Abstract: Systems and methods for evaluating damage to a vehicle and controlling a vehicle repair process to bring all aspects of the damaged vehicle back within manufacturer's specification during repair. Processes for evaluating, measuring and repairing specified reference points on a vehicle are described. The processes include an incremental examination and repair of affiliated reference points to bring them back into specified positions with respect to a datum, each other and the centerline of the vehicle. The processes also include the determinations of the three-dimensional dislocations of reference points from their specified positions and make a three-dimensional determination of a force vector to direct the application of force to return each reference point to its specified position. A computer system implementing the vehicle control processes provides automated or semi-automated systems of vehicle repair.

Abstract: Control logic of a node controller receives an input vector and produces an output vector. The control logic includes a plurality of tied control store entries including hard-coded logic to identify unique values of the input vector and to produce the output vector from a hard-coded output vector when the input vector is identified and when the tied control store is enabled. The control logic also includes a plurality of spare control store entries including programmable logic configurable to identify values of the input vector and to produce the output vector from a programmable output vector when the input vector is identified and when the spare control store is enabled. One of the spare control store entries that is configured to identify a value of the input vector that none of the tied control store entries that are enabled by the entry-enables register are configured to identify is enabled.

Abstract: A modular forming system with nesting brackets between associated stacked modular panels to join modular panels when stacked. As a part of the forming system, a modular panel is described having a forming member with a plurality of studs affixed to the non-forming surface, and a plurality of stiff-back structures affixed in a spaced-apart relationship to the plurality of studs. Each stiff-back structure includes a lower bracket having a slot therein and an upper lifting bracket having a lifting member adapted to slidably engage the slot in a lower bracket of an associated stacked panel arranged above the modular panel, and allowing the engaged brackets to be removably joined together.

Abstract: In general, techniques for communicating within a mainframe computing system via a virtual Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) protocol are described herein. More specifically, the mainframe computing system comprises a first cell that forms an Ethernet message to directly encapsulate an IPMI message without further encapsulating the IPMI message within any other protocol message. The mainframe computing system further comprises other cells. The cell further transmits the Ethernet message to at least one of the other cells. The first cell couples to the other cells via an Ethernet interconnect however, and not an IPMB. The cells overcome this limitation by communicating via the virtual IPMI protocol, which allows each cell to leverage pre-configured support of IPMI over the Ethernet interconnect and thereby forgo the requirement of an IPMB to communicate via IPMI.

Abstract: An apparatus for and method of improving the efficiency of service request/response activity requiring security functions. A security facility, such as Security Support Provider Interface is embedded in a communication class library which controls the communication between client and server applications. A context token is associated with the service request which specifies the security functions to be provided in honoring that particular request without any particular attention by either client or server application, as the security functions are exclusively concerned with the communication process rather than the service request/response activity.

Abstract: A memory control system and method is disclosed. The system includes cache tag logic and an optional cache coupled to a main memory. If available, the cache retains a subset of the data stored within the main memory. This subset is selected by programmable control indicators. These indicators further control which data will be recorded by the tag logic. The indicators may select the sub-sets based on which type of memory request results in the return of data from the main memory to the cache, for example. Alternatively, or in addition, these indicators may specify the identity of a requester, a memory response type, or a storage mode to control the selection of the sub-sets of data stored within the cache and recorded by the tag logic. In one embodiment, data may be tracked by the cache tag logic but not stored within the cache itself.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting and correcting errors within a control system is disclosed. A storage device stores data values that are used to control one or more circuits within the system. This storage device may operate as a slave, such that the storage device is addressed using address signals provided by an external source. This storage device may also operate as master such that some of the data signals that are read from the storage device are used to generate the address for performing the next reference the storage device. In the former slave scenario, and in some cases wherein the storage device is operating as a master, data signals that would otherwise be employed to generate an address are instead employed as check bits to implement an error detection and correction scheme.

Abstract: In a video-on-demand system, disc-based video streams are seamlessly replaced with memory-based video streams. This is achieved by first switching each disc-based video stream to a mixed video stream; and later, switching each mixed video stream to a memory-based video stream.

Abstract: A humidity control system having an outside temperature humidity compensator circuit responsively coupled to an outside temperature sensing circuit and capable of responding to sensed inside humidity levels to provide control signals to a humidity controller to automatically adjust the target in-room humidity produced by a controller as a function of sensed changes in outside temperature is described. The compensator circuit provides two variables to allow control of both the level of humidity at a specified temperature and the rate of humidity change with changes in outside temperature, and provides a means to limit the highest humidity level that is independent of the controlling variables. Switching is shown to allow the compensator circuit to be switched out of operation and to allow it to be momentarily bypassed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to control logic sections of a pipeline instruction processor is disclosed. A state machine is provided that models the flow of instructions through the pipeline. The state machine is capable of modeling execution for all combinations of instruction types that may be present within the pipeline at a given time. The state machine also models various events that affect the way instruction execution is overlapped within the pipeline, and other system occurrences that may cause the termination of some processing activity within the pipeline. The state machine provides signals to control the various logic sections. These signals may be used to determine whether the results of processing activity within the logic sections should be retained or discarded.

