Abstract: A transmitter device is disclosed for use with a conventional pen in which the ultrasound transmitter is a cylindrical element lying coaxial with the pen and adjacent to its tip, and a jointed eraser structure. Conventional triangulation techniques are used to track the position and motion of a writer or eraser. An encoding facility associated with the pen provides the ability to distinguish whether the pen is used for marking or an as erasing implement, as well as determining the nature or character of written line width or eraser swath. A data stream thus generated can be used in a variety of ways, such as for example, to feed information into the memory of a digital computer, and/or to feed information for transmission to remote stations.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring and reporting alarms includes a central monitoring facility which monitors a plurality of remote subscribers. Alarm information is reported to the central monitoring facility by a subscriber. The central monitoring facility causes a summary of the alarm to be transmitted to specific other subscribers. This enables the recipients of the summary to provide follow up reports and to assess how to respond to the report. GPS coordinates are used to identify the location of a reporting subscriber and to select specific other subscribers who should receive the report according to the location of the reporting subscriber.

Abstract: In a method of coding discrete time signals (X1) sampled with a first sampling rate, second time signals (x2) are generated using the first time signals having a bandwidth corresponding to a second sampling rate, with the second sampling rate being lower than the first sampling rate. The second time signals are coded in accordance with a first coding algorithm. The coded second signals (X2c) are decoded again in order to obtain coded/decoded second time signals (X2cd) having a bandwidth corresponding to the second sampling frequency. The first time signals, by frequency domain transformation, become first spectral values (X1). Second spectral values (X2cd) are generated from the coded/decoded second time signals, the second spectral values being a representation of the coded/decoded time signals in the frequency domain.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method and system for generating and displaying a calendar containing user-selected events from user-selected categories. A plurality of categories of events are provided. The user can select which categories are of interest, and then select individual events within those categories. Events are overlaid on a calendar unique to the user. Calendars may also be shared among a number of selected users, if desired. Online purchasing and related actions can be associated with each event.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for optimal handling of high bandwidth streaming data in a computer system minimizes computational activities to achieve maximal performance. This performance improvement is accomplished by minimizing the amount of memory copying and also by minimizing the number of allocation and deallocations of objects which occur. Memory copying is a CPU/bandwidth intense operation when there is high speed streaming data on the input. The allocation and deallocation of objects is a system resource intense activity and requires a very significant amount of CPU processing per invocation in a computing device. Using a combination of techniques, the invention provides a technique that reduces both the number of memory copies as well as the number of objects which get allocated and deallocated during the course of operating on the streaming media data.

Abstract: In a method for contacting a circuit chip containing an integrated circuit of a thickness less than 50 &mgr;m, which has at least two pads on a first main surface, the circuit chip is first of all placed onto a main surface of a support substrate with a second main surface which faces this first main surface, in such a way that the entire thickness of the circuit chip protrudes from the surface of the support substrate. A structured metallic coating is then applied to the first main surface of the circuit chip and the surface of the support substrate by means of screen printing or stamping, in order to connect the pads of the circuit chip to a conductor structure located on the main surface of the support substrate.

Abstract: A method whereby application and network services (such as access control and electronic mailing list servers) can use a directory service to define groups of directory members using a directory search specification evaluated at service delivery time (dynamic group membership.) Traditionally, network services have been delivered to groups of users defined in relatively narrow manners: either by keeping a list of all users who are members of the group, or by attaching specific group membership attribute information to the information maintained about each specific user. Dynamic group membership allows these services to be delivered to groups of users who can be defined by a completely arbitrary specification of user attribute information. For example, electronic mail can be sent to a group of users whose office was located in a certain building (specifically, whose office location attribute matched a specific value.

Abstract: A toner usage estimation system is provided, in which an image file is analyzed to determine the relative usage of one or more toners used to define an image on a substrate. The image file is analyzed as a basis for estimating the cost of processing a particular print job. In one embodiment, a pixel coverage counter is added in the hardware path of a printer to count pixel coverage mapping, which allows the consumable usage of toner to be determined. In another embodiment, a software approximation on the coverage of toner is determined, based on the use of a reduced resolution thumbnail of an image.

Abstract: The invention disclosed herein enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process which allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols. The targeting also includes a time element. Information can be brought to the attention of the consumer precisely when it has become applicable, which may occur immediately upon receipt of the message, but may also occur long after the message arrives. The communications process may operate without intruding on consumers who do not exhibit the precisely-specified need for the information, and it may operate without compromising the security or privacy of the consumers who participate.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising two lateral guide devices guiding the paper web at the longitudinal edges of the endless paper web, and a deflection means is provided. With the aid of the deflector the paper web is deflected at least once from its direction of movement to increase the stiffness of the paper web while the paper web is moving between the lateral guide devices. Because of that, the paper web is prevented from ascending the lateral guide devices and a damage to the paper web is avoided when the paper web comes into lateral contact with the lateral guide device.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for converting image data between planar format and a chunky format. A barrel shifter sorts the image bytes by color plane for output to a plurality of memory cells. Two addresses of each memory cell are not interconnected and function as a set of selection lines, whose binary values determine the number of positions that the data stored in the memory cells are shifted in response to the action of the barrel shifter. The sorted bytes are stored according to color format in the remaining, interconnected addresses of the memory cells. When the barrel shifter does not shift the bytes in a word, cyan bytes are stored in the memory cells. When the barrel shifter shifts the word one byte position, magenta bytes are output to the memory cells. Yellow and black bytes, respectively, are output for shifts of two bytes and three bytes, respectively. Each color plane is therefore stored in a separate memory cell and the chunky format data are converted to a planar format.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for functionally verifying an integrated circuit design. A hardware-oriented verification-specific object-oriented programming language is used to construct and customize verification tests. The language is extensible, and shaped to provide elements for stimulating and observing hardware device models. The invention is platform and simulator-independent, and is adapted for integration with Verilog, VHDL, and C functions. A modular system environment ensures interaction with any simulator through a unified system interface that supports multiple external types. A test generator module automatically creates verification tests from a functional description. A test suite can include any combination of statically and dynamically-generated tests. Directed generation constrains generated tests to specific functionalities. Test parameters are varied at any point during generation and random stability is supported.

