Patent Publication Number: US-9886674-B2

Title: Describing a paradigmatic member of a task directed community in a complex heterogeneous environment based on non-linear attributes

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of computers, and specifically to the use of computers in allocating human resources. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to the use of computers in allocating human resources through the use of non-linear attributes of human resources. In one embodiment, the present disclosure operates within the environment of computerized databases. 
     SUMMARY 
     A computer implemented method, system, and/or computer program product define a paradigmatic member of a known task directed community. A processor marks non-linear attributes of each member of a known cohort by marking fields associated with the non-linear attributes in a database used to store information about members of the known cohort, where the known cohort is a task directed community that has a known agenda, where each of the non-linear attributes is individually unrelated to the known agenda, and where there is no logical nexus between any of the non-linear attributes and a particular person&#39;s membership in the known cohort. The processor utilizes marked fields in the database to identify common non-linear attributes that are shared by multiple members of the known cohort, and defines a paradigmatic member of the known cohort based on the common non-linear attributes of the members of the known cohort and at least one constraint on the known cohort. The processor maps the paradigmatic member of the known cohort to the common non-linear attributes of the members of the known cohort and the at least one constraint on the known cohort for storage of same, and tags the paradigmatic member in the database for future retrieval. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts an exemplary computer in which the present disclosure may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  is a high level flow chart of one or more steps taken by a processor to create and store a paradigmatic member of a known cohort; and 
         FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  illustrate exemplary sets of attributes for known members in a known cohort. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including, but not limited to, wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     With reference now to the figures, and in particular to  FIG. 1 , there is depicted a block diagram of an exemplary computer  102 , which may be utilized by the present invention. Note that some or all of the exemplary architecture, including both depicted hardware and software, shown for and within computer  102  may be utilized by software deploying server  150 , cohort computer  152 , and/or attributes server  154 . 
     Computer  102  includes a processor  104  that is coupled to a system bus  106 . Processor  104  may utilize one or more processors, each of which has one or more processor cores. A video adapter  108 , which drives/supports a display  110 , is also coupled to system bus  106 . System bus  106  is coupled via a bus bridge  112  to an input/output (I/O) bus  114 . An I/O interface  116  is coupled to I/O bus  114 . I/O interface  116  affords communication with various I/O devices, including a keyboard  118 , a mouse  120 , a media tray  122  (which may include storage devices such as CD-ROM drives, multi-media interfaces, etc.), a printer  124 , and external USB port(s)  126 . While the format of the ports connected to I/O interface  116  may be any known to those skilled in the art of computer architecture, in one embodiment some or all of these ports are universal serial bus (USB) ports. 
     As depicted, computer  102  is able to communicate with a software deploying server  150  using a network interface  130 . Network  128  may be an external network such as the Internet, or an internal network such as an Ethernet or a virtual private network (VPN). 
     A hard drive interface  132  is also coupled to system bus  106 . Hard drive interface  132  interfaces with a hard drive  134 . In one embodiment, hard drive  134  populates a system memory  136 , which is also coupled to system bus  106 . System memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memory in computer  102 . This volatile memory includes additional higher levels of volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cache memory, registers and buffers. Data that populates system memory  136  includes computer  102 &#39;s operating system (OS)  138  and application programs  144 . 
     OS  138  includes a shell  140 , for providing transparent user access to resources such as application programs  144 . Generally, shell  140  is a program that provides an interpreter and an interface between the user and the operating system. More specifically, shell  140  executes commands that are entered into a command line user interface or from a file. Thus, shell  140 , also called a command processor, is generally the highest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as a command interpreter. The shell provides a system prompt, interprets commands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, and sends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of the operating system (e.g., a kernel  142 ) for processing. Note that while shell  140  is a text-based, line-oriented user interface, the present invention will equally well support other user interface modes, such as graphical, voice, gestural, etc. 
     As depicted, OS  138  also includes kernel  142 , which includes lower levels of functionality for OS  138 , including providing essential services required by other parts of OS  138  and application programs  144 , including memory management, process and task management, disk management, and mouse and keyboard management. 
