Abstract: Procedures for agnostically redirecting WAN link communications for WAN link throughput optimization are described. In an example, a WAN communication, targeted to a remote resource, is redirected to a local port proxy. The local port proxy may enforce WAN link policy on the communication to optimize communication flows occurring over the physical WAN link thereby increasing the relative efficiency of the physical WAN link. A remote port proxy may be included for forwarding the communication to the target remote resource via a separate communication connection.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for monitoring tunneled Internet protocol (IP) traffic on a high bandwidth IP network are disclosed. According to one method, a copy of a tunneled IP packet traversing an IP communications network is generated. The packet may include a payload having tunneled protocol address information. The tunneled protocol address information and the payload portion of the copied IP packet is read. The packet is distributed, using the tunneled protocol address information, to a function for providing at least one of packet classification and network monitoring service for the packet.

Abstract: Displaying images having pixels thereof that are meant to be transparent is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes a first stage and a second stage. The first stage is performed once, to transform the image and generate a mask thereof. The second stage is performed each time the image is to be displayed, to copy the transformed image and the mask onto the display. In one embodiment, the transparent image is shrunk and/or stretched when displayed. The cases of animated images and dithering for alpha blending are also disclosed and covered by the invention.

Abstract: This invention relates to a high temperature melting composition and a method of using the composition for brazing high temperature niobium-based substrates, such as niobium-based refractory metal-intermetallic compositions (RMIC), including but not restricted to niobium-silicide composite alloys. The high temperature melting composition can include one or more alloys. The alloys include a base element selected from titanium, tantalum, niobium, hafnium, silicon, and germanium. The alloys also include at least one secondary element that is different from the base element. The secondary element can be selected from chromium, aluminum, niobium, boron, silicon, germanium and mixtures thereof. When two or more alloys are included in the composition, it is preferable, but not required, to select at least one lower melting alloy and at least one higher melting alloy. The composition is preferably a homogeneous mixture of the two or more alloys combined in powder form.

Abstract: Operating system enhancements that enable an application program to create and perform graphics operations on device-independent bitmaps (DIBs) efficiently. The enhancements are in the form of functions that return to the application program a handle to the DIB and a pointer to the location of the DIB in memory. With the handle, the application program can use the capabilities of the operating system to perform graphics operations on the DIB. With the pointer, the application program can use its own drawing capabilities and address the DIB directly. The operating system enhancements also streamline the design and content of graphics drivers such as display drivers by placing basic graphics functions in a graphics engine that communicates with the graphics driver. Simple graphics operations are passed from the graphics driver to the graphics engine, allowing the driver to be limited to more complex operations that utilize special characteristics of graphics hardware associated with the driver.

Abstract: This invention relates to a high temperature melting composition and a method of using the composition for brazing high temperature niobium-based substrates, such as niobium-based refractory metal-intermetallic compositions (RMIC), including but not restricted to niobium-silicide composite alloys. The high temperature melting composition can include one or more alloys. The alloys include a base element selected from titanium, tantalum, niobium, hafnium, silicon, and germanium. The alloys also include at least one secondary element that is different from the base element. The secondary element can be selected from chromium, aluminum, niobium, boron, silicon, germanium and mixtures thereof. When two or more alloys are included in the composition, it is preferable, but not required, to select at least one lower melting alloy and at least one higher melting alloy. The composition is preferably a homogeneous mixture of the two or more alloys combined in powder form.

Abstract: Operating system enhancements that enable an application program to create and perform graphics operations on device-independent bitmaps (DIBs) efficiently. The enhancements are in the form of functions that return to the application program a handle to the DIB and a pointer to the location of the DIB in memory. With the handle, the application program can use the capabilities of the operating system to perform graphics operations on the DIB. With the pointer, the application program can use its own drawing capabilities and address the DIB directly. The operating system enhancements also streamline the design and content of graphics drivers such as display drivers by placing basic graphics functions in a graphics engine that communicates with the a graphics driver. Simple graphics operations are passed from the graphics driver to the graphics engine, allowing the driver to be limited to more complex operations that utilize special characteristics of graphics hardware associated with the driver.

