What is "x-tree"

In computer science, an X-tree (for eXtended node tree) is an index tree structure based on the R-tree used for storing data in many dimensions. It appeared in 1996, and differs from R-trees (1984), R+-trees (1987) and R*-trees (1990) because it emphasizes prevention of overlap in the bounding boxes, which increasingly becomes a problem in high dimensions. In cases where nodes cannot be split without preventing overlap, the node split will be deferred, resulting in super-nodes. In extreme cases, the tree will linearize, which defends against worst-case behaviors observed in some other data structures.