An Approach to Resolving Semantic Heterogeneity in a Federation of Autonomous, Heterogeneous Database Systems

Abstract

An approach to accommodating semantic heterogeneity in a federation of interoperable, autonomous, heterogeneous databases is presented. A mechanism is described for identifying and resolving semantic heterogeneity while at the same time honoring the autonomy of the database components that participate in the federation. A minimal, common data model is introduced as the basis for describing sharable information, and a three-pronged facility for determining the relationships between information units (objects) is developed. Our approach serves as a basis for the sharing of related concepts through (partial) schema unification without the need for a global view of the data that is stored in the different components. The mechanism presented here can be seen in contrast with more traditional approaches such as "integrated databases" or "distributed databases". An experimental prototype implementation has been constructed within the framework of the Remote-Exchange experimental system. Keywords: Autonomy, federation, heterogeneous databases, interoperability, resolution, semantic heterogeneity.