There Goes the Neighborhood: Relational Algebra for Spatial Data Search
Abstract
We explored ways of doing spatial search within a relational database: (1) hierarchical triangular mesh (a tessellation of the sphere), (2) a zoned bucketing system, and (3) representing areas as disjunctive-normal form constraints. Each of these approaches has merits. They all allow efficient point-in-region queries. A relational representation for regions allows Boolean operations among them and allows quick tests for point-in-region, regions-containing-point, and region-overlap. The speed of these algorithms is much improved by a zone and multi-scale zone-pyramid scheme. The approach has the virtue that the zone mechanism works well on B-Trees native to all SQL systems and integrates naturally with current query optimizers - rather than requiring a new spatial access method and concomitant query optimizer extensions. Over the last 5 years, we have used these techniques extensively in our work on SkyServer.sdss.org, and SkyQuery.net.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cs/0408031,
title = {There Goes the Neighborhood: Relational Algebra for Spatial Data Search},
author = {Jim Gray and Alexander S. Szalay and Aniruddha R. Thakar and Gyorgy Fekete and William O'Mullane and Maria A. Nieto-Santisteban and Gerd Heber and Arnold H. Rots},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cs/0408031},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
Original at http://research.microsoft.com/research/pubs/view.aspx?tr_id=736