4699 results about "System service" patented technology

A novel network manager for use with a cable television system headend capable of monitoring and managing headend components and set top terminals in a television delivery system is described. The invention relates to methods and apparatus that manage and coordinate the reception of various programming and control signals at a headend. The invention manages and coordinates the storage of such signals for intelligent selection and distribution to set top terminals. The invention makes use of a receiver or set of receivers, a work station, a program control information processing component, a network management CPU, databases, control software and an instruction memory. The invention uses these components to manage and monitor certain headend components, such as signal reception equipment, an authorization component, a file server, MPEG decoders, a digital buffer with frame repeat and channel modulators. The invention is particularly useful in processing and responding to upstream information and subscriber communications received from set top terminals. In so doing, the invention accommodates various system services, including (1) near video on demand (NVOD), (2) virtual video on demand (VVOD), (3) video on demand (VOD), (4) interactive program services, (5) program suggestion features, (6) advertisement targeting, (7) generation of standard and custom menus, and (8) data spooling and text overlaying.

The present disclosed system is directed toward a communication and management system that dynamically targets network devices for content deployment, such as application programs, device drivers, configuration files, and registry subhives. Moreover, the present system targets users of network devices for promotions, such as advertisements offered by Internet e-commerce sites. Promotions are generally icons or graphic images with links to host web servers overlaying a video display, but also includes audio and video clips or data streams. Network devices and their users are targeted through user profiles. User profiles are created when network devices register with the system server and are continually updated with information provided by user activity and event logs that are periodically uploaded from each device, a scalable messaging system provides for data transmission between the system server and among the network devices such that it is neutral as to the specific hardware platforms on which it is implemented.

In some embodiments, a secure package delivery system and methods may include a remotely-controllable electronic door lock device accessible by in a system server, a delivery information device in communication with the system server, and a client device in communication with the system server. The delivery information device may provide delivery status information of a package to the system server. The remotely-controllable electronic lock device may enable or prevent access to a door at the location to which the package is to be delivered. The system server may, in response to receiving a notification that the package en route for delivery is proximate the delivery location and receiving a secure package delivery indicator associated the package recipient's account that indicates whether the package recipient has provided consent for a package delivery in a structure at the delivery location locked with an electronic lock without further instruction by the package recipient at a time of delivery. If the received secure package delivery indicator indicates the package recipient's consent for a package delivery in the structure without further instruction by the package recipient at a time of delivery, transmitting an access request signal for causing a lock control system associated with an electronic lock at an access door of the structure at the delivery location to cause the lock control system to unlock the lock. The system server may also be configured to communicate delivery completion information to the client device.

Systems and methods are provided for authorizing a user to access an access-controlled environment. The system includes a system server platform that communicates with mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) and on-board vehicle computing devices accessed by users. The embodiments enable a series of operations whereby a user accessing a vehicle is prompted to biometrically authenticate using the user's smartphone or on-board vehicle computer. In addition, the system can further authorize the user and electronically facilitate access to the vehicle as well as perform other authorized operations relating to the use of the vehicle. In addition the vehicle access system integrates with various computing devices and computer-based services accessible to the user. The systems and methods also facilitate active monitoring of the vehicle occupants and environmental conditions using optical sensors and the like so as to enhance security, convenience and safety of the occupants during use of the vehicle.

A server-oriented method and system for providing access to Internet resources. A web server is used to convert the content of web pages in a plurality of formats compatible with users' devices or with the needs of users with disabilities and to provide the users with the requested web pages in the format compatible with their specific needs or with the requirements/capabilities of the user device.

A system for providing on-line sport competition in real-time. A server computer executes game playing software which is connected via a network to a plurality of player client computers. Hardware accessories at the player's locating permit the entry of real-time playing data such as driving conditions in a race game, which are used by the game playing software executed on the server. The game playing software determines at predetermined intervals the relative performance of players playing a game, based on competition skill, which forms the basis for determining winners, and participants in future competitions. The performance information is sent to the client computers of players engaged in the game. The overall rank of each player is calculated after each competition to group players having similar skill levels and serves as entry criteria in future competitions.

A cellular telephone system has call management decisions made based on the exact geographic location of the mobile unit. These call management decisions include billing and taxing decisions, cell site selection, frequency selection and even cellular system selection. The decisions are continuously updated during a call whereby decisions can be made and changed regardless of where a call originated. Cell site location, and even cellular system selection, can be made in a specific manner to best serve the needs of the mobile user, the cellular system as well as the public. It is even possible for a cellular system to locate one or more of its cell sites in the geographic area served by another cellular system. In some cases, cellular systems might even share cell sites.

