Information processing device and information processing method

Abstract

This information processing device is connected and accessible to a database storing use case information, and is capable of executing a process for visualizing dependency information relating to software. The use case information includes: a question asked by a user to acquire dependency information relating to software; information about the user who has asked the question; and the dependency information relating to the software, which is an answer to the question. The information processing device monitors the question input from the user, accesses the database when the input of the question is detected, searches for the use case information including a question that is the same as or similar to the input question, generates display information for displaying the answer included in the searched use case information, and outputs the display information.

Description

Information Processing Apparatus and Information Processing Method Incorporation by Reference

[0001] This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2025-025609 filed on February 20, 2025, and incorporates the content thereof by reference into this application.

[0002] The present invention relates to a technique for analyzing dependency relationships during software development and distribution in the manufacturing industry.

[0003] As a technique related to vehicle software development, Patent Document 1 can be cited. Patent Document 1 discloses managing information managed on the supplier side of equipment and information managed on the provider side of a vehicle.

[0004] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-196933

[0005] In the distribution business of new software or updated versions of software already on the market, it is necessary to grasp the dependency relationships between software, the dependency relationships between software and regulations, or the dependency relationships between software and systems. In manufacturing companies, departments responsible for managing regulations, systems, and software often differ. In reality, the person in charge of the above business makes inquiries to each specialized department each time to grasp the dependency relationships. Therefore, a lot of man-hours are spent just to grasp the dependency relationships. In the future, the number and types of software are expected to become enormous, and software development and distribution are expected to become even more active. To cope with this, it is necessary to dramatically reduce the man-hours required for visualizing dependency relationships and shorten the lead time for software development and distribution. At the same time, it is also necessary to address the performance risks caused by many users simultaneously performing searches that cover a vast amount of business knowledge.

[0006] A representative example of the invention disclosed in this application is as follows: an information processing device comprising a processor, a storage device connected to the processor, and a network interface connected to the processor, which is accessiblely connected to a database storing use case information and capable of performing a process to visualize information on software dependencies, wherein the use case information includes a question asked by a user to obtain information on software dependencies, information of the user who asked the question, and information on software dependencies that is an answer to the question, and the information processing device monitors the input of the question from a first user, and when it detects the input of the question, it accesses the database to search for use case information that includes the same or similar question as the one entered, and generates and outputs display information for displaying the answer included in the searched use case information.

[0007] This dramatically reduces the effort required to visualize dependencies, thereby shortening the lead time for software development and distribution. Furthermore, it suppresses performance degradation of the dependency visualization system, maintaining the ability to perform necessary searches instantly when needed. Other challenges, configurations, and effects will be clarified in the following description of the implementation example.

[0008] This figure shows an example of the configuration of the dependency visualization device of Example 1. This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing performed by the dependency visualization device of Example 1. This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the FAQ presentation processing performed by the dependency visualization device of Example 1. This figure shows an example of the question input screen presented by the dependency visualization device of Example 1.

[0009] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not to be construed as being limited to the embodiments described below. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the specific configuration can be modified without departing from the spirit or intent of the present invention.

[0010] In the configuration of the invention described below, identical or similar components or functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0011] The designations "First," "Second," "Third," etc., used in this specification are for the purpose of identifying constituent elements and do not necessarily limit their number or order.

[0012] The positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges of each component shown in the drawings, etc., may not represent the actual positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges, etc., in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the positions, sizes, shapes, and ranges, etc., disclosed in the drawings, etc.

[0013] Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the dependency visualization device of Example 1.

[0014] The dependency visualization device 10 is accessiblely connected to the business system 11, which holds various information for generating the business knowledge DB 107. The dependency visualization device 10 is also accessiblely connected to a client terminal operated by a user, and is also accessiblely connected to a system that provides AI services via the network.

[0015] Furthermore, the communication in the embodiment may utilize a fifth-generation mobile phone system (5G). Communication includes, for example, receiving and / or outputting data, and transitioning from one flowchart flow to another.

[0016] The dependency visualization device 10 of Example 1 uses the business knowledge DB 107 to detect multiple software programs that have dependencies on each other when software is updated, and also extracts dependencies between the software programs. For example, when updating software due to a specific legal revision, the dependency visualization device 10 detects information on additions or revisions to the legal regulations from publicly available information, detects systems related to those legal regulations (e.g., conflicting systems), extracts software related to the detected systems, and detects software that has a calling relationship with the software to be updated.

[0017] In this embodiment, we will explain using the case of handling software for embedded systems, such as those found in automobiles, as an example.

