Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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QUALITY MEASURE FOR A DATA CONTEXT
SERVICE
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[00011 This Application is a Continuation-in-Part of and claims priority under
35
U.S.C. 120 to U.S. Patent Application No. 12/198,780, filed August 26, 2008,
entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DATA CONTEXT SERVICE," which
is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and claims priority under
35
U.S.C. 119(e) to Provisional Patent Application No. 60/968,304 filed August
27, 2007.
BACKGROUND
[00021 Oilfield operations, such as surveying, drilling, wireline testing,
completions, production, planning and oilfield analysis, are typically
performed
to locate and gather valuable downhole fluids. During the oilfield operations,
data is typically collected for analysis and/or monitoring of the oilfield
operations. Such data may include, for example, subterranean formation,
equipment, historical and/or other data. Data concerning the subterranean
formation is collected using a variety of sources. Such formation data may be
static or dynamic. Static data relates to, for example, formation structure,
and
geological stratigraphy that define the geological structures of the
subterranean
formation. Dynamic data relates to, for example, fluids flowing through the
geologic structures of the subterranean formation over time. Such static
and/or
dynamic data may be collected to learn more about the formations and the
valuable assets contained therein.
[00031 The data may be used to predict downhole conditions, and make decisions
concerning oilfield operations. Such decisions may involve well planning, well
targeting, well completions, operating levels, production rates and other
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operations and/or operating parameters. Often this information is used to
determine when to drill new wells, re-complete existing wells, or alter
wellbore
production. Oilfield conditions, such as geological, geophysical and reservoir
engineering characteristics may have an impact on oilfield operations, such as
risk analysis, economic valuation, and mechanical considerations for the
production of subsurface reservoirs.
[0004] Data from one or more wellbores may be analyzed to plan or predict
various outcomes at a given wellbore. In some cases, the data from neighboring
wellbores or wellbores with similar conditions or equipment may be used to
predict how a well may perform. Usually, a large number of variables and large
quantities of data may be used in an oilfield project to consider in analyzing
oilfield operations. It is, therefore, often useful to model the behavior of
the
oilfield operation using an oilfield software application to perform a
workflow to
determine the desired course of action. During the ongoing operations, the
operating parameters may be adjusted as oilfield conditions change and new
information is received.
[0005] Workers seeking knowledge in the energy industry typically have access
to
a domain of structured information (data in databases or spreadsheets) and
very
limited access to unstructured data (reports, presentations, maps, emails, web
content, etc. described above). Various studies indicate approximately twenty
percent of data used in most businesses are structured data with the remaining
eighty percent being unstructured data commonly appearing in memos, notes,
news, user groups, chats, reports, letters, surveys, white papers, marketing
material, research, presentations and Web pages. In energy (e.g., oil and gas,
renewable energies, etc.) industry, more than sixty percent of unstructured
data
are not managed or used. If the worker uses common search tools for
unstructured data such as web content search engines or Electronic Document
Management Systems (EDMS) for searching documents and reports, the search
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results are often unusable because the taxonomy of the search is not relevant
to
the domain and workflow of the energy industry.
SUMMARY
[0006] In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method for
providing a
data context service. The method comprises extracting context information from
a host application associated with an oilfield project, the context
information
comprising a current state of a user in the host application, sorting the
context
information into a plurality of dimensions of relevance, generating a search
profile for each of the plurality of dimensions of relevance, requesting a
first
plurality of searches using at least the search profile, receiving a plurality
of
oilfield data items resulting from the first plurality of searches, obtaining
a
quality measure of an oilfield data item of the plurality of oilfield data
items
based on a pre-determined quality criterion, sending the oilfield data item as
a
search result to the host application after determining the quality measure
exceeds a pre-determined threshold, and generating an output using the host
application based on the search result, the output being used to perform an
oilfield operation.
[0007] Other aspects of the quality measure for data context service will be
apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0008] So that the above recited features of the quality measure for data
context
service can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly
summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof that are
illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the
appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the quality measure
for data context service and are therefore not to be considered limiting of
its
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scope, for the quality measure for data context service may admit to other
equally
effective embodiments.
[0009] FIGS. 1.1-1.4 depict a schematic view of an oilfield having
subterranean
structures containing reservoirs therein, in which embodiments of the quality
measure for data context service can be implemented.
[0010] FIGS. 2.1-2.4 depict graphical depictions of data collected by the
tools of
FIGS. 1.1-1.4, respectively.
[0011] FIG. 3.1 depicts an example display of a user application used by an
oilfield operation project.
[0012] FIG. 3.2 depicts an example display of a user application with a data
context service window.
[0013] FIG. 4 depicts an example schematic diagram of using the data context
service in perfonning an oilfield operation.
[0014] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart depicting a method of using the data context
service in performing an oilfield operation.
[0015] FIG. 6 depicts an example display of a data context service window.
[0016] FIGS. 7 and 8 depict example displays of data context service windows
in
additional configurations.
[0017] FIG. 9 depicts a computer system in accordance with one or more
embodiments of the quality measure for data context service.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Embodiments of the data context service are shown in the above-
identified
figures and described in detail below. In describing the embodiments, like or
identical reference numerals are used to identify common or similar elements.
The figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain
views of
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the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic in the interest
of
clarity and conciseness.
[0019] In general, embodiments of the data context service provide
capabilities of
performing searches of the oilfield data having both structured and
unstructured
formats from within an oilfield software application, and to return search
results
that are more relevant to the context of the oilfield project, the application
used
by the project, the workflow performed using the application, the user using
the
application, etc. In addition, embodiments of the data context service include
capabilities for identifying the quality of the search results, promoting
search
results with good quality, and cleaning up poor quality results. Furthermore,
embodiments of the data context service include capabilities for providing
suggestions to assist the user in performing searches of oilfield data that is
more
relevant to the context.
[0020] FIGS. 1.1-1.4 show a schematic view of an oilfield having subterranean
structures containing reservoirs therein, with various oilfield operations
being
performed on the oilfield.
[0021] FIG. 1.1 depicts a survey operation being performed to generate a
seismic
data output record (124) using recording truck computer (122.1) on a seismic
recording truck (106.1) to receive, via geophone-receivers (118), data (120)
of
sound vibration(s) (112) that reflect off horizons (114) in an earth formation
(116) from an acoustic source (110).
[0022] FIG. 1.2 depicts a drilling operation being performed by a drilling
tool
(106.2) suspended by a rig (128) and advanced into the subterranean formation
(102) to form a wellbore (136) for reaching the reservoir (104). Drilling mud
is
circulated through the drilling tool (106.2) via a flow line (132) back to a
mud pit
(130) on the surface. The drilling tool may be adapted for measuring downhole
properties such as adapted for taking a core sample (133). A surface unit
(134)
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with a transceiver (137) collects data output (135) generated during the
drilling
operation and allows communications between various portions of the oilfield
(100) or other locations.
[00231 FIG. 1.3 depicts a wireline operation and includes all the elements
depicted
in FIG. 1.2 except that the drilling tool (106.2) is substituted with a
wireline tool
(106.3) adapted for performing well logs, downhole tests, collecting samples,
and/or performing a seismic survey operation based on an explosive or acoustic
energy source (144) in which case the wireline tool (106.3) may provide data
output (135) to the surface unit (134).
[00241 FIG. 1.4 depicts a production operation being performed by a production
tool (106.4) deployed from a production unit or christmas tree (129) and into
the
completed wellbore (136) of FIG. 1.3 for drawing fluid from the downhole
reservoirs (104) into surface facilities (142) via a gathering network (146).
Sensors (S) positioned about the oilfield (100) are operatively connected to a
surface unit (134) with a transceiver (137) for collecting data (135), for
example,
reservoir data, wellbore data, surface data and/or process data.
[00251 While one wellsite is shown, it will be appreciated that the oilfield
(100)
may cover a portion of land that hosts one or more wellsites. Part, or all, of
the
oilfield may be on land and/or sea. Also, the oilfield operations depicted in
FIGS. 1.1-1.4 may be performed with any combination of one or more oilfields,
one or more processing facilities and one or more wellsites.
[00261 FIGS. 2.1-2.4 show graphical depictions of data collected by the tools
of
FIGS. 1.1-1.4, respectively. FIG. 2.1 depicts a seismic trace (202) of the
subterranean formation (102) of FIG. 1.1 taken by survey tool (106.1). FIG.
2.2
depicts a core sample (133) taken by the logging tool (106.2) of FIG. 1.2.
FIG.
2.3 depicts a well log (204) of the subterranean formation (102) taken by the
wireline tool (106.3) of FIG. 1.3. FIG. 2.4 depicts a production decline curve
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(206) of fluid flowing through the subterranean formation (102) taken by the
production tool (106.4) of FIG. 1.4.
[00271 FIG. 3.1 shows an example display of an oilfield software application
(referred to as a user application or a host application) (300) used by an
oilfield
project in accordance with one or more embodiments of the data context
service.
The host application (300) may be a simulator (e.g., a wellsite simulator, a
non-
wellsite simulator) or any other software application used by the oilfield
project.
For example, the host application (300) may be used to model drilling
operations
for an oilfield project. Further, operations in the oilfield project may
involve
actions (e.g., search, quality control, data tagging, or any other available
functions) performed within the host application itself, performed in the
environment of the host application, as well as performed in other third party
applications co-existing with the host application in the environment of the
host
application. For example, the host application may be an application executing
within an operating system and interacting with one or more third party
applications within the operating system. In addition, operations in the
oilfield
project may involve a workflow (i.e., an ordered sequence of operations) that
includes various actions described above executing on a computer system with a
processor (e.g., a central processing unit). In such environments, one or more
workflow states may be defined based on the current action and history of
actions within the host application itself, within the environment of the host
application, within other third party applications interacting with the host
application, or otherwise within the workflow.
[00281 Initially, the term "context" points to the part of a text or statement
that
surrounds a particular word or passage and determines the meaning of the part.
