Efficient processing of spatial joins with DOT-based indexing

A spatial join is a query that searches for a set of object pairs satisfying a given spatial relationship from a database. It is one of the most costly queries, and thus requires an efficient processing algorithm that fully exploits the features of the underlying spatial indexes. In our earlier work, we devised a fairly effective algorithm for processing spatial joins with double transformation (DOT) indexing, which is one of several spatial indexing schemes. However, the algorithm is restricted to only the one-dimensional cases. In this paper, we extend the algorithm for the two-dimensional cases, which are general in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. We first extend DOT to two-dimensional original space. Next, we propose an efficient algorithm for processing range queries using extended DOT. This algorithm employs the quarter division technique and the tri-quarter division technique devised by analyzing the regularity of the space-filling curve used in DOT. This greatly reduces the number of space transformation operations. We then propose a novel spatial join algorithm based on this range query processing algorithm. In processing a spatial join, we determine the access order of disk pages so that we can minimize the number of disk accesses. We show the superiority of the proposed method by extensive experiments using data sets of various distributions and sizes. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method improves the performance of spatial join processing up to three times in comparison with the widely-used R-tree-based spatial join method.     

Authenticated indexing for outsourced spatial databases

In spatial database outsourcing, a data owner delegates its data management tasks to a location-based service (LBS), which indexes the data with an authenticated data structure (ADS). The LBS receives queries (ranges, nearest neighbors) originating from several clients/subscribers. Each query initiates the computation of a verification object (VO) based on the ADS. The VO is returned to the client that can verify the result correctness using the public key of the owner. Our first contribution is the MR-tree, a space-efficient ADS that supports fast query processing and verification. Our second contribution is the MR*-tree, a modified version of the MR-tree, which significantly reduces the VO size through a novel embedding technique. Finally, whereas most ADSs must be constructed and maintained by the owner, we outsource the MR- and MR*-tree construction and maintenance to the LBS, thus relieving the owner from this computationally intensive task.     

A modular and adaptive framework for large scale video indexing and content‐based retrieval: the SIRSALE system

In this paper, we present the design and the implementation of SIRSALE: a distributed video data management system. SIRSALE allows users to manipulate video streams stored in large distributed repositories, i.e. it provides remote users with functionalities to browse video streams by structures (shots, scenes, sequences, etc.), to annotate the semantic contents of videos and to query the distributed video repositories. One of the main contributions of SIRSALE is its contextual adaptation to the target application, i.e. it is based on a modular data model that allows adapting the system to deal with several semantic contexts. In other words, SIRSALE allows users to define and to use their own semantic data model in order to annotate and query video databases. The key idea behind this is to dynamically adapt the whole system, mainly user interfaces, to stand several semantic data models. The system has been presented to professionals who gave a positive feedback. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fully spatial personalized differentially private mechanism to provide non-uniform privacy guarantees for spatial databases

Spatial databases are essential to applications in a wide variety of domains. One of the main privacy concerns when answering statistical queries, such as range counting queries, over a spatial database is that an adversary observing changes in query answers may be able to determine whether or not a particular geometric object is present in the database. Differential privacy addresses this concern by guaranteeing that the presence or absence of a geometric object has little effect on query answers. Most of the current differentially private mechanisms for spatial databases ignore the fact that privacy is personal and, thus, provide the same privacy protection for all geometric objects. However, some particular geometric objects may be more sensitive to privacy issues than others, requiring stronger differential privacy guarantees. In this paper, we introduce the concept of spatial personalized differential privacy for spatial databases where different geometric objects have different privacy protection requirements. Also, we present SPDP-PCE, a novel spatial personalized differentially private mechanism to answer range counting queries over spatial databases that fully considers the privacy protection requirements of geometric objects in the underlying geometric space in both steps of noise addition and consistency enforcement. Our experimental results on real datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of SPDP-PCE under various total privacy budgets, query shapes, and privacy level distributions.     