Abstract: In response to a change in the color depth of a computer system's display device, the invention dynamically changes the color depth of existing objects in system memory to match the changed color depth of the device. As a result open applications need not be shut down and then reopened to change the color depth of objects already in system memory. The dynamic changing is accomplished through a number of functions calls between an application, the operating system and a display driver. In one embodiment of the invention, copies with the changed color depth are made at one time of all objects in system memory and the original objects discarded. The copies are then transferred to screen memory (if the display device is a video display terminal) for display as they are requested. In another embodiment of the invention, copies with the changed color depth are made selectively as the objects are transferred to the screen memory.

Abstract: The present invention contemplates a high strength magnetic composite material system comprising a plurality of high strength fibers coupled together by a soft magnetic alloy. In one embodiment an internally reinforced structure is formed of the composite material system and has strengths greater than the monolithic magnetic alloy. The structure having been consolidated through a combined pressure and thermal cycle.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for efficiently transferring a data block of bytes from a source to a destination in memory of a computer system. The method transfers bytes in multiple-byte words on word-aligned boundaries of memory as much as possible to reduce the number of fetches and writes and the number of memory cycles required to execute the transfer. For handling data block transfers of various sizes and locations, the method is implemented in a compiler that compiles different portions of code at run time into a block of code that is then immediately executed. The compiler employs a state machine stored in memory and having a plurality of states. Each state is associated with a portion of code for aligning a destination address or for transferring bytes in multiple-byte words on word-aligned boundaries. The states correspond to different starting source and destination addresses.

Abstract: In response to a change in the color depth of a computer system's display device, the invention dynamically changes the color depth of existing objects in system memory to match the changed color depth of the device. As a result open applications need not be shut down and then reopened to change the color depth of objects already in system memory. The dynamic changing is accomplished through a number of functions calls between an application, the operating system and a display driver. In one embodiment of the invention, copies with the changed color depth are made at one time of all objects in system memory and the original objects discarded. The copies are then transferred to screen memory (if the display device is a video display terminal) for display as they are requested. In another embodiment of the invention, copies with the changed color depth are made selectively as the objects are transferred to the screen memory.

Abstract: Operating system enhancements that enable an application program to create and perform graphics operations on device-independent bitmaps (DIBs) efficiently. The enhancements are in the form of functions that return to the application program a handle to the DIB and a pointer to the location of the DIB in memory. With the handle, the application program can use the capabilities of the operating system to perform graphics operations on the DIB. With the pointer, the application program can use its own drawing capabilities and address the DIB directly. The operating system enhancements also streamline the design and content of graphics drivers such as display drivers by placing basic graphics functions in a graphics engine that communicates with the graphics driver. Simple graphics operations are passed from the graphics driver to the graphics engine, allowing the driver to be limited to more complex operations that utilize special characteristics of graphics hardware associated with the driver.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing access to a banked peripheral memory via a contiguous linear address space. The present invention provides a linear address space having a present region that is mapped to a host memory region of a computer system. The present invention further provides a relocatable selector that provides access to a portion of the linear address space. Accessing programs exchange data with the banked peripheral memory via the relocatable linear address space. When an accessing program references an address of the relocatable address base that is not mapped to the present region, the relocatable linear address space is positioned so that the referenced address maps to the present region. Additionally, a bank of the peripheral memory that corresponds to the referenced address is also mapped into the host memory region so as to enable the accessing program to exchange data with the banked peripheral memory via the relocatable linear address space.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for transferring a brush pattern of pixels stored in memory to a destination bitmap in memory. The method transfers an entire row of the brush pattern to the scan line of a destination bitmap without checking each byte for the end of the row. Data bytes are fetched from the pixel row a predetermined number of times to transfer the pixel row in one pass. The transfer method preferably uses multiple-byte words on word-aligned boundaries of memory to reduce the number of fetches and writes and the number of memory cycles to execute the transfer. The transfer may include combining the pattern with a bitmap such as a source bitmap or the destination bitmap and transferring the combination to the destination bitmap. To accelerate the transfer process, a compiler is provided to compile, in response to an appropriate function call, run time code that is then immediately executed to transfer the pattern to the destination bitmap.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for efficiently transferring a data block of bytes from a source to a destination in memory of a computer system. The method transfers bytes in multiple-byte words on word-aligned boundaries of memory as much as possible to reduce the number of fetches and writes and the number of memory cycles required to execute the transfer. For handling data block transfers of various sizes and locations, the method is implemented in a compiler that compiles different portions of code at run time into a block of code that is then immediately executed. The compiler employs a state machine stored in memory and having a plurality of states. Each state is associated with a portion of code for aligning a destination address or for transferring bytes in multiple-byte words on word-aligned boundaries. The states correspond to different starting source and destination addresses.

