Patent ID: 8752072

Claim:
At a computer system including one or more processors and system memory, the computer system also including stream processing module, the stream processing module configured to process events from a plurality of event streams, a method for adjusting the lifetime of an event in one event stream based on an event in another event stream, the method comprising: an act of receiving a first event from a first event stream, the first event having a time stamp indicating a start time and end time of the first event, the time from the start time to the end time representing the lifetime of the first event, the first event stream included in the plurality of event streams; an act of altering the end time for the first event to extend the lifetime of the first event by a specified period of time; an act of receiving a second event from a second event stream, the second event having a time stamp indicating a start time of the second event, the second event stream included in the plurality of event streams; an act of determining whether there is a correspondence between the first event and the second event based on a defined join condition, wherein the join condition comprises a temporal restriction which excludes a correspondence between the first event and the second event when the second event is entirely after the first event; and an act of clipping the lifetime of the first event by modifying the first event to end at the start time of the second event in response to the defined join condition indicating a correspondence between the first event and the second event, wherein the act of receiving the second event from the second event stream comprises an act of receiving the second event, wherein the start time of the second event is after the start time of the first event, wherein the act of clipping the lifetime of the event by modifying the first event to end at the start time for the second event comprises an act of using the equivalent of a Left Anti Semi Join (“LASJ”) to clip the lifetime of the first event.