optimization function, a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in said subset being sufficient to satisfy said query; and satisfying said query from datasets in said subset.
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6. A method for managing data in a data structure stored in computer memory, comprising the steps of storing a data model in said data structure in the computer memory, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a respective temporal period of validity;
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storing a plurality of datasets in said data structure in the computer memory, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure, and further having associated therewith a respective temporal period of coverage wherein the subset of the relationships in said data model whose temporal periods of validity include a first temporal position differs from the subset of the relationships in said data model whose temporal periods of validity include a second temporal position different from said first temporal position. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in a computer memory, said data structure including a data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities, a first subset of said relationships having a hierarchical organisation, said data structure further including a plurality of datasets each including an identification of at least one entity and a data value for at least one measure, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a query requiring data values for a specified measure distributed across entities in a specified class of entities; determining with a processor that not all datasets in said data structure which are required to satisfy said query are broken down according to entities in said specified class of entities; determining with a processor a hierarchically higher class of entities which includes said specified class of entities, said query being satisfiable from datasets in said data structure at the level of granularity of said hierarchically higher class of entities; and satisfying said query from datasets in said data structure at the level of granularity of said hierarchically class of entities. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in a computer memory, said data structure including a plurality of datasets each including an identification of at least one entity in a hierarchically defined class of entities, each of said datasets further identifying a data value for at least one measure, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a query requiring data values for a specified measure distributed across entities in a specified class of entities; determining with a processor that not all datasets in said data structures which are required to satisfy said query are broken down according to entities in said specified class of entities; determining with a processor a hierarchically higher class of entities which includes said specified class of entities, said query being satisfiable from datasets in said data structure at the level of granularity of said hierarchically higher class of entities; and satisfying said query from datasets in said data structures at the level of granularity of said hierarchically higher class of entities. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in computer memory, said data structure including a plurality of datasets, comprising the steps of:
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identifying with a processor, in response to a query that requires data values of at least one measure, a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query; selecting with a processor, in accordance with a predetermined optimisation function, a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in said subset being sufficient to satisfy said query; and satisfying said query from datasets in said subset wherein said query requires data values from a query set of at least one measure, and wherein said step of selecting a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in said subset of being sufficient to satisfy said query, comprises the step of selecting a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in which subset are sufficient to allow all of the required measures in said query set to be sourced. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in computer memory, said data structure including a plurality of datasets, comprising the steps of:
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identifying with a processor, in response to a query that requires data values of at least one measure, a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query, wherein said datasets in said data structure each including an identification of at least one entity in a hierarchically defined class of entities, said step of identifying further comprising the steps of; determining a hierarchically higher class of entities which includes said specified class of entities, said query being satisfiable from datasets in said data structure at the level of granularity of said hierarchically higher class of entities; and identifying a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query at the granularity of said hierarchically higher class of entities; satisfying said query from datasets in said subset, said query requiring data values for a specified measure distributed across entities in a specified class of entities. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in computer memory, said data structure including a plurality of datasets, comprising the steps of:
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identifying with a processor, in response to a query that requires data values of at least one measure, a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query; selecting with a processor from all proper subsets of datasets in said superset in accordance with a predetermined optimization function, a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in said selected subset being necessary and sufficient to satisfy said query, said proper subset of datasets being selected based on the datasets in the selected subset being sufficient to allow all of the required measures in said query set to be sourced, said selected subset having the lowest aggregate cost to satisfy said query; satisfying said query from datasets in said subset.
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Specification