Abstract: A method for storing a sequence consisting of a repeated data pattern of three bytes to a memory in double word increments aligned with double word boundaries. A register is loaded with the first four bytes of the sequence. The contents of the register are then repeatedly stored to consecutive locations of the memory. Between each storing of the register's contents, the contents are updated to the next four bytes of the sequence by shifting the second through fourth bytes to the first through third bytes and also moving the second byte to the fourth byte. When the beginning address where the sequence is to be stored in memory is not aligned with a double word boundary, the initial bytes of the sequence up to the double word boundary are stored and the contents of the register updated to the next four bytes of the sequence.

Abstract: In response to a command to draw text on a screen, a computer's operating system creates a superglyph bitmap that combines text and a background color into a single bitmap. The bitmap is then transferred to screen memory by either a graphics driver or the operating system itself, depending upon whether the graphics driver has special characteristics for displaying the bitmap such as monochrome-to-color conversion. With this division of tasks, graphics drivers may be simplified to handle tasks for which they are uniquely qualified and the operating system handles more general tasks such a creating the bitmap. The concept may also be applied to other types of bitmaps, wherever it is advantageous to create bitmaps with the operating system and transfer bitmaps with either a graphics driver or the operating system.

Abstract: The speed of bitmap block transfers involving image transformations between source and destination bitmaps is increased by forming a mapping array with entries corresponding one-to-one to elements of destination bitmap scan lines. A preprocessor fills the entries of the mapping array with indices of elements in a source scan line that map according to the image transformation to the elements of a destination scan line that correspond with the array entries. A block transfer compiler can then generate code to perform the transfer which uses the mapping array in an indexed look-up operation to determine the source element to transfer to each element of each scan line of the destination bitmap.

Abstract: The stack pointer register in a computer is made available for general purpose use by programs executing at lower privilege levels than interrupt handlers. A set of instructions in such programs, excluding stack operations, stores data other than the stack pointer, such as operands, and the like, in the stack pointer register. When switching execution to an interrupt handler on an interrupt, return address data for the currently executing program is pushed onto a stack at the interrupt handler's privilege level. Thus, storing other data in the stack pointer register does not result in stack corruption. Also, these instructions can store data in a scratch portion of a stack segment beyond the current stack pointer.

Abstract: A method for storing a sequence consisting of a repeated data pattern of three bytes to a memory in double word increments aligned with double word boundaries. A register is loaded with the first four bytes of the sequence. The contents of the register are then repeatedly stored to consecutive locations of the memory. Between each storing of the register's contents, the contents are updated to the next four bytes of the sequence by shifting the second through fourth bytes to the first through third bytes and also moving the second byte to the fourth byte. When the beginning address where the sequence is to be stored in memory is not aligned with a double word boundary, the initial bytes of the sequence up to the double word boundary are stored and the contents of the register updated to the next four bytes of the sequence.