Abstract: A high-performance directing process has use in sending a trick-mode video stream, of a particular video, from a video server to a viewer network. This directing process—1) receives a series of spaced apart requests from an external circuit with each request being for directions on how to generate a respective portion of the trick-mode video stream, 2) builds in a semiconductor memory, not the entire respective portion of the trick-mode video stream but only selected items which occur therein; and 3) sends combining directions which direct the external circuit to generate the respective portion of the trick-mode video stream by combining the items that are built by the building step with video data previously stored in the memory before the receiving step.

Abstract: A high-performance mapping process has use in sending a trick-mode video stream, of a particular video, from a video server to a viewer network. This mapping process generates a trick-mode control map which—1) identifies segments of the normal video stream that include selected pictures which are to be sent from the video server in the trick-mode video stream, 2) incorporates, into the trick-mode control map, the locations of various items in the identified segments of the normal video stream that need to be modified for use in the trick-mode video stream, and 3) stores respective indicators of the type of modification that needs to be made at each of the above locations.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for providing access to an event log file. An open distributed transaction processing system writes information to a current logical portion of the event log file in processing transactions. A first service is callable by a client to instruct the open distributed transaction processing system to cycle the event log file. In other embodiments, additional services are accessible to the client for manipulating the event log file.

Abstract: A system and method for managing multiple partitions of a database are disclosed. According to one embodiment, each partition contains a subset of all records of the database, and is respectively associated with a secondary index B-tree, and a primary key B-tree. To retrieve a data record from the database, a partition is selected and a search is initiated on the associated secondary index B-tree for one or more records having a desired secondary index value. If records are so located, a primary key value obtained from one of the records is used to search the associated primary key B-tree to locate the data. In some cases, the search of the secondary index B-tree may not find the desired secondary index value within the selected partition. In these instances, pointers directed to one or more other partitions are used to locate records containing the desired secondary index value.

Abstract: A system and method is disclosed for performing error recovery in a data processing system that supports multiple processing partitions. One or more processors and I/O modules, as well as a portion of the address space of a main memory, is allocated to each partition. In this type of configuration, requests generated by units of multiple partitions are processed by the same queue and state logic of the main memory. When a failure occurs within one processing partition, one or more units are identified as being directly affected by the fault. All requests and responses from, and to, the affected units, as well as any logical residue of these requests and responses are removed from the shared memory queue and state logic in a manner that allows the other partition to continue issuing requests and responses to the memory in a normal manner that does not involve recovery operations.

Abstract: A high-performance combining process has use in sending a trick-mode video stream, of a particular video, from a video server to a viewer network. This combining process—1) sends a series of spaced-apart requests to a computer, with each request being for combining directions which indicate how to generate a respective portion of the trick-mode video stream by combining video data that was previously stored in memory before the sending step with selected items that are generated in the computer in response to the sending step; 2) receives the requested combining directions; and 3) uses the directions to combine the selected items with the video data that was previously stored in the memory.

Abstract: A control program for a co-processor in a video-on-demand system directs the co-processor to perform the steps of: a) obtain a transmission control list, from an external source, which identifies a group of several video data packets and a respective subgroup of internet protocol headers for each video data packet in the group; b) partition into pieces, each video data packet and its respective subgroup of internet protocol headers as identified by the transmission control list; and, c) send the partitioned pieces, along with an additional header for each piece, to an output port during a series of spaced apart time intervals.

Abstract: A control program for a supervisor processor in a video-on-demand system directs the supervisor processor to perform the steps of: a) transfer a group of video data packets, from an externally stored complete video into a memory for the supervisor processor; b) build in the supervisor processor's memory, a respective subgroup of internet protocol headers for each video data packet in the group; and c) construct, in the memory of a co-processor, a transmission control list which indicates how each video data packet in the group, and its respective subgroup of internet protocol headers, can be accessed from the supervisor processor's memory by the co-processor.

Abstract: A video-on-demand system is comprised of a supervisor processor and a co-processor which are intercoupled via a bus. The supervisor processor has a supervisor memory and the co-processor has a co-processor memory. A supervisor control program is in the supervisor memory, which includes—a) a means for transferring a group of video data packets from an externally stored complete video into the supervisor memory, b) a means for building in the supervisor memory, a respective subgroup of internet protocol headers for each video data packet in the group, and c) a means for constructing in the co-processor memory, a transmission control list which indicates how each video data packet in the group and its respective subgroup of internet protocol headers can be accessed from the supervisor memory.