Patent Publication Number: US-2017357906-A1

Title: Processing un-typed triple store data

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of data processing, and more particularly to processing un-typed string literal data in triples. 
     Data type information can improve the quality of data processing results. For example, data type information provides useful information when generating candidate answers in a question answering system. Unfortunately, when information appears in string literal form (e.g., in a database) data type information is generally unavailable. 
     Triple stores, where data is stored as a flat table of “triples” that each comprise a subject, predicate and object, offer a flexible alternative to relational databases. The subject and object are often referred to as “entities” and the predicate defines the (typically one-way) relationship between those entities. For example, the triples &lt;../resource/France&gt;&lt;../property/city&gt;&lt;../resource/Paris&gt; and &lt;../resource/France&gt;&lt;../property/city&gt;&lt;../resource/Lyon&gt; indicate that the entities ‘Paris’ and ‘Lyon’ are cities of the entity ‘France’. Triple stores provide increased flexibility and do not require the generation of schemas and linking tables previous to conducting information processing tasks on the stored data. 
     SUMMARY 
     A method, executed by a computer, includes determining within a collection of triples, triples that have a common first entity type and a common predicate to produce similar triples, determining similar triples that have a particular second entity type to produce matching triples, counting the similar triples and the matching triples to produce a similar triple count and a matching triple count, computing probability information based on the matching triple count and the similar triple count, and processing data based on the probability information. A computer system and computer program product corresponding to the method are also disclosed herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting one example of a cloud computing environment wherein at least one embodiment of the present invention may be deployed; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting one example of a data typing and processing method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a text diagram depicting one example of a collection of triples in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4A  is a text diagram depicting one example of a data type estimation algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 4B-4D  are text diagrams depicting one example of data processed according to the algorithm of  FIG. 4A  at various stages of processing; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram depicting one example of a computing apparatus (e.g., cloud computing node) suitable for executing the methods disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 6  depicts a cloud computing environment in accordance with to at least one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  depicts abstraction model layers in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments disclosed herein recognize that data type information is useful but is often unavailable. The embodiments disclosed herein also recognize that data type information can be estimated from similar data. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting one example of a cloud computing environment  100  wherein at least one embodiment of the present invention may be deployed. As depicted, the cloud computing environment  100  includes one or more user interface devices  110 , networks  120 , a cloud computing infrastructure  130  and various cloud services  140 . The cloud computing environment  100  supports a wide variety of data processing tasks. 
     The user interface devices  110  provide users with interfaces for interacting with computer applications and enable data communications on behalf of those users over the networks  120 . Examples of user interface devices include desktop computers and mobile computing devices such as tablets and mobile phones. Examples of the networks  120  include telephone networks and computer networks including intra-networks and inter-networks. In the depicted embodiment, users are able to access the services  140  hosted by the cloud computing infrastructure  130  via the networks  120 . 
     In the depicted embodiment, the services  140  include answer generation services  140 A, cognitive computing services  140 B, speech recognition services  140 C, data analysis services  140 D, and data storage services  140 E. By leveraging the speech recognition services  140 C, users may be able to use natural language to access other services  140  without requiring the use of a computer or display. 
     One challenge in using the various services  140  is that data sources (not shown) available via the networks  120  and/or the data storage services  140 E may not have data that is highly structured or characterized. In response thereto, much effort has been put into automatically determining data types for data elements. One approach to determining data type information is known as type clustering and induction. However, type clustering and induction requires training and is computationally expensive. Various embodiments disclosed herein address at least some of these issues. 
     For the purpose of simplicity and clarity, the following description describes finding type information for un-typed objects. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the described embodiments may also be used to find type information for un-typed subjects. For example, instances of subject, subject type, object and object type within the description may be replaced with object, object type, subject and subject type, respectively. Alternately, the terms subject and object may be replaced with first entity and second entity, respectively or vice versa. 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting one example of a data typing and processing method  200  in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. As depicted, the data typing and processing method  200  includes receiving ( 210 ) a collection of triples, determining ( 220 ) similar triples, determining ( 230 ) matching triples, counting ( 240 ) the similar triples and matching triples, determining ( 250 ) probability information based on the matching triple count(s) and the similar triple count(s), and processing ( 260 ) an un-typed object based on the probability information. The data typing and processing method  200  enables effective processing of triples that have un-typed objects. 
