Showing papers on "Ontology-based data integration published in 1996"

A Requirement Ontology for Engineering Design

Abstract: We present an ontology for representing requirements that supports a generic requirements management process in engineering design domain The requirement ontology we propose is a part of a more gen...

A framework for event-based software integration

Abstract: Although event-based software integration is one of the most prevalent approaches to loose integration, no consistent model for describing it exists. As a result, there is no uniform way to discuss event-based integration, compare approaches and implementations, specify new event-based approaches, or match user requirements with the capabilities of event-based integration systems. We attempt to address these shortcomings by specifying a generic framework for event-based integration, the EBI framework, that provides a flexible, object-oriented model for discussing and comparing event-based integration approaches. The EBI framework can model dynamic and static specification, composition, and decomposition and can be instantiated to describe the features of most common event-based integration approaches. We demonstrate how to use the framework as a reference model by comparing and contrasting three well-known integration systems: FIELD, Polylith, and CORBA.

An ontology for fault diagnosis in electrical networks

Abstract: This paper presents an ontology to represent the electrical network from the point of view of diagnosis, ie, an ontology of the elements of the network that are necessary for fault diagnosis The notion of 'ontology', rooted in philosophy, is used in knowledge engineering to describe explicit specifications of conceptualizations, where a conceptualization is a set of definitions of elements in a domain It is a useful notion in knowledge based systems development because it provides the means for describing explicitly the conceptualization behind the knowledge represented in a knowledge base An ontology, in this case for fault diagnosis, is a combination of small-scale ontologies After a detailed analysis of the network and its behaviour, five viewpoints were identified as relevant for diagnosis We generated an ontology for each to characterize more accurately and clearly the elements involved in the problem Each of them focuses on different relevant aspects of the network and has a compact body of knowledge and a clear meaning in the problem They are identified as transport, control, events, alarms, and trips Each is discussed by the authors in relation to fault diagnosis

The configuration design ontologies and the VT elevator domain theory

Abstract: In the VT/Sisyphus experiment, a set of problem solving systems were being built against a common specification of a problem. An important hypothesis was that the specification could be given, in large part, as a common ontology. This article is that ontology. This ontology is different than normal software specification documents in two fundamental ways. First, it is formal and machine readable (i.e. in the KIF/Ontolingua syntax). Second, the descriptions of the input and output of the task to be performed include domain knowledge (i.e. about elevator configuration) that characterize semantic constraints on possible solutions, rather than describing the form (data structure) of the answer. The article includes an overview of the conceptualization, excerpts from the machine-readable Ontolingua source files, and pointers to the complete ontology library available on the Internet.

On the reusability of ontologies in knowledge-system design

Abstract: The authors describe a case study which supports the claim that ontologies are reusable components in the design of knowledge systems. An ontology documents important domain assumptions which would otherwise remain implicit. Whereas a conceptual (or formal) system specification differs between different knowledge systems (even in the same domain), they show the underlying ontology to be invariant. This makes ontologies reusable for knowledge-system design. They illustrate this by discussing how a single legal ontology has been used for the construction of both a planning and an assessment system and argue that the same ontology can be reused for other knowledge systems as well.

An Application of Ontology Construction

Abstract: An important recent idea to facilitate knowledge sharing is to provide libraries of reusable components (models, ontologies) to end users. However, when libraries become large, nding the right library components is a knowledge demanding task in itself. Our suggestion therefore is that methods will be needed that help the user to gradually construct such knowledge. This paper describes a framework how to do this for reasoning in technical domains. We then show how an ontology can be incrementally constructed with our framework, for the domain of physical systems. We will see that mapping ontologies, ontologies that deene interrelationships between other ontologies, play an important role in this construction process.

Ontology Construction for Technical Domains

Abstract: An important recent idea to facilitate knowledge sharing is to provide libraries of reusable components (models, ontologies) to end users. However, when libraries become large, finding the right library components is a knowledge demanding task in itself. Our suggestion therefore is that methods will be needed that help the user to gradually construct such knowledge. This paper describes a framework how to do this for reasoning in technical domains. We then show how an application ontology can be incrementally constructed with our framework, for the domain of heat exchangers.

Formal and Material Ontology

Abstract: We owe the concept of formal ontology to Husserl, who called it the ‘formal theory’ of objects. However, the concept of formal as used by Husserl in his definition should not be understood in the conventional sense, since in his thought ‘formal’ is equivalent to ‘categorial’; it is closely connected with the structures of the intentional acts and, as we shall see, has morphodynamic implications.

A Fuzzy Thesaurus for Semantic Integration of Design Schemes

Abstract: Several designers should have to work together on the design of the same part of the real world. Maybe because of the extent of the work to be done, maybe to take into account knowledge from several designers, from several application domains: all these people do not perceive the real world in the same way. The integration goal is to obtain the richest view of the part of the real world under study.

Dynamic Integration in Multidatabase Systems

Abstract: The first step in interoperating among multidatabases is semantic integration: Producing attribute correspondences that describe relationships between attributes or classes in different database schemas. Dynamic integration requires the ability to automatically extract database semantics, express them as metadata, and match semantically equivalent data elements to produce attribute correspondences. This process can not be “pre-programmed†since the information to be accessed is heterogeneous. In this paper we present an architecture supporting dynamic integration. We first overview a tool, Semint, for automated semantic integration that helps database administrators generate attribute correspondences. We then introduce a novel framework for dynamic integration and a query language for multidatabase systems that uses Semint as part of a complete semantic integration service. Our framework supports dynamic integration as well as incremental integration. We show the advantages of our framework in an environment where full integration is not desired or complete knowledge of the databases to be integrated is unavailable.

