Patent ID: 7007030

Claim:
A computer implemented method of representing a dataset having a plurality of elements characterized by a plurality of relations, the method comprising: (a) slicing at least a portion of the dataset into a plurality of slices, each of said slices comprises a portion of said plurality of elements, said slicing comprising, for each slice; (i) selecting an initial element for said slice, (ii) selecting an additional element, traversing a PQ-tree so to determine whether said additional element is to be included within said slice, and if so than including said additional element within said slice, and (iii) repeating said step (ii) at least once; (b) for each element of the plurality of elements, assigning a set of identifiers, each identifier of said set being characterized by a position within said set, said position representing one of said slices; and (c) for each element of the plurality of elements, assigning an interval, said interval representing at least one relation of said element to at least one element of the plurality of elements.