Complex situation analysis system that generates a social contact network, uses edge brokers and service brokers, and dynamically adds brokers

• US 8,423,494 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2010
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Original Assignee: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Inventors: Barrett, Christopher L., Marathe, Madhav V., Bisset, Keith R., Beckman, Richard J., Stretz, Paula E., Mortveit, Henning S., Eubank, Stephen G., Marathe, Achla, Vullikanti, Anil Kumar S.
• Primary Examiner(s): VINCENT, DAVID ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US12/760,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20100293123A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 706/12, 706/45, 706/62, 705/319
• US Class Current: 706/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/022 Knowledge engineering; Knowledge acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A system for generating a representation of a situation is disclosed. The system comprises one or more computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors to implement a method of generating a representation of a situation. The method comprises receiving input data regarding a target population. The method further comprises constructing a synthetic data set including a synthetic population based on the input data. The synthetic population includes a plurality of synthetic entities. Each synthetic entity has a one-to-one correspondence with an entity in the target population. Each synthetic entity is assigned one or more attributes based on information included in the input data. The method further comprises receiving activity data for a plurality of entities in the target population.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more tangible computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors to implement a method of generating a representation of a situation, the method comprising;

receiving input data regarding a target population;

constructing a synthetic data set including a synthetic population based on the input data, wherein the synthetic population includes a plurality of synthetic entities, wherein each synthetic entity has a one-to-one correspondence with an entity in the target population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned one or more attributes based on information included in the input data;

receiving activity data for a plurality of entities in the target population;

generating activity schedules for each synthetic entity in the synthetic population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned at least one activity schedule based on the attributes assigned to the synthetic entity and information included in the activity data, wherein an activity schedule describes the activities of the synthetic entity and includes a location associated with each activity;

receiving additional data relevant to the situation being represented, wherein the additional data is received from at least two distinct information sources;

modifying the synthetic data set based on the additional data, wherein modifying the synthetic data set includes integrating at least a portion of the additional data received from each of the at least two distinct information sources into the synthetic data set based on one or more behavioral theories related to the synthetic population; and

generating a social contact network based on the synthetic data set, wherein the social contact network is used to generate the representation of the situation;

wherein the computer-executable instructions are further executable to implement a synthetic data set subsystem including one or more brokers, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to carry out the steps of the method, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to generate a request for a service and the one or more brokers are configured to fulfill the request, and

wherein the one or more brokers include one or more edge brokers and one or more service brokers, wherein each edge broker is configured to respond to a request for a service, wherein each edge broker is further configured to spawn a service broker if the edge broker is unable to fulfill the request using resources to which it has access, wherein the spawned service broker is configured to spawn at least one additional edge broker to access resources needed to fulfill the request.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises grouping the synthetic entities into a plurality of synthetic groups, wherein receiving activity data comprises receiving activity data for a plurality of groups in the target population, wherein the at least one activity schedule is assigned to each synthetic entity by matching each synthetic group with activity data for one of the groups in the target population.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the target population is a population of human beings who reside within a defined geographic area.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more brokers include at least one of a data broker configured to manage data utilized by the synthetic data set subsystem, a data set construction broker configured to manage at least one of construction and modification of one or more input data sets, and an entity broker configured to manage at least one of creation and modification of the synthetic population.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein generating a social contact network comprises generating a hypergraph representation of interactions between the synthetic entities in the synthetic population, wherein generating the representation of the situation comprises analyzing the generated hypergraph representation.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the hypergraph representation includes at least ten million nodes.

