2477results about "Digital data processing details" patented technology

A contact intelligence data mining tool for storing, processing, displaying, and printing relational patterns between entities (e.g., business and other contacts). The tool allows proprietary individual contact data to be merged with accurate and up-to-date public information in order to explore the full scope (or sphere) of an individual's or business concern's scope of influence. It intelligently establishes and presents personal, direct contacts as well as contacts of contacts, and so on. The tool further displays, via a graphical user interface, the optimal relationship path (i.e., contact pathway) to reach desired contacts.

A system and methodology for parallel query optimization using semantic-based partitioning is described. In one embodiment, for example, in a database system comprising a database storing data in database tables, a method is described for improving query performance by dynamically partitioning the data, the method comprises steps of: receiving a query requesting data from the database; generating a plurality of subplans for executing the query, each subplan including one or more operators for performing relational operations; adding operators for partitioning data and performing a given relational operation in parallel to at least some of the plurality of subplans; and building a plan for execution of the query based, at least in part, upon selecting subplans having favorable execution costs

A system for managing a storage system comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to receive storage system information from a deduplicating storage system. The processor is further configured to determine a capacity forecast based at least in part on the storage system information. The processor is further configured to provide a compression forecast. The memory is coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

A method of protecting a password being used to establish interaction between a user and an application includes detecting a request for the password from the application by receiving a notification from the user indicating the request. The method further includes combining the password with information identifying the application, so as to produce a protected password, and authenticating to the application using the protected password. The method may also include a mutual authentication capability between user and the application.

An improved method and apparatus for organizing, sorting, navigating and selecting for use, one or more multimedia content items available from one or more varied types of multimedia content sources, based on a multimedia content user's characteristics, preferences and entitlements, and multimedia content item attributes and characteristics. In a first aspect of the invention, a method and architecture (FIG. 11) are disclosed which uses an information structure hierarchy of parameter sets and included parameters and their associated information fields contained therein to facilitate identification, description, location and characterization of multimedia content items, multimedia content sources, and user characterizing information. In a second aspect of the invention, a method and architecture are disclosed for sorting multimedia content items by applying sorting criteria expressed in the type and format of the multimedia content item, multimedia content source and user identification, description, location and characteristics information (FIGS. 9, 10), at the time of content creation, distribution and delivery through a multimedia content source and at the time multimedia content is selected by a multimedia content user (FIG. 8), for the purposes of identifying and presenting those items appropriate for a particular multimedia content user. In a third aspect of the invention, a method and architecture are disclosed for displaying on a television or computer screen connected to a multimedia terminal, a plurality of video windows containing a menu and visual rendering (FIG. 12) of only those multimedia content items identified as appropriate for the particular multimedia content user, based on the sorting criteria. In a fourth aspect of the invention, a method and architecture are disclosed for navigating the plurality of display windows (FIGS. 14 through 19) for the purposes of selecting a multimedia content for use by the particular multimedia content user.

Public and private network service management systems and methods are disclosed. Rules for accessing a private services network in which network services are available are enforced so as to restrict access to the services network through a public network in accordance with policies of the services network. Use of network services by a client of the private services network through the public network is controlled according to network service access policies associated with the network services. Network services provided by clients of the services network which access the services network through a public network may also be offered to other clients of the services network through the services network and the public network.

Techniques are provided for automatic sampling evaluation. An automatic sampling evaluation system enables users to evaluate convergence of one or more search processes. For example, given a set of searches that were validated by human review, a system can implement a retrieval process that samples one or more non-retrieved collections. Each individual document's similarity in the one or more non-retrieved collections is automatically evaluated to other documents in any retrieved sets. Given a goal of achieving a high recall, documents with high similarity can then be analyzed for additional noun phrases that may be used for a next iteration of a search. Convergence can be expected if the information gain in the new feedback loop is less than previous iterations, and if the additional documents identified are below a certain threshold document count.

Methods and systems for publishing a playlist are disclosed. A user generates or selects a playlist, which is then provided (e.g., uploaded) for publishing. A playlist identifying at least one of one or more tracks and one or more albums is received. The playlist may then be published such that the playlist is viewable by one or more individuals. A user may then purchase one or more tracks/albums identified in the playlist via an online store.

