US5956707A
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Database system with query relaxation using type abstraction hierarchy (TAH) as query condition relaxation structure
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1997-02-13
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Granted: 1999-09-21
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Expires: 2017-02-13
Abstract
Abstract A system for obtaining target data from a conventional computer database in response to an input query which has at least one attribute includes a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) manager for providing a TAH structure including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute. A control unit successively applies a database query which corresponds to the input query to and receives data from the database, with progressively relaxed conditions of the attribute(s) being provided by the TAH manager, until the target data in the form of a specified number of ranked answers which satisfy the attribute conditions is obtained. The attribute relaxation process can be controlled such as relaxation order, preference list, reject, etc. to obtain user and context specific answers. The system can produce approximate answers or answers to query with conceptual terms. The input query can including cooperative operators such as "APPROXIMATELY", "NEAR TO" or "SIMILAR TO" or conceptual terms (e.g. "long"), which the conventional database is not capable of directly processing. The control unit converts the cooperative operators and conceptual terms into database operator which the database is capable of processing. The TAH structure includes TAHs having leaves corresponding to instances of the attributes respectively, and a hierarchical arrangement of nodes that specify ranges which include at least one of the instances respectively. The instances can be numerical and/or non-numerical. The nodes can be defined by conceptual names (terms) that describe the instances under that node (e.g. dark color, long runway).
Inventors
- 👤 Wesley W. Chu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 03:25
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/20; G06F16/24; G06F16/245; G06F16/2457; G06F16/24573; G06F16/2452; G06F16/24578; G06F16/2458; G06F16/2468; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 78
Claim 1
Independent Claim
102 words
A system for obtaining target data from a computer database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, comprising: a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) manager for providing a TAH structure, including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; and a control unit for successively applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to and receiving data from the database, with progressively relaxed conditions of said at least one attribute provided by the TAH manager, until the targer data in the form of at least one answer which satisfies said at least one attribute is obtained.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
102 words
A system for obtaining target data from a computer database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, comprising: a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) manager for providing a TAH structure, including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; and a control unit for successively applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to and receiving data from the database, with progressively relaxed conditions of said at least one attribute provided by the TAH manager, until the targer data in the form of at least one answer which satisfies said at least one attribute is obtained.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: the input query can include a cooperative operator; the database is not capable of directly processing the cooperative operator; and the control unit converts the cooperative operator into a database operator which the database is capable of processing.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as in claim 2, in which the cooperative operator is one of a value-based operator, a condition-based operator, and a relaxation control operator.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
A system as in claim 3, in which the condition-based operator is SIMILAR-TO with a clause that BASED-ON at least one attribute.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
A system as in claim 3, in which the relaxation control operator comprises at least one of relaxation order, preference list, relaxation level, reject, unrelaxable, at least, and use TAHx, where x is the name of a TAH to be used for relaxation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
69 words
A system as in claim 2, in which the control unit comprises: a query parser for converting the input query into a query representation which the TAH manager is capable of processing; a preprocessor for converting the cooperative operator in the query representation into the database operator; and a data source manager for converting the query representation into the database query, and applying the database query to the database.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the control unit comprises a relaxation unit for accessing the TAH manager in accordance with a specified procedure.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
43 words
A system as in claim 7, in which the relaxation unit comprises: a relaxation controller for accessing the TAH manager; and a condition modifier for modifying said at least one attribute in accordance with progressively relaxed conditions thereof returned by the TAH manager.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
44 words
A system as in claim 8, in which the control unit comprises: a data source manager for applying the database query to and obtaining data from the database; and a controller for controlling operation of the data source manager, relaxation unit, and TAH manager.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system as in claim 7, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and said specified procedure comprises relaxing said plurality of attributes in a specified order.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
A system as in claim 10, in which the input query comprises specification of said order.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: the input query is specific; and the target data comprises an approximate answer to the input query.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the input query contains conceptual terms.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the TAH structure comprises at least one TAH for each attribute respectively.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
46 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the TAH structure comprises a TAH having leaves corresponding to instances of one of said at least one attribute respectively, and a hierarchical arrangement of nodes that specify ranges which include at least one of said instances respectively.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
12 words
A system as in claim 15, in which the instances are numerical.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
12 words
A system as in claim 15, in which the instances are non-numerical.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
13 words
A system as in claim 15, in which the nodes have conceptual names.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system as in claim 19, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
61 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a first multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes; and a second multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least another two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
52 words