     Receiving ( 210 ) a collection of triples may include receiving data organized as triples with subjects, predicates, and objects. The subject and object data within the triples may be typed data. For example, some objects may reference a subject in one or more typing triples that defines one or more data types. For example, the triple “&lt;../resource/England&gt;, &lt;../property/capital&gt;, &lt;../resource/London&gt;” refers to the object “&lt;../resource/London&gt;” and the triples “&lt;../resource/London&gt;, &lt;../property/type&gt;, &lt;../class/City&gt;” and “&lt;../resource/London&gt;, &lt;../property/type&gt;, &lt;../resource/OlympicCities&gt;” define the two data types, namely “&lt;../class/City&gt;” and “&lt;../resource/OlympicCities&gt;” which the object “&lt;../resource/London&gt;” conforms to. The typing definitions enable effective processing of the data/information provided by the triple. 
     Determining ( 220 ) similar triples may include determining which triples in the collection of triples have a common subject and predicate. In some embodiments, all sets of similar triples within a collections of triples are identified. For example, the triples within a collection of triples may be sorted in order of subject and predicate (or vice versa) and clustered into, or assigned to, groups of similar triples. 
     Determining ( 230 ) matching triples may include determining which triples within each group of similar triples have a common object in addition to their common subject and predicate. For example, the triples within each group of similar triples may be sorted into object order and clustered into, or assigned to, groups of matching triples. Counting ( 240 ) the similar triples and matching triples may include counting the number of triples in each group of similar triples and matching triples. 
     Determining ( 250 ) probability information based on the matching triple count(s) and the similar triple count(s) may include computing probability information for each group of matching triples within a group of similar triples. In one embodiment, the probability is computed by dividing a matching triple count for each group of matching triples by count of the triples within the corresponding group of similar triples (i.e., the sum of matching triple counts for all the groups of matching triples within a group of similar triples). 
     Processing ( 260 ) data based on the probability information may include processing data within the collection of triples according to the probability information. The data may include un-typed subjects or objects for which a data type may be estimated. The probability information may be used to score candidate questions or answers in a question answering system or some other type of data analysis system. The data processing performed by operation  260  on un-typed data within a triple may assume one or more of the various data types that are referenced by similar triples. The data processing results may be weighted by the probability of each data type. 
       FIG. 3  is a text diagram depicting one example of a collection of triples  300  in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. As depicted, the collection of triples  300  includes a variety of triples  310  with subjects  320 , predicates  330 , and objects  340 . The triples  300  may correspond to a relational database. 
     In the depicted example, the predicates  330  include a ‘capital’ property for triples that provide information about a capital such as the capital of a country, and a ‘type’ property for triples the provide data type information. For example, the resource “London” has two potential data types, namely, a ‘City’ data type and an ‘Olympic City’ data type. Despite the presence of data type information, the first triple listed in the collection  300 , i.e., triple  310 A, has an un-typed object  340 A, namely “Beijing”. The embodiments disclosed herein enable determination of the probable data type for un-typed data elements such as the un-typed object  340 A. 
       FIG. 4A  is a text diagram depicting one example of a data type estimation algorithm  400  in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. As depicted, the data type estimation algorithm  400  includes various sets  410  including a subjects set S, a predicates set P, an objects set O, a subject type set TS, and an object type set TO. The depicted data type estimation algorithm  400  also includes various iterators  420  including a subject type interator (ts), a predicate iterator (p), and an object type iterator (to). 
     The depicted algorithm proceeds by iterating through the predicates (p) and subject types (ts) and computing a similar triples count (CS ts,p ) for all triples that have the same predicate and subject type. Furthermore, the algorithm iterates through each object type (to) and computes a matching triples count (CM ts,p,to ) for all triples that the same predicate, subject type, and object type. A probability ratio (R ts,p,to ) is computed based on the matching triples count and the similar triples count. In the depicted example, R ts,p,to  is equal to CM ts,p,to  divided by CS ts . The depicted probability ratio (R ts,p,to ) represents the portion of triples that have a particular object type (to) given a particular subject type (ts) and predicate (p). 
       FIGS. 4B-4D  are text diagrams depicting one example of data (i.e., the collection of triples  300 ) processed according to the algorithm  400  (shown in  FIG. 4A ) at various stages of processing.  FIG. 4B  shows the various sets  410  generated from the collection of triples  300  including the subjects set S, the predicates set P, the object set O, the subject type set TS, and the object type set TO.  FIG. 4C  shows the similar triples count CS for all triples that have the same subject type and predicate. 
