Incremental Schema Validation for Geographic Feature Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current geographic information systems face inefficiencies in updating and validating data, particularly due to the high dependency of features, which leads to significant processing power and time requirements, as well as challenges in managing cross-country references and independent edits.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that allows for incremental updates of features while validating edits on an as-needed basis, using backreferences to simplify and expedite the validation process, thereby reducing processing power and time required for validation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bulk updating of all geographic features is performed periodically, then data consistency is maintained, but processing power and time requirements increase enormously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the geographic feature data into different categories: highly dependent features (like road networks) that require bulk updating, and independent features (like business hours, telephone numbers) that can be updated individually. This segmentation allows the system to apply different update strategies to different data types, maintaining consistency where needed while improving processing efficiency for independent features.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing complete bulk validation of all features, the patent applies partial validation only to highly dependent features that have many references. Independent features are updated without extensive validation, performing just enough action to maintain necessary consistency while avoiding unnecessary processing overhead.
2Reliability
If complete bulk updating is performed, then all data consistency is maintained, but independent edits (e.g., telephone numbers, operating hours) are unnecessarily delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different quality levels of validation to different features based on their dependency characteristics. Highly dependent features receive comprehensive validation to ensure strong consistency, while independent features receive minimal or no validation, allowing them to be updated immediately without delay. This local differentiation of validation intensity matches the actual consistency requirements of each feature type.
3Reliability
If each edited attribute is validated by retrieving and checking referenced features one by one, then data consistency is ensured, but processing time and power increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and validates only the specific attributes and features that are actually affected by an edit, rather than retrieving and validating all referenced features. For example, when updating a business telephone number, only the business feature itself is validated, not all features that might indirectly reference it. This extraction approach dramatically reduces validation time while maintaining consistency for affected data.
Solution Approach 2:
The validation process performs only the necessary minimum action required to ensure consistency. For independent features with few or no references, minimal validation is performed. For highly dependent features, more comprehensive validation is applied. This partial action approach avoids the excessive processing that would result from validating all possible referenced features in every edit scenario.
4Quantity of substance
If highly dependent data from multiple sources is merged, then comprehensive geographic information is achieved, but managing cross-country references becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data merging process by feature type and dependency level. Highly dependent features like road networks are handled separately from independent features like business information. This segmentation simplifies reference management by treating different data categories with appropriate strategies, reducing the complexity of managing cross-country references while maintaining comprehensive geographic information.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the invention relate generally to updating interconnected feature data stored in a repository while maintaining highly consistent views of the data. More specifically, aspects relate to updating some features in bulk while providing for incremental updates for others which are not completely independent of the bulk edits. Features which may be updated incrementally may contain references to other features and may be validated on an as-needed basis. These “incremental” features may also be associated with “backreferences,” which link two features together and are used in the validation process. For example, where feature A contains a link to feature B and feature B does not also include a link to feature A, if any edits are performed on feature B, a backreference may direct the server to determine whether the references in A are still consistent with the edits to B before the edit goes into a live state.