Supplementing structured information about entities with information from unstructured data sources

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9817888-B2
Application number	US-201514955146-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 1, 2015
Priority date	May 29, 2012
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A method for supplementing structured information within a data system for entities based on unstructured data analyzes a document with unstructured data and extracts attribute values from the unstructured data for one or more entities of the data system. Entity records with structured information are retrieved from the data system based on the extracted attribute values. Entity references for corresponding entities of the data system are constructed based on a comparison of the retrieved entity records and the extracted attribute values. The entity references are linked to the corresponding entities within the data system, with the entity references including extracted attributes from the unstructured data for corresponding linked entities.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of supplementing structured information within a data system for entities based on unstructured data comprising:
analyzing one or more documents with unstructured data pertaining to the entities of the structured information and identifying from the unstructured data one or more relationships between the entities of the structured information;
extracting attribute values from the unstructured data for one or more of the entities of the structured information, wherein extracting attribute values from the unstructured data includes:
extracting attribute values based on a comparison of the unstructured data with one or more dictionaries each including values for a corresponding attribute of an entity within the data system;

retrieving entity records with structured information from the data system based on the extracted attribute values;
constructing entity references for corresponding one or more of the entities of the data system based on a comparison of the retrieved entity records and the extracted attribute values;
linking the entity references to the corresponding one or more entities within the data system, wherein the entity references include extracted attributes from the unstructured data for corresponding linked entities, and wherein linking the entity references includes:
inserting the entity references into one of the data system and an external data source based on a comparison of matching scores for the entity references with corresponding thresholds;

defining new relationships in the data system between the entities within the structured information corresponding to the one or more relationships between the entities identified from the unstructured data;
creating the new defined relationships between the entities in the data system by linking the entities of the structured information to each other within the structured information based on the one or more relationships between those entities identified within the unstructured data; and
processing a query for the data system to retrieve at least one entity of the structured information including the entities linked to the at least one entity based on the defined new relationships and the corresponding unstructured data of the linked entity references.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data system includes a master data management system and the one or more documents are received from a content management system.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein extracting attribute values from the unstructured data further includes:
extracting the attribute values from the unstructured data based on an attribute value within the unstructured data and a dictionary value including a common portion of an attribute value and being within a certain distance.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein an attribute of an entity includes a plurality of atomic attributes, and extracting attribute values from the unstructured data includes:
extracting attribute values for each of the individual atomic attributes from the unstructured data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein constructing entity references includes:
constructing entity references for the corresponding one or more entities of the data system based on a fuzzy match of the retrieved entity records and the extracted attribute values.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein linking the entity references includes:
inserting the entity references into the data system and merging the entity references with records of the corresponding one or more entities within the data system.

7. A system for supplementing structured information within a data system for entities based on unstructured data comprising:
at least one processor configured to:
analyze one or more documents with unstructured data pertaining to the entities of the structured information and identify from the unstructured data one or more relationships between the entities of the structured information;
extract attribute values from the unstructured data for one or more of the entities of the structured information, wherein extracting attribute values from the unstructured data includes:
extracting attribute values based on a comparison of the unstructured data with one or more dictionaries each including values for a corresponding attribute of an entity within the data system;

retrieve entity records with structured information from the data system based on the extracted attribute values;
construct entity references for corresponding one or more of the entities of the data system based on a comparison of the retrieved entity records and the extracted attribute values;
link the entity references to the corresponding one or more entities within the data system, wherein the entity references include extracted attributes from the unstructured data for corresponding linked entities, and wherein linking the entity references includes:
inserting the entity references into one of the data system and an external data source based on a comparison of matching scores for the entity references with corresponding thresholds;
define new relationships in the data system between the entities within the structured information corresponding to the one or more relationships between the entities identified from the unstructured data;
create the new defined relationships between the entities in the data system by linking the entities of the structured information to each other within the structured information based on the one or more relationships between those entities identified within the unstructured data; and
process a query for the data system to retrieve at least one entity of the structured information including the entities linked to the at least one entity based on the defined new relationships and the corresponding unstructured data of the linked entity references.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the data system includes a master data management system and the one or more documents are received from a content management system.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein extracting attribute values from the unstructured data further includes:
extracting the attribute values from the unstructured data based on an attribute value within the unstructured data and a dictionary value including a common portion of an attribute value and being within a certain distance.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein an attribute of an entity includes a plurality of atomic attributes, and extracting attribute values from the unstructured data includes:
extracting attribute values for each of the individual atomic attributes from the unstructured data.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein constructing entity references includes:
constructing entity references for the corresponding one or more entities of the data system based on a fuzzy match of the retrieved entity records and the extracted attribute values.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein linking the entity references includes:
inserting the entity references into the data system and merging the entity references with records of the corresponding one or more entities within the data system.

13. A computer program product for supplementing structured information within a data system for entities based on unstructured data comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising computer readable program code configured to:
analyze one or more documents with unstructured data pertaining to

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Deshpande Prasad M
• Mohania Mukesh K
• Murthy Karin
• Padmanabhan Deepak S
• Reed Jennifer S
• Schumacher Scott

Classifications

• G06F17/30303

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30634 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30011

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30876

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30292

  Physics · mapped topic