Patents Represented by Attorney Amin & Turocy, LLP
  • Patent number: 7120280
    Abstract: A system to generate a template of a fingerprint input image is described. The system provides for smoothing the input image, forming a binary image from it, and further processing the binary image to extract the minutia of the fingerprint. The minutiae are stored in the template, in the form of locations of each minutia in relation to all other minutiae. The system includes optional identification and verification steps, which compare the template generated according to the system with templates stored in a fingerprint database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjeev Kumar Biswas, Narayan Nambudiri
  • Patent number: 7120916
    Abstract: A system and method for facilitating exposing a resource over a protocol is provided. The system includes a class factory that holds identifiers associated with determining which, if any, registered listener object creator should be employed to create a listener object. The listener object implements an abstract network protocol base class. The listener object is employed to abstract details of exposing a resource over a protocol and to provide a byte stream interface to communications occurring over the protocol, while removing protocol specific code from a server program. The method includes creating an instance of a listener object from a source of registered protocol handlers based on a request to expose a resource over a protocol and using a base class API to communicate over the protocol through the listener object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Richard L. Firth, Henrik Frystyk Nielsen, Lance E. Olson, Henry L. Sanders
  • Patent number: 7120619
    Abstract: The present invention provides a unique method and user interface that facilitates accessing and browsing objects in which a user begins with a center object (e.g., one or a few focal objects) displayed on a screen and related objects are populated on the screen as well. The related objects can be further organized into clusters whereby each cluster or grouping of objects expands on a particular attribute of the center object. The attributes correspond to metadata. Thus, the objects are populated based upon the metadata of the center object. According to one aspect, the user can access one or more specific objects having a plurality of attributes and then relax at least one of the attributes to see what other objects share at least one attribute with the center object. According to another aspect, the object having the closest match to a search request can be centrally displayed with other close matches arranged by their respective metadata.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Steven M. Drucker, Curtis G. Wong, Asta L. Glatzer
  • Patent number: 7120865
    Abstract: Prioritization of document, such as email messages, is disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method first receives a document. The method generates a priority of the document, based on a document classifier such as a Bayesian classifier or a support-vector machine classifier. The method then outputs the priority. In one embodiment, the method includes alerting the user based on an expected loss of now-review of the document as compared to an expected cost of alerting the user of the document, at a current time. Several methods are reviewed for display and interaction that leverage the assignment of priorities to documents, including a means for guiding visual and auditory actions by priority of incoming messages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Eric Horvitz, Andrew W. Jacobs
  • Patent number: 7120639
    Abstract: A system and method is provided for facilitating employment of pluggable formatters by providing a variety of functions or services outside the formatter for handling various functions associated with conventional formatters. The services can be employed to provide the basic functionality associated with serializing and deserializing graphs of objects. The present invention provides facilities which support the plugging in or functionality of formatters in any given wire format for transferring across a connection or between processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen Peter de Jong, Gopala Krishna R. Kakivaya, Joseph L. Roxe
  • Patent number: 7119218
    Abstract: The present invention provides a low melting point tin salt of aliphatic monocarboxylic acid obtained by a process comprising, reacting an aliphatic monocarboxylic acid having 4 to 30 carbon atoms or its salt and an inorganic tin compound so as to prepare a tin salt of aliphatic monocarboxylic acid, and bringing the tin salt in contact with an oxygen supplying substance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: NOF Corporation
    Inventors: Kouhei Sawada, Kayoko Honda, Hideki Kawamoto, Koji Kada
  • Patent number: 7120297
    Abstract: Systems and methods for encoding and decoding document images are disclosed. Document images are segmented into multiple layers according to a mask. The multiple layers are non-binary. The respective layers can then be processed and compressed separately in order to achieve better compression of the document image overall. A mask is generated from a document image. The mask is generated so as to reduce an estimate of compression for the combined size of the mask and multiple layers of the document image. The mask is then employed to segment the document image into the multiple layers. The mask determines or allocates pixels of the document image into respective layers. The mask and the multiple layers are processed and encoded separately so as to improve compression of the document image overall and to improve the speed of so doing. The multiple layers are non-binary images and can, for example, comprise a foreground image and a background image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Patrice Y. Simard, Erin L. Renshaw, James Russell Rinker, Henrique S. Malvar
