1202 results about "Network computing" patented technology

The invention is a hierarchical backup system. The interconnected network computing devices are put into groups of backup cells. A backup cell has a manager software agent responsible maintaining and initiating a backup regime for the network computing devices in the backup cell. The backups are directed to backup devices within the backup cell. Several backup cells can be defined. A manager software agent for a particular cell may be placed into contact with the manager software agent of another cell, by which information about the cells may be passed back and forth. Additionally, one of the software agents may be given administrative control over another software agent with which it is in communication.

In a network computing environment, a user-centric system and method for controlling access to user-specific information maintained in association with a web-services service. When a web-services client desires access to the user-specific information, the client sends a request. The request identifies the reasons/intentions for accessing the desired information. The request is compared to the user's existing access permissions. If there is no existing access permission, the request is compared to the user's default preferences. If the default preferences permit the requested access, an access rule is created dynamically and the client's request is filled, without interrupting the user. If the default preferences do not permit the request to be filled, a consent user interface may be invoked. The consent user interface presents one or more consent options to a party with authority to grant consent, thereby permitting the user to control whether the client's access will be filled.

There is provided a system for the delivery of medicament comprising a medicament container; a dispensing mechanism for dispensing medicament from the medicament container; an electronic data management system; and a communicator for wireless communication with a network computer system to enable communication of data between the network computer system and the electronic data management system. The electronic data management system comprises a memory for storage of data; a microprocessor for performing operations on the data; and a transmitter for transmitting a signal relating to the data or the outcome of an operation on the data.

Embodiments of a decentralized, distributed trust mechanism that may be used in various networking platforms including peer-to-peer platforms, to implement trust relationships between and among peers and to implement trust relationships between peers and content and data (codat). Protocols and methods may be provided for determining, disseminating and updating trust. For participating peers, trust may be biased towards data relevance. Trust may have multiple components or factors, which may include peer confidence, codat confidence and risk components, and embodiments may provide for the inclusion of factors of trust based on a peer group's interests and/or group content relevance. Embodiments may be used for a variety of applications in which trust may be based on the norm for social interaction between participating peers.

A network-based computer game that both uses real-time financial data to affect game state and uses participants' actions to determine and engage in financial transactions. A game server receives financial data on market conditions (such as currency markets) from a financial server and regularly synchronizes user's game environments to match the financial data. The game server propagates financial data to the game or games, coordinates communication (if any) between the games, and can initiate the opening and closing of positions in the financial market based on players' game behavior. The financial market can be a currency market, where one nation's currency can be exchanged for another currency at a certain exchange rate.

A secure and modular architecture for monitoring and controlling clusters of pay entertainment and gaming devices. The architecture allows flexible and secure use of state-of-the-art multimedia and Internet technologies to attract the younger player generation used to flashy and networked games. Cash or cash-less entertainment and gaming devices are supported.

A credential security support provider (Cred SSP) is provided that enables any application to securely delegate a user's credentials from the client, via client side Security Support Provider (SSP) software, to a target server, via server side SSP software in a networked computing environment. The Cred SSP of the invention provides a secure solution that is based in part upon a set of policies, including a default policy that is secure against a broad range of attacks, which are used to control and restrict the delegation of user credentials from a client to a server. The policies can be for any type of user credentials and the different policies are designed to mitigate a broad range of attacks so that appropriate delegation can occur for given delegation circumstances, network conditions, trust levels, etc. Additionally, only a trusted subsystem, e.g., a trusted subsystem of the Local Security Authority (LSA), has access to the clear text credentials such that neither the calling application of the Cred SSP APIs on the server side nor the calling application of the Cred SSP APIs on the client side have access to clear text credentials.

A system and method for providing a name service in a peer-to-peer environment is described. A peer group name server may be a standalone name server that may be used in peer-to-peer applications and environments. A network computing platform may be used as a basis for establishing and operating a peer-to-peer network. A peer group name server may cache information about peers, peer groups and other entities. Peers may discover other peers, peer groups and other entities through the peer group name server. A peer group name server may serve as a reverse lookup provider. A peer group name server may act as a registrar for named entities (e.g. peers) in the peer-to-peer networking environment. In one embodiment, peer group name servers may maintain information about other peer group name servers, thus making a network of decentralized peer group name servers.

