SBIR-STTR Award

The project objective is to test the feasibility of new network protocols for integration of a large collection of widely distributed heterogeneous databases and object data repositories into a unified system. Data contained in these databases will include text, graphics, sound, video, etc. The project will provide 2 kinds of services: 1. Index services to increase the ease and efficiency of locating information. 2. Retrieval services to present and conditionally deliver the selected data to the user. This project will simplify the task of accessing widely distributed databases and reduce both the costs and the time required to search them. The project speeds searching by building a mesh of index servers. This allows very rapid location of relevant resources, and the potential to keep the indices constantly updated. The project facilitates access and retrieval by caching resources located by a query, and allows the user to preview them before downloading them over low-bandwidth network links. The user sees a unified system instead of a large collection of databases. Anticipated

Benefits:
The government and private sectors can use this system to integrate databases on an enterprise-wide or even industry-wide scale. In addition, organizations can use the indexing service to track individual documents on an enterprise-wide basis or to provide a virtual searchable library of all of the organizations documents.

The project objective is to develop a distributed directory service which will test the scalability (performance when widely deployed) of a new network protocol to integrate, into a unified system, a large collection of widely distributed heterogeneous databases and object repositories. The project will provide three kinds of services: 1) Index services to increase the ease and efficiency of locating information; 2) Retrieval services to present and conditionally deliver selected data (text, graphics, sound, video, etc.) to the user; 3) Client services to enhance ease of use. This project will simplify the task of accessing widely distributed databases and reduce both the costs and the time required to search them. The proposed system speeds searching by building a mesh of index servers. This allows rapid location of resources and the potential to maintain current indices and avoid centralized servers. The system facilitates access and retrieval by caching resources located by a query, and allowing the user to preview them before downloading them over network links. The user sees a unified system instead of a collection of databases. Organizations can use this system to integrate databases on an enterprise-wide scale, creating a virtual searchable library of information. This project will lead the development of a truly global distributed directory of information which will revolutionize the ways in which we access information over wide area networks such as the Internet. A myriad number of communities worldwide will be able to collect, store, retrieve, interpret, and distribute large amounts of information. The distributed directory service will enable electronic commerce and agile business practices to support rapid information access.