Inproceedings,
Information Retrieval from an Incomplete Data Cube
VLDB, page 532--543. Morgan Kaufmann, (1996)
Abstract
A complete data cube is a data cube in which
every aggregate value in the multidimensional
space is stored or can be computed. An incomplete
data cube is a data cube in which
points in the multidimensional space are missing
and cannot be computed. This paper describes
an incomplete data cube design. An
incomplete data cube is modeled as a federation
of cubettes. A cubette is a complete subcube
within the incomplete data cube. The
incomplete cube is built piecemeal by giving
a concise, high-level specification of each cubette.
An efficient algorithm to retrieve an aggregate
value from the incomplete data cube
is described. When a value cannot be retrieved
because it is missing, alternatives at a
lower precision that can be retrieved are identified.
When a value can be partially com-
Ruted (i.e., some of the values lower in the
hierarchy are missing, but some are present)
a measure of the completeness of the result is
supplied along with the partially aggregated
value. The design also includes an algorithm
that removes redundant cubettes and an algorithm
to increase the retrieval power of the
federation through the creation of virtual cubettes.