A system as in claim 21, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the first multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together; and said at least another two of said plurality of attributes in the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system as in claim 22, in which said relaxation conditions are such that the first multiple attribute TAH and the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed in a specified order.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
34 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: the target data comprises a plurality of answers; and the control unit further comprises a postprocessor for ranking the answers in accordance with a specified criterion.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system as in claim 24, in which the input query specifies said criterion.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
64 words
A system as in claim 1, in which: the database comprises a schema including said at least one attribute; the control unit comprises a schema manager which accesses the database to obtain a specification of the schema; and the control unit further comprises a query parser which checks syntax of the input query by obtaining said specification of the schema from the schema manager.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
18 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the TAH manager comprises means for editing the TAH structure.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
A system as in claim 1, in which the TAH manager comprises means for automatically obtaining information from the database and creating the TAH structure in accordance therewith.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
129 words
A computer implemented method for obtaining target data from a computer database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) structure including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; (b) applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to the database; (c) receiving data from the database; (d) if the data received in step (c) comprises the target data, outputting the data and ending the method; (e) if the data received in step (c) does not comprise the target data, accessing the TAH structure to obtain a relaxed condition of said at least one attribute; (f) modifying the database query to include said relaxed condition; and (g) jumping to step (c).
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
129 words
A computer implemented method for obtaining target data from a computer database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) structure including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; (b) applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to the database; (c) receiving data from the database; (d) if the data received in step (c) comprises the target data, outputting the data and ending the method; (e) if the data received in step (c) does not comprise the target data, accessing the TAH structure to obtain a relaxed condition of said at least one attribute; (f) modifying the database query to include said relaxed condition; and (g) jumping to step (c).
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method as in claim 29, in which: the input query can include a cooperative operator; the database is not capable of directly processing the cooperative operator; and the method further comprises the step, performed prior to step (b), of: (i) converting the cooperative operator into a database operator which the database is capable of processing.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as in claim 30, in which the cooperative operator is one of a value-based operator, a condition-based operator, and a relaxation control operator.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as in claim 31, in which the condition-based operator is SIMILAR-TO, BASED-ON.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
38 words
A system as in claim 31, in which the relaxation control operator comprises at least one of relaxation order, preference list, relaxation level, reject, unrelaxable, at least, and use TAHx, where x is a number of a TAH.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as in claim 29, in which step (e) comprises the substeps of: (e1) accessing the TAH structure in accordance with a specified procedure to obtain said relaxed condition; and (e2) modifying said at least one attribute to include said relaxed condition.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as in claim 34, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and said specified procedure in step (e1) comprises relaxing said plurality of attributes in a specified order.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as in claim 35, in which the input query comprises specification of said order.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as in claim 29, in which: the input query is specific; and the target data comprises an approximate answer to the input query.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as in claim 29, in which the input query contains conceptual terms.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as in claim 29, in which the TAH structure comprises at least one TAH for each attribute respectively.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method as in claim 29, in which the TAH structure comprises a TAH having leaves corresponding to instances of one of said at least one attribute respectively, and a hierarchical arrangement of nodes that specify ranges which include at least one of said instances respectively.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
12 words
A method as in claim 40, in which the instances are numerical.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
12 words
A method as in claim 29, in which the instances are non-numerical.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as in claim 29, in which at least some of the nodes have conceptual names.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as in claim 29, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as in claim 44, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
61 words
A method as in claim 29, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a first multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes; and a second multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least another two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
52 words
A method as in claim 46, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the first multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together; and said at least another two of said plurality of attributes in the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as in claim 47, in which said relaxation conditions are such that the first multiple attribute TAH and the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed in a specified order.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method as in claim 29, in which: the target data comprises a plurality of answers; and the method further comprises the step of: (h) ranking the answers in accordance with a specified criterion.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as in claim 29, in which the input query specifies said criterion.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
138 words
A storage medium for storing a computer program for obtaining target data from a database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, the program controlling a computer to perform the steps of: (a) providing a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) structure including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; (b) applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to the database; (c) receiving data from the database; (d) if the data received in step (c) comprises the target data, outputting the data and ending the method; (e) if the data received in step (c) does not comprise the target data, accessing the TAH structure to obtain a relaxed condition of said at least one attribute; (f) modifying the database query to include said relaxed condition; and (g) jumping to step (c).