Abstract: A user-configurable control palette for the extraction and tagging of highlighted objects where the user performs any desired task upon the objects. A control palette library is provided for the user to save custom palette layouts to and retrieve custom palette layouts from and allow the user to setup standard palettes for specific tasks such as document version control, training documents, interactive tutorials, survey questionnaires, interview forms, and on line testing. The user performs simplified extraction and tagging of highlighted objects from various sources through the control palette, changing each object's attributes such as font type, font style, font pitch, and color, through simple button clicks on the control palette. User defined tags or HTML tags may also be selected by the user to be associated with an object and the user may also specify links back to the source document for future reference.

Abstract: A resegmentation entity implements a TCP resegmentation technique wherein a receiving host receives packets that appear as if it they have been transmitted specifically for the receiving host's MTU. The receiving host does not require the buffering and CPU utilization necessary for IP reassembly. Thus, the receiving host has a lower latency when receiving IP datagrams that contain resegmented TCP segments than it would if it needed to re-assemble an IP datagram from fragments before it could process the TCP segment. Further, the sending host transmits TCP segments at its largest MTU, without regard to the receiving station's MTU, knowing that the intermediate routing entity insures that TCP resegmentation occurs. In the event that an IP datagram containing a resegmented TCP segment is lost, the sending host only has to retransmit the actual TCP data that was lost, and not the complete TCP segment.

Abstract: In the astrolabe herein, both the rete and the plate rotate, although around different centers. The stars are drawn onto the plate, and the coordinate system is represented by the rete. In contrast to the conventional astrolabe, where the stars and the coordinate system are projected onto a plane parallel with the earth's equator, the improved astrolabe projects stars and the coordinate system using a stereographic projection onto a plane parallel with the plane of the ecliptic. This projection puts the celestial pole at the center of the rete, and the line orthogonal to the ecliptic is projected onto the center of the plate, which points about 23.5 degrees off the earth's axis. As with a conventional astrolabe, the rete is rotated to represent the sidereal motion of the stars. In contrast to the conventional astrolabe, the plate may also be rotated to represent the precession of the earth's axis.

Abstract: A smart electronic receipt system that provides intelligent receipts, called Smart Receipts, that electronically document a transaction between two parties and maintains a persistent connection between the two parties following a successful online transaction. A Trusted Agent on the Buyer's client system creates an order record which is stored in a database on a Trusted Agent Server and starts the transaction process with the merchant. A Smart Receipt is delivered by a Smart Receipt Agent over a secure connection from the merchant to the Trusted Agent Server upon successful completion of a purchase and reflects the details of the transaction. It is stored in a secure database on the Trusted Agent Server and is made available to the Buyer (user) through a Trusted Agent located on his machine. The Trusted Agent Server compares the order record Limited Edition Digital Objects (LEDOs) stored in database with the Smart Receipt's LEDO to find the corresponding order record.

Abstract: A common interface solution to the problem of burgeoning information sets, referred to as inline tree filters, structures the represented data in a hierarchical tree. Inline filters are information-filtration devices that are applied to a traditional interface element, such as a hierarchical tree viewer. The invention provides a technique that enables the user to choose selectively the data that they want to display, while not otherwise altering the behavior and interaction of the tree viewer itself. Inline tree filters are suitable for any graphical user interface that could potentially use a tree viewer.

Abstract: Interleaved data are converted to a planar format by an algorithm that follows map cycles throughout a frame buffer. Such map cycles result from iterating a function that maps planar addresses to CMYK addresses. There are three phases to the algorithm: In phase I, a 1-Cycle is processed and all of its member indices that are <=MAX_HIT in the array firstHit[] are saved. In phase II, all indices between 1 and MAX_HIT are visited, skipping any indices that have already been in a cycle. As each cycle is converted, any hits to indices between 1 and MAX_HIT are directly recorded in the array hit[], so that indices that have been used are quickly skipped. Phase III is skipped unless there are still some copies left to process. In phase III, there is no more space for recording every hit individually. When looking for new cycles, only indices that are not multiples of anything in the 1-Cycle are considered.

Abstract: The invention provides an improved method and system for secure downloading, recovery, and upgrading of data. A client device receives information from a server device using a reliable software modules stored in permanent memory in the client device. The reliable software modules perform software and data integrity tests, and locate and retrieve data for recovery or upgrade of the client device. The client device confirms the trustworthiness of the received information device by comparing digital signatures or digests for the information it receives with known digital certificates in the reliable software module.