FeGC: An efficient garbage collection scheme for flash memory based storage systems

NAND flash memory is a promising storage media that provides low-power consumption, high density, high performance, and shock resistance. Due to these versatile features, NAND flash memory is anticipated to be used as storage in enterprise-scale systems as well as small embedded devices. However, unlike traditional hard disks, flash memory should perform garbage collection that consists of a series of erase operations. The erase operation is time-consuming and it usually degrades the performance of storage systems seriously. Moreover, the number of erase operations allowed to each flash memory block is limited. This paper presents a new garbage collection scheme for flash memory based storage systems that focuses on reducing garbage collection overhead, and improving the endurance of flash memory. The scheme also reduces the energy consumption of storage systems significantly. Trace-driven simulations show that the proposed scheme performs better than various existing garbage collection schemes in terms of the garbage collection time, the number of erase operations, the energy consumption, and the endurance of flash memory.     

混合结构P2P空间索引网络优化机制的研究与实现

针对当前P2P地理信息系统(GIS)在客户端网络资源利用方面的不足,从应用实际出发,对已有的混合结构P2P空间索引网络进行分析总结,提出一种新的组策略思想:将具有相同空间数据语义的节点加入到同一组中,由组中成员节点共同负担查询请求任务;同时,通过当前索引节点的替换算法和备份策略进一步提高整个网络的查询性能和稳定性。实验结果表明,在大并发量查询请求时有组策略的索引网络能够有效利用客户端的网络资源,提高查询性能。     

PBFilter: A flash-based indexing scheme for embedded systems

NAND Flash has become the most widely used electronic stable storage technology for embedded systems. As on-board storage capacity increases, the need for efficient indexing techniques arises. Such techniques are very challenging to design due to a combination of NAND Flash constraints (e.g., block-erase-before-page-rewrite constraint and limited number of erase cycles) and embedded system constraints (e.g., tiny RAM and resource consumption predictability). Previous work adapted traditional indexing methods to cope with Flash constraints by deferring index updates using a log and batching them to decrease the number of rewrite operations in Flash memory. However, these methods were not designed with embedded system constraints in mind and do not address them properly. In this paper, we propose a different alternative for indexing Flash-resident data that specifically addresses the embedded context. This approach, called PBFilter, organizes the index structure in a purely sequential way. Key lookups are sped up thanks to two principles called Summarization and Partitioning. We instantiate these principles with data structures and algorithms based on Bloom Filters and show the effectiveness of this approach through a comprehensive analytical performance study. Extensions of PBFilter on range queries and multi-criteria queries are also discussed. The proposed technique is integrated into a full-fledged embedded DBMS engine. We describe the complete design of the DBMS engine to illustrate the feasibility of adopting PBFilter technique in a real system. Finally, we show some performance measurements of the prototype on top of a real hardware platform, in order to validate the new technique in a practical manner.     

Boundary-based lower-bound functions for dynamic time warping and their indexing

Dynamic time warping (DTW) is a powerful technique in the time-series similarity search. However, its performance on large-scale data is unsatisfactory because of its high computational cost and the fact that it cannot be indexed directly. The lower bound technique for DTW is an effective solution to this problem. In this paper, we explain the existing lower-bound functions from a unified perspective and show that they are only special cases under our framework. We then propose a group of lower-bound functions for DTW and compare their performances through extensive experiments. The experimental results show that the new methods are better than the existing ones in most cases, and a theoretical explanation of the results is also given. We further implement an index structure based on the new lower-bound function. Experimental results demonstrate a similar conclusion.     

