Abstract: A mechanism for transmitting from a sensor assembly to an acquisition system a message that includes self-describing information is provided. The sensor assembly monitors elements, such as pipes and wells, and detects analog values, such as temperature or pressure, emanating from the elements. The sensor assembly translates the analog values into digital values, creates messages that include information that uniquely identifies the sensor assembly and the digital values, where the information and the digital values are self-described, and transmits the messages to an acquisition system.

Abstract: Techniques for processing, in a database management system, a query referencing a plurality of tables of a database include determining whether a join should be performed between a first table and a second table. The determination is based on a particular set of one or more columns of the second table referenced in the query and a join index on the first table for an index key column from the second table. If it is determined that the join should not be performed, the query is processed without performing the join between the first table and the second table. By avoiding one or more joins, substantial savings in the consumption of computational resources are achieved.