diff --git a/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/core/rewriter/base/PhysicalOptimizationConfig.java b/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/core/rewriter/base/PhysicalOptimizationConfig.java
index a9f5561..399a6e0 100644
--- a/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/core/rewriter/base/PhysicalOptimizationConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/core/rewriter/base/PhysicalOptimizationConfig.java
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
     public PhysicalOptimizationConfig() {
         int frameSize = 131072;
         setInt(FRAMESIZE, frameSize);
-        setInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_SORT, (int) (((long) 512 * MB) / frameSize));
-        setInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_GROUP_BY, (int) (((long) 512 * MB) / frameSize));
+        setInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_SORT, (int) (((long) 256 * MB) / frameSize));
+        setInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_GROUP_BY, (int) (((long) 256 * MB) / frameSize));
 
         // use http://www.rsok.com/~jrm/printprimes.html to find prime numbers
         setInt(DEFAULT_HASH_GROUP_TABLE_SIZE, 10485767);
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 
     public int getMaxFramesExternalGroupBy() {
         int frameSize = getFrameSize();
-        return getInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_GROUP_BY, (int) (((long) 512 * MB) / frameSize));
+        return getInt(MAX_FRAMES_EXTERNAL_GROUP_BY, (int) (((long) 256 * MB) / frameSize));
     }
 
     public void setMaxFramesExternalGroupBy(int frameLimit) {
diff --git a/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-rewriter/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/rewriter/util/JoinUtils.java b/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-rewriter/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/rewriter/util/JoinUtils.java
index ddc00e3..80f62be 100644
--- a/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-rewriter/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/rewriter/util/JoinUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-algebricks/hyracks-algebricks-rewriter/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/algebricks/rewriter/util/JoinUtils.java
@@ -49,10 +49,11 @@
     private final static int MB = 1048576;
 
     private final static double DEFAULT_FUDGE_FACTOR = 1.3;
-    private final static int MAX_RECORDS_PER_FRAME = 512;
-    private final static int DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE = 32768;
+    //private final static int MAX_RECORDS_PER_FRAME = 512;
+    private final static int MAX_RECORDS_PER_FRAME = 2048;
+    private final static int DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE = 131072;
     private final static int MAX_LEFT_INPUT_SIZE_HYBRID_HASH = (int) (140L * 1024 * MB / DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE);
-    private final static int DEFAULT_MEMORY_SIZE_HYBRID_HASH = (int) (256L * MB / DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE);
+    private final static int DEFAULT_MEMORY_SIZE_HYBRID_HASH = (int) (256 * MB / DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE);
 
     public static void setJoinAlgorithmAndExchangeAlgo(AbstractBinaryJoinOperator op, IOptimizationContext context)
             throws AlgebricksException {
diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IPartitionedInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IPartitionedInvertedIndex.java
index 7db972c..cec4691 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IPartitionedInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IPartitionedInvertedIndex.java
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.search.InvertedListPartitions;
 
 public interface IPartitionedInvertedIndex {
-    public void openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
+    public boolean openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
             short numTokensLowerBound, short numTokensUpperBound, InvertedListPartitions invListPartitions)
             throws HyracksDataException, IndexException;
+
+    public boolean isEmpty();
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index 13e9b5c..5bc47fd 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
+    public boolean openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
             short numTokensLowerBound, short numTokensUpperBound, InvertedListPartitions invListPartitions)
             throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
         short minPartitionIndex;
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
 
