Cyclic value ranges model for specifying flowing resources in unified process metamodel

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the problem of knowledge representation from the perspective of value ranges. The subjects introduced and the problems discussed constitute a part of the Flowing Resource module under the Unified Process Metamodel (UPM) project. Resources modeling is a crucial issue in the aspect of non-token-based process definition. This in turn plays an important role in sharing information among agent constituting collective users of a given process. From a practical point of view, value ranges are very frequent elements used in resource description. The sphere of time ranges, relative, absolute, cyclic, and fuzzy has been elaborated particularly extensively, since they affect the work-availability. The author has commented upon the specificity of different units of time and their mutual relations as well as options of embedding time range-related expressions. Another topic raised in the paper is the fuzziness of values defining cyclic value ranges. For the aforementioned problems, the author has proposed solutions formally written in an Association-Oriented Database Metamodel (AODB) being database layer for UPM. Both data structures and their comprehensive semantics have been described. Moreover, four operators, whose operands are value ranges, have been discussed along with the corresponding data processing algorithms.

KEYWORDS:

• Business process modeling
• knowledge representation
• time and space representation
• knowledge base
• unified process metamodel
• association-oriented database metamodel

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The continuity is conceptual, however it is discretized by Timer that generates discrete events. Nevertheless, it does not change the idea of continuity.

2. Association description is a term related to a notion defined under an AODB.

3. The CYCLE (2) structure has been described in subsection 3.1.