Method for retrieving case for problem and inferring solution of the problem and system thereof

Claim 1

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem; determining ann optimum case candidate from the case candidates using a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said determining including determining reference feature groups of respective case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of respective case candidates in accordance with tine influence relation information, wherein features of one reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only one of the current problem and the case problem, and selecting one case candidate which has the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 2

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem; determining ann optimum case candidate from the case candidates using a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said determining including determining reference feature groups of respective case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of respective case candidates in accordance with tine influence relation information, wherein features of one reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only one of the current problem and the case problem, and selecting one case candidate which has the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 5

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storing unit for storing a case base which stores information representing a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in the case base by accessing said case base storing unit in response to input of the current problem, said case candidates including case problems and solutions or solving methods for the case problems; optimum candidate determining means for responding to said candidate retrieving means and for determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said optimum case candidate determining means including a reference feature group determining means for determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with the influence relation information, wherein features of the reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only the current problem or the case problem, and selecting means for selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; and optimum case information retrieving means for responding to said optimum candidate determining means and for retrieving optimum case information corresponding to said optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 6

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storing unit for storing a case base which stores information representing a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in the case base by accessing said case base storing unit in response to input of the current problem, said case candidates including case problems and solutions or solving methods for the case problems; optimum candidate determining means for responding to said candidate retrieving means and for determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said optimum case candidate determining means including a reference feature group determining means for determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with the influence relation information, wherein features of the reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only the current problem or the case problem, and selecting means for selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; and optimum case information retrieving means for responding to said optimum candidate determining means and for retrieving optimum case information corresponding to said optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 9

A method for inferring an optimum solution for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to a presentation of the current problem, a storing unit storing the case base and the plurality of cases including case problems and solutions or solving methods for the case problems; determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information showing feature groups influenced by other features groups, said determining said optimum case candidate includes determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates, wherein features of a reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to on influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only one of the current problem and the case problem and selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; retrieving optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring a solution for the current problem from a solution or a solving method for the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a case using rule group.

Claim 10

A method for inferring an optimum solution for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to a presentation of the current problem, a storing unit storing the case base and the plurality of cases including case problems and solutions or solving methods for the case problems; determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information showing feature groups influenced by other features groups, said determining said optimum case candidate includes determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates, wherein features of a reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to on influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only one of the current problem and the case problem and selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; retrieving optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring a solution for the current problem from a solution or a solving method for the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a case using rule group.

Claim 14

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storing unit for storing a case base which stores information representing a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing said plurality of cases stored in said case base by accessing said case base storing unit in response to an input of the current problem, said plurality of cases including case problems and solutions for solving methods for the case problems; optimum candidate determining means for responding to said candidate retrieving means and for determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said optimum candidate determining means including a reference feature group determining means for determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with the influence relation information, wherein features of the reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only the current problem or the case problem, and selecting means for selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; optimum case information retrieving means for responding to said optimum candidate determining means and for retrieving optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring means for inferring a solution for the current problem from the solution or the solving method for the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a case using rule group.

Claim 15

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storing unit for storing a case base which stores information representing a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for retrieving case candidates having features common to features of the current problem from information representing said plurality of cases stored in said case base by accessing said case base storing unit in response to an input of the current problem, said plurality of cases including case problems and solutions for solving methods for the case problems; optimum candidate determining means for responding to said candidate retrieving means and for determining an optimum case candidate among said case candidates based on a group of features of the current problem, a group of common features and a group of features of case problems of said case candidates in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, said optimum candidate determining means including a reference feature group determining means for determining reference feature groups of said case candidates from the group of features of the current problem, the group of common features and the group of features of the case problems of said case candidates in accordance with the influence relation information, wherein features of the reference feature group are common to the current problem and the case problem and being subject to no influence by non-common features wherein said non-common features are features included in only the current problem or the case problem, and selecting means for selecting one case candidate having the largest number of features among the reference feature groups as the optimum case candidate; optimum case information retrieving means for responding to said optimum candidate determining means and for retrieving optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring means for inferring a solution for the current problem from the solution or the solving method for the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a case using rule group.

Claim 19

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to unsolved features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem, wherein the current problem comprises at least one solved part, an unsolved part, and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; determining a reference feature group of each case in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by common features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the solved part of the current problem difference in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein; selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidates having a highest number of features matching the features of the reference feature group; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 20

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidates having features common to unsolved features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem, wherein the current problem comprises at least one solved part, an unsolved part, and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; determining a reference feature group of each case in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by common features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the solved part of the current problem difference in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein; selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidates having a highest number of features matching the features of the reference feature group; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 21

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storage unit for storing a case base, the case base comprising a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for accessing the case base storage unit in response to a presentation of the current problem and for retrieving candidates of the cases which have features common to unsolved features of the current problem on a bases of information of the plurality of cases stored in the case base, each of the cases include a case problem and a solution or solution method for the case problem, wherein the current problem comprises at least one solved part, an unsolved part, and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; optimum candidate deciding means, in response to the candidate retrieving means, for determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the solved part of the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein, the optimum candidate deciding means also selecting as the optimum case candidate one of the case candidates in one of the reference features groups which is highest in the feature number; and optimum case information retrieving means for retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 22

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storage unit for storing a case base, the case base comprising a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for accessing the case base storage unit in response to a presentation of the current problem and for retrieving candidates of the cases which have features common to unsolved features of the current problem on a bases of information of the plurality of cases stored in the case base, each of the cases include a case problem and a solution or solution method for the case problem, wherein the current problem comprises at least one solved part, an unsolved part, and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; optimum candidate deciding means, in response to the candidate retrieving means, for determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the solved part of the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein, the optimum candidate deciding means also selecting as the optimum case candidate one of the case candidates in one of the reference features groups which is highest in the feature number; and optimum case information retrieving means for retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases.

