Multiattribute hashing using Gray codes

TLDR: This paper develops a mathematical model, derive formulas giving the average performance of both methods and shows that the proposed method achieves 0% - 50% relative savings over the binary codes.

Abstract: @)2 of this string decides the bucket that the record is stored. In this paper we propose to use Gray codes instead of binary codes, in order to map record signatures to buckets. In Gray codes, successive codewords differ in the value of exactly one bit position, thus, successive buckets hold records with similar record signatures. The proposed method achieves better clustering of similar records and avoids some of the (expensive) random disk accesses, replacing them with sequential ones. We develop a mathematical model, derive formulas giving the average performance of both methods and show that the proposed method achieves 0% - 50% relative savings over the binary codes. We also discuss how Gray codes could be applied to some retrieval methods designed for range queries, such as the grid file [Nievergelt84a] and the approach based on the so-called z-ordering [Orenstein84a].