CLAMP : application merging in the ECOIN context mediation system using the context linking approach

Integrating data from heterogeneous data sources means dealing with context differences. That is, differences in the assumptions that are made regarding format and interpretation of the data. The Context Interchange (COIN) group has developed a formalism to describe the context assumptions of data sources and data receivers. An ECOIN application ties various sources together by being mapping them to a common ontology, or domain model. ECOIN applications allow the context differences between data sources to be resolved through context mediation. Users may then desire to merge together multiple ECOIN applications so that context differences across a much wider range of sources can be resolved with minimal additional effort. Accordingly, the work of this thesis focuses on the problem of merging ECOIN applications. The approach to merging discussed herein is termed context-linking. Context-linking allows the merging of ECOIN applications with minimal effort having to be spent on merging the ontologies of the two applications. This is achieved by employing a virtual approach to ontology merging that gives the appearance of a merged ontology. This thesis describes the merging process, presents a detailed case study, demonstrates the benefits of merging and presents the design for CLAMP, a tool that facilitates ECOIN application merging.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Kaleem, M. Bilal (Mohammad Bilal), 1980-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Stuart Madnick.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28463

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28463