The study of temporal database systems is relatively new in the field of computer science. Two developments have led to the present interest. The advances of the storage technology for large amounts of data and applications' requirements for time-dependent data have prompted our study of temporal databases. This thesis conducts a survey of the major research areas concerning temporal databases. Temporal data, taxonomies of temporal data models, temporal data languages, and temporal database systems are presented. It is argued here that future database systems should handle the temporal domain by an integrated temporal database system. By understanding the present technology and the need of temporal database systems, our research in the area of real-time temporal database systems can begin. It is the purpose of this thesis to provide the background information and research references of temporal database systems as a first step towards the real-time database system research. Real-time database systems are time-constrained and temporally constituted. Solutions in temporal database systems can contribute to the design of real-time military applications using temporal database computers.

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http://archive.org/details/temporaldatatemp1094523421

Captain, United States Marine Corps