Using design patterns to design and manipulate spatial access structure

Summary form only given. Our aim is to define a framework for a conceptual design of different types of the quadtrees spatial index structures using the principles of design patterns. The use of patterns provides a high degree of flexibility, extensibility and reusability. Several patterns such as state pattern, singleton pattern, factory method pattern and strategy pattern will be used to structure the different types of quadtrees. These patterns allow us to decouple the structural of any quadtree from its behavioral. This methodology reduces the implementation of a given quadtree type to a couple of methods that define the splitting criteria of a quadtree node and the merging criteria of the quadtree leaves.