31results about How to "Problems and reduced eliminated" patented technology

A system (10) for providing guided buying decision support within an electronic marketplace environment includes a server (42) that interacts with buyers (12) to receive procurement parameters for items. An option generator (50) receives procurement parameters for a particular item needed by a particular buyer (12), determines one or more acceptable item-supplier combinations consistent with the procurement parameters for the item, and generates one or more recommended options for communication to the buyer (12), each recommended option specifying a service through which it is possible to procure the item consistent with the procurement parameters. The server (42) further interacts with the buyer (12) to receive a selection of a particular recommended option. A manager application (46) automatically initiates the service specified in the selected recommended option in an attempt to procure the item consistent with the procurement parameters.

An Internet customer service system (10) includes a product database (22) storing product data (24,26,28,30) associated with products available to a customer. The system (10) also includes an interface agent database (68) storing available interface agents (80) for interacting with the customer. The system (10) also includes a server (16) operable to access the product database (22) and display the product data (24,26,28,30) to the customer through interface web pages (18). The server (16) is further operable to access the interface agent database (68) and display the available interface agents (80) to the customer through the web pages (18). The system further includes a customer database (34) storing customer data (36) generated in response to displaying one or more profile screens (44) to the customer via the web pages (18). The customer database (34) also stores configured product data (54) generated in response to receiving selected product data (24,26,28,30) from the customer via the web pages (18). The server (16) is operable to transmit, in response to receiving a selected interface agent (80) and an appointment schedule from the customer, the customer data (36), the configured product data (54), and the appointment schedule to the selected interface agent (80).

In one aspect of the invention, a system for processing data includes a memory operable to store a plurality of correlithm objects. Each correlithm object includes a plurality of values defining a point in a particular space. The particular space is defined by a plurality of dimensions and includes a plurality of points. The system also includes a processor operable to generate the values in at least a portion of the correlithm objects. A distance between a first point associated with one of the correlithm objects and each of the plurality of points in the particular space defines a distribution having a mean and a standard deviation such that a ratio of the mean to the standard deviation increases with the number of dimensions of the particular space. A distance between the first point and a second point associated with another of the correlithm objects is substantially larger than the mean of the distribution.

A method for routing communications at a mobile station includes determining, at a mobile station, one or more routing metrics that are associated with each of a number of communication paths that couple the mobile station and a destination device. At least one of the routing metrics includes the link quality of at least one wireless communication link included in each of the communication paths. The method also includes receiving, at the mobile station, routing information from one or more routers that couple the mobile station and the destination device. The method further includes routing a communication to the destination device based on the determined routing metrics and the received routing information.

A transaction system includes an item master database that stores generic information and specific information associated with one or more items and an inventory database that stores availability and price data associated with the items. The transaction system also includes a transaction engine that receives an item availability request including one or more parameters. The transaction engine accesses the item master database and the inventory database to obtain information associated with the request and determines one or more items that meet the parameters of the request. The transaction system also communicates a list of the items meeting the parameters. The list includes at least one generic item listing. Furthermore, the transaction system receives a request for an item associated with a generic item listing and completes a transaction associated with the item.

A system for service transaction brokering among distributed marketplaces includes a first marketplace (102) that provides at least a first service and a second marketplace (102) that provides at least a second service. The system also includes a service transaction broker (104) that is coupled to the first and second marketplaces (102) and that provides at least the second service of the second marketplace (102) to a user (200) that is coupled to the first marketplace (102) in response to the user (200) communicating a service request.

A product that is uniquely identifiable according to a globally unique identifier (GUID) (100) includes a class identifier (CID) (110) that uniquely identifies at least one product class in which the product is categorized (along with a plurality of other products) within a class hierarchy of a global content directory (42). The product class defines one or more attributes of the products categorized in the class. The product also includes a product identifier (PID) (120) that uniquely identifies the particular product from among the plurality of products categorized in the product class uniquely identified by the CID (110). The CID (110) and PID (120) collectively provide the GUID (100), which may be specified or determined to facilitate a commercial transaction involving the product.

