Abstract: We consider spatio-temporal databases supporting spatial objects with continuously changing position and extent, termed moving objects databases. We formally define a data model for such databases that includes complex evolving spatial structures such as line networks or multi-component regions with holes. The data model is given as a collection of data types and operations which can be plugged as attribute types into any DBMS data model (e.g. relational, or object-oriented) to obtain a complete model and query language. A particular novel concept is the sliced representation which represents a temporal development as a set of units, where unit types for spatial and other data types represent certain ``simple'' functions of time. We also show how the model can be mapped into concrete physical data structures in a DBMS environment.
Keywords: spatio-temporal data types, moving objects, discrete model
Published: Proc. ACM SIGMOD Conf. (Dallas, Texas), May 2000, 319-330.