In general, the term "context" describes a setting or circumstances in which
an
event occurs. For example, the event may be a search or other access to
oilfield
data while the setting or circumstances (referred to as the current state) may
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relate to aspects of performing oilfield operations, such as the identity or
profile
of a user, an asset/project location, aspects of oilfield data with which the
user is
working, aspects of oilfield software application (e.g., the host application
(300))
and oilfield workflow used in the project (e.g., the one or more workflow
states
described above), etc. Details of these aspects are described with respect to
FIG.
4 below. The current state may also be referred to as the current state of the
user.
In one or more embodiments, the context information may be categorized into
context information categories according to these aspects. These context
information categories may be referred to as dimensions of relevance.
[00291 As shown in FIG. 3.1, the host application (300) may include a three
dimensional (3D) display (302), which depicts a wellbore penetrating a
subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir. The
host application (300) may also include a data log (301) showing various
geophysical parameters obtained from various sensors disposed about the
wellbore, the subterranean formation, the underground reservoir, or any other
portion of the oilfield. In one or more embodiments, the host application
(300)
may be a geoscience application executing on a computer system and used for
reservoir engineering where a user (e.g., a geoscientist) may need to verify
information from the data log (301) by searching or otherwise accessing
different
sources of data (not shown). The host application (300) is commonly stored on
a
computer readable medium containing instructions for executing on a computer
system.
[00301 FIG. 3.2 shows a data context service window (303) launched from and
displayed within the host application (300) (or associated environments, as
discussed above) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the data
context service. The data context service window (303) may present the results
(i.e., oilfield data items such as data entry from a database or other
relevant
documents, files, reports, web content, etc.) from various searches performed
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based on context information extracted from the host application (300) in the
form of one or more search profiles. The data context service window (303) may
be activated from within the host application (300) so that the search results
may
be applied within the host application (300) directly. The activation may be
performed manually or automatically based on certain conditions detected
within
the host application (300). Details of the data context service window (303)
are
provided below.
[00311 FIG. 4 shows an example schematic diagram of the data context service
in
performing the oilfield operation in accordance with one or more embodiments.
FIG. 4 includes a user application (i.e., host application) (710), an
operating
environment (410), a third party application (420), an application programming
interface (712), a context service engine (714), multiple appliances (700),
(411)-
(414), a repository (420), first and second projects (730, 732), a user (734),
an
oilfield object (736), and a workflow (738). Further, the repository (420) is
shown to store quality criteria (415), search result (416), search profile
(417),
frequently used phrase record (418), and application usage information (419).
[00321 The host application (710) may correspond to the host application (300)
as
discussed with respect to FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2 above. The host application (710)
may be used by the user (734) in the oilfield project (730, 732) as part of a
workflow, such as the workflow (738). As discussed above, the setting may
include the host application (710) executing within the operating environment
(410) and interacting with one or more third party application (420) within
the
operating environment (410). Furthermore, the workflow (738) may include
multiple actions performed within the applications (710, 420) and the
operating
environment (410) executed in a pre-determined order to perform the oilfield
operation associated with the oilfield project (730, 732).
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[0033] In one or more embodiments, the context service engine (714) may be
configured to extract context information from the current state of the user
(734)
in the setting described above. In one or more embodiments, the context
information may be extracted from the host application (710) via the
application
programming interface (712). In one or more embodiments, the context
information may also be extracted from the operating environment (410) or the
third party application (420) via the application programming interface (712).
In
one or more embodiments, the extracted context information may be modified by
the user (734).
[0034] In one or more embodiments, the context service engine (714) may be
configured with search engine functionality. In one or more embodiments, the
context service engine (714) may be configured to work with a third party
application (e.g., 420) having search engine functionality. For example, the
third
party application (420) may correspond to a search engine application. The
search engine functionality may include search engine indexing that collects,
parses, and stores data to facilitate fast and accurate information retrieval.
In one
or more embodiments, the context service engine (714) may be configured to use
search indexes stored locally. Further, the context service engine (714) may
be
configured to use search indexes from other services such as the third party
application (420).
[0035] In one or more embodiments, the application programming interface (712)
may provide functionality to configure and activate the context service engine
(714) from a launch point within the host application (710) to obtain search
results (416), where the search results are obtained using the search engine
functionality based on extracted context information described above. Based on
the location of the execution of the context service engine (714) within the
host
application (710), the context may change accordingly. In one or more
embodiments, the application programming interface (712) may provide
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functionality to allow the context service engine (714) to access third party
search engine functionality or third party search index from the third party
application (420). In one or more embodiments, the application programming
interface (712) may provide functionality to allow the context service engine
(714) to send search results (416) to the third party application (420).
[0036] As shown in FIG. 4, the workflow (738) may be a current workflow being
executed in the associated host application (710) or a previous workflow of
the
project (730, 732) completed in the past. The workflow (738) may be associated
with a workflow name, a role of the workflow, and a workflow date. The
workflow date may relate to a date when the workflow (738) is performed. The
user (734) may be a member of the project (730, 732) and be associated with a
title and/or role for the project.
