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Definition of Data Streams

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Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies

Synonyms

Event streams; Information flows

Definitions

A data stream is a countably infinite sequence of elements. Different models of data streams exist that take different approaches with respect to the mutability of the stream and to the structure of stream elements. Stream processing refers to analyzing data streams on-the-fly to produce new results as new input data becomes available. Time is a central concept in stream processing: in almost all models of streams, each stream element is associated with one or more timestamps from a given time domain that might indicate, for instance, when the element was generated, the validity of its content, or when it became available for processing.

Overview

A data stream is a countably infinite sequence of elements and is used to represent data elements that are made available over time. Examples are readings from sensors in an environmental monitoring application, stock quotes in financial applications, or network data in computer monitoring...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Alessandro Margara

  2. Database Systems and Information Management Group, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tilmann Rabl

Authors
  1. Alessandro Margara
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  2. Tilmann Rabl
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Alessandro Margara or Tilmann Rabl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Sherif Sakr

  2. Sch of Info Techno, Building J12, University of Sydney Sch of Info Techno, Building J12, Sydney, Australia

    Albert Zomaya

Section Editor information

  1. Politecnico di Milano http://home.deib.polimi.it/margara/

    Alessandro Margara

  2. Database Systems and Information Management Group, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tilmann Rabl

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Margara, A., Rabl, T. (2018). Definition of Data Streams. In: Sakr, S., Zomaya, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63962-8_188-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63962-8_188-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63962-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63962-8

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