Naphtali D. Rishe, Director

Mission:

The High Performance Database Research Center at the Florida International University, conducts research on database management systems and various applications, leading to the development of new types of database systems and refinement of existing database systems.

The Center, a research division of the FIU School of Computer Science, has a strong commitment to training graduate students and preparing them for their future roles as scholars and specialists employed by industry.

Article in Sigmod Record (Vol 24, Number 3 of September 1995) about the Center's research.

Funding:

The Center is funded by government agencies and industry. At $3.8 million, NASA currently provides the largest amount of funding for the Center. Other sponsors include: National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense ( BMDO, ARO, USAF), U.S. Department of the Interior, NATO, Florida Department of Commerce, Florida Department of Education, Baxter Corporation and GeoNet Limited.

Research Scope:

The Center is developing a highly parallel database machine based on the semantic/object-oriented approach. Our research aims to significantly improve the usability and efficiency of highly parallel database computers and machine clusters (tightly networked groups of machines). We are developing algorithms and a prototype database management system that will have substantial advantages over current database machines. Our object-oriented system is based on the Semantic Binary Model of databases. Recent results in database theory and applications show considerable advantages of the Semantic Binary Model in comparison to the Relational Data Model. A semantic database system will have better logical properties: (1) friendlier and more intelligent generic user interfaces based on the stored meaning of the data, (2) comprehensive enforcement of integrity constraints, (3) greater flexibility, and (4) substantially shorter application programs. Our system will also provide (5) higher efficiency for both small and massive numbers of processors and (6) will allow better exploitation of parallelism for data storage and processing.

The Center also conducts research on such theoretical and applied issues as database design methodology, database design tools, information analysis, multi-media databases, distributed databases, database languages, data compression, and spatial databases.

In addition, the Center designs specific database systems for highly-complex applications. We are presently developing database systems for the Everglades National Park and NASA that are intended for storage and processing of large amounts of earth science observations.

Staff:

Affiliated Professors: Y. Deng, C. Orji, D. Barton, C. Chen, W. Sun (Associate Director)

Research Assistants: R. Alentado, E. Alvarez, L. Amat, K. Beznosov, I. Bluvshtein, M. Drobintsev, S. Fedorishin, M. Ferreiro, M. Gutierrez, S. Hu, Y. Ivanov, Dr. Y. Ling, L. Loureiro, Y. Ma, R. Medina, Z. Ming, G. Momplaisir, B. Moreland, S. Mostashari, K. Nablousi, C. Ordonez, R. Qiu, J. Ren, M. Sanchez, A. Shaposhnikov, M. Somasekhar, A. Vaschillo, M. Wang, H. Yang


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High Performance Database Research Center
School of Computer Science
Florida International University
Mail Stop ECS354
Miami, FL 33199