[0037] In addition, the project (730, 732) may be associated with a project
name, a
role of the project, a project location, a project date, and/or an object such
as the
object (736). The project date may relate to a starting date, a current date,
and/or
a scheduled date of the oilfield operation. The object (736) may be a
wellbore, a
subterranean formation, an underground reservoir, or any other portion of an
oilfield, such as those discussed with respect to FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2 above. The
object (736) may be associated with an object location, an object date, an
object
name, a serial number, or other identifications of the object. The object date
may
relate to an event associated with the object (736) such as a date of
geological
survey, drilling, completion, production, etc.
[0038] Further as shown in FIG. 4, the context service engine (714) may be
coupled to multiple appliances, such as the context search appliance (700),
data
quality appliance (411), data tagging appliance (412), search suggestion
appliance (413), and workflow suggestion appliance (414), etc. The context
search appliance (700) may represent any one of the spatial context appliance,
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the object context appliance, the profile context appliance, the analog
context
appliance, the time frame context appliance, or combinations thereof, as
described in the parent U.S. Patent Application No. 12/198,780, which is
incorporated herein in its entirety. Although not specifically shown in FIG.
4,
any number of these context search appliances described above may be coupled
to the context service engine (714).
[00391 In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) and the
data quality appliance (411) may be configured to provide functionality for
obtaining search results (416) based on the spatial context, the object
context,
profile context, analog context, time frame context, quality criteria, or
combinations thereof. In one or more embodiments, other appliances (412, 413,
414) may be configured to provide functionality to assist in obtaining search
results (416) by providing suggestions to the user (734). One or more search
profile (417) may be generated for these context search appliances, such as
the
spatial context search profile, the object context search profile, the profile
context search profile, the analog context search profile, and the time frame
context search profile described below.
[00401 In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) is
configured as the spatial context appliance and may obtain search results
(416)
by evaluating geographical proximity of a search candidate (with both
structured
and unstructured formats) with respect to a location of interest. The
evaluation
may be performed as a distance ranking using a computer heuristic. In one or
more embodiments, the spatial context appliance generates the spatial context
search profile to be used in conjunction with the search engine functionality
associated with the context service engine (714) to obtain the search results
(416). In one or more embodiments, a relevance score of the search results
(416)
may be generated based on the spatial context search profile. Details of the
spatial context appliance are described with respect to FIG. 6 below.
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[0041] In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) is
configured as the object context appliance and may obtain search results (416)
by
evaluating a relevance measure of a search candidate (with both structured and
unstructured formats) with respect to a name, a serial number, or an
identification
of a wellsite, a wellbore, a process facility, a portion of the subterranean
formation, a portion of the reservoir, or any other portion of the oilfield.
In one
example, the evaluation may be performed as a word pattern matched ranking
using a computer heuristic. In one or more embodiments, the object context
appliance generates the object context search profile to be used in
conjunction
with the search engine functionality associated with the context service
engine
(714) to obtain the search results (416). In one or more embodiments, a
relevance score of the search results (416) may be generated based on the
object
context search profile.
[0042] In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) is
configured as the profile context appliance and may obtain search results
(416)
by evaluating a relevance measure of a search candidate (with both structured
and unstructured formats) with respect to a name of the project, a role of the
project, a name of the workflow, a role of the workflow, a title of the user,
a role
of the user, a name of the host application, or a role of the host
application. The
evaluation may be performed as a word pattern matching of names (e.g., of the
project, the workflow, or the host application) in conjunction with a pre-
determined relationship associated with a user title or roles (e.g., of the
project,
the workflow, the user, or the host application) using a computer heuristic.
For
example, a title "geophysicist" may be associated using a pre-determined
relationship with a search candidate (with both structured and unstructured
formats) having the word pattern "geophysical survey report" in a title,
content,
or other attribute of the search candidate (with both structured and
unstructured
formats) to yield a high relevance measure. The profile context appliance also
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has the ability to identify and display the most relevant results for the
given
profile based on usage statistics (e.g., 419) performed on the collected
information (e.g., 416). In other words, the "favorites" information of users
having the same profile is displayed. In one or more embodiments, the profile
context appliance generates and/or stores the profile context search profile
to be
used in conjunction with the search engine functionality associated with the
context service engine (714) to obtain the search results (416). In one or
more
embodiments, a relevance score of the search results (416) may be generated
and/or stored based on the profile context search profile.
[0043] In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) is
configured as the analog context appliance and may obtain search results (416)
by evaluating a relevance measure of a search candidate (with both structured
and unstructured fonnats) with respect to a characteristic or attribute of
data used
in the host application (710) or the workflow (738). The evaluation may be
performed by comparing the similarity between the host application data and
data associated with a search candidate (with both structured and unstructured
formats) using a computer heuristic. For example, the host application (710)
may be a reservoir simulator calculating flow rate data and may be associated
with a search candidate (with both structured and unstructured formats) having
similar data to yield a high relevance measure. In one or more embodiments,
the
analog context appliance generates and/or stores the analog context search
profile
to be used in conjunction with the search engine functionality associated with
the
context service engine (714) to obtain the search results (416). In one or
more
embodiments, a relevance score of the search results (416) may be generated
and/or stored based on the analog context search profile.