A reciprocal framework for spatial K-anonymity

Spatial K-anonymity (SKA) exploits the concept of K-anonymity in order to protect the identity of users from location-based attacks. The main idea of SKA is to replace the exact location of a user U with an anonymizing spatial region (ASR) that contains at least K−1 other users, so that an attacker can pinpoint U with probability at most 1/K. Simply generating an ASR that includes K users does not guarantee SKA. Previous work defined the reciprocity property as a sufficient condition for SKA. However, the only existing reciprocal method, Hilbert Cloak, relies on a specialized data structure. In contrast, we propose a general framework for implementing reciprocal algorithms using any existing spatial index on the user locations. We discuss ASR construction methods with different tradeoffs on effectiveness (i.e., ASR size) and efficiency (i.e., construction cost). Then, we present case studies of applying our framework on top of two popular spatial indices (namely, R*-trees and Quad-trees). Finally, we consider the case where the attacker knows the query patterns of each user. The experimental results verify that our methods outperform Hilbert Cloak. Moreover, since we employ general-purpose spatial indices, the proposed system is not limited to anonymization, but supports conventional spatial queries as well.     

A new range query algorithm for Universal B-trees

In multi-dimensional databases the essential tool for accessing data is the range query (or window query). In this paper we introduce a new algorithm of processing range query in universal B-tree (UB-tree), which is an index structure for searching in multi-dimensional databases. The new range query algorithm (called the DRU algorithm) works efficiently, even for processing high-dimensional databases. In particular, using the DRU algorithm many of the UB-tree inner nodes need not to be accessed. We explain the DRU algorithm using a simple geometric model, providing a clear insight into the problem. More specifically, the model exploits an interesting relation between the Z-curve and generalized quad-trees. We also present experimental results for the DRU algorithm implementation.     

海量3D点云数据压缩与空间索引技术

针对3D模型中海量点云数据压缩与空间索引低效问题和漫游过程中相邻两次查询窗口重叠是大概率事件问题,提出邻点差值渐进压缩和基于裁剪重叠区域进行冗余处理的R树空间索引方法。首先,利用八叉树对3D模型进行空间剖分,借助Morton码对每个叶节点管理的点云数据排序,按照R树叶节点的外接立方体大小对数据进行分块,计算块内相邻点数据差值,以块为单位渐进压缩差值,批量读取这些数据块创建R树;其次,借助上次查询窗口范围计算本次查询有效范围;最后,给出基于R树索引的点云数据查询方法。该方法使点云数据压缩率提高了26.61个百分点,并能实现流式传输,同时减少了I/O开销,使其查询性能提高了35.44%,数据冗余减少了16.49个百分点。实验结果表明,所提方法在3D虚拟旅游、数字城市等系统具中有明显优势。     

一种加快WebGIS服务器响应速度的空间索引

WebGIS服务器向用户提供电子地图浏览服务.每一个请求/响应回合,服务器端都进行着具有多尺度特性的成批式数据访问.多尺度特性是指地图比例尺决定着地图显示内容的详略.基于R-tree的数据访问方法与多尺度性和成批性不相适应,存在"同级要素弱簇聚"和"I/O粒度偏小"两大问题,绘图数据访问效率不高.提出的多级R-tree能够解决上述两个问题.来自实验的统计数据表明,对于区域查询,基于多级R-tree的访问方法的效率明显高于基于R-tree索引的访问方法.使用多级R-tree能够有效地提高WebGIS服务器的响应速度.     

An efficient iconic indexing strategy for image rotation and reflection in image databases

Spatial relationships are important issues for similarity-based retrieval in many image database applications. With the popularity of digital cameras and the related image processing software, a sequence of images are often rotated or flipped. That is, those images are transformed in the rotation orientation or the reflection direction. However, many iconic indexing strategies based on symbolic projection are sensitive to rotation or reflection. Therefore, these strategies may miss the qualified images, when the query is issued in the orientation different from the orientation of the database images. To solve this problem, some researchers proposed a function to map the spatial relationship to its transformed one. However, this mapping consists of several conditional statements, which is time-consuming. Thus, in this paper, we propose an efficient iconic indexing strategy, in which we carefully assign a unique bit pattern to each spatial relationship and record the spatial information based on the bit patterns in a matrix. Without generating the rotated or flipped image, we can directly derive the index of the rotated or flipped image from the index of the original one by bit operations and matrix manipulation. In our performance study, we analyze the time complexity of our proposed strategy and show the efficiency of our proposed strategy according to the simulation results. Moreover, we implement a prototype to validate our proposed strategy.     

