The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 18, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 18, 1997
Maria F Fernandez, Cranford, NJ (US);
Dan Suciu, Mountainside, NJ (US);
AT&T Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for efficiently processing a database. A structure of the database is constructed into a schema which only includes those structures of the database that are known. Desired information to be extracted from the database is specified using path expressions and an automaton models the path expression. A composite automaton is generated based on the automaton and the schema. The composite automaton is pruned and portions of the database corresponding to the pruned automaton is searched to obtain the desired information. Points within the database may be identified to begin searching for the desired information. These points correspond to states of the composite automaton. A hybrid automaton may be formed for each set of possible starting states to determine completeness by simulating the hybrid automaton against the composite automaton.