Cached information that includes multiple network addresses is delivered in a manner that changes the order of the network addresses each time the cached information is delivered to a client, thereby achieving load balancing in a manner that reduces network traffic and improves system performance. In the preferred embodiments, the user defines a minimum time to live (TTL) and one or more order change criteria. When a query is made to a DNS, the DNS returns an answer that includes a time to live (TTL). This answer may be stored in a cache, and may include multiple network addresses. If the TTL for the answer received from a DNS is less that the minimum TTL, the TTL for the answer is set to the minimum TTL before storing the answer in the cache. When a query may be satisfied by a cached answer that includes multiple network addresses, a cache mechanism delivers the multiple cached network addresses in an order determined by the one or more order change criteria if the TTL for the cached results is a positive number. In this manner load balancing can be achieved while still benefitting from the performance enhancements of caching DNS query results.

The present invention is a security tool for protection of data on a mobile computing device. The security tool provides a plurality of security policies to be enforced based on source information for the data and a location associated with a network environment in which a mobile device is operating. The security tool may be either located at the mobile computing device or at the server. The security tool includes a file access module for determining whether files are visible or accessible. The file access module comprises a tag generator, an association module, and a policy enforcement module. The tag generator creates source information for the file being accessed and the policy enforcement module determines what actions, if any, can be performed on the file and under what conditions such as location and network environment, type of file and other factors.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system that enables a user to securely invoke a REST (Representational State Transfer) API (Application Programming Interface) at an application server. A client can establish a secure communication channel with an application server, and can send a request to the application server to invoke the REST API. The client can then receive a security token from an authentication system in response to authenticating the user with the authentication system. Next, the client can receive a nonce and a timestamp from the application server. The client can then determine a security token digest using the security token, the nonce, and the timestamp. Next, the client can resend the request to the application server to invoke the REST API with the security token digest. The application server can invoke the REST API if the security token digest is valid.

A method of autonomously convoying vehicles traveling along a route with a leader vehicle being in communication with at least one follower vehicle. The at least one follower vehicle receives a communication relating to a target offset position and route data. Tracking data is generated and derived from on-board sensing devices of the at least one follower vehicle that includes a traveled path of the leader vehicle sensed by the at least one follower vehicle. The route data is compared to the tracking data for identifying accuracy between the route data relative to the tracking data. An adjusted target offset position and a set of trajectory points that provides a trajectory path of travel from a current position of the at least one follower vehicle to the adjusted target offset position are determined based on the accuracy between the route data and the tracking data.

The present invention provides a data processing system and a method of assessing the data value of a data assets inventory which comprises:

• • a) preparing a data map on a computer database comprising inputting data types and data subtypes into said database, connecting a data storing location to the data subtypes and recording the data subtype occurrences in said database;
  • b) assigning a weighting to each data subtype occurrence in said database to provide a data assets inventory and recording the data assets inventory in said database;
  • c) preparing evaluation types on said database wherein the evaluation type has a calculation type attribute and wherein the evaluation type is either quantity independent or quantity dependent;
  • d) connecting at least one evaluation type to each data subtype with a reference value and recording the reference value in said database;
  • e) determining the data value of the data assets inventory and recording the data value in said database wherein when the evaluation type is quantity dependent then the value is the product of the weighting, the reference value and the quantity at the data storing location for each data subtype occurrence or wherein when the evaluation type is quantity independent then the value is the product of the weighting and the reference value for each data subtype occurrence.

Methods and systems for processing multimedia content captured from a plurality of locations via one or more capturing devices include obtaining multimedia content from one or more capturing devices. The capturing devices identify a type of content being captured and/or location of capture. An interest type for multimedia content is obtained from a consuming user. The multimedia content from the capturing devices are searched based on the interest type of the consuming user. A subset of the multimedia content conforming to the interest type is presented in substantial real-time at the receiving devices of the consuming users. Feedback regarding the presented multimedia content is obtained from consuming users and communicated to the capturing devices in substantial real-time so as to influence future capture of multimedia content. The methods also include receiving a request for recording a live event wherein the request provides one or more recording preferences including one or more requester preferences for recording the live event. The request is dynamically matched to one or more generating users who have expressed intentions for recording the live event. The generating users are associated with one or more capturing devices that are configured to record the live event based on the recording preferences of the request. The request is then forwarded to the matched one or more generating users for recording the live event. User interactions at the recordings are monitored and fed back to the generating users for further refining the recordings.