[0018] Business system 11 consists of existing systems owned by automobile OEMs, etc. Business system 11 includes, for example, a legal compliance management system, a vehicle configuration management system, a design information management system, a manufacturing information management system, etc. The legal compliance management system registers national and UN legal compliance information for automobiles and is used for searching and referencing. The vehicle configuration management system manages the linkage between specifications, parts, software, and legal compliance information at various units such as automobile model, type, and VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). The design information management system manages design-related information such as design documents, CAD information, software repositories, and performance evaluation test results. The manufacturing information management system manages manufacturing-related information such as manufacturing schedule information, parts procurement information, and inventory management information used in manufacturing.

[0019] The dependency visualization device 10 comprises, as a functional configuration, a dependency resolution unit 100, a linkage unit 101, an input unit 102, an output unit 103, a communication unit 104, an FAQ presentation unit 105, and a knowledge DB generation unit 106. The dependency visualization device 10 also holds a business knowledge DB 107, a user management DB 108, and a use case management DB 109.

[0020] The functions of the dependency visualization device 10 may be implemented, for example, by the CPU reading a program stored in ROM into RAM and executing it, by hardware such as a dedicated circuit, or by a combination of software and hardware. The functions of the dependency visualization device 10 may be a VM (Virtual Machine) running on a computer, a container running on an OS (Operating System), or an application running on an OS. One function of the dependency visualization device 10 may be divided into multiple functions, or multiple functions may be combined into one function. Furthermore, some functions of the dependency visualization device 10 may be provided as separate functions or included in other functions. Also, some functions of the dependency visualization device 10 may be implemented by another computer that can communicate with the dependency visualization device 10. Furthermore, each hardware component of the dependency visualization device 10 may be one or multiple.

[0021] The input unit 102 receives user information. The output unit 103 outputs various information received from the dependency resolution unit 100 or the FAQ presentation unit 105 to the user. The communication unit 104 communicates with various services and systems on the internet.

[0022] The knowledge database generation unit 106 receives user instructions via the input unit 102, extracts text, drawings, tables, etc. from each system that makes up the business system 11, generates explanatory text for the extracted drawings and tables using a generation AI service, converts the information of the target documents into text, generates structured information from it, and stores it in the business knowledge database 107.

[0023] Business Knowledge DB107 stores necessary knowledge common to multiple business departments (inter-departmental shared knowledge) and unique knowledge managed by each department (department-specific knowledge). More specifically, it stores documents describing laws and regulations, documents describing system and software specifications, and bills of materials for products including hardware and software.

[0024] The dependency resolution unit 100 resolves software dependencies while interacting with the user using the business knowledge DB 107. Specifically, it resolves software dependencies using the following procedure.

[0025] (Procedure 1) The dependency resolution unit 100 uses the input unit 102 and output unit 103 to collect information on what kind of regional laws and regulations the user wants to ask about. The dependency resolution unit 100 uses the collected information on laws and regulations, such as the name of the law or the name of the target region, and prompts from a prompt collection DB (not shown) that stores templates of question sentences (prompts) that the user will use when making a search, to have the generation AI service execute a task to search for information on laws and regulations via the communication unit 104, and obtains the result of the task execution.

[0026] (Procedure 2) The dependency resolution unit 100 uses the acquired legal information, the information about the software to be updated acquired from the user, the prompts for interdepartmental common questions in the prompt collection DB, and the interdepartmental shared knowledge stored in the business knowledge DB 107 to cause the generated AI service via the communication unit 104 to perform a task to search for information about vehicles and systems related to the software to be updated, and obtains the result of the task execution.

[0027] (Step 3) The dependency resolution unit 100 uses the acquired legal information, the information about the software to be updated acquired from the user, the acquired vehicle and system information, the prompts for individual departmental questions in the prompt collection DB, and the departmental-specific knowledge in the business knowledge DB 107 to cause the generated AI service via the communication unit 104 to execute a task to search for information about parts and software that have dependencies on the software to be updated, and obtains the execution result of the task.

[0028] (Step 4) The dependency resolution unit 100 generates information necessary for visualization from the acquired information on software dependencies. In the following description, the generated information will be referred to as visualization information.

[0029] Furthermore, a possible method for collecting information from various sources in the business knowledge database 107 is to use vector search technology.

[0030] The FAQ display unit 105 identifies and presents available FAQs (questions and answers) to the user based on the user's question, and displays the questions and answers in real time in response to the user's actions.

[0031] The linking unit 101 links the dependency resolution unit 100 and the FAQ presentation unit 105.

[0032] The user management database 108 stores information about users who use the dependency visualization device 10. The user management database 108 stores user information including username, user affiliation, and login password. Note that the user information may also include item values ​​other than those mentioned above.

