Querying Probabilistic Business Processes for Sub-Flows

A Business Process (BP for short) consists of a set of activities which, combined in a flow, achieve some business goal. A given BP may have a large, possibly infinite, number of possible execution flows (EX-flows for short), each having some probability to occur at run time. This paper studies query evaluation over such probabilistic BPs. We focus on two important classes of queries, namely boolean queries that compute the probability that a random EX-flow of a BP satisfies a given property, and projection queries focusing on portions of EX-flows that are of interest to the user. For the latter queries the answer consists of the top-k instances of these portions that are most likely to occur at run-time. We study the complexity of query evaluation for both kinds of queries, showing in particular that projection queries may be harder to evaluate than boolean queries. We present a picture of which combinations of BP classes and query features lead to PTIME algorithms and which to NP-hard or infeasible problems.     

Optimizing top-k selection queries over multimedia repositories

Repositories of multimedia objects having multiple types of attributes (e.g., image, text) are becoming increasingly common. A query on these attributes will typically, request not just a set of objects, as in the traditional relational query model (filtering), but also a grade of match associated with each object, which indicates how well the object matches the selection condition (ranking). Furthermore, unlike in the relational model, users may just want the k top-ranked objects for their selection queries for a relatively small k. In addition to the differences in the query model, another peculiarity of multimedia repositories is that they may allow access to the attributes of each object only through indexes. We investigate how to optimize the processing of top-k selection queries over multimedia repositories. The access characteristics of the repositories and the above query model lead to novel issues in query optimization. In particular, the choice of the indexes used to search the repository strongly influences the cost of processing the filtering condition. We define an execution space that is search-minimal, i.e., the set of indexes searched is minimal. Although the general problem of picking an optimal plan in the search-minimal execution space is NP-hard, we present an efficient algorithm that solves the problem optimally with respect to our cost model and execution space when the predicates in the query are independent. We also show that the problem of optimizing top-k selection queries can be viewed, in many cases, as that of evaluating more traditional selection conditions. Thus, both problems can be viewed together as an extended filtering problem to which techniques of query processing and optimization may be adapted.     

The Threshold Algorithm: From Middleware Systems to the Relational Engine

The answer to a top-k query is an ordered set of tuples, where the ordering is based on how closely each tuple matches the query. In the context of middleware systems, new algorithms to answer top-k queries have been recently proposed. Among these, the threshold algorithm (TA) is the most well-known instance due to its simplicity and memory requirements. TA is based on an early-termination condition and can evaluate top-k queries without examining all the tuples. This top-k query model is prevalent not only over middleware systems, but also over plain relational data. In this work, we analyze the challenges that must be addressed to adapt TA to a relational database system. We show that, depending on the available indices, many alternative TA strategies can be used to answer a given query. Choosing the best alternative requires a cost model that can be seamlessly integrated with that of current optimizers. In this work, we address these challenges and conduct an extensive experimental evaluation of the resulting techniques by characterizing which scenarios can take advantage of TA-like algorithms to answer top-k queries in relational database systems     

TMS:一种新的海量数据多维选择Top-k查询算法

在许多应用中,Top-k是一种十分重要的查询类型,它在潜在的巨大数据空间中返回用户感兴趣的少量数据.Top-k查询通常具有指定的多维选择条件.分析发现：现有算法无法有效处理海量数据的多维选择Top-k查询.提出了一个基于有序列表的TMS(top-k with multi-dimensional selection)算法,有效计算海量数据上的具有多维选择的Top-k结果.TMS算法利用层次化结构的选择属性网格对原数据表执行水平划分,每一个分片的元组以面向列的模式存储,并且度量属性的列表根据其属性值降序排列.给定多维选择条件,TMS算法利用选择属性网格确定相关网格单元,有效减少需要读取的元组数量,提出双排序方法执行多维选择的渐进评价,并提出有效剪切操作来剪切不满足多维选择条件和分数要求的候选元组.实验结果表明：TMS算法性能优于现有算法.     