A docking station is disclosed for use with a mobile computing device. The form factor of the docking station may be similar to that of a conventional computer, such as a laptop computer or tablet computer. A mobile computing device, which may have the form factor of a personal digital assistant, may be docked in the docking station by connecting connectors on the docking station and the mobile computing device. The combined docking station and mobile computing device may form a computer which has a form factor and provide functionality similar to that of a conventional computer, such as a laptop computer or tablet computer. The docking station may, for example, include a cavity into which the mobile computing device may be inserted to dock the mobile computing device in the docking station.

A system for enabling secure transacting over a network has a network sever application for storing client information and activating clients for secure transacting, a software driver for performing authentication, the software driver accessible to the network server, a software applet for creating a secure data record and for managing transmission and update of the contents of the record, and a sound source in the form of a file or a sound generating device, the sound source being part of or having access to the secure data record.

Technologies described herein generally relate to communications between electronic systems. Each electronic system includes a touch-panel device that may be positioned in proximity to one another such that the near field emissions of the touch-panel devices interact with one another. The touch-panel devices can be adapted to sense one another based on these near field emissions. Once detected, the touch-panel devices can be configured to establish a communication channel to communicate information between one another via modulated near field emissions. Such exchanged information may include identification information, network addresses, security keys, and so forth. The exchanged information may be used for discovery or pairing between the touch-panel devices. The technology presented herein can support an intuitive user experience and improved security over traditional wireless pairing approaches.

A computing device is operable to work in conjunction with a companion electronic device. The computing device and the companion electronic device each have their own electronics and/or own operating system and each is able to construct a partial or complete user environment. The computing device is operable to send data to the companion device, on request of the companion device, which the companion electronic device then uses to locally construct its own user environment, in whole or in part.

A method of authenticating users to reduce transaction risks includes indicating a desire to conduct a transaction and determining whether the transaction requires access to protected resources. Moreover, the method determines whether inputted information is known, determines a state of a communications device when the inputted information is known, and transmits a biometric authentication request from a server to an authentication system when the state of the communications device is enrolled. Additionally, the method includes validating the communications device, capturing biometric authentication data in accordance with a biometric authentication data capture request with the communications device, biometrically authenticating the user, generating a one-time pass-phrase and storing the one-time pass-phrase on the authentication system when the user is authenticated, comparing the transmitted one-time pass-phrase against the stored one-time pass-phrase, and granting access to the protected resources when the transmitted and stored one-time pass-phrases match.

A system, method and apparatus for message targeting and filtering are provided to deliver bulk messages to demographically selected audiences of willing recipients while preserving each recipient's anonymity and control over his private personal data, accomplished by means of a radically distributed database technique in which all operations requiring unencrypted data access are distributed to individual client devices.

Biometrics identification module and personal wearable electronics network based authentication and transaction processing are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method for biometric authentication may include (1) a biometric identification device connecting to a plurality of sensing devices, each of the plurality of sensing devices receiving a user characteristic from a user; (2) the biometric identification device receiving the user characteristics from the sensing devices; (3) the biometric identification device communicating the received user characteristics to a server; (4) the biometric identification device receiving a biometric profile for the user; and (5) the biometric identification device storing the biometric profile.

A client stores a first set of workspace data, and is coupled via a computer network to a global server. The client may be configured to synchronize portions of the first set of workspace data with the global server, which stores independently modifiable copies of the portions. The global server may also store workspace data which is not downloaded from the client, and thus stores a second set of workspace data. The global server may be configured to identify and authenticate a user seeking global server access from a remote terminal, and is configured to provide access to the first set or to the second set. Further, services may be stored anywhere in the computer network. The global server may be configured to provide the user with access to the services. The system may further include a synchronization-start module at the client site (which may be protected by a firewall) that initiates interconnection and synchronization with the global server when predetermined criteria have been satisfied.