A recommendation framework for remote sensing images by spatial relation analysis

In recent years, Remote Sensing Images (RS-Images) are widely recognized as an essential geospatial data due to their superior ability to offer abundant and instantaneous ground truth information. One of the active RS-Image approaches is the RS-Image recommendation from the Internet for meeting the user's queried Area-of-Interest (AOI). Although a number of studies on RS-Image ranking and recommendation have been proposed, most of them only consider the spatial distance between RS-Image and AOI. It is inappropriate since both of the RS-Image and AOI not only have the spatial information but also the cover range information. In this paper, we propose a novel framework named Location-based rs-Image Finding Engine (LIFE) to rank and recommend a series of relevant RS-Images to users according to the user-specific AOI. In LIFE, we first propose a cluster-based RS-Image index structure to efficiently maintain the large amount of RS-Images. Then, two quantitative indicators named Available Space (AS) and Image Extension (IE) are proposed to measure the Extensibility and Centrality between RS-Image and AOI, respectively. To our best knowledge, this is the first work on RS-Image recommendation that considers the issues of extensibility and centrality simultaneously. Through comprehensive experimental evaluations, the experiment result shows that both indicators have their own distinguished ranking behaviors and are able to successfully recommend meaningful RS-Image results. Besides, the experimental results show that the proposed LIFE framework outperforms the state-of-the-art approach Hausdorff in terms of Precision, Recall and Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain (NDCG).     

CM-tree: A dynamic clustered index for similarity search in metric databases

Repositories of unstructured data types, such as free text, images, audio and video, have been recently emerging in various fields. A general searching approach for such data types is that of similarity search, where the search is for similar objects and similarity is modeled by a metric distance function. In this article we propose a new dynamic paged and balanced access method for similarity search in metric data sets, named CM-tree (Clustered Metric tree). It fully supports dynamic capabilities of insertions and deletions both of single objects and in bulk. Distinctive from other methods, it is especially designed to achieve a structure of tight and low overlapping clusters via its primary construction algorithms (instead of post-processing), yielding significantly improved performance. Several new methods are introduced to achieve this: a strategy for selecting representative objects of nodes, clustering based node split algorithm and criteria for triggering a node split, and an improved sub-tree pruning method used during search. To facilitate these methods the pairwise distances between the objects of a node are maintained within each node. Results from an extensive experimental study show that the CM-tree outperforms the M-tree and the Slim-tree, improving search performance by up to 312% for I/O costs and 303% for CPU costs.     

A multi-dimensional indexing approach for timestamped event sequence matching

This paper addresses the problem of timestamped event sequence matching, a new type of similar sequence matching that retrieves the occurrences of interesting patterns from timestamped sequence databases. The sequential-scan-based method, the trie-based method, and the method based on the iso-depth index are well-known approaches to this problem. In this paper, we point out their shortcomings, and propose a new method that effectively overcomes these shortcomings. The proposed method employs an R^∗-tree, a widely accepted multi-dimensional index structure that efficiently supports timestamped event sequence matching. To build the R^∗-tree, this method extracts time windows from every item in a timestamped event sequence and represents them as rectangles in n-dimensional space by considering the first and last occurring times of each event type. Here, n is the total number of disparate event types that may occur in a target application. To resolve the dimensionality curse in the case when n is large, we suggest an algorithm for reducing the dimensionality by grouping the event types. Our sequence matching method based on the R^∗-tree performs with two steps. First, it efficiently identifies a small number of candidates by searching the R^∗-tree. Second, it picks out true answers from the set of candidates. We prove its robustness formally, and also show its effectiveness via extensive experiments.     

空间数据库性能对比实验分析

空间数据库是管理空间数据的重要方式,亦是GIS的重要组成部分。介绍了空间数据库的概念和发展历程,分析了影响空间数据库性能的因素,进而探讨了图层加载、要素插入和空间计算等应用性能,设计了三组空间数据库的操作实验,对目前常用的几种空间数据库管理空间数据的性能进行了对比分析。