Patents by Inventor Nigel I. Dolby

Nigel I. Dolby has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Generalized configurator using a declaratively constructed two-level bi-partite graph as a knowledge representation
    Patent number: 5630025
    Abstract: A generalized configuration expert system for generating a complete, legal, and near-optimal configuration for any complex system consisting of multiple components is disclosed. The present invention allows a developer to specify a configurator framework for solving a particular configuration problem. A user then operates the customized configurator to generate a configuration solution based on the user's requests and the system's requirements and constraints. The generalized configurator uses declaratively constructed graphs and multiple interacting packing engines. A two-level, bi-partite, spreading activation graph is used as the knowledge representation of the components to be configured and their associated relationships. The invention dynamically manages the interaction of the multiple packer engines to select the appropriate piece of the total configuration problem to work on at any point in time, while still taking into account the other packing problems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 13, 1997
    Assignee: UNISYS Corporation
    Inventors: Nigel I. Dolby, Timothy E. Nagle, Thomas R. Goessling
  • Generalized configurator using multiple interacting packers and declaratively defined constraint expressions
    Patent number: 5617514
    Abstract: A generalized configuration expert system for generating a complete, legal, and near-optimal configuration for any complex system consisting of multiple components is disclosed. The present invention allows a developer to specify a configurator framework for solving a particular configuration problem. A user then operates the customized configurator to generate a configuration solution based on the user's requests and the system's requirements and constraints. The generalized configurator uses declaratively constructed graphs and multiple interacting packing engines. A two-level, bi-partite, spreading activation graph is used as the knowledge representation of the components to be configured and their associated relationships. The invention dynamically manages the interaction of the multiple packer engines to select the appropriate piece of the total configuration problem to work on at any point in time, while still taking into account the other packing problems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 1, 1997
    Assignee: Unisys Corporation
    Inventors: Nigel I. Dolby, Timothy E. Nagle, Thomas R. Goessling