高效的连续不确定XML数据Top-k查询算法

目前,不确定XML数据的top-k查询算法中都没有处理连续不确定数据,本文提出SPCProTJFast算法,该算法改进了传统的归并算法,并结合连续不确定数据的过滤方法,实现了连续不确定XML的Top-k查询。为了避免概率下限值过小对过滤效果的影响,又提出HPCProTJFast算法,该算法推迟了对连续节点的处理,只有在获得满足概率条件的整枝路径时才对连续节点进行访问。实验表明,在执行时间以及过滤效率上,同直接处理连续不确定数据的ProTJFast算法相比,这两种算法都要更高效,并且HPCProTJFast算法的效率更高。     

不确定数据库中概率top-k和排序查询算法

传感器网络等技术的广泛应用产生了大量不确定数据。近年来,对于不确定数据的处理和查询成为数据库和数据挖掘领域研究的热点。其中,传统关系数据库中的top-k查询和排序查询怎样拓展到不确定数据是其中的焦点之一。研究近年来提出的不确定数据库上top-k查询和排序查询算法,归纳和比较目前各种不同查询算法所适应的语义世界和应用场景,并详细分析各种算法的执行效率和算法复杂度。另外,对于不确定数据top-k查询和排序查询所面临的挑战和可能的研究方向进行了总结。     

Type inference and type checking for queries over execution traces

We study here Type Inference and Type Checking for queries over the execution traces of Business Processes. We define formal models for such execution traces, allowing to capture various realistic scenarios of partial information about these traces. We then define corresponding notions of types, and the problems of type inference and type checking in this context. We further provide a comprehensive study of the decidability and complexity of these problems, in various cases, and suggest efficient algorithms where possible.     

数据库安全功能测试自动化框架设计与实现

传统的top-k查询为顾客返回符合其偏好的产品集合,reverse top-k查询则返回将给定产品作为top-k结果的偏好集合。reverse top-k查询由于能帮助生产者评估产品对顾客的影响,因此在商业分析中具有重要价值。现有的reverse top-k查询假设数据是精确的,许多现实应用中,数据的不确定性广泛存在。将reverse top-k查询扩展到不确定数据上,并给出了基于物化视图的高效查询算法GMV。实验结果表明,GMV算法能够减少需要计算的偏好数量,具有较高的计算效率。     

一个面向需求扩展的不确定数据Top-k查询改进算法

已有的不确定数据top-k查询语义只返回在可能世界中聚集概率最大的一个应答,并不能很好地满足用户差异化的查询需求。针对这个问题,通过引入反映查询需求的指标"需求扩展度",定义了基于需求扩展的不确定数据查询语义RU-Topk,并且提出了在新语义下的查询算法。实验表明,RU-Topk算法具有较小的平均单位查询运行时间,且在满足用户需求的情况下,具备更高的查询效率。     

P2P环境中不确定数据Top-k查询处理算法

近年来随着P2P技术的日益发展,P2P环境中的Top-k查询处理技术也越来越成熟.但是,自从不确定数据在数据库的各个领域受到广泛重视,这就引发了学术界和工业界对研发新型的不确定性数据管理技术的兴趣.所以在P2P环境中对不确定数据进行Top-k查询处理就成为了一个新的挑战.主要研究P2P环境下的不确定数据Top-k查询处理技术.首先给出了在不确定数据集上的Top-k查询的定义;然后,以Chord拓扑为例阐述了在P2P环境中对不确定数据的Top-k查询处理算法,并且在保序散列的基础上提出了基于upper-bound的剪枝策略及其改进的路由剪枝策略;最后,通过大量的实验来验证了所提出算法的性能.     

Evaluating refined queries in top-k retrieval systems

In many applications, users specify target values for certain attributes/features without requiring exact matches to these values in return. Instead, the result is typically a ranked list of "top k" objects that best match the specified feature values. User subjectivity is an important aspect of such queries, i.e., which objects are relevant to the user and which are not depends on the perception of the user. Due to the subjective nature of top-k queries, the answers returned by the system to an user query often do not satisfy the users need right away, either because the weights and the distance functions associated with the features do not accurately capture the users perception or because the specified target values do not fully capture her information need or both. In such cases, the user would like to refine the query and resubmit it in order to get back a better set of answers. While there has been a lot of research on query refinement models, there is no work that we are aware of on supporting refinement of top-k queries efficiently in a database system. Done naively, each "refined" query can be treated as a "starting" query and evaluated from scratch. We explore alternative approaches that significantly improve the cost of evaluating refined queries by exploiting the observation that the refined queries are not modified drastically from one iteration to another. Our experiments over a real-life multimedia data set show that the proposed techniques save more than 80 percent of the execution cost of refined queries over the naive approach and is more than an order of magnitude faster than a simple sequential scan.     

