Tiering of posting lists in search engine index
First Claim
1. One or more computer storage media storing computer useable instructions that, when used by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
- receiving a search query comprising one or more terms;
analyzing the search query to identify one or more atoms from the one or more terms;
querying a search index using the one or more atoms identified from the search query, wherein the search index comprises a plurality of postings lists, each posting list corresponding with an atom and including a plurality of postings, wherein each posting within a given posting list corresponding with the atom identifies a document containing the atom and a rank representing a significance of the atom for the document, wherein at least one posting list is divided into a plurality of tiers ordered based on rank;
and wherein querying the search index comprises determining whether to perform additional processing, to identify a plurality of documents, based on comparing a combined rank of a first set of documents identified after a first tier with a calculated combined rank of the first set of documents of the first tier and one or more documents of at least a second tier;
identifying the plurality of documents from querying the search index based on the plurality of tiers ordered based on rank and the postings within each of the plurality of tiers; and
providing a plurality of search results for presentation to an end user based on the plurality of documents identified by querying the search index.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A search index includes tiered posting lists. Each posting list in the search index corresponds with a different atom and includes a list of documents containing the particular document. Additionally, a rank is stored with each document listed in a posting list for a given atom representing the relevance of the atom to the context of each document. At least some of the posting lists in the search index are tiered. A tiered posting list is divided into a number of tiers with the tiers being ordered by document while each tier is internally ordered by document. Employing tiered posting lists within the search index allows a search engine to evaluate search queries in a manner that allows for a number of efficiencies and precise stopping.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. One or more computer storage media storing computer useable instructions that, when used by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
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receiving a search query comprising one or more terms; analyzing the search query to identify one or more atoms from the one or more terms; querying a search index using the one or more atoms identified from the search query, wherein the search index comprises a plurality of postings lists, each posting list corresponding with an atom and including a plurality of postings, wherein each posting within a given posting list corresponding with the atom identifies a document containing the atom and a rank representing a significance of the atom for the document, wherein at least one posting list is divided into a plurality of tiers ordered based on rank; and wherein querying the search index comprises determining whether to perform additional processing, to identify a plurality of documents, based on comparing a combined rank of a first set of documents identified after a first tier with a calculated combined rank of the first set of documents of the first tier and one or more documents of at least a second tier; identifying the plurality of documents from querying the search index based on the plurality of tiers ordered based on rank and the postings within each of the plurality of tiers; and providing a plurality of search results for presentation to an end user based on the plurality of documents identified by querying the search index. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-implemented method for providing search results, the method comprising:
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receiving a search query comprising one or more terms; analyzing the search query to identify one or more atoms from the one or more terms; querying a search index using the one or more atoms identified from the search query, wherein the search index comprises a plurality of postings lists, each posting list corresponding with an atom and including a plurality of postings, wherein each posting within a given posting list corresponding with an atom identifies a document containing the atom and a rank representing a significance of the atom for the document, wherein at least one posting list is divided into a plurality of tiers ordered based on rank, and wherein querying the search index comprises determining whether to perform additional processing, to identify a plurality of documents, based on comparing a combined rank of a first set of documents identified after a first tier with a calculated combined rank of the first set of documents of the first tier and one or more documents of at least a second tier; identifying a plurality of documents from querying the search index based on the plurality of tiers ordered based on rank and the postings within each of the plurality of tiers; and providing a plurality of search results for presentation to an end user based on the plurality of documents identified by querying the search index. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for providing search results, the system comprising:
a search engine server, having a processor and a memory configured for providing computer program instructions to the processor, the search engine server configured for; receiving a search query comprising one or more terms; analyzing the search query to identify one or more atoms from the one or more terms; querying a search index using the one or more atoms identified from the search query, wherein the search index comprises a plurality of postings lists, each posting list corresponding with an atom and including a plurality of postings, wherein each posting within a given posting list corresponding with an atom identifies a document containing the atom and a rank representing a significance of the atom for the document, wherein at least one posting list is divided into a plurality of tiers ordered based on rank, and wherein querying the search index comprises determining whether to perform additional processing, to identify a plurality of documents, based on comparing a combined rank of a first set of documents identified after a first tier with a calculated combined rank of the first set of documents of the first tier and one or more documents of at least a second tier; identifying a plurality of documents from querying the search index based on the plurality of tiers ordered based on rank and the postings within each of the plurality of tiers; and providing a plurality of search results for presentation to an end user based on the plurality of documents identified by querying the search index.
Specification