Estimating the overlapping area of polygon join

Abstract

Traditional query processing provides exact answers to queries trying to maximize throughput while minimizing response time. However, in many applications the response time of exact answers is often longer than what is acceptable. Approximate query processing has emerged as an alternative approach to give to the user an answer in a shorter time than the traditional approach. The goal is to provide an estimated result very close to the exact answer, along with a confidence interval, in a short time. There is a large set of techniques for approximate query processing available in different research areas. However most of them are only suitable for traditional data. This work is concerned with approximate query processing in spatial databases. We propose a new algorithm to estimate the overlapping area of polygon join using raster signatures. We executed experimental tests over real world data sets, and the results demonstrated our approach effectiveness. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.