[SoC] GSoC 2021 - Final Report: Implement pre-sorting methods before GiST index building

[Han Wang]

Hi all,

Here is my final report about my GSoC project: Implement pre-sorting
methods before GiST index building.

*Abstract*
GiST(Generalized Search Tree) is a generalization data structure of a
variety of disk-based height-balanced search trees. Under the high-level
API of GiST, structures like b-tree, r-tree can be implemented for data
management. PostgreSQL defines a set of process function APIs for elements
of the GiST index. Only with these function implementations can a data type
be indexed and managed by a GiST structure. In large data scenarios,
pre-sorting a batch of data fetched in memory may be a local approximation
to the global sorting method. Recent PostgreSQL patch shows that it should
speed up the build of a GiST index after some pre-sorting of the data which
needs to be indexed. In one fork, the author replaces the GIST_OPTIONS_PROC
with GIST_ORDER_PROC to try to define an order for data fetched in memory
to sort in order to speed up the subsequent index building process. And I
implemented pre-sorting methods in z-order pattern and Hilbert order
pattern, Alos tested and compared pre-sorting methods on various data.

*Links*
** *Code Base: https://github.com/postgis/postgis/pull/619
* Wiki:
https://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/wiki/ImplementSortingMethodsBeforeGistIndexBuilding
* Test Results and Performance Comparison:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_mY_F2hPDk3vmXH5PPp2z9BuQWt-ZMORk6KxtdVQ3HY/edit?usp=sharing

*Conclusion*
** *The Morton/Hilbert hash function for pre-sorting can accelerate the
process of index building process and reduce the time-consuming to
one-third to one-fifth of the original
* The query operation for different data in the same area demonstrates more
stable performance
* The query performance of pre-sorting is about 30% slower than the original

*Future Work*
** *Try to figure out the reason for the slowness of the pre-sorting index
* Implement a fast Morton/Hilbert hash function for n-dimension geometry
objects

Participating in the GSoC is a great experience for me. And thank you very
much for my mentors, GSoCstaff and the community.

Best regards,
Han
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