Dynamic Policy Access Model Based on Formal Concept Analysis

Formal concept analysis was creatively used in policy based network management in this study. It takes much time for a conflict detection routine to search every policy in policy repository with conventional policy access models to see if conflict occurs before a new dynamic policy is added to the policy repository. A novel access model for dynamic policies was proposed based on classification concept lattice to address this problem. Dynamic policies were organized into a concept lattice to be grouped effectively and stably. Then a conflict detection pre-process algorithm based on the concept lattice was proposed after a policy deployment procedure was designed. The algorithm greatly reduces the number of policies necessary for conflict detection, and increases efficiency of conflict detection. Performance analysis and simulation show that the proposed model is effective.