Raytheon BBN Technologies

The Asio Semantic Bridge for Relational Databases (SBRD) is an individual tool that enables the integration of relational databases into a Semantic Web environment. Asio SBRD provides a simple interface to a self-contained system that is easily integrated into legacy and heritage systems and requires little customization. When used in conjunction with Asio SQD and open source tools such as Snoggle, sharing your data is easier than ever before.

Methodology

Asio SBRD's methodology streamlines the integration of relational databases into an effective Semantic architecture. Asio SBRD provides the necessary translation mechanism to transform semantic queries (in SPARQL) to SQL and returns the results in RDF.

The first step is to create a data source in the OWL Web Ontology Language. This process is greatly simplified using Raytheon BBN's Automapper™, which automatically generates a basic source ontology from the database schema. Mapping rules from the data source ontology to the defined domain ontology are then created graphically with Snoggle using a simple drag and drop interface. Once the mapping is complete and the new data source is added to the configuration, the database becomes available for semantic queries. This entire integration process requires no changes to the existing system and does not require any new code to be written.

Query Estimation Component

When several interrelated queries are queued in Asio SBRD, how does the tool determine which should be processed first? Generally queries with value-assigned variables will produce faster results than unbound variables. However, this is not always the case. Using the Query Estimation Component, Asio SBRD calculates average completion time and result count for any given query. With this information, Asio SBRD can prevent the system from asking a query that would return an unmanageable set of results. Instead, Asio SBRD optimizes this procedure by assigning specific values to variables in the original query - increasing efficiency, improving accuracy, and saving time.

The Asio Semantic Bridge for Relational Databases is an integral part of the Asio tool suite. Asio SBRD's features and capabilities allow relational databases to be easily integrated without adding costly customization or overhead. For more information, please send inquiries to asio@bbn.com.