Patents Examined by Brent Stace
  • Patent number: 8275773
    Abstract: A method of locating relevant documents wherein documents are given a fingerprint comprising weights associated with particular topic categories of a classification system, each weight representing a degree to which the document relates to the particular topic category. Documents whose fingerprints have a predetermined degree of mathematical overlap with the fingerprint may be considered relevant. A user is alerted to new relevant documents. Advertisers can offer advertisements near search results that achieve a predefined amount of relevance to text submitted by the advertiser rather than bidding on keywords. Unwanted content may be blocked from the search and filters to further refine the search may be used. E-mail spam may be blocked using textual relevance rather than keywords. Visual cues linked to a hierarchy of relevance help display the relevant documents. The methods may be used in combination with keyword searching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Inventors: Stuart Donnelly, Can Deniz Akyuz
  • Patent number: 8271476
    Abstract: A method of locating relevant documents wherein documents are given a fingerprint comprising weights associated with particular topic categories of a classification system, each weight representing a degree to which the document relates to the particular topic category. Documents whose fingerprints have a predetermined degree of mathematical overlap with the fingerprint may be considered relevant. Fingerprints of texts may be combined to define user fingerprints and user fingerprints may be combined to define community user fingerprints, which can be monitored. Changes in the interest of the online community may be monitored and automatically reported to advertisers who can then instantly adjust their advertising campaign. Similarly, changes in community interest may be reported to pharmaceutical companies monitoring drug side effects. The methods may be used in combination with keyword searching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Inventors: Stuart Donnelly, Can Deniz Akyuz
  • Patent number: 8255407
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for matching resource capabilities of data centers to resource needs of data centers. Capability data sets received from one or more of a plurality of data centers are stored by a capability-demand advertising and matching computing arrangement for a certain time. Each capability data set identifies a data center and indicates resources available at the identified data center. Query descriptors are also stored by the computing arrangement for a certain time. Each query descriptor identifies a data center and specifies resource needs of the identified data center. The query descriptors stored at the computing arrangement are applied to each newly received capability data set. To each data center identified in a stored query descriptor that is satisfied by a newly received capability descriptor, the newly received capability data set is provided to the data center identified by the stored query descriptor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Sven Graupner
  • Patent number: 8250079
    Abstract: A system, method and computer program product for identifying near and exact-duplicate documents in a document collection, including for each document in the collection, reading textual content from the document; filtering the textual content based on user settings; determining N most frequent words from the filtered textual content of the document; performing a quorum search of the N most frequent words in the document with a threshold M; and sorting results from the quorum search based on relevancy. Based on the values of N and M near and exact-duplicate documents are identified in the document collection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: MSC Intellectual Properties B.V.
    Inventors: Johannes C. Scholtes, Siebe Bloembergen
  • Patent number: 8195614
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for different embodiments of incremental garbage collection of data in a secondary storage. In one embodiment, a method comprises locating blocks of data in a log that are referenced and within a range at a tail of the log. The method also includes copying the blocks of data that are referenced and within the range to an unallocated segment of the log.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: EMC Corporation
    Inventor: R. Hugo Patterson
  • Patent number: 8185502
    Abstract: The present invention provides a backup method that makes it possible to specify the recovery-enabled time of an application even in a case where a backup has been performed without staticizing the application. In response to a first instruction from a management computer, a storage system backs up a first volume to a second volume at a first time while a first host computer continues to process an application. In response to a second instruction from the management computer, a second host computer reads out the data of the second volume and acquires a second time that is the time at which the application is recovery-enabled. The management computer stores the relationship between the backup and the second time in backup catalog information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Misako Irisawa, Nobuhiro Maki, Wataru Okada, Hironori Emaru
  • Patent number: 8185564
    Abstract: A method for extracting content from a data store includes creating a file identifier mapped to an item. The method includes receiving a request that seeks cached access to the item and that is not directed to the item. In response to the request, contents of the item are provided using the file identifier without caching the contents. A system for extracting content from a data store includes an indexer. The system includes a data store containing at least an item. The system includes a redirector containing a file identifier mapped to the item. When the redirector receives a request originated by the indexer that seeks cached access to the item and that is not directed to the item in the data store the redirector provides contents of the item using the file identifier without caching the contents in the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Sigurdur Asgeirsson, Tomas Gunnarsson
  • Patent number: 8180787
    Abstract: The present invention generally is directed to a system, method and article of manufacture for accessing data independent of the particular manner in which the data is physically represented. In one embodiment, a data repository abstraction layer provides a logical view of the underlying data repository that is independent of the particular manner of data representation. A query abstraction layer is also provided and is based on the data repository abstraction layer. A runtime component performs translation of an abstract query into a form that can be used against a particular physical data representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Richard Dean Dettinger, Peter John Johnson, Richard Joseph Stevens, Ikhua Tong, Eric Will
  • Patent number: 8171003
    Abstract: Introduced is information that indicates a changing of “a reference that points a referenced record” to “another reference that points another record”. This information is named as “changing reference information (CRI)” and is registered to a referred record. When accessing a referencing record, there is a possibility to access referenced record by necessity of a program or an operator. At this time, CRI registered to originally referenced record is accessed. And the reference is changed to new record as indicated by the CRI. Thus, status of a DB in a device is changed by the invention. When PCs have reproduced DBs that are copy of the original and edit their own reproduced DBs so as to change a reference, these editorial contents with CRI will be propagated to other PCs. Other PCs change references of their reproduced DBs according to the CRIs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Inventor: Kunio Kamimura
  • Patent number: 8171047
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for a database query optimizer utilizes a combining network to optimize a portion of a query in a parallel computer system with multiple nodes. The efficiency of the parallel computer system is increased by offloading collective operations on node data to the global combining network. The global combining network performs collective operations such as minimum, maximum, sum, and logical functions such as OR and XOR.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eric L. Barsness, David L. Darrington, Amanda E. Peters, John M. Santosuosso