Method and apparatus for the self-organization of nodes into groups in network computing environments. Embodiments may provide the ability to deploy nodes on a network, and to allow the nodes to organize into groups without human intervention. In one embodiment, a node may broadcast a query looking for a master node for the group. If the query produces no responses, the node may self-elect as the master node for the group and the node may broadcast its presence as the master node. If two or more nodes self-elect as master nodes, the nodes may negotiate to determine which node will be the master node. If the master node becomes unavailable, the remaining nodes in the group may elect a new master node. Some embodiments may be implemented on a peer-to-peer platform, such as the JXTA peer-to-peer platform, which may allow the scope of the group to span subnetworks and networks.

A method and system are provided for executing an application remotely on a server computer for a client computer in a computer network. The server receives at user input from the client computer associated with the application, and executes the application. The server processes display commands of the application to generate display primitives, and translates the display primitives into lower level display commands defining display updates using semantic information of the display primitives. The lower level display commands are selected from a predetermined set of lower level display commands. The lower level display commands are aggregated and ordered into one or more command queues. Each command queue is associated with a given display region. The server computer transmits the lower level display commands in the one or more command queues over the network to the client computer. The client computer is capable of translating the lower level display commands into hardware calls for causing the client computer to display the display updates.

An information centric network system and a method of computing a network path using the information centric network system. The network path computation device includes: a network path representation unit configured to represent a network path using a BF; and a network path computation unit configured to, in response to a request from a content request node, compute the network path from the content request node to a content provider node, and, in response to the network path representation unit representing the network path using the BF, transmit the BF to the content request node.

A language recognition system, method and program product for recognizing language based input from computer users on a network of connected computers. Each computer includes at least one user based language model trained for a corresponding user for automatic speech recognition, handwriting recognition, machine translation, gesture recognition or other similar actions that require interpretation of user activities. Network computer users are clustered into classes of similar users according to user similarities such as, nationality, profession, sex, age, etc. User characteristics are collected by sensors and from databases and, then, distributed over the network during user activities. Language models with similarities among similar users on the network are identified. The language models include a language model domain, with similar language models being clustered according to their domains. Language models identified as similar are modified in response to user production activities. After modification of one language model, other identified similar language models are compared and adapted. Also, user data, including information about user activities and language model data, is transmitted over the network to other similar users. Language models are adapted only in response to similar user activities, when these activities are recorded and transmitted over the network. Language models are given a global context based on similar users that are connected together over the network.

The three major problems of retail/wholesale industry, i.e. Security, Inventory, Self CheckOut (SISCO) are achieved by “virtual salesperson” and provided by synergism techniques of 5W's (Weight, Who, What, Where and When). A system that includes combination of steps and/or means for uniquely identifying each and every product (UPC/USID indicium), at a vendor retail premises; steps and/or means for protecting the product/property (brain-like recognition); steps and/or means for detecting/registering a product at a vendor retail premises that has been taken from its storage or display location; steps and/or means for registering that the product has been put into a customer's shopping cart; steps and/or means for tracking customer's location with a unique ID tagging wireless device to a shopping cart; steps and/or means for automatically transacting a purchase of the product, steps and/or means for paying for the product at the vicinity of the products location with laptop/net computers at both ends of exit aisle and/or more computers at convenient places with attached scanner and card payment device; steps and/or means for notifying the customer to pay if the product has not been properly or timely paid for; any missed/unwanted items will be accounted for at reduced manned checkout stations, to received itemized purchases receipt and to sign signature, and steps and/or means for customer ID checking in and checking out by “security guard” wirelessly scans customer's receipt for inventory/security tracking.

