This chapter focuses on data searching, which is nowadays mostly based on similarity. The similarity search is challenging due to its computational complexity, and also the fact that similarity is subjective and context dependent. The authors assume the metric space model of similarity, defined by the domain of objects and the metric function that measures the dissimilarity of object pairs. The volume of contemporary data is large, and the time efficiency of similarity query executions is essential. This chapter investigates transformations of metric space to Hamming space to decrease the memory and computational complexity of the search. Various challenges of the similarity search with sketches in the Hamming space are addressed, including the definition of sketching transformation and efficient search algorithms that exploit sketches to speed-up searching. The indexing of Hamming space and a heuristic to facilitate the selection of a suitable sketching technique for any given application are also considered.
A metric space approach to the information channel capacity of spike trains
