A robust and efficient spatial data structure

Abstract

A new structure for organizing a set of multidimensional points called the nested interpolation-based grid file (NIBGF) is introduced. The structure represents a synthesis and an improvement over interpolation-based grid files (IBGF), BANG files, andK-D-B-trees. It decomposes the data search space into uniquely identifiable regions which may either be disjoint as in interpolation-based grid files or enclose each other as in the BANG files. In addition to possessing the symmetry of access and clustering properties characteristic of grid file structures, the performance of NIBGF is comparable to aB-tree performance as far as the index is concerned, even in the worst case scenario, and to the BANG file performance as far as the data regions are concerned. These properties make the new structure suitable for efficient implementation of relational database operations.