[0044] In one or more embodiments, the context search appliance (700) is
configured as the time frame context appliance and may obtain search results
(416) by evaluating temporal proximity of a search candidate (with both
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structured and unstructured formats) with respect to, for example, a project
date,
a workflow date, or an object date. The evaluation may be performed using a
computer heuristic to identify any date related information associated with
the
search candidate (with both structured and unstructured formats) and compare
it
to, for example, the project date, the workflow date, or the object date. The
date
related information may be extracted from a title, content, time stamp, or
other
attributes associated with the search candidate (with both structured and
unstructured formats). In one or more embodiments, the time frame context
appliance generates and stores the time frame context search profile to be
used in
conjunction with the search engine functionality associated with the context
service engine (714) to obtain the search results (416). In one or more
embodiments, a relevance score of the search results (416) may be generated
and
stored based on the time frame context search profile.
[0045] In one or more embodiments, the data quality appliance (411) may be
configured to provide functionality for obtaining search results (416) based
on a
quality measure. The quality measure may include various quality criteria
(415)
such as completeness, consistency, validity, uniqueness, etc. Completeness may
correspond to the degree that the oilfield data item in the search results
(416)
includes all required attributes. For example, the oilfield data item may be a
well and the attributes may include a name, a serial number, a location, a
drilling
date, etc. The consistency may correspond to the degree that the attributes of
the
oilfield data item in the search results (416) are consistent across different
data
sources. For example, the oilfield data item may be obtained from a database,
a
spreadsheet, a report, a website, etc. The validity may correspond to the
degree
that the attributes of the oilfield data item are correct, internally
consistent, and
fulfill standards compliance. For example, the validity quality measure may be
associated with a pre-determined verification procedure. The uniqueness may
correspond to the degree that a value of an attribute uniquely defines a
specific
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oilfield data item. For example, each well name should uniquely identify a
specific well. In one or more embodiments, the various quality criteria (415)
of
the quality measure may be user selected.
[0046] In one or more embodiments, when the data quality appliance (411) is
activated, the search mechanism of the context service engine (714) combines
the
selected quality criteria (415) and one or more search profile (417)
associated
with the context search appliances. For example, the context service engine
(714) obtains search results (416) using associated search engine
functionality
according to the various search profiles (417) described above. Quality
measures
of these search results (416) may then be obtained by the data quality
appliance
(411) according to the selected quality criteria (415). Furthermore, the
relevance
score of these search results (416) may be adjusted based on the quality
measures. In one or more embodiments, portions of search results (416) with
poor quality may be eliminated if the associated quality measure falls below a
pre-determined threshold. In one or more embodiments, the quality measure is
obtained by the data quality appliance (411) from a third party data quality
engine (not shown) and the quality criterion is selected by the user from
quality
criteria provided by the third party data quality engine. An example of using
the
quality criteria (415) in combination with the search profiles (417) is
described
with respect to FIG. 8 below.
[0047] In one or more embodiments, a tag cloud is a visual depiction of tags
with
corresponding weights reflecting the importance of each tag. Tags are usually
single words and are typically listed alphabetically in the tag cloud with the
importance of a tag expressed based on font size and/or color, allowing a tag
to
be found alphabetically or by its importance. In one or more embodiments, the
data tagging appliance (412) may be configured to generate the frequently used
phrase record (418) based on search results (416) from various searches
performed by the context service engine (714) in an accumulative manner. In
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one or more embodiments, the data tagging appliance (412) may be configured to
organize the frequently used phrase record (418) based on context information
associated with the various searches performed by the context service engine
(714). In one or more embodiments, the data tagging appliance (412) may be
configured to generate a tag cloud from a current search result obtained each
time a search is performed by the context service engine (714), where the
weight
of each tag is determined based on the tag's appearance in the frequently used
phrase record (418). When the user (734) selects one of the tags in the tag
cloud
upon reviewing the current search result, the selected tag may be added as an
additional search constraint to be combined with the search profiles (417) for
performing a new search to refine the current search result. In one or more
embodiments, the data tagging functionality may be integrated within the
context
service engine (714) without the separate data tagging appliance (412). An
example of the tag cloud is described with respect to FIG. 7 below.
[0048] In one or more embodiments, the search suggestion appliance (413) may
be
configured to provide one or more suggestions to assist the user (734) in
selecting efficient search criteria based on the context information extracted
from
the current state of the user (734) as well as application usage information
(419)
maintained by the search suggestion appliance (413). For example, the
suggestion may be in the form of auto-completion of keywords, keyword
suggestions, or search profile suggestions. Details of the suggestions
provided
by the search suggestion appliance (413) are described with respect to the
examples depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8 below.
[0049] In one or more embodiments, the workflow suggestion appliance (414) may
be configured to provide predictive analysis and suggestions for future
workflow
steps, decisions, and processes to the user (734) based on the context
information
extracted from the current state of the user (734) as well as application
usage
information (419) maintained by the workflow suggestion appliance (414). In
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one or more embodiments, the workflow suggestion appliance (414) may be
configured to maintain (e.g., capture, accumulate, update, or otherwise
manage)
the application usage information (419), such as relevant statistics and
patterns of
user interaction with an oilfield asset model (e.g., modeling a well,
wellsite,
processing facility, or other oilfield objects). For example, the user
interaction
with the oilfield asset model may include information relating to the
workflows
and/or decisions, outcomes of the workflows and/or decisions, data used in the
workflow and/or decisions and correlations in user interaction with the data,
searches performed with corresponding frequencies, etc.
