LinkViews: An Integration Framework for Relational and Stream Systems

Applications of stream data can be found in a wide variety of domains and settings, such as supply chain (RFID sensors), energy management (smart meters), social networks (status updates) and many others. While data stream management systems (DSMS) are technologically mature, they lack standardization in terms of modeling, querying and interoperability. In addition, so far, stream processing was confined within an organization. However, modern applications need to integrate and manage aggregates produced by a variety of stream engines, from complete DSMS to stand-alone stream-handling components. In this paper we discuss a relational-based framework that mix RDBMS’ data and stream aggregates managed by different stream systems, a largely uninvestigated research area. We claim that this framework: (a) is transparent to naive database users, (b) addresses an important and useful class of queries, overlooked so far, (c) presents numerous optimization opportunities to minimize communication and processing costs, and (d) can serve as a standard for relational-stream interoperability.