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Query answering via cooperative data inference

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Abstract

This paper proposes the use of accessible information (data/knowledge) to infer inaccessible data in a distributed database system. Inference rules are extracted from databases by means of knowledge discovery techniques. These rules can derive inaccessible data due to a site failure or network partition in a distributed system. Such query answering requires combining incomplete and partial information from multiple sources. The derived answer may be exact or approximate. Our inference process involves two phases to reason with reconstructed information. One phase involves using local rules to infer inaccessible data. A second phase involves merging information from different sites. We shall call such reasoning processes cooperative data inference. Since the derived answer may be incomplete, new algebraic tools are developed for supporting operations on incomplete information. A weak criterion called toleration is introduced for evaluating the inferred results. The conditions that assure the correctness of combining partial results, known as sound inference paths, are developed. A solution is presented for terminating an iterative reasoning process on derived data from multiple knowledge sources. The proposed approach has been implemented on a cooperative distributed database testbed, CoBase, at UCLA. The experimental results validate the feasibility of this proposed concept and can significantly improve the availability of distributed knowledge base/database systems.

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Abbreviations

→:

Mapping

--<:

Logical implication

=:

Symbolic equality

==<:

Inference path

⊨:

Satisfaction

⊢:

Toleration

φ:

Undefined (does not exist)

δ:

Variable-null (may or may not exist)

≤* :

Subtuple relationship

∈* :

s-membership

\( \subseteq ^ *\) :

s-containment

≤∧ :

Open subtuple

∈∧ :

Open s-membership

\( \subseteq \wedge\) :

Open s-containment

φP :

Open base

P:

Program

I:

Interpretation

DIP:

Data inference program

t :

Tuples

R:

Relations

Ø:

Empty interpretation

∪∧ :

Open s-union

∩∧ :

Open s-interpretation

Ω:

Set of mapping from the set of objects to the set of closed objects

W:

Set of attributes

ΠW :

Set of sound inference paths on the set of attributes W

Δ:

Set of relational schemas in a DB that satisfy MVD

Δ+ :

Range closure of W wrt Δ

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, University of California, 3732 Boelter Hall, 90024, Los Angeles, CA

    Wesley W. Chu

  2. Hewlett Packard Research Labs, 94034, Palo Alto, CA

    Qiming Chen

  3. AT&T Bell Labs, 07748, Middletown, NJ

    Andy Hwang

Authors
  1. Wesley W. Chu
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  2. Qiming Chen
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  3. Andy Hwang
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Chu, W.W., Chen, Q. & Hwang, A. Query answering via cooperative data inference. J Intell Inf Syst 3, 57–87 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014020

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