A file system (i) permits storage capacity to be added easily, (ii) can be expanded beyond a given unit, (iii) is easy to administer and manage, (iv) permits data sharing, and (v) is able to perform effectively with very large storage capacity and client loads. State information from a newly added unit is communicated (e.g., automatically and transparently) to central administration and management operations. Configuration and control information from such operations is communicated (e.g., automatically) back down to the newly added units, as well as existing units. In this way, a file system can span both local storage devices (like disk drives) and networked computational devices transparently to clients. Such state and configuration and control information can include globally managed segments as the building blocks of the file system, and a fixed mapping of globally unique file identifiers (e.g., Inode numbers) and/or ranges thereof, to such segments.

A system, method and program product for account transaction validation which may be downloaded or otherwise installed on a networked computing device such as a cell phone or other networked computing device. The networked computing device provides an encrypted validation code to a merchant for each transaction. The validation code is uniquely computed for each transaction and may be based on transaction time and/or other transaction data. The code algorithm is unique for each cardholder. Only the bank transaction center has knowledge of the particular algorithm for each cardholder. When transaction details such as transaction dollar amount are included in the generation of the code, the code may be used to validate the reported transaction dollar amount. An algorithm is disclosed for generating a unique code based on time and/or transaction dollar amount.

A file system (i) permits storage capacity to be added easily, (ii) can be expanded beyond a given unit, (iii) is easy to administer and manage, (iv) permits data sharing, and (v) is able to perform effectively with very large storage capacity and client loads. State information from a newly added unit is communicated (e.g., automatically and transparently) to central administration and management operations. Configuration and control information from such operations is communicated (e.g., automatically) back down to the newly added units, as well as existing units. In this way, a file system can span both local storage devices (like disk drives) and networked computational devices transparently to clients. Such state and configuration and control information can include globally managed segments as the building blocks of the file system, and a fixed mapping of globally unique file identifiers (e.g., Inode numbers) and/or ranges thereof, to such segments.

An object oriented computer apparatus and method provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for existing host-based (i.e., green screen) applications by defining some object oriented classes that reside on the client workstation, and by substituting function calls for display data in the green screen application with function calls that interface with the object oriented GUI defined by the classes. In this manner the present invention takes advantage of the processing power of client workstations in a network computing environment by having the client run the GUI. The underlying green screen application is modified to replace all display function calls with new function calls to the GUI, but this change is relatively minor and does not affect the underlying core logic of the application. In addition, the new function calls access the GUI screens directly without having to determine which screen is being displayed.

User specific internet service provider (ISP) account information is stored on the user's smart card, but the ISP specific connection information is stored within a network computer client device (NC). When the NC is first powered on and used, it calls the relationship server to receive connection information corresponding to the ISP that is either specified on the first user's smart card or is otherwise chosen by the first user. This connection information is preferably stored in non-volatile memory within the NC, so that even if the NC is powered down, it maintains the ability to connect to the ISP designated by its previous user. Each ISP is designated by a unique enterprise identification number assigned by the relationship server. When a subsequent user inserts his smart card into an NC, the NC compares the enterprise identification number on the smart card to the enterprise identification number within the NC. If the enterprise identification numbers match, the NC connects to the IAP already stored in the NC without dialing the relationship server. Only if the enterprise identification numbers do not match must the NC then dial the relationship server to download connection information for the ISP designated by the smart card enterprise identification number. In the preferred embodiment, the ISP contents of the smart card are digitally signed by the ISP. If the enterprise identification numbers match, then the ISP contents of the smart card are cryptographically authenticated using the public key within the authorized usage certificate for the ISP. If the cryptographic authentication fails, then the NC reprograms the smart card.

A method and system for automatically configuring a boot process of a network computer initially connected within a network comprising at least one server. A request is broadcast from a network computer to a network for an available server, upon a first initiation of the network computer within the network. Responses from the broadcast are gathered which indicate whether a server is available. A selected boot program is then executed from among multiple boot programs available in the network computer. The selected boot program and the identity of an available server are stored as boot process configuration settings in a nonvolatile storage of the network computer, in response to successful execution of the boot program, such that a subsequent boot process of a network computer is automatically configured.