2-D-S tree: An index structure for content-based retrieval of images

An important feature to be considered in the design of multimedia DBMSs is content-based retrieval of images. Most work in this area has focused on feature-based retrieval; we focus on retrieval based on spatial relationship, which include directional and topological relationships. The most common data structure that is used for representing directional relations is the 2-D string. The search process, however, is sequential and the technique does not scale up for large databases. We propose a new indexing structure, the 2-D-S-tree, to organize 2-D strings for query eeciency. The 2-D-S-tree is completely dynamic; inserts and deletes can be intermixed with searches and no periodic reorganization is required. A performance analysis is conducted, and both analytical analysis and experimental results indicate that the 2-D-S-tree is an eecient index structure for content-based retrieval of images.