[0050] In one or more embodiments, the context service engine (714) coupled
with
the workflow suggestion appliance (414) may be integrated with a smart
workflow system (not shown) to assist, capture, and track individual workflow
processes in the smart workflow system by providing discussion and decision
tracking among multiple users of related oilfield projects.
[0051] In one or more embodiments, one or more of the appliances (e.g., 700,
411-
414) may be combined into a generic system that performs the functionality of
one or more of the appliances as a single system. Further, one or more
appliances may be combined, substituted or not included. Combination of
selected appliances may be configured, and the configuration may be performed
statically, dynamically, or by selection of the user (734). For example, the
search
suggestion appliance (413) and/or the workflow suggestion appliance (414) may
be combined with the profile context appliance as one context appliance.
[0052] FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a method of using the data context
service
from within a host/user application to perform the oilfield operation in
accordance with one or more embodiments. In one or more embodiments, one or
more of the portions shown in FIG. 5 may be omitted, repeated, and/or
performed in a different order. Accordingly, embodiments of the data context
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service should not be considered limited to the specific arrangements of the
method shown in FIG. 5.
[00531 In one or more embodiments, the method depicted in FIG. 5 may be
practiced using the system described with respect to FIG. 4 above. As
described,
the oilfield operation may be performed in a workflow of a project using a
host
application. Initially, the context information associated with the project is
extracted from the host application (Element 501). The context information may
relate to spatial information associated with the oilfield project, a workflow
associated with the oilfield project, an oilfield object associated with the
oilfield
project, a time frame associated with the oilfield project, an analog context
associated with the oilfield project, a user role in the oilfield project,
etc. The
extracted context information is sorted into multiple dimensions of relevance)
(i.e., context information categories described with respect to FIG. 3.1
above)
(Element 502). Then, search profiles are generated from the multiple
dimensions
of relevance (Element 503). A separate search profile may be generated from
each of the dimensions of relevance. A search profile may provide some portion
of the search criteria based on which a search for oilfield data items may be
performed. The effects of the multiple search profiles may be combined
according to a weighted average scheme where the weighting of individual
search profiles may be determined based on user input. Optionally, application
usage information from multiple users of the host application may be obtained
so
that an optional suggested search phrase may be generated by correlating the
context information to the application usage information.
[00541 In Element 504, multiple searches are requested based on at least the
search
profile. The searches may be further limited by an optional search phrase.
Optionally, the searches may be based on a third party search index. In
Element
505, one or more oilfield data items (of structured and/or unstructured
formats)
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are received as results from the multiple searches. Optionally, the results
may be
sent to a third party application.
[00551 Upon receipt of the results, a quality measure of an oilfield data item
included in the results may be obtained based on pre-determined quality
criteria
(Element 506). Optionally, one or more phrases may be identified from the
oilfield data item, each phrase associated with a corresponding usage measure
based on a record of frequently used phrases. For example, the usage measure
may be generated from searches performed by multiple users of the host
application. A phrase may then be selected, for example, by the user as a
search
keyword from the one or more phrases based on the corresponding usage
measure. Accordingly, additional searches may be requested to refine the
result
by limiting the searches with the search keyword in addition to using the
search
profile. If the quality measure exceeds a pre-determined threshold (Element
507), then the oilfield data item is sent to the host application as a search
result
(Element 508). Otherwise, if the quality measure does not exceed the pre-
determined threshold (Element 507), then the process may end or continue until
the quality measure exceeds the pre-determined threshold. In Element 509, an
output may be generated using the host application based on the search result,
and the oilfield operation (e.g., a survey operation, a drilling operation, a
simulator operation, and a processing operation, etc.) is adjusted based on
the
output. In one or more embodiments, the output is stored (e.g., in a
repository or
other readable storage medium) and the oilfield operation (e.g., a survey
operation, a drilling operation, a simulator operation, and a processing
operation,
etc.) is adjusted based on the output stored in the repository.
[00561 The elements of portions or all of the process may be repeated as
desired.
Repeated elements may be selectively performed until satisfactory results are
achieved. For example, elements may be repeated after adjustments are
performed. In this example, the repeated elements may be performed to improve
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the relevance measure of the search results and/or to determine the impact of
changes made.
[00571 FIG. 6 shows the data context service window (603) in accordance with
one
or more embodiments. The data context service window (603) displays various
search results that are organized into multiple pages. Each page may be
retrieved
using an associated tab. As shown, FIG. 6 includes the spatial context search
result page (610), the object context search result page (609), the profile
context
search result page (608), and the analog context search result page (607).
Each
of these pages includes search results obtained using the spatial context
appliance, the object context appliance, the profile context appliance, and
the
analog context appliance, respectively.
[00581 For example, the search results presented in the spatial context search
result
page (610) include search results titled "USGS Southwell Shale light sand
report" (614), "Marathon Study of the Lower Galveston Basin" (615), "B.
