Temporal Object-Oriented Database: (II) Implementation

We have developed a temporal object model which is based on the object-centered object-orientation paradigm, to describe object evolution with time. A database based on this model has been designed and it is called a temporal object-oriented database (TOODB). In our model, the whole life of a real-world entity is modeled by a temporal object. In this paper, we concentrate on one implementation issue of the TOODB: clustering temporal object histories. After identifying new characteristics of objects which evolve in the context of time, a scheme for clustering historical data of a temporal object has been developed. Structural and temporal information about temporal objects, as well as users’ access patterns have all been taken into account in our scheme. The evaluation model introduced has captured various aspects that impact the performance of a clustering scheme. Through simulation experiments, the importance for selection of a suitable temporal partition in the optimization has been demonstrated.