Implementation of spatio-temporal data types with Java generics

Spatio-temporal database is a new type of database that manages spatio-temporal objects and supports corresponding query languages. If position and/or extent of an objects changes continuously, we talk about moving object database. A moving objects database supports a number of data types that could be termed moving. Standard and spatial operations on non-moving data types can be applied to moving data types through a process called temporal lifting. In this paper, an implementation of spatio-temporal data types based on Java extended with parametric polymorphism is explored. A framework for implementing moving data types is presented, with emphasis on the concept of temporal lifting and implementation of lifted operations using Java genericity capabilities.