McKinney - Obs Report" (616), "TE-25 East Timballer Island Sediment
Restoration, Phase 1" (617), and "SL 1366 Well Review Information" (618).
These search results are obtained based on a current context "Within 30k of
29 45'47"N, 95 21'47"W" shown in the current context field (611), which
describes a geographical region within a 30 kilometer distance from a location
of
interest specified as "29 45'47"N, 95 21'47"W". The location of interest may
be
the project location, the object location, or other location of interest
within the
oilfield operation project. Each of the search results (614)-(618) is obtained
based on the current context due to at least one associated geographical
location
falling into the geographical region centered on the location of interest.
Each
search candidate may be selected because the geographical location is tied to
the
title, the context, or another aspect of the search candidate.
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[00591 The spatial context search result page (610) also includes relevance
measure (613) (e.g., relevance scores of 96, 94, 90, 84, 76) and an action
item
(619) (e.g., open, load, view) for each of the search results. The relevance
measure (613) may be a measure of geographical proximity of the associated
geographical location to the location of interest. The scope of the search may
be
configured by the search aperture (606). For example, the distance of 30
kilometer may be adjusted based on different settings of the search aperture
(606).
[00601 As shown in FIG. 6, action items (619) for each of the search results
may
be presented as selectable options for the user. For example, the search
results
(614) and (617) are depicted with an "OPEN" action, the search results (616)
and
(618) are depicted with a "VIEW" action, and the search result (615) is shown
with a "LOAD" action. In another example, more than one available action may
be selected for a search result. Although the action items depicted in FIG. 6
only
include open, load, and view actions, those skilled in the art will recognize
that
other action items may be implemented for acting on the selected results. For
example, a selected result may be saved as spreadsheet file, text file,
Keyhole
Markup Language (KML) file, Extensible Markup Language (XML) file, or
other applicable formats. In another example, a selected result may be sent to
an
email recipient.
[00611 In one or more embodiments, interfaces (e.g., implemented via the
application programming interface (714) of FIG. 4) between the host
application
(710 of FIG. 4) and the context service engine (714 of FIG. 4) may be defined
for
operations such as view, load, save, send to and open. "Send to" refers to the
ability to gather all pertinent information related to selected data items and
providing the information to a target application interface via a menu, at
which
point the information is reformatted and appropriately used by the target
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application. Various implementations of these interfaces can then be
registered
with the host application (710 of FIG. 4) and may appear as options in the
user
interface, for example as depicted in FIG. 6. If the user selects one of these
options (e.g., view, load, save, send to, and open), the host application (710
of
FIG. 4) extracts the selected data from the current search result set and
activates
the registered implementation of the interface with the selected data. The
implementation may then perform the desired operation (e.g., 'Save' to or
'Send
to' a desired file format, etc.).
[0062] In one or more embodiments, each of the search results (614)-(618) may
be
selected for further actions, which may be activated by the action buttons
(604)
or (605). For example, the search results (614) and (617) are shown as being
selected by the check marks next to the relevance scores of the relevance
measure (613). In this example, the further actions may be a mapping function
(604) or an archiving function (605). In one or more embodiments, the
archiving function may be used for designating the search results to a
"shared"
status for collaboration. Although only two action buttons are illustrated in
FIG.
6, those skilled in the art will recognize any number of action buttons or
other
user interface mechanism (e.g., clicking the right mouse button) may be
implemented for providing any number of further actions. In one or more
embodiments, these further actions may be accessible via individual tabbed
windows.
[0063] FIGS. 7 and 8 show example displays of data context service windows in
additional configurations. The example display shown in FIG. 7 includes an
advanced button (711), a search keyword input field (722), a search results
selection tabs (713), a keyword suggestion drop down menu (715), a search
results summary pane (717), a search results map pane (719), and a tag cloud
pane (721). The example display shown in FIG. 8 depicts a search profile
window activated via the advanced button (711). In one or more embodiments,
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the search profile window may be configured in various different format, for
example, shown or hidden as a viewing pane.
[00641 As shown in FIG. 7, the search keyword input field (722) may be
configured to receive user input keywords to limit the search further, where
the
keywords are applied in addition to the search profiles described with respect
to
FIG. 4 above. As discussed above, the search suggestion appliance (413 of FIG.
4) may present suggested terms in the keyword suggestion drop down menu
(715) based on the current state of the user (e.g., various profiles, workflow
states, etc.), the selected search profiles, and/or the application usage
information
maintained by the search suggestion appliance. For example, the keyword
suggestion drop down menu (715) may be activated by a user accessing a context
menu in the search keyword input field (722), where the user is seeking
guidance
with respect to further limiting the search.
[00651 Furthermore, while the user is entering a keyword into the search
keyword
input field (722), the search suggestion appliance may be configured to
perform
auto-completion by modifying the suggested terms in the keyword suggestion
drop down menu (715) to match the already entered characters.
