MOVEMENT OF AN AGENT THAT UTILIZES A COMPILED SET OF CANONICAL RULES

• US 20110167032A1
• Filed: 03/15/2011
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Callahan Cellular LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Curen Software Enterprises LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: HAUSER, Robert R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,204,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data

Abstract

A method includes obtaining, at a first execution environment of a first device, an as-needed rule set. The as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of a second execution environment. The as-needed rule set is associated with an agent. The agent and the as-needed rule set are encoded into a transferable form. The encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set are sent from the first execution environment to the second execution environment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, at a first execution environment of a first device, an as-needed rule set, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of a second execution environment, and wherein the as-needed rule set is associated with an agent;

encoding the agent and the as-needed rule set into a transferable form; and

sending the encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set from the first execution environment to the second execution environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of context-specific rules is filtered from the total potential rule set based at least in part on one or more goals of the agent.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating movement of the agent from the first execution environment of the first device to the second execution environment, wherein the second execution environment is associated with a second device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the movement is initiated in response to receiving a move request from an application.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the move request is received through a third execution environment in which the application resides.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second execution environment is associated with a second device, and wherein the first device comprises a server device and the second device comprises a mobile client device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the as-needed rule set is obtained from a rule repository.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the rule repository resides in a third execution environment.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a notification from the second execution environment that indicates receipt of the encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set by the second execution environment; and

destructing the agent in the first execution environment in response to the notification.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first execution environment and the second execution environment are both embodied on the first device.

11. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to obtain an as-needed rule set at a first execution environment, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of a second execution environment, and wherein the as-needed rule set is associated with an agent;

instructions to encode the agent and the as-needed rule set into a transferable form; and

instructions to send the encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set to the second execution environment.

12. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions to process a request to move the agent from the first execution environment to the second execution environment.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the as-needed rule set is obtained from the request.

14. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the request is received from an application that resides in a third execution environment.

15. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions to discard a rule engine, a working memory, and a rule set in the first execution environment in response to the request to move the agent.

16. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the subset of context-specific rules are filtered from the total potential rule set based at least in part on one or more goals of the agent.

17. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

instructions to process a notification received from the second execution environment, wherein the notification indicates receipt of the encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set by the second execution environment; and

instructions to destruct the agent at the first execution environment in response to the notification.

18. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first execution environment and the second execution environment are embodied on a single computing device.

19. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first execution environment is embodied on a first device and the second execution environment is embodied on a second device.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a memory associated with a first execution environment and configured to store an agent; and

a processor operatively coupled to the memory and configured to;

obtain an as-needed rule set, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of a second execution environment, and wherein the as-needed rule set is associated with the agent;

encode the agent and the as-needed rule set into a transferable form; and

send the encoded agent and the encoded as-needed rule set to the second execution environment.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the as-needed rule set from a rule repository in a third execution environment.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to process a request to move the agent from the first execution environment to the second execution environment.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the request includes a reference to a rule repository that includes the as-needed rule set.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to discard, from the first execution environment, a rule engine, a working memory, and a compiled rule set associated with the agent.

25. A method comprising:

receiving, from a first execution environment of a first device, an agent and an as-needed rule set associated with the agent at a second execution environment, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of the second execution environment;

identifying a rule engine that is configured to implement the as-needed rule set; and

executing, by the agent, the as-needed rule set.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first execution environment comprises a previous execution environment of the agent, and wherein the second execution environment comprises a target execution environment of the agent.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the agent and the as-needed rule set are encoded by the first execution environment, and further comprising decoding the agent and the as-needed rule set.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the identifying comprises:

searching for the rule engine; and

creating the rule engine if the searching does not locate the rule engine.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising using the rule engine to compile the as-needed rule set.

30. The method of claim 25, further comprising creating a working memory for the agent at the second execution environment.

31. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive, from a first execution environment, an agent and an as-needed rule set associated with the agent at a second execution environment, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of the second execution environment;

instructions to identify a rule engine that is configured to implement the as-needed rule set; and

instructions to use the agent to execute the as-needed rule set.

32. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the instructions to identify comprise instructions to:

search for the rule engine; and

create the rule engine if the search does not locate the rule engine.

33. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 31, further comprising instructions to create a working memory for the agent at the second execution environment.

34. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 31, further comprising instructions to compile the as-needed rule set using the rule engine.

35. An apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processor operatively coupled to the memory and configured to;

process, at a second execution environment, an agent and an as-needed rule set associated with the agent that are received from a first execution environment, wherein the as-needed rule set is a subset of context-specific rules filtered from a total potential rule set based at least on a hardware characteristic of the second execution environment;

identify a rule engine that is configured to implement the as-needed rule set; and

use the agent to execute the as-needed rule set.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured to create a working memory for the agent at the second execution environment.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured to compile the as-needed rule set using the rule engine.