Support model integration system and method

• US 8,180,750 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2007
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Wilmering, Timothy J., Herrmann, Joseph R., Ofsthun, Stanley C., Bunch, Kenneth D., Gartner, Donald L., Wilson, John G., Au, Man-Kit
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Quader, Fazlul
• Application Number:
  US11/686,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20080228521A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,889 Days
• Field of Search: 707/708, 707/705
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A real time health management analytical system and method that enables a plurality of plug-in tools and extension tools to be interfaced with a central database, and for enabling information to be published to the database from each of the client tools, as well as data to be read from the database by each of the client tools. The system makes use of an engineering model views module that provides a syntactic and semantic interface between the client tools and the central database so that health management data communicated to the client tools is presented in accordance with a specific view required by each specific client tool. An integrated support information model (ISIM) module is interposed between the data base and the engineering model views module, and forms a specification (e.g., an ontology) for all health domain information available for use by the client tools.

Claims

1. A support model integration system for enabling the communication of health management information to and from a client, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

a database for holding health management data useable by a plurality of differing clients;

a plurality of client tools for connecting a plurality of different clients to the system, each one of the client tools being able to at least one of publish information to the database or request information from the database;

an engineering model views module controlled and executed by the processor in communication with the client tools for providing an interface between each said client tool and said database, the engineering model views module operating to present read and write views to each one of the client tools in accordance with specific view requirements of each said client tool, and further performing mapping and translating on requests for data from the database by each said client tool so that data communicated to each said client tool is presented in accordance with a specific view required by each said client tool;

and wherein the engineering model views module further publishes data received from each said client tool to the database by operating on an engineering view representation being used with each specific said client tool; and

an integrated support information model interposed between said data base and said engineering model views module, that forms a logical and semantic specification for implementing a plurality of machine processable axioms and constraints to enable syntactic and semantic constraints relating to be used by each said client tool when accessing said information from said database, and also to be used by said system when processing new information from said client device that needs to be stored in said data base.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said specification is used to de-couple an analytical view of health management information being presented by each said client tool from data underlying said analytical view.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said client tools comprises a plug-in tool that customizes a behavior of the system to meet a specific health management analytical requirement.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said client tools comprises an extension tool that customizes a behavior of the system to meet a specific health management analytical requirement.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising an interface transform for interfacing said extension tool to said engineering model views module.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said client tools comprises a plurality of extension tools, and at least one interface transform for interfacing said extension tools to said engineering model views module.

7. A support model integration system for enabling the communication of health management information to and from a database, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

a plurality of client tools including at least one plug-in tool for interfacing a client to the system, the client tools each being able to publish information to the database or request information from the database;

an engineering model views module controlled and executed by the processor in communication with the client tools for providing an interface between each said client tool and an integrated support semantic information model, the engineering model views module operating to present read and write views to each said client tool in accordance with specific view requirements of each said client tool, and further performing mapping and translating on requests for data from the database by one or more of the client tools so that health management data communicated to the one or more client tools is presented to the client tool in accordance with a specific view requirement being used by each said client tool;

the engineering model views module further adapted to publish data received from each said client tool to the database by operating on an engineering view representation being used with each specific said client tool; and

the integrated support information model being interposed between said data base and said engineering model views module, and being adapted to implement a plurality of machine processable axioms and constraints to enable syntactic and semantic constraints relating to health domain information available for use by said client tool via said system to be used when presenting said health domain information to said client device, and also to be used by said system in processing new information received from said client tool for storage in said database in said database.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an extension tool interfaced to said engineering model views module.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising an interface transform for interfacing said extension tool to said engineering model views module.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein said client tools comprise a plurality of independent plug-in modules interfaced to said engineering model views module.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein said client tools comprises a plurality of extension modules interfaced to said engineering model views module.

12. A method for forming a support model integration system for enabling the sharing of health management data between a plurality of diverse client tools, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of differing client tools;

forming a database for holding health management data useable by each of said client tools;

forming an interface between each said client tool and said database, so that data communicated to each said client tool from said data base is presented in accordance with a specific framework being used by each said client tool;

the forming an interface between each said client tool and said database including using an engineering model views module that operates to present one of a plurality of different available read and write views to the client tools in accordance with specific view requirements of each said client tool, and which further operates to perform mapping and translating on requests for data from the database by each said client tool so that health management data communicated to each said client tool is presented to each said client tool in accordance with a specific view requirement being used by each said client tool;

further causing the engineering model views module to publish data received from each said client tool to the database by operating on an engineering view representation being used with each specific said client tool;

forming an integrated support information model to communicate with said interface and said data base, that forms a specification for implementing a plurality of machine processable axioms and constraints to enable syntactic and semantic constraints relating to health domain information available for use by each said client tool, and for using said constrains on information received from each said client device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the operation of forming an integrated support information model comprises forming a model that obtains engineering attributes from underlying health management data being presented by each said client module, to enable said underlying health management data to be stored in said database.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein forming a database with information usable by each of said client tools comprises using a database with information usable by a plurality of extension tools.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein forming a database with information usable by each of said client tools comprises using a database with information usable by a plurality of plug-in tools.