A Hierarchical Associative Architecture for the Parallel Evaluation of Relational Algebraic Database Primitives

Algorithm6 are described and analyzed for the efficient evaluation of the primitive operators of a relational algebra on a proposed non-von Neumann machine based on a hierarchy of associative storage devices. This architecture permits an O(log n) decrease in time complexity over the best known evaluation methods on a convcntional computer system, without the use of redundant storage, and using currently available and potentially competitive technology. In many cases of practical import, the proposed architecture may also permit a significant improvement (by a factor roughly proportional to the capacity of the primary associative storage device) over the performance of previously implemented or proposed database machine architectures based on associative secondary storage devices.