Rulebase checking using a spatial representation

Abstract

In this paper we describe an approach to rule base V&V founded on a N-dimensional tesseral representation of space. The advantages offered by the representation are that it is simple, concise and lends itself to computationally effective manipulation of objects (defined in the representation) using standard integer addition and subtraction. The encapsulation of a rulebase in this tesseral representation — as a multi-dimensional “arena” — then provides an appropriate mechanism for the application of spatial algorithms to address rulebase verification. The algorithms make full use of the advantages associated with the representation, and consequently offer a significant reduction in time complexity over more traditional approaches to rulebase verification. In particular this paper demonstrates the potential of tesserally encoded rulebases the full impact of which, in the author's opinion, has yet to be explored.