Patents by Inventor Paul Kram

Paul Kram 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).

  • Patent number: 7272752
    Abstract: A test coverage tool provides output that identifies differences between the actual coverage provided by a test suite run on a program under test and the coverage criteria (e.g., the coverage criteria required by the test/development team management). The output from the test coverage tool is generated in the same language that was used to write the coverage criteria that are input to an automated test generator to create the test cases which form the test suite. As a result, the output from the coverage tool can be input back into the automated test generator to cause the generator to revise the test cases to correct the inadequacies. This allows iterative refinement of the test suite automatically, enabling automated test generation to be more effectively and efficiently used with more complex software and more complex test generation inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eitan Farchi, Daniel Geist, Alan Hartman, Paul Kram, Kenneth Nagin, Yael Shaham-Gafni, Shmuel Ur
  • Patent number: 7055065
    Abstract: The present invention enables the modeling of plural outcomes resulting from a single stimulus, thereby allowing for automated test generation for non-deterministic software. In accordance with the present invention, a method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for testing software having a non-deterministic outcome. In accordance with the present invention, a set of rules is created, each rule having an associated stimulus, a precondition computation, and a computation procedure to produce the set of all valid outcome states. Each valid outcome state models one of several states that may result from applying the stimulus to any state which satisfies the precondition computation. Using these models, a test generation program is executed against the set of rules to recursively expand each path associated with an outcome state of a rule and outputting a list of valid possible outcomes, then selecting sequences of stimuli in accordance with coverage goals set by the test engineer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eitan Farchi, Alan Hartman, Paul Kram, Kenneth Nagin
  • Patent number: 6944848
    Abstract: A system for automatic generation of test programs employs test generation foci linked to a finite state machine behavioral model of a software application under test to produce abstract test suites that are executed by an execution engine. The foci include directive expressions that tag coverage variables of the behavioral model. The execution engine operates until the tagged coverage variables have assumed all their possible values. Both the behavioral models and the foci are archivable and can be retrieved and reused independently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Hartman, Kenneth Nagin, Paul Kram
  • Publication number: 20030121025
    Abstract: The present invention allows tests generated by multiple test generators to be merged into a comprehensive test specification, allowing multiple test generators to work together as a single unit, and allowing tests from multiple test generators to be combined to achieve a single defined testing goal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Publication date: June 26, 2003
    Inventors: Eitan Farchi, Paul Kram, Yael Shaham-Gafni, Shmuel Ur
  • Publication number: 20030046613
    Abstract: A test coverage tool provides output that identifies differences between the actual coverage provided by a test suite run on a program under test and the coverage criteria (e.g., the coverage criteria required by the test/development team management). The output from the test coverage tool is generated in the same language that was used to write the coverage criteria that are input to an automated test generator to create the test cases which form the test suite. As a result, the output from the coverage tool can be input back into the automated test generator to cause the generator to revise the test cases to correct the inadequacies. This allows iterative refinement of the test suite automatically, enabling automated test generation to be more effectively and efficiently used with more complex software and more complex test generation inputs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Publication date: March 6, 2003
    Inventors: Eitan Farchi, Daniel Geist, Alan Hartman, Paul Kram, Kenneth Nagin, Yael Shaham-Gafni, Shmuel Ur
  • Publication number: 20030046609
    Abstract: The present invention enables the modeling of plural outcomes resulting from a single stimulus, thereby allowing for automated test generation for non-deterministic software. In accordance with the present invention, a method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for testing software having a non-deterministic outcome. In accordance with the present invention, a set of rules is created, each rule having an associated stimulus, a precondition computation, and a computation procedure to produce the set of all valid outcome states. Each valid outcome state models one of several states that may result from applying the stimulus to any state which satisfies the precondition computation. Using these models, a test generation program is executed against the set of rules to recursively expand each path associated with an outcome state of a rule and outputting a list of valid possible outcomes, then selecting sequences of stimuli in accordance with coverage goals set by the test engineer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Publication date: March 6, 2003
    Inventors: Eitan Farchi, Alan Hartman, Paul Kram, Kenneth Nagin
  • Publication number: 20030014734
    Abstract: A system for automatic generation of test programs employs test generation foci linked to a finite state machine behavioral model of a software application under test to produce abstract test suites that are executed by an execution engine. The foci include directive expressions that tag coverage variables of the behavioral model. The execution engine operates until the tagged coverage variables have assumed all their possible values. Both the behavioral models and the foci are archivable and can be retrieved and reused independently.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2001
    Publication date: January 16, 2003
    Inventors: Alan Hartman, Kenneth Hagin, Paul Kram