Flexible and Efficient IR Using Array Databases

The Matrix Framework is a recent proposal by Information Retrieval (IR) researchers to flexibly represent information retrieval models and concepts in a single multidimensional array framework. The authors provide computational support for exactly this framework with the array database system SRAM (Sparse Relational Array Mapping), that works on top of a DBMS. Information retrieval models can be specified in its comprehension-based array query language, in a way that directly corresponds to the underlying mathematical formulas. SRAM efficiently stores sparse arrays in (compressed) relational tables and translates and optimizes array queries into relational queries.