Amazon patents search system that wakes up fast and sleeps when idle
This patent describes a search system that uses a two-step approach to find information quickly without keeping servers running all the time. When a search request arrives, it immediately starts a short-lived computer process to answer the query while simultaneously launching a longer-lasting background process to handle future requests. If no more searches come in for a while, both processes shut down to save energy and cost.
In the filing’s own words
A hybrid serverless computing and durable computing search system provides low-latency search by maintaining domain specific search indices in memory or storage, while also allowing for low-cost service by scaling to zero when not in use. An initial search query is processed by an ephemeral computing instance loaded with code for executing search and which has downloaded relevant search indexes for a given domain. Asynchronously, a longer-lived container is launched and loaded with the relevant search indices. Subsequent search queries for the given domain are handled using the container without the delay associated with downloading the relevant search indices. After a period of inactivity both the container and ephemeral computing instances are scaled to zero.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system, comprising: storage devices configured to store documents; a database storing indexes that index document characteristics of the documents stored in the storage devices; and one or more computing devices configured to implement on-demand searching capacity for searching documents stored in the storage devices, wherein to implement the on-demand searching capacity, the one or more computing devices are configured to: in response to receiving an initial query for a given domain, instantiate an ephemeral computing instance for searching for documents having characteristics within the given domain; add index files to a memory of the ephemeral computing instance that have been retrieved from the database; generate a query response for the initial query using the index files that have been added to the memory of the ephemeral computing instance; asynchronously, cause a container-based computing environment to be launched for processing additional queries for the given domain; and load the container-based computing environment with index files for the given domain; and in response to receiving a subsequent query for the given domain within a threshold amount of time from when the initial query was received, generate a query response using the container-based computing environment to which the index files for the given domain have been loaded.
Facts
- Company
- Amazon (Amazon Technologies, Inc.)
- Official title
- Hybrid serverless computing and durable computing search service
- Patent number
- US12737423B1
- Application number
- 19095743
- Filed
- Mar 31, 2025
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 7
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 16/93 Physics & computingG06F 9/455 Physics & computingG06F 16/3331 Physics & computingMore from Amazon in AI & software
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.