A structured document is partitioned to produce a fragment for output to a mobile device for rendering and display on the device. The fragment includes forward and backward links to allow the user of the device to navigate the document by requesting fragments of previous or subsequent context in the document hierarchy. Prior to partitioning, elements of the document are automatically annotated with device-independent metadata. The annotating is based on a mapping between the metadata and structural rules that apply to that document and a group of similarly structured documents. User preferences, architectural limitation parameters, and the partitioning direction are included in a request from the device, and with predetermined partitioning rules, are used to partition the annotated document to yield the displayable fragment.

For a database query that defines a plurality of separate snowflake schemas, a query optimizer computes separately for each of the snowflake schemas a logical access plan for obtaining from that schema's tables a respective record set that includes the data requested from those tables by that query. The query optimizer also computes a logical access plan for obtaining the query's results from the record sets in which execution of the logical access plans thus computed will result.

A device that can autonomously scan a sensor panel is disclosed. Autonomous scanning can be performed by implementing channel scan logic. In one embodiment, channel scan logic carries out many of the functions that a processor would normally undertake, including generating timing sequences and obtaining result data; comparing scan result data against a threshold value (e.g., in an auto-scan mode); generating row count; selecting one or more scanning frequency bands; power management control; and performing an auto-scan routine in a low power mode.

An automated test to tell computers and humans apart is disclosed, comprising displaying on a computer screen an animation comprising of a foreground and a background, one of the foreground comprising a plurality of typographical characters and the other comprising partial obstruction of the typographical characters, and wherein the animation comprises relative motion between the background and foreground. The automated test may comprise displaying on a computer screen an image, and requiring the user to perform operation on the image to resolve an encoded solution. The test may also comprise displaying on a computer screen a video clip, and requiring a user to provide an input corresponding to subject matter presented in the video clip.

A system that allows service providers, consumer electronic (CE) manufacturers or standards bodies to define flexible security policies (110) for the execution of downloaded applications (120) on digital television (DTV) receivers (160). The current receiver environment in which a software application is to be run is evaluated. For example, environmental factors such as time of day, date, channel currently tuned in, parental lockout status, grouping of major and minor virtual channels, and so forth, may be considered. An access controller (168) determines if the receiver's environmental factors satisfy the conditions for granting a permission to a downloadable application to allow access to the receiver functions (161), receiver resources and user private data. The security policy can be modified by installing or downloading a new security policy (110), or modified by a user with the provision of an appropriate interface. A Java code-implemented embodiment is disclosed.

A method and system for controlling a vehicle given to a third party. The system includes a system controller; a mode-indicating device coupled to the system controller; and an authenticator coupled to the system controller. Here, the system controller is adapted to communicate a driving restriction to the vehicle upon an activation of the mode-indicating device by an authorized driver and until a deactivation of the mode-indicating device by the authorized driver, the system controller is adapted to restrict the activation and the deactivation of the mode-indicating device unless the authorized driver has been authenticated by the authenticator, and the driving restriction includes a limit selected from the group consisting of a limit in number of starts, a limit in speed, a limit in acceleration, a limit in number of minutes, a limit in distance, a limit in gears, a limit in locations, and combinations thereof.

An exchange station and method of changing is provided. The battery exchange station includes a controlled area, a receiving bay, a storage bay, a generating system, a mechanical positioning device, and a control system. The controlled area is comprised of an exchange opening. The storage bay is comprised of a charging storage rack and first and second replacement batteries. The mechanical positioning device is comprised of a base, a first and second connecting arms and a battery support connector. The control system is comprised of a stationary communication system and a mobile communication control system. The stationary communication system is comprised of a central processing unit, a plurality of sensors, and a plurality of guidance components.

A device for and method of secure computing that includes a computer system having a processor; an operating-system software program loaded onto the processor; a type-II virtual machine monitor software program loaded onto the operating-system software program; a user-definable number of non-sensitive virtual-machines; a user-definable number of sensitive virtual-machines, where each sensitive virtual-machine has a user-definable sensitivity level; a user-definable number of encryption virtual-machines, where each encryption virtual-machine is connected to one of said user-definable number of sensitive virtual-machines, and where each encryption virtual-machine includes at least one encryption algorithm capable of encrypting information from the corresponding sensitive virtual-machine according to the corresponding sensitivity level; and a router virtual-machine connected to each non-sensitive virtual-machine and each encryption virtual-machine.