7. A program product, comprising:

one or more computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors to implement a method of generating a representation of a situation, the method comprising;

receiving input data regarding a target population;

constructing a synthetic data set including a synthetic population based on the input data, wherein the synthetic population includes a plurality of synthetic entities, wherein each synthetic entity has a one-to-one correspondence with an entity in the target population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned one or more attributes based on information included in the input data;

receiving activity data for a plurality of entities in the target population;

generating activity schedules for each synthetic entity in the synthetic population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned at least one activity schedule based on the attributes assigned to the synthetic entity and information included in the activity data, wherein an activity schedule describes the activities of the synthetic entity and includes a location associated with each activity;

receiving additional data relevant to the situation being represented, wherein the additional data is received from at least two distinct information sources;

modifying the synthetic data set based on the additional data, wherein modifying the synthetic data set includes integrating at least a portion of the additional data received from each of the at least two distinct information sources into the synthetic data set based on one or more behavioral theories related to the synthetic population; and

generating a social contact network based on the synthetic data set, wherein the social contact network is used to generate the representation of the situation;

wherein the computer-executable instructions are further executable to implement a synthetic data set subsystem including one or more brokers, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to carry out the steps of the method, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to generate a request for a service and the one or more brokers are configured to fulfill the request, and

wherein the one or more brokers include one or more edge brokers and one or more service brokers, wherein each edge broker is configured to respond to a request for a service, wherein each edge broker is further configured to spawn a service broker if the edge broker is unable to fulfill the request using resources to which it has access, wherein the spawned service broker is configured to spawn at least one additional edge broker to access resources needed to fulfill the request.

8. The program product of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises grouping the synthetic entities into a plurality of synthetic groups, wherein receiving activity data comprises receiving activity data for a plurality of groups in the target population, wherein the at least one activity schedule is assigned to each synthetic entity by matching each synthetic group with activity data for one of the groups in the target population.

9. The program product of claim 7, wherein the target population is a population of human beings who reside within a defined geographic area.

10. The program product of claim 7, wherein the one or more brokers include at least one of a data broker configured to manage data utilized by the synthetic data set subsystem, a data set construction broker configured to manage at least one of construction and modification of one or more input data sets, and an entity broker configured to manage at least one of creation and modification of the synthetic population.

11. The program product of claim 7, wherein generating a social contact network comprises generating a hypergraph representation of interactions between the synthetic entities in the synthetic population, wherein generating the representation of the situation comprises analyzing the generated hypergraph representation.

12. The program product of claim 11, wherein the hypergraph representation includes at least ten million nodes.

13. A system, comprising:

one or more computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors to implement one or more software modules, the modules comprising;

a surveillance subsystem configured to receive input data regarding a target population; and

a synthetic data set subsystem configured to construct a synthetic data set including a synthetic population based on the input data, wherein the synthetic population includes a plurality of synthetic entities, wherein each synthetic entity has a one-to-one correspondence with an entity in the target population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned one or more attributes based on information included in the input data,

wherein the surveillance subsystem is configured to receive activity data for a plurality of entities in the target population,

wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to generate activity schedules for each synthetic entity in the synthetic population, wherein each synthetic entity is assigned at least one activity schedule based on the attributes assigned to the synthetic entity and information included in the activity data, wherein an activity schedule describes the activities of the synthetic entity and includes a location associated with each activity,

wherein the surveillance subsystem is configured to receive additional data relevant to the situation being represented, wherein the additional data is received from at least two distinct information sources,

wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to modify the synthetic data set based on the additional data, wherein modifying the synthetic data set includes integrating at least a portion of the additional data received from each of the at least two distinct information sources into the synthetic data set based on one or more behavioral theories related to the synthetic population,

wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to generate a social contact network based on the synthetic data set, wherein the social contact network is used to generate the representation of the situation,

wherein the synthetic data set subsystem comprises one or more brokers, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to generate a request for a service and the one or more brokers are configured to fulfill the request, and

wherein the one or more brokers include one or more edge brokers and one or more service brokers, wherein each edge broker is configured to respond to a request for a service, wherein each edge broker is further configured to spawn a service broker if the edge broker is unable to fulfill the request using resources to which it has access, wherein the spawned service broker is configured to spawn at least one additional edge broker to access resources needed to fulfill the request.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is further configured to group the synthetic entities into a plurality of synthetic groups, wherein the surveillance subsystem is further configured to receive activity data for a plurality of groups in the target population, wherein the synthetic data set subsystem is configured to assign the at least one activity schedule to each synthetic entity by matching each synthetic group with activity data for one of the groups in the target population.