       FIG. 4D  shows the matching triples count CM for all triples that have the same predicate, subject type, and object type as well as the similar triples count CS for all triples that have the same subject type and predicate.  FIG. 4D  also shows the (non-zero) probability ratio R for each group of triples that have a particular object type given a particular subject type and predicate. In the depicted example, R is equal to CM divided by CS. 
     One of skill in the art will appreciate that the embodiments disclosed herein enable effective processing of un-typed data. For example, in the question: “What woman married Tony Blair?”, it is helpful to know that the desired answer is a woman. One way of generating candidate answers is to identify an “anchor” entity in the question (in this case, “Tony Blair”) and then identify entities that are of the correct type and that are connected to the anchor entity according to some structured resource. Unfortunately, structured resources (Dbpedia, for example) oftentimes contain inconsistent type information or are missing type information entirely. In this particular example, we hope that we might find the following pair of triples: &lt;../resource/Tony_Blair&gt;&lt;../property/spouse&gt;&lt;../resource/Cherie_Blair&gt; and &lt;../resource/Cherie_Blair&gt;&lt;rdf-syntax-ns#type&gt;&lt;../class/yago/Woman110787470&gt; where “..” is equal to “http://dbpedia.org”. 
     If we had this pair of triples, then we would know that Tony Blair was connected somehow to Cherie Blair, and the Cherie Blair is of type “Woman”, which might be helpful for answering our question. Unfortunately, what we find in Dbpedia is a little different: &lt;../resource/Tony_Blair&gt;&lt;../property/spouse&gt;“Cherie Booth” @en. This triple does contain valuable information that is relevant to our question. Unfortunately, the critical piece of information (“Cherie Booth”) is represented here as a string literal, meaning that it is not connected to a disambiguated URI at all. If we wish to obtain type information on Cherie Booth, either via wordnet, yago, or the homegrown dbpedia ontology, we are out of luck. [Note: some of the foregoing terms may be trademarked in various legal jurisdictions.] 
     At the time of this writing, of the triples that contain the &lt;../property/spouse&gt; relation, 84683 of them yield string literals, while 25334 of them yield disambiguated URIs, meaning that about 75% of all the “spouse” triples are inaccessible to type-based attacks. 
     This problem shows up often in addresses as well, where location information is represented in a too-specific fashion. Consider a question like “Where is the Al-Aqsa Foundation located?” with the intended answer “Germany”, and a corresponding triple like this: &lt;../resource/Al_Aqsa_Foundation&gt;&lt;../property/headquarters&gt;“Aachen, Germany” @en. 
     We see this in the names of languages too. The “proper” way to represent a language in Dbpedia is &lt;../resource/English_Language&gt;, but in most triples we simply see “English” @en. The solution to this problem, as presented herein, is to use other objects of the database predicate to estimate the type of the string literal. Returning to the “spouse” example, although the triple containing the spouse of Tony Blair makes use of a string literal, there are many triples with that same predicate that use a full URI. We look for other “spouses” in the database, and find that they are often of type “Person”, “Man”, “Woman”, “Physical Entity”, and so on. 
     Continuing the “spouse” example. Suppose we find ourselves again with the triple &lt;../resource/Tony_Blair&gt;&lt;../property/spouse&gt;“Cherie Booth” @en. We can now make a database call equivalent to the following:
         SELECT?type (COUNT(DISTINCT?obj) AS?count)   WHERE{?subj&lt;http://dbpedia.org/property/spouse&gt;?obj.?obj rdf:type?type}   ORDER BY DESC(?count)
 
This will obtain the type information for entities that are the object of the “spouse” relation. We could further restrict this query based on the type of the subject (reflecting that political figures tend to marry other political figures). We notice in this list that spouses are often of type “Person”, “Actor”, “Communicator”, etc. Therefore, we hypothesize that string literals that appear as objects of the dbpedia “spouse” relation are probably of those types too. Therefore, when we see the string literal “Cherie Booth” come back as the object of the “spouse” relation, we assume that this string literal has the type “Person”, “Actor”, “Communicator”, etc. This means that if we ask a question like “Who married Tony Blair”, we can accurately generate this as a candidate answer.