[0033] Use case management DB109 stores use case information including the question text, answer, search date and time, the affiliation of the user who asked the question, and usage frequency. Note that use case information may also include item values ​​other than those mentioned above.

[0034] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing performed by the dependency visualization device 10 of Example 1. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the question input screen 400 presented by the dependency visualization device 10 of Example 1.

[0035] When the dependency visualization device 10's input unit 102 receives access from a user, it displays a login screen and accepts login information (S101). The user enters login information on the login screen. The linkage unit 101 executes the login process using the login information and the user management DB 108.

[0036] Next, the input unit 102 of the dependency visualization device 10 displays the question input screen 400, and the cooperation unit 101 instructs the FAQ presentation unit 105 to start the FAQ presentation process (S102). Details of the FAQ presentation process will be described later.

[0037] Now, let's describe the question input screen 400. The question input screen 400 includes a chat field 401 and an FAQ display field 402.

[0038] The chat field 401 is a field for interaction between the dependency visualization device 10 and the user. The input unit 102 displays text prompting the user to enter a question in the chat field 401 of the question input screen 400. The chat field 401 includes an input field 410 and a button 411. The input field 410 is a field for entering a question about the dependency to be searched. The button 411 is a button for instructing the execution of the visualization process.

[0039] The linking unit 101 monitors input to the input field 410, and when it detects input to the input field 410, it outputs the question entered in the input field 410 to the FAQ display unit 105. The linking unit 101 continues to monitor input to the input field 410 until it receives an operation of button 411 or a command to end the search.

[0040] The FAQ display area 402 is a field that displays the question and answer retrieved by the FAQ presentation process described later. In Figure 4, two question and answer sets are displayed. The first question and answer set displayed is the one most recently searched by a user in the same organization. The second question and answer set displayed is the one that is most frequently used.

[0041] The FAQ display area 402 displays the question and answer in real time through the FAQ presentation process. The user refers to the question and answer displayed in the FAQ display area 402 and determines whether the desired answer has been obtained. If the user determines that the desired answer has been obtained, the user terminates the search without performing the dependency resolution process. If the desired answer is not obtained, the user continues to input the question.

[0042] The dependency visualization device 10 of Example 1 can instantly present answers to past questions, allowing users to immediately obtain useful answers. Furthermore, if useful information is obtained from the information displayed by the FAQ display unit 105, there is no need to perform visualization processing, thus reducing the load on the dependency visualization device 10.

[0043] The above is an explanation of the question input screen 400. Let's return to the explanation of Figure 2.

[0044] The cooperation unit 101 waits for an input of either an execution instruction for visualization processing or an end instruction for a search. When receiving an instruction from the user, the cooperation unit 101 determines whether the received instruction is an execution instruction for visualization processing (S103).

[0045] If the received instruction is an execution instruction for visualization processing, the cooperation unit 101 instructs the dependency resolution unit 100 to execute visualization processing (S104).

[0046] When the cooperation unit 101 receives visualization information from the dependency resolution unit 100, it displays the visualization information via the output unit 103 (S105). The visualization information is displayed in the chat bar 401.

[0047] When the cooperation unit 101 receives an execution instruction for visualization processing, it outputs the question sentence at the time of receiving the execution instruction and the visualization information to the FAQ presentation unit 105 (S106), then resumes monitoring of the input to the input field 410, and returns to S103.

[0048] If the received instruction is an end instruction for a search, the cooperation unit 101 ends the series of processes.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the FAQ presentation process executed by the dependency visualization device 10 of the first embodiment.

[0050] The FAQ presentation unit 105 monitors the input from the cooperation unit 101.

[0051] When receiving an input from the cooperation unit 101, the FAQ presentation unit 105 determines whether the received input is only a question sentence (S201).

[0052] When receiving only a question sentence, the FAQ search unit 112 searches the use case management DB 109 for use case information corresponding to the question sentence that is the same as or similar to the question sentence input by the user (S202).

[0053] For example, the FAQ search unit 112 extracts keywords from the input question and searches for question sentences containing the same keywords. It also calculates the similarity of each question using the vector representation of the input question and the vector representation of the question included in each use case information, and identifies use case information that contains question sentences with a similarity greater than a threshold. Alternatively, the generation AI service may be made to perform the search for use case information. In this case, it is preferable to include the vector representation of the question in the use case information.

[0054] Furthermore, the use case information may be filtered by performing the following processes. By filtering, useful information can be displayed preferentially. In addition, the display order may be changed based on frequency of use and similarity.

[0055] (Method 1) The FAQ search unit 112 refers to the user management DB 108 based on the login information and obtains the user's affiliation. From the retrieved use case information, the FAQ search unit 112 searches for use case information where the affiliation is the same and the search date and time is the most recent from the current search date and time.