  • Patent number: 7115440
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods of making memory cells and semiconductor devices containing the memory cells. The methods involve oxidizing a portion of a copper containing electrode to form a copper oxide layer; contacting the copper oxide layer with at least one of a sulfur containing gas or plasma to form a CuS layer; forming an organic semiconductor over the CuS layer; and forming an electrode over the organic semiconductor. Such devices containing the memory cells are characterized by light weight and robust reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher F. Lyons, Ramkumar Subramanian, Sergey D. Lopatin, James J. Xie, Angela T. Hui
  • Patent number: 7116834
    Abstract: A system and method facilitating progressively transforming and coding digital pictures is provided. The present invention via employment of a multi-resolution lapped transform provides for progressive rendering as well as mitigation of blocking artifacts and ringing artifacts as compared to many conventional compression systems. The invention includes a color space mapper, a multi-resolution lapped transform, a quantizer, a scanner and an entropy encoder. The multi-resolution lapped transform outputs transform coefficients, for example, first transform coefficients and second transform coefficients. A multi-resolution representation can be obtained utilizing second transform coefficients of the multi-resolution lapped transform. The color space mapper maps an input image to a color space representation of the input image. The color space representation of the input image is then provided to the multi-resolution lapped transform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Henrique S. Malvar
  • Patent number: 7117483
    Abstract: A debugging framework that exposes debug data in a standardized rowset format such that a relational database engine may be utilized to analyze the data. Conventional high-level scripting languages may be used to generate scripts for reuse and in extracting the debug data. An OLE-DB provider facilitates the query and analysis of debugging information through the database engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. Dorr, Robert G. Ward, Jr., Keith A. Elmore
  • Patent number: 7117453
    Abstract: The present invention provides a unique system and method for facilitating browsing, sorting, clustering, and filtering any number of media objects grouped together in a quick and easy manner. In particular, the invention involves annotating the media objects, which have been clustered, sorted, and/or filtered en masse rather than individually, with metadata. The media objects may be selected by a user and annotated with a plurality of metadata as desired by a user in order to optimize utilization of the media objects. The media objects may also be combined and/or mixed in any number of ways to create new media objects. Media objects may include an audio component, a visual component, a portion thereof, and/or any combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Steven M. Drucker, Curtis G. Wong, Steve Glenner, Asta L. Glatzer, Steven D. DeMar
  • Patent number: 7117371
    Abstract: A system and method is provided for providing security to components or assemblies employed by application programs during runtime. The present invention employs digital signature keys to ensure that an assembly name that is published is unique because the assembly is published with a publisher's public key. This prevents others from publishing an updated version of an assembly that claims to be published from the same publisher. The present invention guarantees name uniqueness and prevents name spoofing because the original publisher is the only one with the private key matching the public key related to a published assembly. Due to the fact that the public keys are stored in each reference, the caller can be assured that the assembly that the caller is binding to at runtime comes from the same publisher that owns the private key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Srivatsan Parthasarathy, Steven J. Pratschner, Craig T. Sinclair
  • Patent number: 7113950
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and methodology to facilitate automated error correction of user input data via an analysis of the input data in accordance with an automatically generated and filtered database of processed structural groupings or formulations selected and filtered from past user activities. The filtered database provides a relevant foundation of potential phrases, topics, symbols, speech and/or colloquial structures of interest to users—which are automatically determined from previous user activity, and employed to facilitate automated error checking in accordance with the user's current input, command and/or request for information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Eric D. Brill, Robert L. Rounthwaite
  • Patent number: 7113420
    Abstract: A memory cell is provided with a pair of electrodes, and an active layer sandwiched between the electrodes and including a molecular system and ionic complexes distributed in the molecular system. The active layer having a high-impedance state and a low-impedance state switches from the high-impedance state to the low-impedance state when an amplitude of a writing signal exceeds a writing threshold level, to enable writing information into the memory cell. The active layer switches from the low-impedance state to the high-impedance state when an amplitude of an erasing signal having opposite polarity with respect to the writing signal exceeds an erasing threshold level, to enable erasing information from the memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Juri H Krieger, Nicolay F Yudanov
