Semantic Computing Technical Explanation

Semantic Computing is the technology that drives the engine that makes the Semantic Web possible. As described in other posts, the Semantic Web take human language and turn it into a machine language that can provide more powerful applications due to a similar use of language between user and system.

The Semantic Web's impact health care will be explained in later posts, but how it functions from a technical perspective will be examined here. Semantic Computing is the bridge to other applications and interfaces outside the web. It can be organized into 5 layers as seen below.

Figure 1 (5 layers of Semantic Computing)

1. Semantic Analysis is the layer that converts signals (pixels) into meanings (semantics)
2. Semantic Integration integrates information from the analysis layer into a unified model
3. Semantic Services are located at layer three, and they use the information provided from the Integration layer
4. Service Integration provides the inter operation of services to provide more powerful services
5. Semantic Interface is the GUI or consumer facing layer where manipulation and access of the various sources is available.

Of these layers the place where most impact will be garnered in health care are layers 4 and 5. They provide the access to more powerful services and can be changed and adjusted to fit the needs of the individual application or user.

Most of the interfaces that are used to provide health care impact will reside in those layers and will use some type of SSE or Semantic Search Engine.

Figure 2 (SSE Architecture)

The diagram can be read from the top down. The user interface takes the request from the user and is able to understand SNL or Structured Natural Language. The interpreter takes the SNL and converts it into Service Query Description Language (SQDL). The matcher combines the SQDL and the Service Capability Description Language (SCDL). At the final stages either a service invoker or the SCDL will make the final call to the Search Engine based on the converted language from the user that was established initially. The Service Invoker can be changed and customized to provide various items and was designed from the onset to be interfaced and programmed by smaller developers. This will allow this computing architecture to be versatile and agile in development and open to all service providers and developers alike.

This computing methodology is built to interface directly with Cloud Computing. The framework was established from the ground up to be web aware and to be able to send and receive information from the Cloud whenever possible. This is an important step moving forward, especially in the realm of health care. This feature will open new technological avenues in health care not often seen with the web, in terms of storage, search and delivery of data.

References

Sheu, P.C. et al. (2009). Semantic Computing, Cloud Computing, and Semantic Search Engine. Semantic Computing, 2009. ICSC'09. IEEE International Conference on , vol., no., pp.654-657, 14-16 Sept.2009. Retrieved May 3, 2010, from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5298710&isnumber=5298512Article 3