[00661 Further as shown in FIG. 7, the search results selection tabs (713) may
be
configured to format the search result page into a map format, a timeline
format,
a list format, or other formats not specifically shown in FIG. 7. As shown in
FIG. 7, the search result page in map format includes the search results
summary
pane (717) and the search results map pane (719), which may be provided with
the search profile window activated via the advance button (711) as an
alternative format to the spatial search result page (610) described with
respect to
FIG. 6 above. In this case, the search results are identified at marked
locations 5,
6, 11, 16, 25 in the search results map pane (719) with corresponding summary
information listed in the search results summary pane (717), where search
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details can be accessed by selecting (e.g., via mouse click or hover) any of
the
marked locations in the search results map pane (719) or the listed items in
the
search results summary pane (717).
[0067] In addition, the tag cloud pane (721) displays a tag cloud generated by
the
data tagging appliance (412) described with respect to FIG. 4 above. In this
example, the tags in the tag cloud pane (721) are extracted from the search
results details included in the search results summary pane (717) and the
search
results map pane (719). As shown, the tags are listed in alphanumerical order
with respective font sizes corresponding to the frequency of occurrence
tracked
in the frequently used phrase record (417) described with respect to FIG. 4
above.
[0068] As discussed above, the example display shown in FIG. 8 may be
activated
via the advance button (711) depicted in FIG. 7. As shown, the example display
includes one pane for each of the appliances to display a corresponding search
profiles or quality criteria, where each of the panes may be expanded for
collapsed. For example, the spatial context pane (831) is shown as expanded
with various parameter fields (839) for specifying the spatial search profile.
Similarly, the quality criteria pane (834) and the time frame context pane
(835)
are also shown as expanded with various parameter fields for specifying the
selected quality criteria profile and the time frame search profile. The
object
context pane (832), the profile context pane (833), and additional context
panes
(836, 837) are shown as collapsed.
[0069] Initially, the various parameters in each pane of the search profile
window
described above contain default values determined based on the context
information from when the context service engine is activated in the host
application. In one or more embodiments, the search profile window allows the
user to selectively modify the various parameters. The user modification may
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persist for the next search only, for the duration that the context service
engine is
active, until the user resets the search profiles or the quality criteria to
the default
values, or according to other predetermined schemes.
[0070] In one or more embodiments, the search profile window allows the user
to
combine search profiles/quality criteria corresponding to the various
dimensions
of relevance, such as spatial dimension, object dimension, profile dimension,
time frame dimension, analog dimension, quality dimension, etc. For example,
the user may specify the combination of the spatial and quality dimensions to
retrieve only quality data in a specific geographical region. As shown in FIG.
8,
the various search profiles/quality criteria (831-837) may be combined based
on
a weighted average scheme configured using the weighting controls (838), each
weighting control (838) controlling the relative weighting of the individual
search profile/quality criteria (831-837).
[0071] In one or more embodiments, the search suggestion appliance may be
configured to suggest the most commonly used parameter values in the various
panes of the search profile window based on the context information and the
application usage information described above.
[0072] It will be understood from the foregoing description that various
modifications and changes may be made in the embodiments of the data context
service without departing from its true spirit. For example, additional
context
information categories, context appliances, and context search result pages
may
be added as new computer heuristics are devised. The context information may
be automatically extracted or supplemented with user provided information. The
context based search may be repeated according to the various configurations
and the search results compared and/or analyzed.
[0073] Embodiments of the quality measure for data context service may be
implemented on virtually any type of computer regardless of the platform being
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used. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a computer system (900) includes one or
more processor(s) (902), associated memory (904) (e.g., random access memory
(RAM), cache memory, flash memory, etc.), a storage device (906) (e.g., a hard
disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk drive or digital video disk
(DVD)
drive, a flash memory stick, etc.), and numerous other elements and
functionalities typical of today's computers (not shown). The computer (900)
may also include input means, such as a keyboard (908), a mouse (910), or a
microphone (not shown). Further, the computer (900) may include output
means, such as a monitor (912) (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma
display, or cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor). The computer system (900) may be
connected to a network (not shown) (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide
area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or any other similar type of network)
with wired and/or wireless segments via a network interface connection (not
shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different types of
computer systems exist, and the aforementioned input and output means may
take other forms. Generally speaking, the computer system (900) includes at
least the minimal processing, input, and/or output means necessary to practice
embodiments of the quality measure for data context service.
[00741 Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more
elements of
the aforementioned computer system (900) may be located at a remote location
and connected to the other elements over a network (914). Further, embodiments
of the quality measure for data context service may be implemented on a
distributed system having a plurality of nodes, where each portion of the
embodiments (e.g., various modules of FIG. 4) may be located on a different
node within the distributed system. In one embodiment, the node corresponds to
a computer system. Alternatively, the node may correspond to a processor with
associated physical memory. The node may alternatively correspond to a
processor with shared memory and/or resources. Further, software instructions
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for performing embodiments of the quality measure for data context service may
be stored on a computer readable storage medium such as a compact disc (CD), a
diskette, a tape, a file, or any other computer readable storage device. This
description is intended for purposes of illustration only and should not be
construed in a limiting sense.
[0075] The scope of the quality measure for data context service should be
determined only by the language of the claims that follow. The term
"comprising" within the claims is intended to mean "including at least" such
that
the recited listing of elements in a claim are an open group. "A," "an" and
other
singular terms are intended to include the plural forms thereof unless
specifically
excluded.
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