A frame-based knowledge representation model and its mapping to nested relations

摘要

The first part of this paper introduces the basic constructs of a frame representation model and gives a formal definition for them. Subsequently the nested relational model (NF2) is described as an extension of the classical relational model to support relation-valued attributes. In the second part of this paper both models are compared with each other and a mapping of frame representation structures to NF2 structures is specified. The structural similarities between frames and NF2 relations are made clear and it is shown that their main difference is due to the type polymorphism introduced by the concept hierarchy of the frame model. This causes type collisions to occur in the strictly typed NF2 model when frames are directly mapped to NF2 structures. Two solutions to this problem are suggested and compared. The paper concludes with a reformulation of query operations of the frame model in terms of NF2 algebra operations.