Event processing using database technology

Abstract

This tutorial deals with applications that help systems and individuals respond to critical conditions in their environments. The identification of critical conditions requires correlating vast amounts of data within and outside an enterprise. Conditions that signal opportunities or threats are defined by complex patterns of data over time, space and other attributes. Systems and individuals have models (expectations) of behaviors of their environments, and applications notify them when reality – as determined by measurements and estimates – deviate from their expectations. Components of event systems are also sent information to validate their current models and when specific responses are required. Valuable information is that which supports or contradicts current expectations or that which requires an action on the part of the receiver. A major problem today is information overload; this problem can be solved by identifying what information is critical, complementing existing pull technology with sophisticated push technology, and filtering out non-critical data.