纯Peer to Peer环境下有效的Top-k查询

目前大多数的Peer-to-Peer(P2P)系统只支持基于文件标识的搜索,用户不能根据文件的内容进行搜索.Top-k查询被广泛地应用于搜索引擎中,获得了巨大的成功.可是,由于P2P系统是一个动态的、分散的系统,在纯的P2P环境下进行top-k查询是具有挑战性的.提出了一种基于直方图的分层top-k查询算法.首先,采用层次化的方法实现分布式的top-k查询,将结果的合并和排序分散到P2P网络中的各个节点上,充分利用了网络中的资源.其次,根据节点返回的结果为节点构建直方图,利用直方图估计节点可能的分数上限,对节点进行选择,提高了查询效率.实验证明,top-k查询提高了查询效果,而直方图则提高了查询效率.     

Efficient Process of Top-k Range-Sum Queries over Multiple Streams with Minimized Global Error

Due to the resource limitation in the data stream environments, it has been reported that answering user queries according to the wavelet synopsis of a stream is an essential ability of a Data Stream Management System (DSMS). In the literature, recent research has been elaborated upon minimizing the local error metric of an individual stream. However, many emergent applications, such as stock marketing and sensor detection, also call for the need of recording multiple streams in a commercial DSMS. As shown in our thorough analysis and experimental studies, minimizing global error in multiple-stream environments leads to good reliability for DSMS to answer the queries; in contrast, only minimizing local error may lead to significant loss of query accuracy. As such, we first study in this paper the problem of maintaining the wavelet coefficients of multiple streams within collective memory so that the predetermined global error metric is minimized. Moreover, we also examine a promising application in the multistream environment, i.e., the queries for top-k range sum. We resolve the problem of efficient top-k query processing with minimized global error by developing a general framework. For the purposes of maintaining the wavelet coefficients and processing top-k queries, several well-designed algorithms are utilized to optimize the performance of each primary component of this general framework. We also evaluate the proposed algorithms empirically on real and simulated data streams and show that our framework can process top-k queries accurately and efficiently.     

基于边界剪枝的不确定场境下偏好查询技术

查询执行时加入场境依赖的用户偏好可以帮助人们从大量信息中发现正确答案。已经证明,不确定场境信息条件下,用户偏好的查询可能导致NP完全或者#P完全难度的推理难题。提出了一个简单通用的方法优化不确定场境信息条件下的用户偏好查询,用户查询等价于搜索建立的场境偏好空间(contextual preferencesspace,CPS)。根据具体应用需求,考虑了两种搜索方案:搜索最优的元组和返回top-k(k为用户指定)个元组。采用定量的方法对用户偏好进行建模。为了提高查询处理效率,提出两种搜索剪枝策略:边界剪枝(branch and bound searching,BBS)和偏序边界剪枝(partial value branch and bound space searching,pBBS)。最后,从I/O访问次数和CPU运行时间两个角度评价所提出的方法。     

Sliding window top-k dominating query processing over distributed data streams

Preference query processing is important for a wide range of applications involving distributed databases, such as network monitoring, web-based systems, and market analysis. In such applications, data objects are generated frequently and massively, which presents an important and challenging problem of continuous query processing over distributed data stream environments. A top-k dominating query, which has been receiving much research attention recently, returns the k data objects that dominate the highest number of data objects in a given dataset, and due to its dominance-based ranking function, we can easily obtain superior data objects. An emerging requirement in distributed stream environments is an efficient technique for continuously monitoring top-k dominating data objects. Despite of this fact, no study has addressed this problem. In this paper, therefore, we address the problem of continuous top-k dominating query processing over distributed data stream environments. We present two algorithms that monitor the exact top-k dominating data and efficiently eliminate unqualified data objects for the result, which reduces both communication and computation costs. In addition to these algorithms, we present an approximate algorithm that further reduces both communication and computation costs. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real data have demonstrated the efficiency and scalability of our algorithms.     