A method for re-routing communications based on link quality includes establishing a first wireless communication link with a mobile station. The first wireless communication link is included in a first communication path used for communications between the mobile station and a destination device. The method also includes monitoring, from the mobile station, the link quality of the first wireless link and determining, at the mobile station, that the link quality of the first communication link has decreased below a low link quality threshold. The method further includes routing, using a router at the mobile station, communications between the mobile station and the destination device to a second communication path that includes a second wireless communication link to the mobile station. The second communication path is selected by the router based on one or more metrics.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a drilling tool includes a tubular body defining a longitudinal axial cavity extending therethrough and defining at least one cutter element recess. The drilling tool also includes a cutter element at least partially disposed within the at least one cutter element recess and includes at least first and second cutting arms at least substantially disposed within the cutter element recess in a retracted position. The first and second cutting arms are operable to move from the retracted position to an extended position in which the first and second cutting arms extend at least partially beyond a periphery of the tubular body. The first and second cutting arms and the tubular body enclose a space when the first and second cutting arms are in the extended position.

A system and method for datacenter power management is disclosed. In particular embodiments, the method includes receiving, with a processor, a request for execution of an application. The method also includes for each of a plurality of datacenters, determining an amount of electricity required to execute the application at the respective datacenter. The method also includes, for each of the plurality of datacenters, determining a cost associated with executing the application at the respective datacenter based, at least in part, on the amount of electricity required to execute the application at the respective datacenter. The method further includes selecting one of the plurality of datacenters to execute the application based, at least in part, on the cost associated with executing the application at the respective datacenter and executing the application at the selected datacenter.

A method for routing communications at a mobile station includes determining, at a mobile station, one or more routing metrics that are associated with each of a number of communication paths that couple the mobile station and a destination device. At least one of the routing metrics includes the link quality of at least one wireless communication link included in each of the communication paths. The method also includes receiving, at the mobile station, routing information from one or more routers that couple the mobile station and the destination device. The method further includes routing a communication to the destination device based on the determined routing metrics and the received routing information.

A system and method for electronic mail analysis and processing is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a plurality of electronic mail messages. The method also includes for each of the plurality of electronic mail messages, determining one or more characteristics associated with the respective electronic mail message. Further, the method includes assigning a numerical value to each of the plurality of electronic mail messages based on the determined characteristics and based on the assigned numerical values, selecting one or more of the plurality of electronic mail messages to transmit to a user. The method further includes generating a message based on the selected one or more of the plurality of electronic mail messages and transmitting the generated message to the user.

A method and system are provided for availing to an external user, in real time, particular information regarding the availability of at least one agent in an automatic call distribution (“ACD”) system, e.g., prior to the connection being made. Initially, status data is received from the ACD system. The status data may include a number of agents available on the ACD system and / or a current wait time that at least one further user is waiting to be connected the agent. Then, the status data is configured so that the external user is able to obtain the particular information based on the status data.

Systems and methods for remote battery sensing and charging are disclosed. A method may include determining whether a charge output of a battery charger is electrically coupled to a rechargeable battery, wherein the charge output is configured to charge the rechargeable battery. The method may also include electrically coupling a terminal of the rechargeable battery to a reference voltage input of the battery charger in response to determining the charge output is electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery, wherein the battery charger is configured to determine whether the rechargeable battery is to be charged based on the reference voltage input voltage. The method may further include electrically coupling the reference voltage input to the charge output in response to determining the charge output is not electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery.

A switching system (14) at a customer premises communicates information associated with one or more subscribers. The switching system (14) includes multiple subscriber line ports (17) for communicating xDSL signals with subscribers, the xDSL signals containing both data signals and POTS voice signals. A logical port (20) communicates data signals and packetized voice signals from the subscribers with a central office, the switching system (14) converting between the POTS voice signals of the subscriber lines (16) and the packetized voice signals of the logical port (20). A LAN port (21) communicates data signals with a server complex (23) using a LAN (22) to provide data services to the subscribers. The switching system (14) may include a switch (32) that receives voice signals on a first virtual circuit (VC), switches the voice signals out of the switching system (14) on the first VC, and also communicates received data signals for routing. A router (32) within the switching system (14) may receive the data signals from the switch (32) on a second VC, determine a third VC for the data signals, and route the data signals to the switch (32) on the third VC for communication out of the switching system (14) on the third VC.

