UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN
DATA ANALYTICS
MDA 5204: CURRENT ADVANCES IN DATABASES
ORDINARY EXAMINATIONS
DATE: APRIL, 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE [20 MARKS]
a) The modern database engine will typically comprise the following modules:
i) Storage manager
ii) Query processing
iii) Transaction manager
Clearly discuss each of these modules (6 Marks)
b) Describe THREE kinds of metadata that the data dictionary stores (3 Marks)
c) Explain the concept of “mobile agent” and discuss the role of a mobile agent in database
recovery (5 Marks)
d) Identify FOUR ways in which object-relational data models advance relational models
(3 Marks)
e) Explain and illustrate the following concepts: (3 Marks)
i) Image query by keywords
ii) Image query by example
iii) Video query
QUESTION TWO [15 MARKS]
Consider the following THREE basic functions used to query a simple multimedia database
system (SMDS):
i) FindObjWith Feature and Attr()
ii) Find ype ()
iii) Find Features in Ob j()
a) Explain these functions, including the input and what is given as output (6 Marks)
b) Write SMDS queries to illustrate how each of these functions can be applied (6 Marks)
c) Discuss any THREE multimedia database architectures (3 Marks)
QUESTION THREE [15 MARKS]
a) Describe any THREE applications of spatio-temporal databases (3 Marks)
b) Distinguish between the following sets of terms and give examples: (6 Marks)
i) Location dependent data and location independent data
ii) Snapshot past query and snapshot present query
c) Discuss and illustrate THREE spatial primitives used to model real-world objects (6 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR [15 MARKS]
a) i) Outline any SIX requirements for spatial querying (6 Marks)
ii) Describe the term “spatial join” (1 Mark)
b) Illustrate how a spatial join can be applied to answer the following question: (3 Marks)
” For each river pass through Ontario, find all cities within less than 50 kms”
c) One of the key problems with mobile database systems is data availability for users who are
submitting queries with limited bandwidth. Discuss TWO possible schemes to address this
problem. (5 Marks)
