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A microprogrammed keyword transformation unit for a database computer

Published:01 September 1977Publication History
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Abstract

The design of a microprogrammable microprocessor-based keyword transformation unit for a database computer(DBC) is described. The DBC, a specialized back-end computer capable of managing 109 - 1010 bytes of data, consists of two loops of memories and processors, the structure loop and the data loop, connected through a database command and control processor (DBCCP).

The structure loop is used to retrieve and update the large amount (107 - 109 bytes) of structural information about the database from a structure memory (SM) at a rate commensurate with the database operations performed on the mass memory of the data loop. A keyword transformation unit (KXU) is therefore required to enhance the performance of the structure memory. The KXU encodes variable-length keywords into a fixed-length form by hashing. By managing a library of carefully designed hashing algorithms and by dynamically loading the algorithms in a writable control store for execution, the KXU allows the efficient storage of keywords and their associated information and minimizes subsequent accesses to the SM.

References

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