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
138 words
A storage medium for storing a computer program for obtaining target data from a database in response to an input query which includes at least one attribute, the program controlling a computer to perform the steps of: (a) providing a Type Abstraction Hierarchy (TAH) structure including relaxation conditions for said at least one attribute; (b) applying a database query which corresponds to the input query to the database; (c) receiving data from the database; (d) if the data received in step (c) comprises the target data, outputting the data and ending the method; (e) if the data received in step (c) does not comprise the target data, accessing the TAH structure to obtain a relaxed condition of said at least one attribute; (f) modifying the database query to include said relaxed condition; and (g) jumping to step (c).
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
59 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which: the input query can include a cooperative operator; the database is not capable of directly processing the cooperative operator; and the program controls the computer to perform the further step, prior to step (b), of: (i) converting the cooperative operator into a database operator which the database is capable of processing.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
25 words
A medium as in claim 52, in which the cooperative operator is one of a value-based operator, a condition-based operator, and a relaxation control operator.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
14 words
A medium as in claim 53, in which the condition-based operator is SIMILAR-TO, BASED-ON.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
38 words
A medium as in claim 53, in which the relaxation control operator comprises at least one of relaxation order, preference list, relaxation level, reject, unrelaxable, at least, and use TAHx, where x is a number of a TAH.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
43 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which step (e) comprises the substeps of: (e1) accessing the TAH structure in accordance with a specified procedure to obtain said relaxed condition; and (e2) modifying said at least one attribute to include said relaxed condition.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
35 words
A medium as in claim 56, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and said specified procedure in step (e1) comprises relaxing said plurality of attributes in a specified order.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
16 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which the input query comprises specification of said order.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
25 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which: the input query is specific; and the target data comprises an approximate answer to the input query.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
13 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which the input query is conceptual.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
20 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which the TAH structure comprises at least one TAH for each attribute respectively.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
46 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which the TAH structure comprises a TAH having leaves corresponding to instances of one of said at least one attribute respectively, and a hierarchical arrangement of nodes that specify ranges which include at least one of said instances respectively.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
12 words
A medium as in claim 62, in which the instances are numerical.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
12 words
A medium as in claim 62, in which the instances are non-numerical.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
17 words
A medium as in claim 62, in which at least some of the nodes have conceptual names.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
40 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
31 words
A medium as in claim 66, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
61 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which: said at least one attribute comprises a plurality of attributes; and the TAH structure comprises a first multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least two of said plurality of attributes; and a second multiple attribute TAH which includes relaxation conditions for at least another two of said plurality of attributes.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
52 words
A medium as in claim 68, in which said relaxation conditions are such that said at least two of said plurality of attributes in the first multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together; and said at least another two of said plurality of attributes in the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed together.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
31 words
A medium as in claim 69, in which said relaxation conditions are such that the first multiple attribute TAH and the second multiple attribute TAH are relaxed in a specified order.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
38 words
A medium as in claim 51, in which: the target data comprises a plurality of answers; and the program controls the computer to perform the further step of: (h) ranking the answers in accordance with a specified criterion.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
14 words
A medium as in claim 71, in which the input query specifies said criterion.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
11 words
A medium as in claim 51, comprising a magnetic storage disk.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
11 words
A medium as in claim 51, comprising an optical storage disk.
Claim 78
Dependent Claim
10 words
A medium as in claim 51, comprising a computer memory.
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-09-20 | 2007-03-22 | 2007-09-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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