Database Systems

The Cornell Database Group is exploring issues related to all aspects of data management. Our
interests range from developing efficient algorithms for very large data sets, to building large-scale
systems for new and emerging applications. We are currently working on the following projects.
Computer games are becoming the next frontier for social interaction between humans. In our project
on data-driven games , we use techniques from the database community to scale up computer games
and virtual worlds. An example is the artificial intelligence of non-player characters. We made a first
step towards truly scalable AI in computer games by modeling game AI as a data management
problem. With our highly expressive scripting language SGL we can use sophisticated query processing
and indexing techniques to efficiently execute large numbers of SGL scripts, thus providing a
framework for games with a truly epic number of non-player characters.
The digitization of our daily lives has led to an explosion in the collection of personal data by
governments, corporations, and individuals. Such information is stored in large databases, and easy
access to these databases has resulted in a dramatic increase in the disclosure of private information
about individuals. Analogously, many organizations need to guard their proprietary data against
unauthorized access and administrators need to be able to express various data access control
policies. In the Data Privacy and Security Project, we are working on techniques to limit disclosure of
information from such databases.
Traditional content based publish/subscribe (pub/sub) systems allow users to xpress stateless
subscriptions evaluated on individual events. However, many applications require the ability to
handle stateful subscriptions. In theCayuga Project , we are building a scalable complex event
monitoring engine that can process queries that span multiple events. Applications of Cayuga include
system monitoring, monitoring RSS streams, stock tickers, and management of RFID data streams.
For many of the most challenging data management problems, such as data integration, data
cleaning, Web information extraction, Web search, and data mining, uncertainty is the central issue
that renders the problem difficult. Database systems for managing uncertain and probabilistic data will
also be used for managing sensor data, tracking vehicles, and for decision support in business, crime
fighting, and intelligence. In theMayBMS project we are currently working on developing database
technology and query languages for efficiently managing very large uncertain and probabilistic
databases.