Patent ID: 6427142
Filing Date: 2002-07-30
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A computer-based intelligent agent for modeling an interface between a system and a user performing a pre-defined function in connection with the system, the intelligent agent comprising:an instance structure representative of a current problem instance; a perceptual process for executing a plurality of perception knowledge structures, each perception knowledge structure being representative of information that must be perceived from the system, the perception knowledge structure including sub-structures for obtaining information from the system and for updating the instance structure with the obtained information, and wherein the perceptual knowledge structures translate external events into symbolic representations and establish connections to previously acquired perceptual knowledge; a cognitive process for executing goal-based and hierarchically-organized procedural knowledge components, the procedural knowledge components including task performance structures, wherein each task performance structure includes a goal hierarchy having a single top-level goal and a number of sub-goals, and wherein the goal-based and hierarchically-organized procedural knowledge components are executed by matching patterns against sub-goal preconditions, each task performance structure being representative of a task the intelligent agent can be called on to perform, the task performance structure including sub-structures for accessing the instance structure to obtain instance information and for modifying instance information in the instance structure, each task performance structure having a triggering condition for triggering the task performance structure, the triggering condition being based on a current state of the instance structure as updated by the perception structures; and an attention process for determining how procedural knowledge components compete for attention and for calculating a dynamic priority for each competing procedural knowledge component, including the currently executing procedural knowledge component, to determine a highest momentary priority, the attention process allocating the cognitive process to begin or continue execution of the procedural knowledge component having the highest momentary priority.