Window Queries over Data

An abstract of the dissertation of Jin Li for the Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science presented October 17, 2008. Title: Window Queries over Data Streams Evaluating queries over data streams has become an appealing way to support various stream-processing applications. Window queries are commonly used in many stream applications. In a window query, certain query operators, especially blocking operators and stateful operators, appear in their windowed versions. Previous research work in evaluating window queries typically requires ordered streams and this order requirement limits the implementations of window operators and also carries performance penalties. This thesis presents efficient and flexible algorithms for evaluating window queries. We first present a new data model for streams, progressing streams, that separates stream progress from physical-arrival order. Then, we present our window semantic definitions for the most commonly used window operators—window aggregation and window join. Unlike previous research that often requires ordered streams when describing window semantics, our window semantic definitions do not rely on physical-stream arrival properties. Based on the window semantic definitions, we present new implementations of window aggregation and