     Application programs  144  include a renderer, shown in exemplary manner as a browser  146 . Browser  146  includes program modules and instructions enabling a world wide web (WWW) client (i.e., computer  102 ) to send and receive network messages to the Internet using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messaging, thus enabling communication with software deploying server  150  and other computer systems. 
     Application programs  144  in computer  102 &#39;s system memory (as well as software deploying server  150 &#39;s system memory) also include a paradigmatic cohort member defining logic (PCMDL)  148 . PCMDL  148  includes code for implementing the processes described below, including those described in  FIGS. 2-4 . In one embodiment, computer  102  is able to download PCMDL  148  from software deploying server  150 , including in an on-demand basis, wherein the code in PCMDL  148  is not downloaded until needed for execution to define and/or implement the improved enterprise architecture described herein. Note further that, in one embodiment of the present invention, software deploying server  150  performs all of the functions associated with the present invention (including execution of PCMDL  148 ), thus freeing computer  102  from having to use its own internal computing resources to execute PCMDL  148 . 
     The hardware elements depicted in computer  102  are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlight essential components required by the present invention. For instance, computer  102  may include alternate memory storage devices such as magnetic cassettes, digital versatile disks (DVDs), Bernoulli cartridges, and the like. These and other variations are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a high level flow chart of one or more steps taken by a processor to create and store a paradigmatic member of a known cohort is presented. After initiator block  202 , members of a known cohort, which has a known agenda, are identified (block  204 ). One example of a cohort, including a known cohort, is a task directed community, such as a political action group, a community services group, a social club, etc. Their known agenda may be deduced from the cohort&#39;s mission statement, press releases, affiliation with other organizations, websites, publications, contributions, conferences, etc. For example, assume that the known cohort (task directed community) is a highway beautification club that is dedicated to picking up garbage from public highways. The members can be identified by a membership roster of the club. If the club is more loosely organized, then members can be identified by mass e-mailings from a leader of the club, mailing lists, web-posted sign-in sheets to meetings, etc. 
     As described in block  206 , non-obvious or even unrelated attributes (i.e., non-linear attributes) of each member of the cohort are identified and supplied by a computer, such as cohort computer  152  shown in  FIG. 1 , as received from an attribute source, such as attributes server  154 . The non-linear attributes may be marked/identified by marking a field in a database that is used to store information about members of the cohort. The non-linear attributes are defined as attributes that are each, individually, logically unrelated to the known agenda of the cohort. For example, assume that a member of the highway beautification club has the following attributes: 1) a college degree; 2) a subscription to a national newspaper; 3) at least one dependant; and 4) an annual income of less than $40,000/year. There is no logical nexus between any or all of these attributes and the fact that this person is a member of a cohort devoted to highway beautification. Nonetheless, if one or more non-linear attributes are shared by members of the known cohort (block  208 ), then a paradigmatic member can be defined based on these non-linear attributes and at least one constraint (block  210 ). This paradigmatic member is defined as a modeled person that has an interest/capacity/ability to be a participating member of that known cohort (or a similar cohort having a similar agenda/constraints), subject to a specific combination of non-linear attributes and at least one constraint. 
     The constraint is a requirement of the cohort itself. Exemplary constraints are that members live within a predefined geographical area (i.e., within a predetermined radius of a meeting location of the cohort), that each member has some predetermined license/credential necessary for participating in the activities of the cohort, that the members are all over a certain age, etc. Thus, once a candidate paradigmatic member is defined based on his/her non-linear attributes (which are unrelated to the agenda of the cohort), then this candidate paradigmatic member may be further filtered out based on the linear constraints of the cohort itself. 
     In order to determine what describes a paradigmatic member from known members of the cohort, in one embodiment a Bayesian analysis is used. This Bayesian analysis assumes that a new candidate member for either the known cohort or a new (but similar) cohort is being considered for membership. For example, assume that A represents the event that a candidate being considered will be a good member of a new cohort that is similar to a known cohort, and B represents the event that the candidate has the same attributes as a paradigmatic member of the known cohort. This results in the Bayesian probability formula of: 
               P   ⁡     (     A   |   B     )       =         P   ⁡     (     B   |   A     )       *     P   ⁡     (   A   )           P   ⁡     (   B   )               
where:
 