An application-driven scheduling system (10) includes a scheduling engine (18) that receives at least one schedule item (34) and associated time information from at least one application (12). The scheduling engine (18) determines whether the time information for the item (34) satisfies one or more schedule criteria and, if so, determines a location (44) for the item (34) within a schedule (30) according to the time information. The scheduling engine (18) generates the schedule (30) containing the item (34) and a rendering engine (20) renders the schedule (30) for display to at least one user (14). The schedule (30) may include one or more cells (38), with the location (44) for the item (44) being in a particular cell (38), the scheduling engine (18) determining the location (44) for the item (34) within the cell (38) according to the time information based on a percentage of the width (42) of the cell (38). The item (34) may be incorporated into the schedule (30) dynamically in response to its generation at the application (12).

A method for migrating product data within an electronic commerce system (10) includes monitoring requests for products by users (20) of a global content directory (42). The global content directory (42) includes a directory structure (44) including a number of product classes organized in a hierarchy. Each product class categorizes a plurality of products and defines one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class. The directory (44) also includes one or more pointers associated with each product class. Each pointer identifies a seller database (32) in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products associated with the product class. The method further includes identifying the location of a user (20) and determining that product data associated with a product requested by the user (20) should be migrated from a seller database (32) to a storage location closer to the user than the seller database (32). The method also includes initiating the migration of the product data from the seller database (32) to the storage location.

A global content directory (42) includes a directory structure (44) that includes a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy. Each product class categorizes a plurality of products and defines one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class. The directory (42) also includes one or more pointers that are associated with each product class. Each pointer identifies a seller database (32) in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products that are associated with the product class. The directory (42) also includes a search interface (45) that communicates, in response to a selection of a product class by a user (20) of the global content directory (42), a search query for product data to one or more seller databases (32) identified by the one or more pointers associated with the selected product class.

A computer-implemented system (10) for conducting automatic negotiations stores profiles for parties (12, 14) to the negotiation, each profile specifying values for one or more parameters being negotiated, the values reflecting a desirable outcome of the negotiation for the associated party (12, 14). A matching server (16) accesses an offer from a first party (12, 14) containing values for one or more of the parameters being negotiated and computes a distance between the offer values and the profile values of a second party (12, 14). If the distance is acceptably small, the matching server (16) causes the offer to be accepted by the second party (14, 12) to conclude the negotiation. Alternatively, if the distance is not acceptably small, the matching server (16) automatically modifies one or more values in the offer such that the distances between the modified offer and the profiles of the first and second parties (12, 14) are acceptably small simultaneously and, in response, causes the modified offer to be accepted by both the first and second parties (12, 14) to conclude the automatic negotiation. Similar distance computation and offer evaluation may occur at one or both of the parties (12, 14) instead of, or possibly in addition to, at the matching server (16).

A system and method for an optimization of fulfillment workflow is disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include receiving a request to be fulfilled from a client. The method may also include determining one or more item attributes associated with the request. The method may additionally include generating a batch of work units related to the request based at least in part on the one or more item attributes. The method may further include selecting an agent from a plurality of agents to process the batch. Moreover, the method may include transmitting the batch to the agent.

The present disclosure relates to the use of a solution-annealed object comprising a duplex stainless steel, having the following composition in weight % (wt %): C less than or equal to 0.03; Si less than or equal to 0.5; Mn less than or equal to 1.0; Ni 5.0 to 7.0; Cr 22.0 to 26.0; Mo 2.5 to 4.5; N 0.1 to 0.2; P less than or equal to 0.03; S less than or equal to 0.03; Cu less than or equal to 0.3; Al less than or equal to 0.10; the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities; wherein the duplex stainless steel fulfills the equation of Cr+50N≤35; and wherein the duplex stainless steel has a ferrite phase content in the range of from 40% to 60% by volume and an austenite phase content in the range of 40 to 60% by volume; in sea water applications.