Generic ontology based semantic business policy engine

• US 8,631,046 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2010
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: B'Far, Reza, Golden, Ryan, Cengiz, Yasin, Tseng, Tsai-Ming, Srinivasan, Uppili Ranga, Chitullapally, Sreedhar, Waxman, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): PENG, HUAWEN A
• Application Number:
  US12/684,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20100174754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,468 Days
• Field of Search: 707/803, 707/809, 707/812, 707/794
• US Class Current: 707/803
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/211 Schema design and management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Techniques for implementing policies. In an embodiment, first data is stored in a first data store according to a first schema. A second schema is defined based at least in part on a policy and an ontology. Second data, which includes at least a portion of the first data, is stored in a second data store according to the second schema. Storing the second data is based at least in part on a mapping of the first schema to the second schema. At least a portion of the second data is analyzed and results of the analysis are provided to a user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of implementing policies, comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions;

identifying a query, the query being based at least in part on a policy that comprises one or more user-defined conditions based at least in part on one or more semantic concepts of an ontology;

identifying a subset of the first data satisfying the query to store in a second data store, the first data being stored in a first data store according to a first schema;

determining, based at least in part on the policy and the ontology, a second schema for the second data store;

storing second data in the second data store based at least in part on a mapping of the first schema to the second schema of the second data store, the second schema organizing data according to the ontology and the second data including at least the subset of first data;

analyzing, based at least in part on the subset of the first data satisfying the query, at least a portion of the second data to determine at least one conclusion, the analyzing comprising defining the second schema based at least in part on a type of analysis of the subset of the first data to be performed on the second data in the second data store; and

providing the conclusion to a user of said one or more computer systems.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes storing third data in a third data store according to a third schema, wherein the second data includes at least a portion of the third data, and wherein said storing second data in the second data store is further based at least in part on another mapping that maps the third schema to the second schema.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the second schema organizes at least a portion of the second data into a collection that corresponds to a semantic concept and that comprises data from the first data store and the third data store.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first and the third data stores are used to support one or more enterprise business applications, and wherein the policy is defined independently of the first and the third schemas.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second schema comprises a plurality of tables and wherein said determining the second schema includes optimizing the schema for said analyzing.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the mapping from a plurality of mappings that map at least one of a plurality of schemas to the second schema.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the subset of the first data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the storing second data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store according to the second schema.

9. A system for storing data, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory including executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to collectively at least;

identify a query, the query being based at least in part on a policy that comprises one or more conditions defined by a user based at least in part on one or more semantic concepts of an ontology;

define a subset of the first data satisfying the query to store in a second data store, the first data being stored in a first data store according to a first schema;

determine, based at least in part on the policy and the ontology, a second schema of a second data store and a mapping from the first schema to the second schema;

cause loading of data into the second data store from the first data store according to the mapping; and

analyze, based at least in part on the subset of the first data satisfying the query, at least a portion of the second data to determine at least one conclusion, the executable instructions to analyze comprise executable instructions that further cause the one or more processors to define the second schema based at least in part on a type of analysis of the subset of the first data to be performed on the second data in the second data store.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a third data store storing third data according to a third schema, and wherein the second data includes at least a portion of the third data and wherein said at least one processor is operable to cause loading of data into the second data store from the third data store according to another mapping of the third schema to the second schema.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the second schema organizes at least a portion of the second data into a collection that corresponds to a semantic concept and that comprises data from the first data store and the third data store.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the first schema is different from the third schema.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first and the third data stores are used to support one or more enterprise business applications, and wherein the policy is defined independently of the first and the third schemas.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the second schema comprises a plurality of tables and wherein said at least one processor is operable to optimize the second schema for analysis according to the policy.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising a data store that stores a plurality of mappings that include the mapping, wherein each of the plurality of mappings map at least one of a plurality of schemas to the second schema.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the identifying the subset of the first data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the storing second data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store according to the second schema.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon instructions for causing at least one processor to store and analyze data, the instructions including:

instructions that cause said at least one processor to identify a query, the query being based at least in part on a policy that comprises one or more conditions defined by a user based at least in part on one or more semantic concepts of an ontology and the ontology;

instructions that cause said at least one processor to identify a first data satisfying the query to be loaded from a first data store to a second data store;

instructions that cause said at least one processor to define, based at least in part on the policy and the ontology, a second schema for the second data store;

instructions that cause said at least one processor to direct storage of second data in the second data store based at least in part on a mapping of a first schema of a first data store to a second schema of second data store, the second data including at least a portion of the first data;

instructions that cause said at least one processor to analyze at least a portion of the second data to determine at least one conclusion based on the first data satisfying the query, the instructions to analyze comprising instructions that cause said at least one processor to define the second schema based at least in part on a type of analysis of the first data to be performed on the second data in the second data store; and

instructions that cause said at least one processor to provide the conclusion to a user of said one or more computer systems.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second data includes at least a portion of a third data stored in a third data store, the third data being organized by a third schema, wherein said instructions that cause said at least one processor to direct storage of second data are based at least in part on another mapping that maps the third schema to the second schema, and wherein the second schema organizes at least a portion of the second data into a collection that corresponds to a semantic concept and that comprises data from the first data store and the third data store.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the first and the third data stores are used to support one or more enterprise business applications, and wherein the policy is defined independently of the first and the third schemas.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second data includes at least a portion of a third data stored in a third data store, the third data being organized by a third schema, wherein said instructions that cause said at least one processor to direct storage of second data are based at least in part on another mapping that maps the third schema to the second schema, and wherein the first schema is different from the third schema.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions include instructions that cause said at least one processor to define, as part of the second schema and based at least in part on the policy, a plurality of tables constructed to optimize analysis of the second data according to the policy.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that cause said at least one processor to select the mapping from a plurality of mappings that map at least one of a plurality of schemas to the second schema.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that cause said at least one processor to analyze at least a portion of the second data to determine compliance with at least one policy.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the identifying the first data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the storing second data further includes storing all first data satisfying the one or more conditions in the second data store according to the second schema.