Patent Document ID: 20110202539
Application ID: 12707204
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A hybrid database for geospatial data comprising: a plurality of voxels, which are volumetric units, of a volumetric storage space, where each voxel has a plurality of data elements describing characteristics of the corresponding volumetric unit; a plurality of features, each representing an object, where each feature has a plurality of feature attributes describing characteristics of the corresponding object, wherein each feature corresponds to one or more of the voxels, wherein a spatial position of each feature in the volumetric storage space is defined at least in part by the voxels that correspond to that feature, wherein data defining the voxels, the data elements, the features, and the feature attributes is stored in a tangible medium accessible by the hybrid database; and a hybrid query engine operable to receive and respond to queries, wherein said queries comprise hybrid queries, wherein each hybrid query comprise query constraints that comprise feature constraints based upon the feature attributes and volumetric constraints based upon the data elements, wherein a query constraints do not explicitly distinguish between the feature constraints and the volumetric constraints.