Extending the ANSI/SPARC architecture database with explicit data semantics: An ontology-based approach

Abstract

The database (DB) design process follows the traditional ANSI/SPARC architecture proposed by Bachman [1]. A conceptual model (CM) is translated into a logical model corresponding to a data specification implemented in a DB system. The physical model defines how data are stored and accessed. External models allow a DB designer to adapting data according to user's requirements. Regarding the semantic exploitation of data models, this architecture has two major drawbacks [2]: (1) a strong dependency of models with designers and specific application requirements; (2) a gap between conceptual and logical models that increases with the discrepancy of the conceptual modelling languages. The maintenance and/or evolution of the CM, that must be consensual when dealing with semantic integration of data sources (semantics and schema conflicts), are in the kernel of these problems. Recently, some works give more importance to CMs by materializing them in a DB [3]. In these works, the design of a CM is preceded by the design or by pre-existence of ontology. In this case, both ontology and data are represented in the DB. Such a DB is called an ontologybased database (OBDB). Hence our proposition is to extend the ANSI/SPARC architecture to support OBDBs. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.