An approach to speeding up the Prolog-based inference engine KORE/IE

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an approach for speeding up the KORE/IE (Knowledge Oriented Reasoning Environment / Inference Engine) and discuss some features of the Prolog-based system. The main features provided by KORE/IE are (1)a mechanism of an inference engine on KORE, (2)cooperative problem solving among rule bases, and (3)a speedy inference mechanism. On Prolog, it is important to speed up inference engines without sacrificing flexible power for rule expressions. It is essential for constructing large scale application programs on the systems. In order to speed up the inference mechanism and realize the flexible rule expressions, we take advantage of a speedy refutation mechanism, partial evaluation techniques and fast searching for heads of clauses. At present, KORE/IE is implemented on C-Prolog and Quintus Prolog, and its efficiency of inferences is comparable with that of OPS5 on Franz Lisp.