Abstract: An improved session control method and apparatus includes a client which establishes a session with a first server such that the first server can identify the client. When the client wishes to migrate from the first server to a second server, the client requests a session token from the first server. The session token is a data element generated by the first server which is unique over the client-server network being navigated and identifies the particular session with the first server. The session token is preferably a difficult to forge data element, such as a data element digitally signed using the private key of the first server. The session token is passed from the client to the second server to initiate migration to the second server. If session data is too bulky to be passed as part of the session token, the second server may use data from the session token to formulate a request to the first server for additional data needed to handle the state of the session.

Abstract: An fully integrated on-line frequency award program is disclosed. A user may access the program on-line and may browse a product catalog for shopping. The user may electronically place an order, upon which the program automatically checks the user's credit and electronically issues a purchase order to the supplying company. The program also calculates award points, updates the award account of enrolled users, and communicates that number of awarded points to the user. Enrolled users may browse through an award catalog and electronically redeem an amount of awarded points towards an award. The program then electronically places an award redeeming order with the fulfillment house and updates the user's award account.

Abstract: A communication system and method includes unums distributed over at least a single presence and including a selected plurality of ingredients. An unum is established by creating ingredients at the level of its interface and attributes; and at the level of its implementation; and interconnecting ingredients into presences and unums. Communication between ingredients is accomplished within a single presence, across an unum boundary within an agency, or within a single unum across a presence boundary. Trust boundaries are established between presences and unums to establish a predetermined level of communications security in messaging between ingredients.

Abstract: A trust manager examines each new class before it is allowed to execute by examining a policy file which includes data structures defining security policies of the user system, a certificate repository for storing a plurality of certificates, a certificate being a data record which is digitally signed and which certifies claims relevant to a security evaluation, a code examiner adapted to analyze the portion of code to determine potential resource use of the portion of code and a trust evaluator adapted to evaluate certificate requirements of the portion of code based on policy rules extracted from the policy file and the potential resource use specified by the code examiner. The trust evaluator also determines, from certificates from the certificate repository and a code identifier identifying the portion of code, whether execution of the portion of code is allowed by the policy rules given the potential resource use, the code supplier and applicable certificates.

Abstract: The present invention provides a weighing apparatus for weighing coins accumulated in a coin hopper using a load cell and automatically taking a periodic readings of the number of coins accumulated in the hopper. By periodically monitoring the hopper and automatically calculating the number of coins in the hopper, theft of coins and other irregularities can be easily and timely detected. The unauthorized removal of coins during an actual or purported maintenance procedure can be detected by automatically determining a count of coins before a hopper access door is opened, automatically counting the number of coins once the door is closed, and using those two counts to determine the change in the number of coins in the hopper at the time of the change.

Abstract: A robust, automatic volume registration process based on intensity gradients successfully performs registrations under conditions of unrelated intervolume voxel intensities, significant object displacements and/or significant amounts of missing data. The process allows a user to visualize the registration convergence, clearly illustrating any source of registration errors. The process includes steps of matching, based on iteratively finding a correspondence of the closest voxels containing a high three-dimensional (3D) intensity gradient magnitude. The process is a powerful method of sequence-independent MR volume registration which is simple to both use and understand.

Abstract: Apparatus is provided to facilitate the process of bulk preprogramming each of the cells in a flash memory or a subblock of a flash memory. In the process, the source and drain of each cell to be preprogrammed is biased such that current need not be flowing between the source and drain through the cell's channel region for charge to be transferred between the cell's channel region and the cell's floating gate. In a specific embodiment, the sources and drains are left floating without any particular bias voltage and the control gates of the cells are set to between 9 and 12 volts above the substrate and held there for about 10 milliseconds (ms). In an alternate embodiment, the sources and drains of all of the cells to be preprogrammed are biased to the same potential, which is a negative voltage, ground, or a positive voltage.

Abstract: In a charge pump the noise due to switching transients on the input pulse lines is kept to extremely low levels by translating input up/down pulses into small signal differential pulses which swing a differential pair of transistors by a small amount. This is done with level converters. The differential pair is kept in a saturation region, so that a large swing is not needed from the level converters and channel creation/destruction noise is avoided in addition to the noise reduction due to smaller swings. To avoid inherent offsets which might require a nonzero delta time width difference in the input pulses to produce a zero delta current, identical differential structures are used at the inputs for the two input pulse signals.

Abstract: A multi-input multi-output (MIMO) controller is configured as a generic, non-interacting, multivariable controller with adaptive capabilities. The controller transforms the coupled multivariable control problem to multiple decoupled single-input single-output loops. The decoupling occurs in the input/output map of the system being controlled. The transformed system can then be controlled using any control synthesis technique to meet the system performance objectives, such as Proportional plus Integral plus Derivative (PID) control. An empirical dynamic model is continually identified from on-line data. From this model, static decoupling transformations based on a singular value decomposition are determined and updated and the controller gains are calculated.