P(A|B) is the probability that a candidate person will be a good member of a similar cohort (A) given that (|) the new person has the same attributes as the paradigmatic member (B);
 
P(B|A) is the probability that a known member of the known cohort has the same attributes as the paradigmatic member;
 
P(A) is probability that the candidate person will be a good member of the similar cohort regardless of any other information; and
 
P(B) is the probability that the new person will have the same attributes as the paradigmatic member regardless of any other information.
 
     For example, assume that three out of four members (Members I-IV) of the known cohort had the same attributes as a paradigmatic member that has been defined as holding Attributes 2-3, as shown in section  302  of Table  300  shown in  FIG. 3 . Thus, P(B|A)=3 out of 4=0.75. Assume also that the odds that the new person will be a good member of the known or a similar cohort regardless of any other information (P(A)) is 0.10, and that the probability that the new person will have the same attributes (Attributes 1 and 2) as the paradigmatic member regardless of any other information (P(B)) is 0.12. The probability that a candidate person will be a good member of the similar cohort given that the candidate person has the same attributes as the paradigmatic member is 62%: 
     
       
         
           
             
               P 
               ⁡ 
               
                 ( 
                 
                   A 
                   | 
                   B 
                 
                 ) 
               
             
             = 
             
               
                 
                   .75 
                   * 
                   .10 
                 
                 .12 
               
               = 
               .62 
             
           
         
       
     
     However, if all four members of the known cohort held the same attributes as the paradigmatic member (P(B|A)=1.0), as shown in section  402  of Table  400  shown in  FIG. 4 , then the probability that a candidate person will be a good member of the similar cohort, given that the candidate person has the same attributes as the paradigmatic member, is now 83%: 
               P   ⁡     (     A   |   B     )       =         1.0   *   .10     .12     =   .83           
Thus, shared non-linear attributes among more members increase the accuracy of describing a paradigmatic member. Similarly, an increase in the number of shared attributes among members also increases the accuracy of describing a paradigmatic member (P(A|B)), since members of the known cohort sharing more attributes causes the probability that a candidate person (for the known cohort or a similar cohort) will have the same attributes as the paradigmatic member regardless of any other information (P(B)) to decrease. Therefore, in one embodiment, a minimum number of common non-linear attributes for members of the known cohort are defined, such that the definition of the paradigmatic member is limited to a person holding at least the defined minimum number of common non-linear attributes.
 
     Returning to  FIG. 2 , once the paradigmatic member is defined, this paradigmatic member is mapped to the common non-linear attributes of members of the known cohort and the constraint of the cohort, and is stored for future use (block  212 ). In one embodiment, this mapping includes adding a tag to the entry for the paradigmatic member for ease of future retrieval. For example, assume that, based on the known agenda and constraints on the known cohort, members of the known cohort hold a individual interest in public beautification (which is pre-defined as including painting building murals, planting trees in public spaces, picking up garbage from public spaces and roadways, working to restrict billboard locations, etc.). A tag, such as a descriptor text, is added to the entry for the paradigmatic member. An exemplary tag/descriptor text may be “public beautification.” Thus, when another cohort, which is devoted to public beautification in any of the exemplary embodiments just described, is searching for new members, that other cohort may search for the tag “public beautification” to locate the appropriate paradigmatic member model. The process ends at terminator block  214 . 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of various embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 
     Note further that any methods described in the present disclosure may be implemented through the use of a VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) program and a VHDL chip. VHDL is an exemplary design-entry language for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), and other similar electronic devices. Thus, any software-implemented method described herein may be emulated by a hardware-based VHDL program, which is then applied to a VHDL chip, such as a FPGA. 
     Having thus described embodiments of the invention of the present application in detail and by reference to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.