[0056] (Method 2) The FAQ search unit 112 extracts use case information from the retrieved use case information that has a usage frequency greater than a threshold.

[0057] The FAQ search unit 112 outputs the question and answer contained in the searched use case information via the output unit 103 (S203), and then continues to monitor the input from the linkage unit 101. The question and answer are output to the output unit 103 by the linkage unit 101. The output unit 103 displays the question and answer in the FAQ display field 402 of the question input screen 400.

[0058] When the question text and visualization information are received, the use case information storage unit 111 updates the use case management DB 109 (S204), and then continues to monitor input from the linkage unit 101. Specifically, the following processes are executed.

[0059] (S204-1) The use case information storage unit 111 refers to the use case management DB 109 and determines whether or not use case information containing a question identical or similar to the received question is registered. The method for searching for use case information is the same as the method described in S202.

[0060] (S204-2) If use case information containing a question identical or similar to the received question is registered, the use case information storage unit 111 updates the usage frequency of the use case information and terminates the process.

[0061] (S204-3) If no use case information containing a question identical or similar to the received question is registered, the use case information storage unit 111 generates use case information including visualization information as an answer and registers it in the use case management DB 109. The date and time for searching the use case information is set to the date and time when the instruction to execute the visualization process was received, and the frequency of use is set to 1 as the initial value.

[0062] In addition, questions from users can be accepted on topics other than business knowledge, and in such cases, answers will be obtained by coordinating with internet services via the communications unit 104.

[0063] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are included. Furthermore, for example, the embodiments described above are detailed explanations of the configuration in order to clearly illustrate the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. In addition, some of the configurations in each embodiment can be added to, deleted from, or replaced with other configurations.

[0064] Furthermore, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc., may be implemented in hardware, either partially or entirely, by designing them as integrated circuits, for example. The present invention can also be implemented by software program code that realizes the functions of the embodiment. In this case, a storage medium on which the program code is recorded is provided to a computer, and the processor of that computer reads the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code read from the storage medium itself realizes the functions of the embodiment described above, and the program code itself and the storage medium on which it is stored constitute the present invention. Examples of storage media used to supply such program code include flexible disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, hard disks, SSDs (Solid State Drives), optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, and the like.

[0065] Furthermore, the program code that implements the functions described in this embodiment can be implemented in a wide range of programming or scripting languages, such as assembler, C / C++, Perl, Shell, PHP, Python, and Java.

[0066] Furthermore, the program code for the software that implements the functions of the embodiment may be distributed via a network and stored in a storage means such as a computer's hard disk or memory, or in a storage medium such as a CD-RW or CD-R, and the computer's processor may read and execute the program code stored in the storage means or storage medium.

[0067] In the above-described embodiment, the control lines and information lines shown are those deemed necessary for explanation and do not necessarily represent all control lines and information lines in the actual product. All components may be interconnected.

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising a processor, a storage device connected to the processor, and a network interface connected to the processor, and being accessiblely connected to a database storing use case information, and capable of executing a process for visualizing information on software dependencies, wherein the use case information includes a question asked by a user to obtain information on software dependencies, information of the user who asked the question, and information on software dependencies that is an answer to the question, and the information processing device monitors the input of the question from a first user, and when it detects the input of the question, it accesses the database to search for use case information that includes the same or similar question as the input question, and generates and outputs display information for displaying the answer included in the searched use case information.

2. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the user information includes the user's affiliation, the use case information includes information on the frequency with which the question was asked, and the information processing device searches for use case information that includes a question identical or similar to the received question and made by a user belonging to the same affiliation as the first user, or use case information that includes a question identical or similar to the received question and whose frequency is greater than a threshold.

3. An information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the dependency relationship with respect to the software is a dependency relationship between the software targeted in the above question and other software.

4. An information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the dependency relationship with respect to the software is a dependency relationship between the software and laws and regulations.

5. An information processing method to be performed by an information processing device, wherein the information processing device has a processor, a storage device connected to the processor, and a network interface connected to the processor, is accessiblely connected to a database storing use case information, and is capable of performing a process to visualize information relating to software dependencies, wherein the use case information includes a question asked by a user to obtain information relating to software dependencies, information of the user who asked the question, and information relating to software dependencies that is an answer to the question, and the information processing method is characterized by comprising: the step of the information processing device monitoring input of the question from a first user; the step of the information processing device, upon detecting input of the question, accessing the database and searching for use case information that includes the same or similar question as the input question; and the step of the information processing device generating and outputting display information for displaying the answer included in the searched use case information.

Images