A Unified Deep Model of Learning from both Data and Queries for Cardinality Estimation

Summary: Unified deep autoregressive UAE combines data and query signals to learn distributions for cardinality estimation. Progressive sampling via Gumbel-Softmax enables query learning; UAE yields tail error in single digits and higher accuracy with efficiency. (summarized by gpt-5-nano on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: h82c92734a94745ed
Venue: SIGMOD
Year: 2021
Pagerank: 7.7052471e-05
Overall Rank: 3,052 | 79.49%
DOI: 10.1145/3448016.3452830

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Peizhi Wu (Nanyang Technological University; Singtel)
2. Gao Cong (Nanyang Technological University; Singtel)

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{wu_sigmod21,
        title = {{A Unified Deep Model of Learning from both Data and Queries for Cardinality Estimation}},
        author = {Wu, Peizhi and Cong, Gao},
        series = {{SIGMOD} '21},
        booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} {SIGMOD} International Conference on Management of Data},
        publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
        doi = {10.1145/3448016.3452830},
        url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3448016.3452830},
        year = {2021}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 35 of 35 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
982	Cardinality Estimation in DBMS: A Comprehensive Benchmark Evaluation	2022	VLDB	0.00012714044
2,342	Learned Cardinality Estimation: An In-depth Study	2022	SIGMOD	8.6060437e-05
2,634	Neural Subgraph Counting with Wasserstein Estimator	2022	SIGMOD	8.1993804e-05
2,846	FactorJoin: A New Cardinality Estimation Framework for Join Queries	2023	SIGMOD	7.9453616e-05
3,327	Robust Query Driven Cardinality Estimation under Changing Workloads	2023	VLDB	7.4207879e-05
4,311	ALECE: An Attention-based Learned Cardinality Estimator for SPJ Queries on Dynamic Workloads	2024	VLDB	6.6727978e-05
4,741	Machine Learning for Databases	2021	VLDB	6.4410027e-05
4,950	Debunking the Myth of Join Ordering: Toward Robust SQL Analytics	2025	SIGMOD	6.3421691e-05
5,058	Fine-Grained Modeling and Optimization for Intelligent Resource Management in Big Data Processing	2022	VLDB	6.2926774e-05
5,209	SAM: Database Generation from Query Workloads with Supervised Autoregressive Models	2022	SIGMOD	6.2262056e-05
5,219	SafeBound: A Practical System for Generating Cardinality Bounds	2023	SIGMOD	6.222726e-05
5,865	Modeling Shifting Workloads for Learned Database Systems	2024	SIGMOD	5.9659203e-05
6,660	Speeding Up End-to-end Query Execution via Learning-based Progressive Cardinality Estimation	2023	SIGMOD	5.7178404e-05
6,791	dbET: Execution Time Distribution-based Plan Selection	2023	SIGMOD	5.6811782e-05
6,818	ASM: Harmonizing Autoregressive Model, Sampling, and Multi-dimensional Statistics Merging for Cardinality Estimation	2024	SIGMOD	5.672718e-05
7,363	PerfGuard: Deploying ML-for-Systems without Performance Regressions, Almost!	2021	VLDB	5.5418564e-05
8,004	A Spark Optimizer for Adaptive, Fine-Grained Parameter Tuning	2024	VLDB	5.4089097e-05
8,659	ShadowAQP: Efficient Approximate Group-by and Join Query via Attribute-oriented Sample Size Allocation and Data Generation	2023	VLDB	5.2930951e-05
8,879	Spatial Query Optimization With Learning	2024	VLDB	5.2568354e-05
9,209	NeuroSketch: Fast and Approximate Evaluation of Range Aggregate Queries with Neural Networks	2023	SIGMOD	5.2061781e-05
9,372	Efficient and Effective Cardinality Estimation for Skyline Family	2023	SIGMOD	5.1868213e-05
9,546	Athena: An Effective Learning-based Framework for Query Optimizer Performance Improvement	2025	SIGMOD	5.1604755e-05
9,610	LIMAO: A Framework for Lifelong Modular Learned Query Optimization	2025	VLDB	5.1526493e-05
9,646	Are Joins over LSM-trees Ready? Take RocksDB as an Example	2025	VLDB	5.1453267e-05
9,718	A Practical Theory of Generalization in Selectivity Learning	2025	VLDB	5.1353964e-05
9,956	Graph Transformers for Query Plan Representation: Potentials and Challenges	2025	VLDB	5.1038322e-05
9,976	Selectivity Estimation for Queries Containing Predicates over Set-Valued Attributes	2023	SIGMOD	5.1031384e-05
10,103	Still Asking: How Good Are Query Optimizers, Really?	2025	VLDB	5.0789354e-05
10,216	PRICE: A Pretrained Model for Cross-Database Cardinality Estimation	2025	VLDB	5.0584922e-05
10,294	Data-Agnostic Cardinality Learning from Imperfect Workloads	2025	VLDB	5.0431863e-05
10,336	An Elephant Under The Microscope: Analyzing The Interaction Of Optimizer Components In PostgreSQL	2025	SIGMOD	5.0200193e-05
10,673	Qualitative Join Discovery in Data Lakes using Examples	2026	SIGMOD	4.9793485e-05
10,693	Practical Parameterized Query Optimization via Efficient Plan Reuse and List-wise Ranking	2026	SIGMOD	4.9793485e-05
10,802	BaCon: Efficient Batch Processing of Counting Queries	2026	VLDB	4.9793485e-05
11,257	ACE: A Cardinality Estimator for Set-Valued Queries	2025	VLDB	4.9793485e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 36 of 36 cited papers.

