Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for obtaining a connection characteristic (e.g., pin wipe) of a connection assembly having a first set of contacts (e.g., pin-receiving contacts of circuit board connectors) and a second set of contacts (e.g., pins of backplane connectors) using less destructive approaches than a conventional disassembly approach. In particular, the invention does not rely on disassembling a backplane from a card cage and cutting connectors. Rather, in one arrangement, the invention uses a test structure in place of a normal operating circuit board. The test structure includes a support member (e.g., circuit board material) that supports the first set of contacts, and that is capable of moving relative to the second set of contacts. The test structure further includes a detection circuit, coupled to the support member, that detects an electrical event resulting from movement of the first set of contacts relative to the second set of contacts (e.g.

Abstract: The invention is directed to latching techniques that respond to ergonomically pleasing user movements, and that are well-suited for maintaining low manufacturing costs. One arrangement of the invention is directed to a disk drive assembly having a housing, a disk drive attached to the housing, and a lever that secures the housing to and releases the housing from a main assembly. The lever includes a frame pivotably that is coupled to the housing at a pivot point that defines a pivot axis. The lever further includes a latch that is coupled to the frame. The latch selectively engages with the housing and disengages from the housing. The latch includes an actuation portion that requires movement in a direction along an axis that is substantially perpendicular to the pivot axis to disengage the latch from the housing. Accordingly, if the pivot axis is horizontally-oriented, a user can move the actuation portion in a vertical direction, e.g.

Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for testing a powerability characteristic of a backup power supply for a computerized device using a discharge circuit that is different than circuitry of the computerized device. The discharge circuit is capable of draining float charge of the backup power supply thus enabling a measuring circuit to properly determine whether the backup power supply is suitable for providing the operating power to the computerized device for the predetermined amount of time in the event the computerized device no longer receives main power from the main power supply. One arrangement of the invention is directed to a computer system that includes a computerized device, a main power supply that provides power to the computerized device, a backup power supply coupled to the main power supply to receive charge from the main power supply.

Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for installing a module on a circuit board by simultaneously heating a perimeter portion of the module, and bringing an inner portion of the module to temperature that is lower than that of the perimeter portion. Heating the perimeter portion of the module melts solder disposed between contact members of the module and corresponding contact members of the circuit board in order to form solder connections. Bringing the inner portion of the module to temperature that is lower than that of the perimeter portion reduces the likelihood of causing heat-related damage to the module itself. One arrangement of the invention is directed to a module installation system for installing a module on a circuit board. The module has a perimeter portion and an inner portion. The module installation system includes a heating source, a cooling source, and a nozzle coupled to the heating and cooling sources.

Abstract: A network appliance is capable of remote booting and obtaining its configuration information from a source located far away. The network appliance can be shipped to a business location or office environment without requiring a local boot server in that location or environment and without requiring the presence of a person who is familiar with and highly skilled in configuring the appliance. The invention allows for booting and the obtaining of configuration information, and therefore allows for the functioning of the appliance, regardless of whether there is a local server in the local network environment, such as a DHCP server or a boot server, that has been set up and configured to provide to the appliance the booting and configuration information it requires. Self-organizing distributed appliances (SODAs) according to the invention augment the Internet by providing a self-organizing network that efficiently distributes big data items, i.e.

Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for controlling attachment of an electronic module (e.g., an IC) with a circuit board using a latching mechanism that requires a tool to de-latch the electronic module. As such, circuit board manufacturers can remove electronic modules from circuit board assemblies at customer sites, and prevent customers from removing the electronic modules themselves. One arrangement of the invention is directed to a technique for controlling attachment of an electronic module with a circuit board connector mounted on a circuit board. The electronic module has (i) a module housing, (ii) a module connector and (iii) an electronic circuit which is housed within the module housing and which is electrically coupled to the module connector.

Abstract: A call center system allows a representative and a user to jointly browse World Wide Web content while simultaneously conducting a voice conversation over either a circuit switched or packet switched network. A user may initiate a joint browsing, or synchronous collaboration, session by accessing a web page associated with the call center. A call center server downloads a user applet to the user's computer. The user applet communicates state information about the user computer's browser display, or user view, to the server. The server stores this state information. The server then downloads a service applet to the browser of a selected call center representative. The service applet generates a service view including a representation of the user view and a script frame that controls the representation of the user view. The representative may, for example, alter the representation of the user view by selecting a hyperlink or entering information into an HTML form.

Abstract: A communication system includes communication devices which communicate during a communication session. During communication session establishment, the devices exchange a session key in an encrypted manner for privacy. When one device has information to transfer to the other device, the one device will append the session key to the information and apply a hash function thereto to generate a hash value, and generate a message packet for transfer to the other device that includes an information portion containing the information and a hash value portion containing the hash value. When the other device receives the message packet, it will append the session key to the information from the information portion of the packet that it receives, and generate a hash value therefrom.

Abstract: A technique reuses addresses in a computer that includes a memory and a translation lookaside buffer having entries for storing address mappings for address translation. The technique involves selecting an address range from a set of address ranges in response to a request to allocate a portion of the memory of the computer, and to generate an address mapping which maps that address range to the portion of the memory. The technique further involves accessing at least one but less than all of the entries of the translation lookaside buffer in response to the request, and later deallocating the portion of the memory. The steps of selecting, accessing and deallocating are repeated such that, when a repeated step of selecting selects a previously selected address range, previous successive steps of accessing ensure that any address mapping, which maps that previously selected address range and which resides in an entry of the translation lookaside buffer, is unavailable for a subsequent address translation.