A lot of work has been done in the area of data stream processing. Most of the previous approaches regard only relational or XML based streams but do not cover semantic richer RDF based stream elements. In our work, we extend SPARQL, the W3C recommendation for an RDF query language, to process RDF data streams. To describe the semantics of our enhancement, we extended the logical SPARQL algebra for stream processing on the foundation of a temporal relational algebra based on multi sets and provide an algorithm to transform SPARQL queries to the new extended algebra. For each logical algebra operator, we defined executable physical counterparts. To show the feasibility of our approach, we implemented it within our ODYSSEUS framework in the context of wind power plant monitoring.

In this contribution a system is presented, which provides access to distributed data sources using Semantic Web technology. While it was primarily designed for data sharing and scientific collaboration, it is regarded as a base technology useful for many other Semantic Web applications. The proposed system allows to retrieve data using SPARQL queries, data sources can register and abandon freely, and all RDF Schema or OWL vocabularies can be used to describe their data, as long as they are accessible on the Web. Data heterogeneity is addressed by RDF-wrappers like D2R-Server placed on top of local information systems. A query does not directly refer to actual endpoints, instead it contains graph patterns adhering to a virtual data set. A mediator finally pulls and joins RDF data from different endpoints providing a transparent on-the-fly view to the end-user. The SPARQL protocol has been defined to enable systematic data access to remote endpoints. However, remote SPARQL queries require the explicit notion of endpoint URIs. The presented system allows users to execute queries without the need to specify target endpoints. Additionally, it is possible to execute join and union operations across different remote endpoints. The optimization of such distributed operations is a key factor concerning the performance of the overall system. Therefore, proven concepts from database research can be applied.

Integrated access to multiple distributed and autonomous RDF data sources is a key challenge for many semantic web applications. As a reaction to this challenge, SPARQL, the current W3C Proposed Recommendation for an RDF query language, supports querying of multiple RDF graphs. However, the current standard does not provide transparent query federation, which makes query formulation hard and lengthy. Furthermore, current implementations of SPARQL load all RDF graphs mentioned in a query to the local machine. This usually incurs a large overhead in network traffic, and sometimes is simply impossible for technical or legal reasons. To overcome these problems we present DARQ, an engine for federated SPARQL queries. DARQ provides transparent query access to multiple SPARQL services, i.e., it gives the user the impression to query one single RDF graph despite the real data being distributed on the web. A service description language enables the query engine to decompose a query into sub-queries, each of which can be answered by an individual service. DARQ also uses query rewriting and cost-based query optimization to speed-up query execution. Experiments show that these optimizations significantly improve query performance even when only a very limited amount of statistical information is available. DARQ is available under GPL License at http://darq.sf.net/.