The Framework for Approximate Queries on Simulation Data

B. Lee, R. Snapp Department of Computer Science
University of Vermont
{bslee, snap}@cs.uvm.edu

T. Critchlow, G. Abdulla, C. Baldwin, R. Kamimura, N. Tang
Center for Applied Scientific Computing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P.O. Box 808, L-561, Livermore, CA 94551
{critchlow, abdulla1, baldwin5, kamimura1, tangn}@llnl.gov

Ron Musick*
iKuni, Inc
Palo Alto, CA 94304
musick@ikuni.com

Abstract

AQSim is a system intended to enable scientists to query and analyze a large volume of scientific simulation data. The system uses the state of the art in approximate query processing techniques to build a novel framework for progressive data analysis. These techniques are used to define a multi-resolution index, where each node contains multiple models of the data. The benefits of these models are two-fold: 1) the are compact representations, reconstructing only the information relevant to the analysis, and 2) the variety of models capture different aspects of the data which may be of interest to the user but are not readily apparent in their raw form. To be able to deal with the data interactively, AQSim allows the scientist to make an informed tradeoff between query response accuracy and time. In this paper, we present the framework of AQSim with a focus on its architectural design. We also show the results from an initial proof-of-concept prototype developed at LLNL. The presented framework is generic enough to handle other most types of simulation data, and other classes of scientific data as well.

Appeared in

Information Sciences, Volume 157, Spring 2003.

Look at the Paper (pdf.gz)

* Work done while author at
Center for Applied Scientific Computing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P.O. Box 808, L-561, Livermore, CA 94551