  • Patent number: 8122027
    Abstract: The invention relates to a communications manager for receiving publications and forwarding these publications on to parties who have subscribed to receive such publications. The communications manager is able to store a plurality of filter expressions independently of the process of registering subscriptions, with each filter expression being stored in an optimized format. Means are provided for permitting the optimized format of a stored filter expression to be referenced by a party wishing to receive publications filtered according to that filter expression and publications received can be parsed against the optimized filter expression in order to determine which publications should be forwarded on to the party concerned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Neil G S Young
  • Patent number: 8112391
    Abstract: A method and system for automatically updating and synchronizing contact center agent skill data maintained in a central agent skill database with a routing system based upon skill-changing events triggered in skill-Impacting systems. Contact center agent skills may be maintained in a skill database for a set of agents. A skill-impacting system (such as an education system, a satisfaction system or a metrics system) may send skill/capability data for an agent. The agent's profile in the skill database may be updated based on the received skill data. Either immediately, when triggered by an event, or at a predetermined interval, a routing system's routing logic may be synchronized with the new data in the agent's profile. When the contact center receives a contact (such as a phone call, an email, a web chat, an instant message, or a fax) from a customer, processing logic in the routing system may select a best-fit agent based on availability and skill data from the agent profiles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH
    Inventors: Christopher J. Allen, Beth S. Miles Barry, Ervan D. Rodgers
  • Patent number: 8090717
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are described for scoring documents in response, in part, to parameters related to the document, source, and/or cluster score. Methods and apparatus are also described for scoring a cluster in response, in part, to parameters related to documents within the cluster and/or sources corresponding to the documents within the cluster. In one embodiment, the invention may detect at least one document within the cluster; analyze a parameter corresponding to the document; and compute a cluster score based, in part, on the parameter, wherein the cluster score corresponds with at least one document within the cluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Krishna Bharat, Jeff Dean, Michael Curtiss, Amitabh Singhal, Michael Schmitt
  • Patent number: 8073886
    Abstract: An application programming interface (API) module provides access to data, independent of filesystem implementation in a non-privileged user mode. A discovery volume having a filesystem recognizable by an operating system has cover files which prevent damage to data stored in an unrecognizable primary volume. The discovery volume also includes a data access API available for execution in a non-privileged user mode to render the primary volume accessible by operating systems which would otherwise find the primary volume unrecognizable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Darwin Ou-Yang, Matt Garson, Ravinder S. Thind
  • Patent number: 8041689
    Abstract: Template entries are added to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (“LDAP”)-accessible database, containing attributes that affect new records added to the database, attributes returned in response to an LDAP query, and records identified through an LDAP search operation. Static and dynamic attributes are discussed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Red Hat, Inc.
    Inventor: Peter A. Rowley
  • Patent number: 8042181
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to systems and methods for detecting unsolicited and threatening communications and communicating threat information related thereto. Threat information is received from one or more sources; such sources can include external security databases and threat information data from one or more application and/or network layer security systems. The received threat information is reduced into a canonical form. Features are extracted from the reduced threat information; these features in conjunction with configuration data such as goals are used to produce rules. In some embodiments, these rules are tested against one or more sets of test data and compared against the same or different goals; if one or more tests fail, the rules are refined until the tests succeed within an acceptable margin of error. The rules are then propagated to one or more application layer security systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: McAfee, Inc.
    Inventor: Paul Judge
  • Patent number: 8037109
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for the generation of synthetic repeatable data. In an illustrative implementation, an exemplary data environment comprises at least one computing application for the management, manipulation, and generation of data. The computing application operates on a predefined set of rules to generate a data set, having N elements, using a deterministic generator function which when executed always produces the same set of data. The seed is used to position the generator to a particular point in its sequence. To regenerate any particular entry in the data set, the generator, using the seed as an input, is executed and the desired data is re-generated. The illustrative implementation also contemplates that the generation of data may be parallelizable as each element is generated independently of any others.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Charles J. Levine, Jamie A. Reding, Sergey Vasilevskiy
  • Patent number: 8028009
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for different embodiments of incremental garbage collection of data in a secondary storage. In one embodiment, a method comprises locating blocks of data in a log that are referenced and within a range at a tail of the log. The method also includes copying the blocks of data that are referenced and within the range to an unallocated segment of the log.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: EMC Corporation
    Inventor: R. Hugo Patterson
  • Patent number: 8027956
    Abstract: Embodiments provide systems and methods for planning or monitoring system transformations. One embodiment of a method for planning or monitoring the transformation of a system includes developing one or more states, each state representing a system and associated with data structures representing entities comprising the system, wherein the states are ordered in a succession of states to form a scenario modeling the transformation of the system. States can be populated by reflecting one or more data structures or properties of data structures across one or more states. The method can further include collecting data associated with the system at intervals and reflecting the collected data across states. Data structures may be contained in a repository and collected data may be used to update the repository and data structures contained in the repository. A modeling tool may be utilized to display data structures in the repository according to different representations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: TROUX Technologies
    Inventors: James E. Van Riper, Clint Miller, David K. Williams
  • Patent number: 8027983
    Abstract: Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for enhancing query performance through fixed length hashing of multidimensional data. According to one method, a fixed length hash of a multidimensional data record is created where the hash has respective fixed length sections for each data dimension of the record being hashed. The composite fixed length hash is stored with a reference to the original data record to which it corresponds. Query parameters are hashed and compared to a corresponding section of the fixed length hash to determine a set of candidate records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Sagnik Nandy, Jonathon A. Vance, Jan Matthias Ruhl