Distributing a Data Base with Logical Associations on a Computer Network for Parallel Searching

The problem of distributing a data base (with logical associations between segment types) on a computer network such that multiple segment types satisfying a query can be retrieved in parallel from different nodes has been introduced. Properties of such distributions without redundancy and with redundancy have been discussed. Lower bounds on the number of nodes needed for such distributions have been given. Algorithms for constructing such distributions have also been given. Distributions of data bases for queries whose target segments form a combinatorial set have been studied in detail. Closed form expressions for redundancy have been obtained for such query sets. Copyright © 1976 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.