EP0205873A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method for processing an expert system rulebase segmented into contextual units
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1986-05-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-05-13
Abstract
Abstract Method for processing the Rulebase of an expert system on a data processing system in which the Rulebase is segmented into a plurality of contextual units, each one having a size less than the size of the system memory and a plurality of Goal trees with a Goal node at its root and a plurality of other nodes at the leaves of the tree. When the Rulebase is segmented, it is then possible to eliminate portions of the Rulebase containing data or knowledge that is not needed in a particular application. The segmenting of the Rule-base also allows the expert system to be run with systems or on systems having much smaller memory capacities than was possible with prior art arrangements since each segment of the Rulebase can be paged into and out of the system as needed.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas Jay Ashford
- 👤 Nancy Anne Burns
- 👤 Richard Lee Flagg
- 👤 Christine Telka Iwaskiw
- 👤 Roberta Parnish Starbird
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 18:44
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06N; G06N5/00; G06N5/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
278 words
Method for processing the Rulebase of an expert system with a data processing system having a processing unit and a program which functions as an inference engine, a main memory unit having a capacity which is less than the size of the Rulebase and a storage unit having a storage media having a capacity capable of storing said entire rulebase and connected to said processing unit for selectively transferring data therebetween; said method being characterized by the steps of : (1) segmenting said Rulebase into a plurality of contextual units each of which has a size less than the size of said main memory unit each said contextual unit having a plurality of Goal trees having a Goal node at its root and a plurality of other nodes at the leaves of said tree, (2) transferring a first contextual unit from said media to said main memory, (3) tracing in a predetermined order a plurality of said Rule trees with said inference engine with each said tree being traced in a back chaining traversal of the nodes of said tree, (4) interrupting the tracing of said sequence of trees during the processing of a predetermined one of said other nodes in response to said inference engine detecting a RULEBASE CALL during the processing of said predetermined node, (5) transferring a second contextual unit to said memory from said media, (6) selectively transferring said first contextual unit to said storage media depending on the amount of said memory available for the rulebase segment being called, (7) updating selected nodes in said called Rulebase segment with data collected during the tracing of said first contextual unit prior to said interruption.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
278 words
Method for processing the Rulebase of an expert system with a data processing system having a processing unit and a program which functions as an inference engine, a main memory unit having a capacity which is less than the size of the Rulebase and a storage unit having a storage media having a capacity capable of storing said entire rulebase and connected to said processing unit for selectively transferring data therebetween; said method being characterized by the steps of : (1) segmenting said Rulebase into a plurality of contextual units each of which has a size less than the size of said main memory unit each said contextual unit having a plurality of Goal trees having a Goal node at its root and a plurality of other nodes at the leaves of said tree, (2) transferring a first contextual unit from said media to said main memory, (3) tracing in a predetermined order a plurality of said Rule trees with said inference engine with each said tree being traced in a back chaining traversal of the nodes of said tree, (4) interrupting the tracing of said sequence of trees during the processing of a predetermined one of said other nodes in response to said inference engine detecting a RULEBASE CALL during the processing of said predetermined node, (5) transferring a second contextual unit to said memory from said media, (6) selectively transferring said first contextual unit to said storage media depending on the amount of said memory available for the rulebase segment being called, (7) updating selected nodes in said called Rulebase segment with data collected during the tracing of said first contextual unit prior to said interruption.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method recited in Claim 1 further including the steps of tracing said second contextual unit until each Goal node is concluded, and exchanging said second contextual unit with said first contextual unit in main memory to permit said first contextual unit to be traced from the point of said interruption to another RULEBASE CALL or until each Goal node in said first contextual unit has been concluded.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method recited in Claim 2 further including the step of updating said first contextual unit with data collected during the processing of said second contextual unit after said step of exchanging said contextual units.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method recited in Claim 3 in which said step of tracing said Rulebase includes the steps of processing each of the said other nodes at the leaves of said trees to obtain data to assist in arriving at a conclusion for the Goal node of said tree.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
28 words
The method recited in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, or 4 in which said plurality of other nodes includes Evidence type nodes and External type nodes.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method recited in Claim 3, 4 or 5 further including the step of assigning a Global attribute to a first set of nodes located in different rulebase segments and said step of updating causes the data collected for one node of said set during the processing of one said rulebase segment to be transferred to another node of said set in a different rulebase segment.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method recited in Claim 6 further including the step of developing a Global list of each said node in said first contextual ruiebase segment that has been assigned a Global attribute as said first contextual unit is transferred into said memory and transferred the data collected by said node assigned a Global attribute to said Global list prior to processing said second contextual rulebase segment.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method recited in Claim 7 in which said step of updating further includes the step of transferring from said Global list any data collected by a node in said first contextual rulebase segment that has a name identical to a node in said second contextual rulebase segment that is also assigned a global attribute.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method recited in Claim 8 further including the step of updating at the conclusion of processing a node for the first time in one contextual rulebase segment any other node in the same said one contextual rulebase segment which has an identical name.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
41 words
The method recited in Claim 9in which said step of processing said Evidence node further includes the step of comparing the data entered from a keyboard by an operator when a question is displayed with a predetermined set of allowable responses.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method recited in Claim 10 comprising the step of displaying a predetermined directive to said operator which said operator is expected to follow and further including the step of said operator pressing the enter key on said keyboard to acknowledge completion of said directive.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
35 words
The method recited in any one of claims 4 to 11 further including the step of maintaining a Concluded Goals list of Goal nodes that have been concluded during the processing of said Rulebase segments.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method recited in Claim 12 in which said step of maintaining said Goals list includes establishing one record for each Goal that was concluded in which said record comprises one field for an identification of the Goal node and another field for said conclusion.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method recited in Claim 13 further including the step of processing said Concluded Goals list after all said rulebase segments have been processed to present to said operator a predetermined number of conclusions and a numerical value indicating the relative correctness of each of said conclusions.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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