Semantic Abstraction for Hierarchical Data Querying
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current Business Intelligence tools lack the ability to effectively access and analyze hierarchical data sources such as XML files and streaming data without requiring users to understand the underlying data structure, limiting their ability to create meaningful queries and reports.
Innovation Solution
A computer-readable storage medium with executable instructions that generates an entity relationship model and defines a semantic abstraction for hierarchical data, allowing users to define abstract business element terms and compute an execution plan to retrieve and process data from hierarchical data sources, enabling the creation of meaningful queries and reports without understanding the underlying data structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users query hierarchical data sources directly, then data accessibility is improved, but user complexity increases as users must understand the underlying data structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a semantic abstraction layer as an intermediary between users and hierarchical data sources. This abstraction layer includes concept definitions, relationship definitions, and query execution mechanisms that translate user-friendly queries into data source-specific queries, eliminating the need for users to understand the underlying XML or hierarchical structure while maintaining accurate data access and analysis capabilities
2Ease of operation
If semantic abstractions are created for relational data, then ease of querying is improved, but adaptability worsens as the system cannot handle hierarchical data sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends semantic abstraction technology from relational data to hierarchical data sources including XML files, RSS feeds, and web services. The system creates unified semantic abstractions that can represent concepts, relationships, and queries across different data source types, enabling a single query interface to access diverse hierarchical data sources while maintaining ease of use and data accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to receive hierarchical data. A schema for the hierarchical data is also received. An entity relationship model for the hierarchical data is generated. A semantic abstraction associated with the entity relationship model is defined. An abstract term representing an underlying data element within the hierarchical data represented by the semantic abstraction is also defined.