Patents by Inventor Volker G. Markl

Volker G. Markl has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8812486
    Abstract: A method for approximating a validity range for a domain of cardinalities of input to an optimal query plan is provided. Such a validity range is iteratively approximated using a modified Newton-Raphson method to find roots of cost functions for optimal and alternative query plans, respectively. The Newton-Raphson method is combined with a method of incrementing roots of cost functions, known as input cardinalities, such that discontinuous and non-differentiable points in cost functions are avoided. In this manner, input cardinalities remain within a domain for which a valid range can be specified. Additionally, a robustness measure is determined by a sensitivity analysis performed on an approximated validity range. Using a robustness measure provided by a sensitivity analysis and resultant validity range and, query plan sub-optimality detection is simplified, re-optimization is selectively triggered, and robustness information is provided to a system or user performing corrective actions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: International Businesss Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Volker G. Markl, Vijayshankar Raman
  • Patent number: 7831592
    Abstract: An autonomic tool that supervises the collection and maintenance of database statistics for query optimization by transparently deciding what statistics to gather, when and in what detail to gather them. Feedback from data-driven statistics collection is simultaneously combined with feedback from query-driven learning-based statistics collection, to better process both rapidly changing data and data that is queried frequently. The invention monitors table activity and decides if the data in a table has changed sufficiently to require a refresh of invalid statistics. The invention determines if the invalidity is due to correlation between purportedly independent data, outdated statistics, or statistics that have too few frequent values. Tables and column groups are ranked in order of statistical invalidity, and a limited computational budget is prioritized by ranking subsequent gathering of improved statistics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Volker G. Markl, Peter Jay Haas, Ashraf Ismail Aboulnaga, Vijayashankar Raman, Felix Endres
  • Patent number: 7647293
    Abstract: A system and method of discovering dependencies between relational database column pairs and application of discoveries to query optimization is provided. For each candidate column pair remaining after simultaneously generating column pairs, pruning pairs not satisfying specified heuristic constraints, and eliminating pairs with trivial instances of correlation, a random sample of data values is collected. A candidate column pair is tested for the existence of a soft functional dependency (FD), and if a dependency is not found, statistically tested for correlation using a robust chi-squared statistic. Column pairs for which either a soft FD or a statistical correlation exists are prioritized for recommendation to a query optimizer, based on any of: strength of dependency, degree of correlation, or adjustment factor; statistics for recommended columns pairs are tracked to improve selectivity estimates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Paul Geoffrey Brown, Peter Jay Haas, Ihab F. Ilyas, Volker G. Markl
  • Publication number: 20090327323
    Abstract: Data integration in a data processing system is provided. A data mashup specification is received and an interleaved sequence of operations as defined by the data mashup specification is executed. The interleaved sequence of operations comprises at least one of an import operation, an augment operation, or a publish operation. In executing the interleaved sequence of operations a determination is made as to the next operation to execute. An outer context is formed and added to a binding context of the next operation. If the next operation is an import operation, a data resource is imported from a data source and an input generic feed is generated. If the next operation is an augment operation, a set of augmented generic feeds is produced from a set of input generic feeds. If the next operation is a publish operation, a new data resource is produced from a specified augmented generic feed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Mehmet Altinel, Volker G. Markl, David E. Simmen, Ashutosh Singh
  • Publication number: 20090271443
    Abstract: A method for detecting data attribute dependencies including obtaining at least one data attribute pair of a dataset to analyze for dependency, obtaining at least one query feedback record related to the data attribute pair, obtaining at least one observation of the data attribute pair from the query feedback record that includes a selectivity and at least one of a first marginal selectivity or a second marginal selectivity, completing the observation, if it does not include the first marginal selectivity and the second marginal selectivity, by estimating the missing marginal selectivity, adjusting the observation if needed to make it logically consistent among a plurality of observations of the data attribute pair, computing a statistic HM of the data attribute pair, determining whether the data attribute pair is dependent by comparing the statistic HM to a threshold value, determining a dependency measure of the data attribute pair by normalizing the statistic HM with respect to a normalizing factor, and sa
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2008
    Publication date: October 29, 2009
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter J. Haas, Fabian Hueske, Volker G. Markl
  • Publication number: 20080215531
    Abstract: A method for approximating a validity range for a domain of cardinalities of input to an optimal query plan is provided. Such a validity range is iteratively approximated using a modified Newton-Raphson method to find roots of cost functions for optimal and alternative query plans, respectively. The Newton-Raphson method is combined with a method of incrementing roots of cost functions, known as input cardinalities, such that discontinuous and non-differentiable points in cost functions are avoided. In this manner, input cardinalities remain within a domain for which a valid range can be specified. Additionally, a robustness measure is determined by a sensitivity analysis performed on an approximated validity range. Using a robustness measure provided by a sensitivity analysis and resultant validity range and, query plan sub-optimality detection is simplified, re-optimization is selectively triggered, and robustness information is provided to a system or user performing corrective actions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2008
    Publication date: September 4, 2008
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Volker G. Markl, Vijayshankar Raman
  • Publication number: 20080133454
    Abstract: An autonomic tool that supervises the collection and maintenance of database statistics for query optimization by transparently deciding what statistics to gather, when and in what detail to gather them. Feedback from data-driven statistics collection is simultaneously combined with feedback from query-driven learning-based statistics collection, to better process both rapidly changing data and data that is queried frequently. The invention monitors table activity and decides if the data in a table has changed sufficiently to require a refresh of invalid statistics. The invention determines if the invalidity is due to correlation between purportedly independent data, outdated statistics, or statistics that have too few frequent values. Tables and column groups are ranked in order of statistical invalidity, and a limited computational budget is prioritized by ranking subsequent gathering of improved statistics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: VOLKER G. MARKL, PETER JAY HAAS, ASHRAF ISMAIL ABOULNAGA, VIJAYSHANKAR RAMAN, FELIX ENDRES
  • Patent number: 7353219
    Abstract: “Determining Validity Ranges of Query Plans Based on Suboptimality” A method for approximating a validity range for a domain of cardinalities of input to an optimal query plan is provided. Such a validity range is iteratively approximated using a modified Newton-Raphson method to find roots of cost functions for optimal and alternative query plans, respectively. The Newton-Raphson method is combined with a method of incrementing roots of cost functions, known as input cardinalities, such that discontinuous and non-differentiable points in cost functions are avoided. In this manner, input cardinalities remain within a domain for which a valid range can be specified. Additionally, a robustness measure is determined by a sensitivity analysis performed on an approximated validity range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Volker G. Markl, Vijayshankar Raman