Patent Document ID: 9922123
Application ID: 14152109
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method performed by a computing device for reducing processing time for a policy, comprising: receiving the policy that includes two or more rules organized in a priority ordering based on priority values assigned to the two or more rules, wherein each rule of the two or more rules is associated with a condition, wherein at least one rule of the two or more rules allows a particular action in an event that the condition evaluates to an outcome amounting to true and skips in an event that the condition evaluates to an outcome amounting to false, wherein at least one other rule of the two or more rules denies the particular action in an event that the condition evaluates to an outcome amounting to true and skips in an event that the condition evaluates to an outcome amounting to false, and wherein the outcome of the policy is determined by whichever rule is highest in the priority ordering that does not amount to a skip; organizing the two or more rules into batches, wherein each batch includes a determinative rule of a first type having a certain priority value and any rules of a second type having a priority value higher than the certain priority value; identifying at least two ordered sets of batches, wherein each ordered set of batches that includes two or more batches represents a different execution ordering for the two or more rules of the policy, and wherein each ordered set of batches includes all of the two or more rules; for each ordered set of batches, computing an expected processing cost, wherein the expected processing cost is based on one or more of: a processing cost and a probability associated with each rule, the probability indicative of a likelihood that the corresponding rule will not skip, the organization of the two or more rules into batches for that ordered set of batches, the relationship among the batches of that ordered set of batches, or any combination thereof; and selecting an ordered set of batches, from among the at least two ordered sets of batches, having a lowest expected processing cost, wherein executions of the policy conform to the execution ordering corresponding to the selected ordered set of batches.