Patent ID: 8655896

Claim:
A data structure stored in a memory for storing data for access and execution by a computer system comprising: a plurality of nodes, each node comprising: an information field containing an information item; and a time of life interval field including a beginning point corresponding to a beginning event and an ending point corresponding to an ending event; and a plurality of directed edges; each directed edge comprising a direction, each directed edge connecting two of the plurality of nodes, such that one of the plurality of nodes comprises a parent node, and a second of the plurality of nodes comprises a child node, the direction of the directed edge indicating which of the two connected nodes is the parent node and which is the child node; wherein each parent node includes a first time of life interval field with a parent beginning point corresponding to a parent beginning event and a parent ending point corresponding to a parent ending event; and wherein each child node includes a second time of life interval field comprising a child beginning point corresponding to a child beginning event and a child ending point corresponding to a child ending event.