Abstract and Discrete Modeling of
Spatio-Temporal Data Types
Martin Erwig (1), Ralf Hartmut Güting (1), Markus Schneider
(1), Michalis Vazirgiannis (1+2)
(1) Praktische Informatik IV, Fernuniversität Hagen,
D-58084 Hagen, GERMANY,
{erwig, gueting, markus.schneider}@fernuni-hagen.de
(2) Dept. of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business,
Patision 76, 10434 Athens, Greece,
mvazirg@aueb.gr
Abstract: Spatio-temporal databases deal with geometries changing
over time. In general, geometries cannot only change in discrete steps,
but continuously, and we are talking about moving objects. If only the
position in space of an object is relevant, then moving point is a basic
abstraction; if also the extent is of interest, then the moving region
abstraction captures moving as well as growing or shrinking regions. We
propose a new line of research where moving points and moving regions are
viewed as three-dimensional (2D space + time) or higher-dimensional entities
whose structure and behavior is captured by modeling them as abstract data
types. Such types can be integrated as base (attribute) data types
into relational, object-oriented, or other DBMS data models; they can be
implemented as data blades, cartridges, etc. for extensible DBMSs.
We expect these spatio-temporal data types to play a similarly fundamental
role for spatio-temporal databases as spatial data types have played
for spatial databases. In this paper we consider the need for modeling
spatio-temporal data types on two different levels of abstraction.
Keywords: Spatial, temporal, spatio-temporal, data types, moving
objects, moving point, moving region
Published: 6th ACM Symp. on Geographic Information Systems
(ACM GIS '98), 131-136, 1998.