Citations counted here include only citations to other VLDB/SIGMOD/CIDR/PODS papers in this database.

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
15	How Good Are Query Optimizers, Really?	2016	VLDB	0.00061066921
37	Improved Histograms for Selectivity Estimation of Range Predicates	1996	SIGMOD	0.00047731453
79	Practical Selectivity Estimation through Adaptive Sampling	1990	SIGMOD	0.00036487763
85	Learned Cardinalities: Estimating Correlated Joins with Deep Learning	2019	CIDR	0.00035864347
98	LEO - DB2's LEarning Optimizer	2001	VLDB	0.00034106982
160	CORDS: Automatic Discovery of Correlations and Soft Functional Dependencies	2004	SIGMOD	0.00027837289
286	Selectivity Estimation using Probabilistic Models	2001	SIGMOD	0.0002211981
318	DeepDB: Learn from Data, not from Queries!	2020	VLDB	0.00021167555
371	STHoles: A Multidimensional Workload-Aware Histogram	2001	SIGMOD	0.00019829769
386	Preventing Bad Plans by Bounding the Impact of Cardinality Estimation Errors	2009	VLDB	0.00019444411
406	Deep Unsupervised Cardinality Estimation	2020	VLDB	0.00019045544
454	Self-tuning Histograms: Building Histograms Without Looking at Data	1999	SIGMOD	0.00017962189
461	An End-to-End Learning-based Cost Estimator	2020	VLDB	0.00017829982
512	NeuroCard: One Cardinality Estimator for All Tables	2021	VLDB	0.00017050173
688	Cardinality Estimation Done Right: Index-Based Join Sampling	2017	CIDR	0.00014753664
692	Selectivity Estimation for Range Predicates using Lightweight Models	2019	VLDB	0.00014741011
701	Independence is Good: Dependency-Based Histogram Synopses for High-Dimensional Data	2001	SIGMOD	0.00014680907
742	Dynamic Multidimensional Histograms	2002	SIGMOD	0.0001431602
795	Random Sampling over Joins Revisited	2018	SIGMOD	0.00013938779
866	Approximating Multi-Dimensional Aggregate Range Queries Over Real Attributes	2000	SIGMOD	0.00013381261
956	Selectivity Estimation and Query Optimization in Large Databases with Highly Skewed Distributions of Column Values	1988	VLDB	0.00012865801
1,060	Lightweight Graphical Models for Selectivity Estimation Without Independence Assumptions	2011	VLDB	0.00012224575
1,156	QuickSel: Quick Selectivity Learning with Mixture Models	2020	SIGMOD	0.00011777105
1,433	Towards a Learning Optimizer for Shared Clouds	2019	VLDB	0.00010677711
1,465	Pessimistic Cardinality Estimation: Tighter Upper Bounds for Intermediate Join Cardinalities	2019	SIGMOD	0.00010576304
1,467	On the Relative Cost of Sampling for Join Selectivity Estimation	1994	PODS	0.00010567959
1,508	Self-Tuning, GPU-Accelerated Kernel Density Models for Multidimensional Selectivity Estimation	2015	SIGMOD	0.00010440205
1,580	Deep Learning Models for Selectivity Estimation of Multi-Attribute Queries	2020	SIGMOD	0.00010180835
1,687	Global Optimization of Histograms	2001	SIGMOD	9.8655879e-05
2,140	SASH: A Self-Adaptive Histogram Set for Dynamically Changing Workloads	2003	VLDB	8.9682092e-05
2,216	Estimating Join Selectivities using Bandwidth-Optimized Kernel Density Models	2017	VLDB	8.8177753e-05
2,413	Data Generation using Declarative Constraints	2011	SIGMOD	8.5094338e-05
3,005	Multiple Join Size Estimation by Virtual Domains (extended abstract)	1993	PODS	7.7621043e-05
3,851	Graph-Based Synopses for Relational Selectivity Estimation	2006	SIGMOD	6.9785886e-05
4,090	Generating Databases for Query Workloads	2010	VLDB	6.8126942e-05
5,831	Joins on Samples: A Theoretical Guide for Practitioners	2020	VLDB	5.9782109e-05

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