An intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

Intelligent Automated Assistant

In this Chapter, we imagine a decision maker (or a group of experts) trying to establish or examine fair procedures to combine opinions about alternatives related to different points of view.

Multiple criteria decision making

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides a flexible framework for service composition Using standard-based protocols (such as SOAP and WSDL), composite services can be constructed by integrating atomic services developed independently Algorithms are needed to select service components with various QoS levels according to some application-dependent performance requirements We design a broker-based architecture to facilitate the selection of QoS-based services The objective of service selection is to maximize an application-specific utility function under the end-to-end QoS constraints The problem is modeled in two ways: the combinatorial model and the graph model The combinatorial model defines the problem as a multidimension multichoice 0-1 knapsack problem (MMKP) The graph model defines the problem as a multiconstraint optimal path (MCOP) problem Efficient heuristic algorithms for service processes of different composition structures are presented in this article and their performances are studied by simulations We also compare the pros and cons between the two models

Efficient algorithms for Web services selection with end-to-end QoS constraints

A method, system and apparatus for a mobile web (210)is presented. In one embodiment, the invention is a method of operating a web application.The method includes receiving a request from a client (210). The method further includes processing the request with a web emulator. The method also includes servicing the request from available data.

Method, apparatus and system for a mobile web client

A business process model (100) pertaining to an application product (102) is associated with a set of views that illustrate the realization of the business process in the appplication product (102). Further, the business process model is displayed to the user together with the set of views to enhance the user's understanding of the business process provided by the application product (102).

Method and apparatus to facilitate development of a customer-specific business process model

The paradigmatic shift from a Web of manual interactions to a Web of programmatic interactions driven by Web services is creating unprecedented opportunities for the formation of online business-to-business (B2B) collaborations. In particular, the creation of value-added services by composition of existing ones is gaining a significant momentum. Since many available Web services provide overlapping or identical functionality, albeit with different quality of service (QoS), a choice needs to be made to determine which services are to participate in a given composite service. This paper presents a middleware platform which addresses the issue of selecting Web services for the purpose of their composition in a way that maximizes user satisfaction expressed as utility functions over QoS attributes, while satisfying the constraints set by the user and by the structure of the composite service. Two selection approaches are described and compared: one based on local (task-level) selection of services and the other based on global allocation of tasks to services using integer programming.

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QoS-aware middleware for Web services composition

A system and method for supporting Product Lifecycle Management over a distributed service network topology that connects a hierarchy of functional domains, each domain having a service ontology and one or more service composition schemas defined by the service ontology. Each service composition schema models a business process in its domain. Descriptions of services provided to each domain are published to a service repository by providers of the services, in conformity with one of the service composition schemas. There is a business process proxy provided by the service provider for each service description, which encapsulates for public access the internal processes of the service provider. The invention makes use of an event messaging protocol that enables service collaboration and ad-hoc workflow composition. Each business process is implemented by an ad-hoc workflow comprised of one or more tasks connected by one or more business rules. For each business process there is a business flow manager that dynamically composes ad-hoc workflow prior to execution and dynamically modifies the ad-hoc workflow as the business process executes. The business flow manager uses backward-chain inferencing and then forward-chain inferencing to generate the ad-hoc workflows, based on user identification of a target task. The business flow manager is able to stop execution of the workflow and regenerate a workflow for remaining tasks in response to events received over the network from service providers, and is also able to detect conflicts in the workflows at composition time and at execution time.

Method and apparatus for product lifecycle management in a distributed environment enabled by dynamic business process composition and execution by rule inference

Quality of Service (QoS) information for Web services is essential to QoS-aware service management and composition. Currently, most QoS-aware solutions assume that the QoS for component services is readily available, and that the QoS for composite services can be computed from the QoS for component services. The issue of how to obtain the QoS for component services has largely been overlooked. In this paper, we tackle this fundamental issue. We argue that most of QoS metrics can be observed/computed based on service operations. We present the design and implementation of a high-performance QoS monitoring system. The system is driven by a QoS observation model that defines IT- and business-level metrics and associated evaluation formulas. Integrated into the SOA infrastructure at large, the monitoring system can detect and route service operational events systemically. Further, a model-driven, hybrid compilation/interpretation approach is used in metric computation to process service operational events and maintain metrics efficiently. Experiments suggest that our system can support high event processing throughput and scales to the number of CPUs.

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Monitoring the QoS for Web Services

Mobile computing adds a new wrinkle to the ageold problem of caching. Today’s wireless links are both slow and expensive, and are not always available to a user. Therefore, when a mobile user is disconnected, a cache miss means (at best) a substantial cost in time and money, or (at worst) a complete halt to work if critical information has not been cached. Existing solutions to this problem rely on some combination of explicit hoard profiles and spying on a user’s file accesses. Neither of these approaches is ideal in terms of reliability or user-friendliness. Our solution might be called transparent analytical spying. Instead of simply recording a list of file accesses, we analyze program executions and tie them to specific files. By observing multiple executions of a program, we are able to build sets of files associated with each program, and can heuristically separate application files from user files. We can then present a high-level view to the user that is similar to loading a briefcase. We have an implementation of our hoarding tool running under OS/2.

Intelligent file hoarding for mobile computers

In a previous paper [l], we described ARTour Web Express, a software system that makes it possible to run World Wide Web applications over wide-area wireless nehvorks. Our earlier paper discussed how our system significantly reduces user cost and response time during online browsing over wireless communications links. Even with these savings, however, users may experience slow performance. This is a result of the inherent delay of wireless communication coupled with congestion in the Internet and Web servers, which cannot be masked Corn users under the synchronous request/response model of browsing. Furthermore, disconnection - both voluntary and involuntary - is common in the mobile environment, and the standard browsing model provides no support for disconnected operation. This paper describes how ARTour Web Express has been enhanced to support both disconnected and asynchronous operation.

Henry Chang

Papers

QoS-aware middleware for Web services composition

Method and apparatus for product lifecycle management in a distributed environment enabled by dynamic business process composition and execution by rule inference

Monitoring the QoS for Web Services

Intelligent file hoarding for mobile computers

Web browsing in a wireless environment: disconnected and asynchronous operation in ARTour Web Express