Mapping data to higher-order description logic knowledge bases

In this paper we introduce the notion of mapping-based knowledge base (MKB), to formalize those ontology-based data access (OBDA) scenarios where both the extensional and the intensional level of the ontology are determined by suitable mapping assertions involving the data sources. We study reasoning over MKBs in the context of Hi(DL-LiteR), a higher-order version of the DL DL-LiteR. We show that answering queries posed to MKBs expressed in Hi(DL-LiteR) can be done efficiently through FOL rewriting: hence, query answering can be delegated to a DBMS, as in the case of traditional OBDA systems.