A software agent for locally tracking a user's network interaction, such as web browsing, and providing targeted promotions with optional coupons to the user. The monitoring involves use of a downloaded file of network addresses and words potentially tailored to each individual user. The software agent locally compares network addresses and content of web sites accessed and search terms entered against the stored addresses and key words in the file. Upon detecting a match, the software agent contacts a system server to obtain a promotion with an optional coupon for the match, and displays an indication of the promotion or coupon to the user, providing the user with the option to view, decline, save, or defer the promotion. The user is provided with redeemable credits for viewing promotions, visiting the site of a merchant offering the promotion, completing a transaction, and spending at least a threshold dollar amount. The coupons can include coupons targeted to users geographically close to particular merchants so that the coupons can be printed and redeemed at the merchant's establishment. Transactions related to the promotions, whether completed online or in-store, are confirmed to demonstrate the efficacy of the promotions, award additional loyalty rewards to a user's account, or to compensate an advertiser or affiliate. Confirmation of in-store transactions may be accomplished by accessing transaction data routed through third-party payment networks used for credit and debit card transactions and cellular phone transactions and the like.

A CP participated contents delivery system and method, and a CDN DNS server of the system are provided. When a client detects an embedded object while parsing a page received from a web server, the client inquires of a local DNS server about the IP address of a server storing the object. The local DNS server receives the inquiry of the client and inquires of a CDN DNS server about the IP address of the server storing the object. The CDN DNS server selects a server located in proximity to the client from a host server of a CDN provider, which stores the object, and the web server. The selected server transmits the object to the client. Accordingly, the client can rapidly receive the object and a contents provider can promote qualitative contents providing service improvement.

A transaction processing system for processing a transaction between a supplier and a customer, said system comprising a supplier device for initiating the transaction, a system server and a mobile communication device, said device containing a message processing program module for enabling local verification of the transaction within the mobile device, wherein a transaction message is sent from the supplier device to the system server, a message requesting payment for the transaction is sent from the system server to the mobile communication device, the transaction is authorised and verified at the mobile telecommunications device from which a verification message is sent back to the system server, and the transaction is then processed.

A system server is used to manage communication over a network between the system server and a plurality of physical devices of a passenger entertainment system. The system is configured and operated using software to provide passenger entertainment. The system server comprises software for instantiating a dispatch object to open a framework network addressable unit objects, for instantiating one or more virtual line replaceable unit objects to manage communication between a network address unit and physical devices, and for communicating network messages through the dispatch object to the physical devices. The dispatch object tracks messages to the physical devices utilizing a queue and tracks messages from the physical devices utilizing a queue. The dispatch object maintains the status of related devices. The dispatch object also adds and removes one or more of the virtual line replaceable units. The network addressable unit objects move data from one storage location to another.

The invention discloses a mapping knowledge domain questioning and answering system and method based on a template matching technique. The system comprises an offline module and an online module, wherein the offline module is mainly used for offline data preparation, and the online module is mainly used for system service. The system can support a friendly natural language question of a user to serve as a query, grammatical analysis is conducted on the question of the user, an offline-defined manual template library is searched for a matched question template according to a result obtained through grammatical analysis, a final structurized mapping knowledge domain query statement is generated according to an entity matching method and a relation matching method, retrieving is conducted in a mapping knowledge domain according to the structurized query statement, and then a final result is returned. According to the mapping knowledge domain questioning and answering system and method based on the template matching technique, the precise retrieving result can be given for the question of the user, and the searching satisfaction degree of the user is improved.

A system server for a channel-based network including one or more Internet sites and one or more user terminals. The system server includes a channel table database storing a master channel table that includes a list of channel numbers, each channel number having an associated Internet address and an associated Internet site name. Each Internet site of the network is addressable by an associated Internet address stored in the master channel table. The system server includes a network database and an update manager database. The system server identifies each user terminal requesting service by comparing transmitted identification information with authorized user information stored in the network database. The system server also compares a channel table version number from the requesting user terminal with a version number stored in the update manager database that is associated with the master channel table, and notifies each requesting user terminal when updated channel table information is available. At each user terminal, a user reads the channel numbers and associated Internet site names from a menu displaying the downloaded channel table, selects an Internet site name from the displayed menu, and enters the channel number associated with the selected Internet site name using an input device that is similar to a television remote control.

An alternate display content controller provides a technique for controlling a video display separately from and in addition to the content displayed on the operating system display surface. Where the display is a computer monitor, the alternate display content controller interacts with the computer utility operating system and hardware drivers to control allocation of display space and create and control one or more parallel graphical user interfaces in addition to the operating system desktop. An alternate display content controller may be incorporated in either hardware or software. As software, an alternate display content controller may be an application running on the computer operating system, or may include an operating system kernel of varying complexity ranging from dependent on the utility operating system for hardware system services to a parallel system independent of the utility operating system and capable of supporting dedicated applications. The alternate display content controller may also include content and operating software delivered over the Internet or any other LAN. The alternate display content controller may also be included in a television decoder/settop box to permit two or more parallel graphical user interfaces to be displayed simultaneously.

A portable radio terminal includes a GPS signal processor for determining the position of the portable radio terminal, and requests a system server to transmit map image data and landmark data in the vicinity of the portable radio terminal. The system server transmits the map image data and landmark data separately to allow the display unit of the portable radio terminal to represent desired landmarks overlapped with the map image on the display unit.

A method and system for enabling voice over Internet for computer applications includes registering session initiation protocol (SIP) as a system service and providing SIP service through an application programming interface (API) to permit access to service functions by individual software applications. A SIP link is provided within a software application to permit user invocation of SIP service functions. The link may be passed as a parameter to permit external access to an invoked service function.