结构化网络中聚合Top-K查询优化技术

top-k查询在分布式环境中引起越来越多的关注,但是现存的一些top-k算法大都只适用于集中式网络.提出了一个解决分布式网络中top-k查询的新方法—Histogram-Container算法(简称为HC算法),它不仅网络延迟小,网络带宽花费少,而且能够运行在任何结构的分布式网络中.本文将基于一个树型拓扑网络来说明如何使用本地的直方图和bloom filter信息来优化查询,以及如何在中间节点进行部分结果的合并.实验评估和性能分析表明HC算法在网络带宽消耗和查询响应时间方面要优于其他同类方法.     

Approximating query answering on RDF databases

Database users may be frustrated by no answers returned when they pose a query on the database. In this paper, we study the problem of relaxing queries on RDF databases in order to acquire approximate answers. We address two problems in efficient query relaxation. First, to ensure the quality of answers, we compute the similarities between relaxed queries with regard to the user query and use them to score the potential relevant answers. Second, for obtaining top-k answers, we develop two algorithms. One is based on the best-first strategy and relaxed queries are executed in the ranking order. The batch based algorithm executes the relaxed queries as a batch and avoids unnecessary execution cost. At last, we implement and experimentally evaluate our approaches.     

差分隐私保护下一种精确挖掘top-k频繁模式方法

频繁模式挖掘是分析事务数据集常用技术.然而,当事务数据集含有敏感数据时(如用户行为记录、电子病例等),直接发布频繁模式及其支持度计数会给个人隐私带来相当大的风险.对此提出了一种满足ε-差分隐私的top-k频繁模式挖掘算法DP-topkP(differentially private top-k pattern mining).该算法利用指数机制从候选频繁模式集合中挑选出top-k个携带真实支持度计数的模式;采用拉普拉斯机制产生的噪音扰动所选模式的真实支持度计数;为了增强输出模式的可用性,采用后置处理技术对top-k个模式的噪音支持度计数进行求精处理.从理论角度证明了该算法满足ε-差分隐私,并符合(λ,δ)-useful要求.实验结果证明了DP-topkP算法具有较好的准确性、可用性和可扩展性.     

一种针对反向空间偏好top-k查询的高效处理方法

随着地理位置定位技术的蓬勃发展,基于在线位置服务技术的应用也越来越多.提出一种查询类型——反向空间偏好top-k查询.类似于传统的反向空间top-k查询,对于给定的空间查询对象,该查询返回使该对象满足top-k属性得分的那些用户.但不同的是,该对象的属性不是自身具有的特性,而是通过计算该对象与其他偏好对象之间的空间关系（如距离）而确定.这种查询在市场分析等许多重要领域具有需求,例如,根据查询结果,分析出某个地区中某个设施受欢迎的程度.但是,由于大量空间对象的存在导致对象之间空间关系的计算代价非常高,如何实时地计算出对象的空间属性得分,给查询处理带来很大的挑战.针对该问题提出优化的查询处理算法包括：数据集剪枝、数据集批量处理、基于权重的用户分组等策略.通过理论分析和充分的实验验证,证明了所提出方法的有效性.与普通方法相比,这些方法能够大幅度提高查询处理的执行时间和I/O效率.     

不确定数据库上的top-k关键字查询

关系数据库上的关键字检索和不确定数据处理过去一直是两个独立的研究方向。研究了运用关键字方法检索不确定数据的问题,定义了不确定关键字查询的基本模型和语义,提出了一种在属性级粒度的不确定数据库上进行top-k关键字检索的算法。该算法根据用户指定的k值,计算并返回分数最高的前k个结果,其查询结果的评价函数综合考虑了结果与关键字的相关度和结果在可能世界语义下的概率大小。对算法进行了优化,显著降低了计算复杂度。最后通过实验,证明了算法的高效性和实用性。