  • Patent number: 7114021
    Abstract: A communications system and method is provided for enabling remote user configuration of a communications device. The system includes at least one communications device configurable for a plurality of users and at least one remote computer for storing configuration information associated with the plurality of users. A configuration request message is generated by the communications device to initiate a configuration of the communications device and a configuration response message is generated by the remote computer to enable configuration of the communications device, wherein the configuration response message includes configuration information associated with at least one of the plurality of users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Krishna Seshadri
  • Patent number: 7109046
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to semiconductor processing, and more particularly to methods and systems for reducing costs of wafer production by analyzing key aspects of wafer status to determine whether to initiate corrective measures to salvage a wafer at an early stage and before substantial costs are incurred in fabricating a defective wafer. One aspect of the present invention provides for growing an oxide layer on a wafer upon a determination that an oxide layer on the wafer surface is absent or is present but inadequate. Another aspect of the present invention provides for a determination of whether to apply preemptory corrective treatment(s) to a wafer surface based on the presence and/or magnitude of nitrogen signatures in an extant oxide surface layer, which can indicate that an undesirable defect known as “footing” will occur during a post-exposure delay period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramkumar Subramanian, Bhanwar Singh, Khoi A. Phan
  • Patent number: 7111059
    Abstract: A system and method is provided for gathering and aggregating operational metrics (e.g., performance metrics, process events, health monitor state, server state, event metric data, and status metric data) for a plurality of members (e.g., computers, servers, machines) configured as an entity and for a plurality of entities as a singular entity. In one embodiment, the system and method provides for operational metrics of members and entities to be aggregated and retrieved as a single result set, such that entity wide operational metrics can be acquired, monitored and displayed as a single entity. In one embodiment, at least one of the plurality of members has a gathering and aggregation system adapted to gather operational metric data from the plurality of members and aggregate the operational metric data into a unified result set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Federico Garcea, Michael S. Murstein, Roger W. Sprague, Alexander M. Sutton, Michael W. Thomas, Giedrius Zizys
  • Patent number: 7110610
    Abstract: A system and method facilitating progressively transforming and coding digital pictures is provided. The present invention via employment of a multi-resolution lapped transform provides for progressive rendering as well as mitigation of blocking artifacts and ringing artifacts as compared to many conventional compression systems. The invention includes a color space mapper, a multi-resolution lapped transform, a quantizer, a scanner and an entropy encoder. The multi-resolution lapped transform outputs transform coefficients, for example, first transform coefficients and second transform coefficients. A multi-resolution representation can be obtained utilizing second transform coefficients of the multi-resolution lapped transform. The color space mapper maps an input image to a color space representation of the input image. The color space representation of the input image is then provided to the multi-resolution lapped transform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Henrique S. Malvar
  • Patent number: 7110799
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a mobile terminal that can interoperate with a plurality of headsets. The present invention further relates to systems and methodologies for facilitating communication to the mobile terminal from the plurality of headsets. The plurality of headsets can be of various types. For example, the headset can be a push button enabled signaling headset, which includes a signaling mechanism, such as a button, mounted to the headset or a headset cord. The mobile terminal includes a sensing component to detect the signaling from the headset. The signaling mechanism is employed to issue commands to the mobile terminal. Alternatively, the headset can be a standard, commercially available audio headset. If the standard headset is employed, the signaling function is not available and the standard headset operation is not impacted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce A. Willins, Askold Strat
  • Patent number: 7110596
    Abstract: A system and method facilitating document image compression utilizing a mask separating a foreground of a document image from a background is provided. The invention includes a pixel energy analyzer adapted to partition regions into a foreground and background. The invention further provides for a merge region component adapted to attempt to merge regions if the merged region would not exceed a threshold energy. Merged regions are partitioned into a new foreground and new background. Thereafter, a mask storage component stores the partitioning information in a binary mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Patrice Y. Simard, Erin L. Renshaw, James Russell Rinker