Abstract: In a sample-and-hold circuit, an input is tracked at an output during a tracking period and the input is held during an holding period, the tracking period and holding period defined by a clock signal input to the sample-and-hold circuit, wherein the output is a differential output having a positive output node and a negative output node with the output signal represented by a voltage difference from the negative output node to the positive output node. During the tracking period, an equalizing transistor between the output nodes is turned on to bring the output to a common mode level for the output. During the holding period, the equalizing transistor is turned off and a regenerative circuit drives the output nodes apart, thus amplifying the input signal.

Abstract: An example page taken from each document in a document database is processed by a page processor to yield an iconic representation for the example page. To form the iconic representation, the example page is segmented into text regions, line art regions, photograph regions, etc., and each region is reduced in a manner appropriate for that image type. Text is replaced with a block font and reduced, while graphics are reduced in level and/or spatial resolution. The reduced regions of the example page are then reassembled into the icon. When multiple icons are printed on a guide page, a user can visually identify the icon for an example page of a target document and supply the icon, or a label for the icon, to a document retrieval system, which selects candidate matching documents from the document database. For simplified processing characters can be blocked and words formed into solid line segments with lengths proportional to word lengths.

Abstract: A system for dynamically graphically presenting a concept of interest related to the operation of a software target sub-system asks the sub-system to include changes in values relevant to the concept of interest in a telemetry stream propagated by the target sub-system. These values are held by receptors and collections of values relevant to the concept of interest are utilized to create renderings indicating characteristics of the concept of interest. A holder is provided for each value and a single value may be used to create different renderings thereby reducing the cost to the target sub-system. Whenever a value change is propagated each collection is notified so that the renderings are updated.

Abstract: An improved document management system with high-speed retrieval by example retrieves a document attaching a target document, in whole or part, by comparing descriptors of documents. A descriptor is derived from a pattern of labels, where each label is associated with a character, or more precisely, a character bounding box. A bounding box is found by examining contiguous pixels in an image. The particular label associated with a bounding box depends on the value of a metric measured from that bounding box. In one system, the metric is the spacing between the bounding box and an adjacent bounding box, in which the labels approximately reflect a pattern of word lengths. In other systems, where words lengths are not present, the metric might be pixel density and the pattern of labels approximately reflect a pattern of denser characters and sparser characters.

Abstract: A cache is distributed among processors in a multiple processor system with no shared memory to maintain the cached data. Each processor maintains a cache which identifies the opened files being cached, the blocks of each file which are cached and the state of caching for each file. The state of each opened file is one of "no-caching", "read-caching" and "read/write caching". So long as only one processor opens a file, and opens it for read/write access, that processor is allowed to do read/write caching on the file. When a processor opens a file for read access, that processor is allowed to do read caching, unless another processor has the file open for read/write access. After the last processor having read/write access to a file closes the file, the disk system upgrades the cache state for the file.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for dynamically subgrouping messages in a news network is provided to assist posters and readers in the news network. Each message can be assigned one or more categories as well as being assigned one or more conventional newsgroup labels. Categories can have a hierarchical structure of categories and subcategories. Categories can be filtered and/or sorted by the reader and categories can be applicable to many different groups or specific to a group. The categories are not limited to any predefined list, but can be specified by the poster.

Abstract: A user is presented with a display map from which the user selects database records of interest. For the records which are in range of the display map's limits, a cluster evaluator groups some of the records into clusters. On the display map, unclustered records are represented by item icons, while clusters are represented by cluster icons. If a user selects an item icon, the associated record is selected and a predetermined action is taken. If a cluster icon is selected, the display map is "zoomed in" to show greater detail around the cluster. Typically, a number of clustered records become unclustered records when the zooming occurs, because the clustering criteria is sharpened. The user can iteratively select clusters, resulting in greater and greater detail, until the user selects an item icon and the predetermined action is taken with that record.

Abstract: An improved communication system which allows data, voice, and/or other non-real-time and real-time data streams to be transferred from one station to another over a single telephone line with optimal use of the available bandwidth and with a transparency to data transferring processes such as in computer systems coupled to the station interface devices is disclosed. A local data+voice interface device accepts digital data at a data port, analog voice signals at a voice port, digitizes the voice signals, compresses them, packetizes both the digital data and the digital voice data, identifying for each packet the type of data contained therein, and transmits the packets to a remote data+voice interface device, which separates the packets by their identification, and reconstructs the separate voice and data streams.