Patent · US Expired

Hierarchical knowledge system

US4591983A · kind A · utility

227Cited by
7References
70Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 9, 1984
Grant dateMay 27, 1986
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 9, 2004

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T29/53013
  • WIPO fieldIT methods for management
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A knowledge system has a hierarchical knowledge base comprising a functional decomposition of a set of elements into subsets over a plurality of hierarchical levels, a plurality of predefined functions or conditions of the elements within the subsets of a plurality of the hierarchical levels, and a predefined set of operations to perform on a user-defined set of elements responsive to the functional knowledge base. Preferably, the knowledge base is defined declaratively by assigning parent sets to offspring subsets to define the hierarchy, by indicating the conditions of the subsets which satisfy the predefined functions and by writing task blocks in an imperative language defining the sequence of operations to perform on the user-defined set of elements. Preferably the operations include matching, configuring and expanding the user-defined set of elements into the defined subsets of individual elements and evaluating the predefined functions, and the operations are executed recursively. In a specific embodiment the elements are available components for a system or item of manufacture, and the subsets of elements are sub-assemblies or functionally related components. The predefined…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.