Abstract

An algorithm for ranking spatial objects according to increasing distance from a query object is introduced and analyzed. The algorithm makes use of a hierarchical spatial data structure. The intended application area is a database environment, where the spatial data structure serves as an index. The algorithm is incremental in the sense that objects are reported one by one, so that a query processor can use the algorithm in a pipelined fashion for complex queries involving proximity. It is well suited for k nearest neighbor queries, and has the property that k needs not be fixed in advance.

Citations