       

     Now let us take this a step further. We might further note a correlation in the dbpedia data. Continuing on the “spouse” example: DbPedia contains a type “Monarch”: there are approximately 13722 entities that are identified as such. Of these, there are 7427 that have a “spouse” entry. Of these spouses, 4608 of them are full dbpedia entities (having full URIs and possibly types), and the remainder are string literals. Of those 4608 spouses, 2784 are monarchs themselves. From this we conclude that if an individual is a monarch, it is much more likely that their spouse is also a monarch, namely:
         P=I am a person   I=I am a sovereign   S=My spouse is a sovereign   P(SI(ÎP))=2784/4608=60.4%   P(SIP)=2784/110017=2.5%
 
We can also identify correlations between types and different types: for example, in the spouse relation, if the subject is of type “man”, it is likely (but not certain) that the object is of type “woman”, and it is very likely that the object is of type “person”.
       

     Aspects of the present invention are described herein 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 readable program instructions. 
     These computer readable 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 readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowcharts 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 invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). 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 carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed. 
     Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models. 
     Characteristics are as follows: 
     On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service&#39;s provider. 
     Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs). 
     Resource pooling: the provider&#39;s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). 
     Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time. 
     Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service. 
     Service Models are as follows: 
     Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider&#39;s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings. 
     Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations. 
     Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls). 
     Deployment Models are as follows: 
     Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. 
     Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. 
     Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services. 
     Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds). 
     A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a schematic of an example of a cloud computing node is shown. Cloud computing node  10  is only one example of a suitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the invention described herein. Regardless, cloud computing node  10  is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove. 
     In cloud computing node  10  there is a computer system/server  12 , which is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system/server  12  include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
     Computer system/server  12  may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer system/server  12  may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , computer system/server  12  in cloud computing node  10  is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system/server  12  may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units  16 , a system memory  28 , and a bus  18  that couples various system components including system memory  28  to processor  16 . 
     Bus  18  represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus. 
     Computer system/server  12  typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system/server  12 , and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. 
     System memory  28  can include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)  30  and/or cache memory  32 . Computer system/server  12  may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system  34  can be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus  18  by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory  28  may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention. 
     Program/utility  40 , having a set (at least one) of program modules  42 , may be stored in memory  28  by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules  42  generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. 
     Computer system/server  12  may also communicate with one or more external devices  14  such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display  24 , etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server  12 ; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server  12  to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces  22 . Still yet, computer system/server  12  can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter  20 . As depicted, network adapter  20  communicates with the other components of computer system/server  12  via bus  18 . It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server  12 . Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , illustrative cloud computing environment  50  is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment  50  comprises one or more cloud computing nodes  10  with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular telephone  54 A, desktop computer  54 B, laptop computer  54 C, and/or automobile computer system  54 N may communicate. Nodes  10  may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment  50  to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices  54 A-N shown in  FIG. 6  are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes  10  and cloud computing environment  50  can communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser). 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloud computing environment  50  ( FIG. 6 ) is shown. It should be understood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shown in  FIG. 7  are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding functions are provided: 
     Hardware and software layer  60  includes hardware and software components. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes  61 ; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers  62 ; servers  63 ; blade servers  64 ; storage devices  65 ; and networks and networking components  66 . In some embodiments, software components include network application server software  67  and database software  68 . 
     Virtualization layer  70  provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers  71 ; virtual storage  72 ; virtual networks  73 , including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems  74 ; and virtual clients  75 . 
     In one example, management layer  80  may provide the functions described below. Resource provisioning  81  provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing  82  provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. User portal  83  provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level management  84  provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment  85  provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an SLA. 
     Workloads layer  90  provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation  91 ; software development and lifecycle management  92 ; virtual classroom education delivery  93 ; data analytics processing  94 ; transaction processing  95 ; and deployed enterprise application  96 . 
     It should be noted that this description is not intended to limit the invention. On the contrary, the embodiments presented are intended to cover some of the alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, which are included in the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Further, in the detailed description of the disclosed embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the claimed invention. However, one skilled in the art would understand that various embodiments may be practiced without such specific details. 
     Although the features and elements of the embodiments disclosed herein are described in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements disclosed herein. 
     This written description uses examples of the subject matter disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the same, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the subject matter is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims.