US Patent 7958141 Query utilization

Methods and system for query utilization are described. A rate of a plurality of queries to a data source may be determined for a plurality of time periods. The plurality of queries may be associated with a term. A cost may be associated with a normal-to-deviated query state transition and a deviated-to-normal query state transition. A normal query state or a deviated query state may be assigned to a particular query on a particular time period of the plurality of time periods based on the rate of queries for the particular time period and the cost of the normal-to-deviated query state transition and the deviated-to-normal query state transition. A query burst may be identified during the plurality of time periods based on assignment of the normal query state or the deviated query state to the plurality of queries. The query burst may have the normal query state, the normal-to-deviated query state transition, and the deviated query state during a time period.