A new indexing scheme for content-based image retrieval

We propose a new efficient indexing scheme, called the Ha-tree, to support content-based retrieval in image databases. Image content is represented by a point in a multidimensional feature space. The types of queries considered are the range query and the nearest-neighbor query, both in a multidimensional space. Our goals are twofold: increasing the storage utilization and decreasing the area covered by the directory regions of the index tree. The high storage utilization and the small directory area reduce the number of nodes that have to be touched during the query processing. The first goal is achieved by suppressing node splitting if possible, and when splitting is necessary, converting two nodes into three. This is done by proposing a good ordering on the directory nodes. The second goal is achieved by maintaining the area occupied by the directory region as small as possible. This is done by introducing the smallest interval that encloses all regions of the lower nodes. We note that there is a trade-off between the two design goals, but the Ha-tree is so flexible that it can control the trade-off to some extent. We present the design of our indexing scheme and associated algorithms. In addition, we report the results of a series of tests, comparing the proposed index tree with the buddy-tree, which is one of the most successful point indexing schemes for a multidimensional space. The results show the superiority of our method.