R-Trees

Keywords and Synonyms

R-Trees; Spatial databases; External memory data structures      

Problem Definition

Problem Statement and the I/O Model

Let S be a set of N axis-parallel hypercubes in ${ \mathbb{R}^d }$. A very basic operation in a spatial database is to answer window queries on the set S. A window query Q is also an axis-parallel hypercube in ${ \mathbb{R}^d }$ that asks us to return all hypercubes in S that intersect Q. Since the set S is typically huge in a large spatial database, the goal is to design a disk-based, or external memory data structure (often called an index in the database literature) such that these window queries can be answered efficiently. In addition, given S, the data structure should be constructed efficiently, and should be able to support insertions and deletions of objects.

When external memory data structures are concerned, the standard external memory model [2], a.k.a. the I/O model, is often used as the model of computation. In this model, the...