Metadatabase model for Scalable and Adaptive Integration

The metadatabase model is characterized by the unique solution approach that converts the integration problem from one that deals directly with data instances to one that controls through metadata, and thereby provides metadata independence for multiple systems. This approach effects concurrent processing and architecture adaptability through the following portfolio of results.

The Basic Model: A Metadatabase-Supported, Rule-Oriented Concurrent Architecture

The concurrent architecture is depicted in the figure. The metadatabase which is a rigorously constructed collection of enterprise metadata, provides an integrated enterprise model for the multiple information systems, their databases, and the interactions among the different systems; i.e. the information contents and their contextual knowledge.

The metadatabase approach (1) uses the enterprise model to assist end-users performing global queries free of both technical details and a hierarchy of integrated schemata; (2) distributes the contextual knowledge to empower these local systems to update data and communicate with each other without central database control; and (3) incorporates legacy, new or changed local models into its generic structure of metadata to support evolution without system redesign or recompilation. The shells in the concurrent architecture, therefore, implements the distributed (localized) knowledge which, in turn, is managed by the metadatabase.