Claim 23

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidate having features common to unsolved features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to a presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem, wherein at least one part of the current problem is already solved and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the already-solved part of the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein; selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidates from one of the reference feature groups which has a highest feature number; retrieving an optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring a solution of the current problem from the solution or solving method of the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a group of case application rules.

Claim 24

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising the steps of: retrieving case candidate having features common to unsolved features of the current problem from information representing a plurality of cases stored in a case base in response to a presentation of the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem, wherein at least one part of the current problem is already solved and a satisfied part of the solution for the problem being described in the case; determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem or case problem, by the features which are included in part of the already-solved part of the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein; selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidates from one of the reference feature groups which has a highest feature number; retrieving an optimum case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring a solution of the current problem from the solution or solving method of the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a group of case application rules.

Claim 25

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storage unit for storing therein a case base which stores therein information indicative of a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for the case base storage unit in response to a presentation of the current problem and for retrieving candidates of the cases which have features common to unsolved features of the current problem on the basis of the information of the plurality of cases stored in the case base, each of the cases include a case problem and a solution or solution method for the case problem, wherein at least one part of the current problem is already solved and a satisfied part for the solution of the problem being described in the case; optimum candidate deciding means, in response to the candidate retrieving means, for determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein, the optimum candidate deciding means also selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidate in one of the reference feature groups which has a highest feature number; optimum case information retrieving means for retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring means for inferring a solution of the current problem from the solution or solving method of the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a group of case application rules.

Claim 26

A system for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem, comprising: a case base storage unit for storing therein a case base which stores therein information indicative of a plurality of cases; candidate retrieving means for the case base storage unit in response to a presentation of the current problem and for retrieving candidates of the cases which have features common to unsolved features of the current problem on the basis of the information of the plurality of cases stored in the case base, each of the cases include a case problem and a solution or solution method for the case problem, wherein at least one part of the current problem is already solved and a satisfied part for the solution of the problem being described in the case; optimum candidate deciding means, in response to the candidate retrieving means, for determining a reference feature group of each case information in accordance with influence relation information indicating a feature group influenced by other feature groups, each of the features of the reference feature group being not influenced by the features which are common to the current problem and the case problem and are included in the unsolved part of the current problem and are included in the part of the case problem having the solution described therein and are included only in the current problem different in solution from the case, and by the features which are included in part of the case problem having no solution described therein, the optimum candidate deciding means also selecting as an optimum case candidate one of the case candidate in one of the reference feature groups which has a highest feature number; optimum case information retrieving means for retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from information representing the plurality of cases; and inferring means for inferring a solution of the current problem from the solution or solving method of the case problem in the optimum case information in accordance with a group of case application rules.

Claim 27

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem having features, comprising the steps of: determining a current problem feature set comprised of the features of the current problem; retrieving case candidates from a plurality of cases stored in a case base having features common to the features of the current problem in response to a request to solve the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem; generating a case problem feature set comprised of features of the case problem of the case candidate retrieved; generating a common feature set wherein the common feature set is an intersection set between the current problem set and the case problem set; generating a non-common feature set wherein the non-common feature set is obtained by subtracting the common feature set from a union of the current problem feature set and the case problem feature set; generating an influenced feature set wherein the influenced feature set is a set of features influenced by features in the non-common feature set based on influence relation information; generating a reference feature set wherein the reference feature set is equal to the common feature set minus features contained in the influenced feature set; selecting one case candidate having a greatest number of features which match the features of the reference feature set as an optimum case candidate; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from the plurality of cases.

Claim 28

A method for retrieving optimum case information for a current problem having features, comprising the steps of: determining a current problem feature set comprised of the features of the current problem; retrieving case candidates from a plurality of cases stored in a case base having features common to the features of the current problem in response to a request to solve the current problem, wherein the case base is stored in a storage unit and each case includes a case problem and a solution or solving method for the case problem; generating a case problem feature set comprised of features of the case problem of the case candidate retrieved; generating a common feature set wherein the common feature set is an intersection set between the current problem set and the case problem set; generating a non-common feature set wherein the non-common feature set is obtained by subtracting the common feature set from a union of the current problem feature set and the case problem feature set; generating an influenced feature set wherein the influenced feature set is a set of features influenced by features in the non-common feature set based on influence relation information; generating a reference feature set wherein the reference feature set is equal to the common feature set minus features contained in the influenced feature set; selecting one case candidate having a greatest number of features which match the features of the reference feature set as an optimum case candidate; and retrieving case information corresponding to the optimum case candidate from the plurality of cases.