Abstract:

The representation and decidable reasoning method for spatial semantic knowledge are proposed based on the classical description logic ALC. Spatial relations are represented by a kind of special concepts. The operations on spatial relations can be handled by axioms. The spatial constrain satisfaction problem as well as the terminological reasoning can be solved within a single reasoner. The decidable reasoning on both spatial relation and semantic knowledge is achieved for the first time, and the integration of multiaspect spatial relation models is supported by the knowledgebase. All the previous methods are undecidable. Theoretical analysis, case application and comparison with related works all show that this method can solve the key problem of spatial semantic knowledgebase, and it possesses theoretical and practical values.

Key words: artificaial intelligence, qualitative spatial reasoning, description logic, constraints satisfaction problem, region connection calculus