         if (minPartitionIndex == Short.MAX_VALUE && maxPartitionIndex == Short.MIN_VALUE) {
             // Index must be empty.
-            return;
+            return false;
         }
         short partitionStartIndex = minPartitionIndex;
         short partitionEndIndex = maxPartitionIndex;
@@ -127,5 +127,18 @@
             inMemListCursor.reset(searchKey);
             invListPartitions.addInvertedListCursor(inMemListCursor, i);
         }
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isEmpty() {
+        partitionIndexLock.readLock().lock();
+        if (minPartitionIndex == Short.MAX_VALUE && maxPartitionIndex == Short.MIN_VALUE) {
+            // Index must be empty.
+            partitionIndexLock.readLock().unlock();
+            return true;
+        }
+        partitionIndexLock.readLock().unlock();
+        return false;
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index 5b2ec60..4c6cabc 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
+    public boolean openInvertedListPartitionCursors(IInvertedIndexSearcher searcher, IIndexOperationContext ictx,
             short numTokensLowerBound, short numTokensUpperBound, InvertedListPartitions invListPartitions)
             throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
         PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher partSearcher = (PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher) searcher;
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
         ctx.btreePred.setLowKey(lowSearchKey, true);
         ctx.btreePred.setHighKey(highSearchKey, true);
         ctx.btreeAccessor.search(ctx.btreeCursor, ctx.btreePred);
+        boolean tokenExists = false;
         try {
             while (ctx.btreeCursor.hasNext()) {
                 ctx.btreeCursor.next();
@@ -96,10 +97,17 @@
                 IInvertedListCursor invListCursor = partSearcher.getCachedInvertedListCursor();
                 resetInvertedListCursor(btreeTuple, invListCursor);
                 invListPartitions.addInvertedListCursor(invListCursor, numTokens);
+                tokenExists = true;
             }
         } finally {
             ctx.btreeCursor.close();
             ctx.btreeCursor.reset();
         }
+        return tokenExists;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isEmpty() {
+        return false;
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher.java
index fb8b9b0..2884bbc 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/PartitionedTOccurrenceSearcher.java
@@ -80,32 +80,43 @@
 
     public void search(OnDiskInvertedIndexSearchCursor resultCursor, InvertedIndexSearchPredicate searchPred,
             IIndexOperationContext ictx) throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+        IPartitionedInvertedIndex partInvIndex = (IPartitionedInvertedIndex) invIndex;
+        searchResult.reset();
+        if (partInvIndex.isEmpty()) {
+            return;
+        }
+        
         tokenizeQuery(searchPred);
         short numQueryTokens = (short) queryTokenAccessor.getTupleCount();
 
         IInvertedIndexSearchModifier searchModifier = searchPred.getSearchModifier();
         short numTokensLowerBound = searchModifier.getNumTokensLowerBound(numQueryTokens);
         short numTokensUpperBound = searchModifier.getNumTokensUpperBound(numQueryTokens);
-
-        IPartitionedInvertedIndex partInvIndex = (IPartitionedInvertedIndex) invIndex;
+        
+        occurrenceThreshold = searchModifier.getOccurrenceThreshold(numQueryTokens);
+        if (occurrenceThreshold <= 0) {
+            throw new OccurrenceThresholdPanicException("Merge Threshold is <= 0. Failing Search.");
+        }
+        
+        short maxCountPossible = numQueryTokens;
         invListCursorCache.reset();
         partitions.reset(numTokensLowerBound, numTokensUpperBound);
         for (int i = 0; i < numQueryTokens; i++) {
             searchKey.reset(queryTokenAccessor, i);
-            partInvIndex.openInvertedListPartitionCursors(this, ictx, numTokensLowerBound, numTokensUpperBound,
-                    partitions);
-        }
-
-        occurrenceThreshold = searchModifier.getOccurrenceThreshold(numQueryTokens);
-        if (occurrenceThreshold <= 0) {
-            throw new OccurrenceThresholdPanicException("Merge Threshold is <= 0. Failing Search.");
+            if (!partInvIndex.openInvertedListPartitionCursors(this, ictx, numTokensLowerBound, numTokensUpperBound,
+                    partitions)) {
+                maxCountPossible--;
+                // No results possible.
+                if (maxCountPossible < occurrenceThreshold) {                    
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         // Process the partitions one-by-one.
         ArrayList<IInvertedListCursor>[] partitionCursors = partitions.getPartitions();
         short start = partitions.getMinValidPartitionIndex();
         short end = partitions.getMaxValidPartitionIndex();
-        searchResult.reset();
         for (int i = start; i <= end; i++) {
             if (partitionCursors[i] == null) {
                 continue;