Ontology Specification and Integration Facilities in a Semantic Interoperation

Abstract: The proposed procedure for searching the resources with application relevant capabilities is based on the ontological context coherence and semantical similarity of resource/application specifications This approach is based on natural language definition of each concept and on calculation of concepts correlation based on associations between vectors of verbal terms used for the concepts definitions Thus the core of the man — machine procedure for the ontological integration is formed A scenario for the integration of ontological specifications had been developed The use of the workbench for ontological module integration is based on this scenario and has been demonstrated on an example The architecture of the workbench prototype is designed around the idea of distributed objects interoperation technically based on CORBA

A layered operational model for describing inter-tool communication in tool integration frameworks

Abstract: Integration frameworks for building software engineering environments provide at least data, control and presentation integration facilities, together with integration devices which afford access to these facilities by the tools which populate the framework. Typically, an integration device is a specially developed language, or extension to an existing language, in which the integration programmer specifies the desired interactions between the tools comprising the software engineering environment. Surprisingly little effort has been applied to assessing the expressiveness of integration languages, even though the power of such a language limits the level of integration a tool can achieve within the environment. Our work seeks to provide an approach to both assessing and comparing the expressiveness of the integration devices of a range of commercial and research products. The paper presents a layered operational model, based on information structures; this model has been developed for describing the semantics of the inter-tool communication features of integration devices in a precise manner, and in a manner which will facilitate such assessment and comparison.

An Integration Method for Design Schemas

Abstract: The complexity of databases is increasing continually. The work of several designers become necessary. Therefore it is interesting to improve the design process with a new phase devoted to information integration, in order to take into account the designers'viewpoints. In this paper, we present an integration process which allows similarities to be discovered between the schemas under study. It works on object-oriented schemas. Whenever possible, we propose several results for the integration of two given schemas. This then makes it possible to choose the one which is the best adapted to the working context, amongst the result schemas. When design schemas are being integrated, the structural, but also and above all, the semantic part of the schemas are studied. To represent the semantic of the words which are used in a schema, we have defined a model of thesaurus drawn from the domain dealing with the meaning of words: linguistics.

A Business Process Oriented Approach to Data Integration

Abstract: In most of today’s companies we find heterogeneous database systems containing redundant and inconsistent data. This threatens the ability to make coordinated, organization-wide responses to business problems. Although benefits of data integration need not dominate the costs, we argue that some kind of common understanding of data structures is an absolute must. Thus, data integration is necessary at least to some degree. In literature, only technical aspects of schema integration are treated. Also, the complexity issue (large schemata are hard to understand) is usually not treated explicitly. We present a business process oriented strategy for data integration. This method allows the determination of the order and the degree of integration. Complexity is reduced by schema clustering during the pre-integration phase.

Conceptual Integration using Wrapped Applications

Abstract: This paper describes how object-oriented concepts can be used throughout system development for integration purposes. Based on the distinction of physical and conceptual integration the concept of object wrapping is discussed for the integration of non-object-oriented systems. By regarding applications as high-level objects, i.e. wrapped applications, integration is achieved by modelling so-called integration relationships between these wrapped applications. While in conceptual integration redundancy and message passing relationships are specified, in physical integration message passing relationships only are implemented. The paper finally outlines theactivities of the conceptual integration process.

A flexible integration framework for software tool interoperability

Abstract: Current trend of constructing new systems from collections of pre-existing third-party tools and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software presents serious challenges to existing integration technology. The unique constraints of third-party software, the interactive, autonomous nature of most of today's software applications, and the increasingly emphasized new integration requirements are among the major reasons for causing this difficulty. This dissertation presents a flexible integration framework which has general applicability for pre-existing tools and COTS software, supports users to easily change the way software interact with each other (thus supporting flexible integration, system evolution and component reusability), and is easily programmable by the end-users. The framework consists of four major substrates: (1) A dynamic interoperability model which separates interaction relationship from tools and provides implicit communication and dynamic binding for managing independence and flexibility of the interaction relationship. This forms the conceptual base for our framework; (2) A black box integration approach called implicit tool encapsulation which extends the traditional integration interfaces to graphical user interface and system interface, and uses passive, implicit, system-centered mechanism for tool encapsulation; (3) A general methodology for tool integration which is derived from the dynamic interoperability model and implicit tool encapsulation approach, and is applicable for pre-existing third-party tool and COTS software; (4) A language called Tool Integration Language (TIL) which has the capability of accessing the functionality of tools through their user interface as well as other interfaces, and it can be used to describe the user's interaction between tools and the interaction between tools themselves. This provides necessary integration language for our framework and de-couples the integration policy from the mechanism. A prototype system--Tool Integration Server System (TISS) has been constructed which supports TIL glue code generation and execution, and provides flexible integration mechanisms for our framework. By instantiating the general integration methodology with TIL language and TISS system, it generates a flexible and practical integration approach for integrating pre-existing, GUI-based, interactive tools without any source code modification.