Tree Form-Factor Computation for Fast Hierarchical Subtree Search
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Searching for large sample sub-trees in hierarchical trees becomes inefficient and time-consuming as databases grow, particularly in applications like enterprise database applications and cloud-based concurrent processing, where operations such as comparing tree structures and searching become prohibitively expensive.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method involving two top-down passes to determine universal numbers and form factors for each node in a tree, where form factors include depth and width, and are stored as node metadata or in a separate table, facilitating efficient tree search and comparison operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional tree search methods are used on large hierarchical trees, then completeness of search is maintained, but search time becomes prohibitively long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-computes form factors (depth and width) for each node in the tree during an initial pass before the actual search operation. This preliminary calculation of structural characteristics allows the search algorithm to quickly filter and identify candidate nodes without performing exhaustive searches, thereby reducing search time while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces form factors (depth and width parameters) as new characteristics for tree nodes. By computing and utilizing these additional parameters, the search algorithm can efficiently prune the search space by comparing form factors of candidate nodes with the target pattern, significantly improving search efficiency without sacrificing search completeness.
2Reliability
If exhaustive search of all nodes is performed, then all matching subtrees are found, but the computational cost becomes too expensive for large trees
Solution Approach 1:
The patent computes form factors (depth and width) for each node and uses these parameters to filter candidate nodes during the search process. By comparing the form factors of candidate nodes with the target pattern's form factors, the algorithm can eliminate non-matching nodes without performing full subtree comparisons, thereby reducing computational cost while maintaining search completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs a partial search by first filtering candidate nodes based on form factor matching, and then performing detailed subtree comparison only on the filtered candidates. This two-stage approach performs less work than exhaustive search while ensuring all true matches are found, thus reducing computational cost without sacrificing reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method to determine form factors of a tree includes building an input tree, wherein the input tree includes nodes. The method further includes implementing a first top-down pass to determine a universal number for each node in the input tree. The method further includes implementing a second top-down pass to determine form factors for each node of the input tree, wherein a form factor includes a depth and a width of the tree with a root in a corresponding node. The method further includes storing the form factors as part of node metadata or in a separate table.