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:
Aug. 12, 2003
Filed:
May. 30, 2001
Albert A. Hopeman, Arlington, MA (US);
Caleb E. Welton, Malden, MA (US);
Grant E. Hicks, Acton, MA (US);
Oracle International Corp., Redwood Shores, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for aggregating sparse data in a multidimensional array by using a composite join hierarchy created by segmenting the data so that each segment of the hierarchy processed is smaller and more likely to fit in memory. The method employs a recursive sub-cubing mechanism wherein an n-dimensional cube is broken into a number of (n−1)-dimensional cubes and each of those cubes are solved as (n−2)-dimensional cubes etc. Within each division, the processing is segmented by hierarchy level so a dimension with three hierarchy levels (for example, month-quarter-year) would form three separate subcubes with one less dimension. This algorithm produces one 'worklist' for every combination of hierarchy levels in the cube. Each of these worklists is represented as a bitmap of the cells contained within it and may be used as a basis of generating more aggregate worklists. To minimize the need for input-output data transfers, all the derived worklists of a single worklist are generated at the same time. This is accomplished without keeping more than n-worklists active at any given time to reduce the number of input-output data transfers needed without requiring substantially larger memory space.