Abstract: The invention provides a method of operating a communication network. The network comprises numerous stations, each of which can transmit and receive data in order to transmit messages from originating stations to destination stations opportunistically via intermediate stations. Each station selects one of a number of possible calling channels to transmit probe signals to other stations. The probe signals contain data identifying the station in question and include details of its connectivity to other stations. Other stations receiving the probe signals respond directly or indirectly, thereby indicating both to the probing station and other stations their availability as destination or intermediate stations. The probing station evaluates the direct or indirect responses to identify other stations with which it can communicate optimally.

Abstract: An operating device and method handles event messages based on Internet technology for operating a network management system. The operating device receives an event message from a network element of the network management system. Event influences are extracted from the event message and an event profile describing the event influences is generated by the operating device and stored in a database. The operating device further includes a requested operating page, for which an operating page profile is allocated. The operating page profile is compared with event profiles stored in the database, wherein the operating device determines from the comparison event influences and event profiles relevant to the operating page profile, modifies the operating page profile based on the event influences determined, and generates the requested operating page based on the modified operating page profile.

Abstract: System for connecting a client system to a server system includes a client database of certificates; a user access panel for receiving user authentication indicia; a program interface for authenticating a certificate in the client database with respect to the indicia; a communication link interconnecting the client and server; a server database of certificates; a program interface for authenticating a certificate received from the client over with a certificate in the server database and responsive thereto for establishing a job session with the client without prompting for user input of user profile and password.

Abstract: Information sent from a server in response to a request from a client computer is accompanied by a version stamp, comprising date/time code. At the client, on each occurrence of a specified event or events, the version stamp is compared with any previous version stamp to determine whether this is a new transmission of information or not. A log is kept at the client of all information displayed, whether on-line or off-line, and the logged information is subsequently returned to the server, when a subsequent request for information is made by the client of the server. When it is determined from the version stamp that new information is being received from the server, this indicates that the logged information has reached the server, and the log can be cleared. Similar operations can be applied to the sending and receipt of e-mail messages.

Abstract: An Internet-based, secure, distributed task-brokering and parallel-processing method/system/article-of-manufacture advantageously leverages under-utilized network-based computing resources for bandwidth-intensive and/or computationally-intensive problems, and provides significant cost advantages over traditional coarse-grained parallel computing techniques.

Abstract: A data processing network having at least one centrally accessed computer connected to a plurality of PC Client computers of various types containing myriad “content”, defined as any type of multimedia, program and OS elements, files or text and voice and video messages located in accessible storage, the centrally accessed computer having content management software and a database containing one copy of each content element unique to one PC Client and one copy of each content element common to a plurality of PC Client computers, each PC Client computer containing a software agent and numerous content elements in local accessed storage. A method and means for maintaining one copy of each common content element and one copy of each unique content element, stored in the database of the centrally accessed computer and for refreshing the contents of the PC Client computers as required from the database and network resources.

Abstract: A method of installing a client-server application package from a server computer having a server program, a client distribution program, a client installation program and a client program to a client computer. The method comprises installing the server program in the server computer and recognizing a system configuration information of the server computer; and finding a first optimum system configuration information after comparing the system configuration information of the server computer with a standard setting information of the client-server application. This first optimum configuration is then compared with the current configuration of the client to generate a second optimum client configuration to be used for download and installation of the client server application.

Abstract: A method, system or program product for assigning a dual address to a workstation connecting anywhere to an IP data transmission network composed of at least a first Local Area Network (LAN) provided with a home Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, a home Domain Name Services (DNS) server and a home registration server; this method comprising: a) off-line registering into the registration server the workstation parameters including a static IP address, and a logon ID and password which have been provided to the user of the workstation, b) connecting the workstation to the IP network, the workstation being configured in DHCP mode, c) providing by the home registration server a dynamic IP address to the workstation, d) calling the home registration server by the workstation to get first the static IP address and, secondly a configuration file for the workstation, and e) configuring automatically the applications to be processed by the workstation with the static IP address or the dynamic IP ad

Abstract: A collaborator discovery method and system is presented for tracking and correlating user activities with respect to information resources on an electronic network to assist users in finding others with common interests. The system includes a monitor for tracking user activities, an entry processor for updating and providing monitored activities to a match database, and a matcher to correlate user activities and to diffuse user interests to information resources that have not yet been visited. Long-term and short-term user interests are tracked, and are decayed over time for resources not recently visited. Information sources whose associated interest level has sufficiently decayed are pruned, and their entries in the match database are eliminated. An interactive messaging system is also provided for users to interact, while preserving their anonymity.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, system, and computer program product for communicating using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is provided. The method, apparatus, system and computer program product provide mechanisms by which client applications need not maintain information pertaining to the routing of messages. The SIP client manager receives SIP messages through a network interface. The SIP client manager contains a SIP management module and an X-SIP client module. The SIP management module contains a SIP message modifier for modifying incoming messages and outgoing messages in accordance with context information or state information for a session associated with a SIP message, and the SIP management module also contains input/output controllers for receiving, sending, or forwarding SIP messages. The X-SIP client module contains an input/output controller for receiving and sending SIP messages and also contains a SIP application programming interface (API) for handling SIP messages for a SIP-enabled application.

Abstract: A software facility for automatically identifying subnetworks in a network is described. The facility receives a plurality of addresses of hosts in the network, and accesses a binary tree. The nodes of the binary tree each represent a range of addresses within the network. A facility traverses the binary tree to identify candidate nodes where both child nodes have one or more descendent leaf nodes representing host addresses. The facility tests the address range represented by each candidate node visited in the traversal to determine whether the address range is a subnet address range for a subnet being used on the network. If testing indicates that a visited candidate node represents such an address range, the facility identifies the visited candidate node as a subnet node. The facility skips, in the traversal, any candidate notes that are descendents of an identified subnet node.

Abstract: A method of processing a frame received at a networked device having a port switch and a general-purpose processor. The method can include receiving frame information at the port switch, determining at least one port for the frame, and directing the received frame information based on the determined port(s).

Abstract: A method of collecting charging information relating to usage of the Internet by an Internet user. The method comprises constructing in a router of the Internet a routing table containing a set of destination address ranges and a set of respective next hop network nodes. Each address range in the routing table is assigned a cost class in dependence upon the route via which a packet must travel to an address within the range. Upon receiving a data packet from the network user, the destination address of the packet is identified by the router. The router then determines from the routing table the associated cost class. A corresponding cost class counter in the router is then incremented.

Abstract: A system for reducing network traffic for remote file system accesses receives requests at a local computer system for access to a file on the remote server. If the request is a read operation, and the operation is directed to an unallocated region of the file on the remote server, the system returns a block of null values to the requestor without receiving the block of null values from the remote server. Otherwise, the system sends a request to the remote server to read from the file. If the request is a write operation, and the operation is directed to an unallocated region of the file on the remote server, the system sends a request to the remote server to allocate storage for the write operation. Next, the system writes the data into a local cache. Later, the system copies the data from the cache to the remote storage.