Abstract: A method and apparatus for illuminating objects in 3-D computer graphics are described in which a single equation that employs two light sources is used to perform vertex shading. In the vertex shading equation, a direct light source is used to calculate a diffuse component of the lighting, while a rotated light source is used to calculate a specular component of the lighting. Using a single equation that employs two different light sources may provide better lighting for portions of object(s) when compared to conventional vertex shading techniques, while doing so at the same or similar computational cost as conventional techniques that use a single light source to calculate the diffuse and specular components.

Abstract: In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a method and apparatus is presented for securely negotiating a session key between a mobile node and a network node, such as a first hop IP router. A session key is encoded using asymmetric encryption. The encrypted session key is then communicated to the first hop IP router for later use. In accordance with another teaching of the present invention, the session key is then used by the mobile node and a first hop IP router to authenticate a message. Lastly, in accordance with the third teaching of the present invention, a standardized protocol is used to securely negotiate the session key between the mobile node and the first hop IP router.

Abstract: Method of authenticating a user in a heterogeneous computer environment. The method may include defining a set of unique prefixes, each prefix identifying a type of user repository; defining a set of abstract repository names, each abstract repository name identifying an address of a user repository; and authenticating the user in the heterogeneous computer environment by assigning a sequence comprising a unique prefix, a reference to an abstract repository name and a unique identifier for the user within the user repository indicated by the reference to the abstract repository name.

Abstract: A rotary joint for transmission of data from a data source to a data sink, between a rotating part and a stationary part, includes a transmission line arrangement fed from a transmission means, and also a receiving means which taps signals from the transmission line arrangement with the aid of a receiving coupler arrangement. A control unit controls the data source. For transmission of data having a small band-width an encoder is provided which converts the data from the data source to a duobinary code.

Abstract: A system and method for providing Personal Cloud computing and for hosting applications and/or content may employ a network attached storage device on which virtual machine monitors (T-cups) and logical devices (Ts) are instantiated in memory. Each T may include hosted content, application modules, a server module configured to host the modules and/or content, and an interface module configured to provide access to the modules and/or content in response to detecting an authorized key. Detecting an authorized key may include communicating with a name server to determine if a T instantiated on a storage device coupled to the system is associated with a device identifier on a list of device identifiers authorized to access the module(s). The storage device may be a computer, camera, frame, phone, audio/video player, or portable storage device. The name server may be configured to authenticate Ts, define T ownership, and/or establish friend-to-friend networks between Ts.

Abstract: A method of electrowinning or electrorefining copper from a copper electrolyte solution which contains chloride ions, the method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a polyacrylamide solution by dissolving polyacrylamide, having a molecular weight range of 5,000 to 20,000,000 Daltons, in an acidic medium and under conditions to form a polyacrylamide block copolymer having blocks of carboxyl groups dispersed along the polymer backbone; (b) introducing the polyacrylamide solution into an electrolytic cell containing the copper electrolyte solution at a polyacrylamide concentration of 0.01-10 mg/L; and (c) electroplating copper from the copper electrolyte solution to form a copper cathode.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of estimating symbols carried by a digital signal that is received by a receiver over a communication channel (5), said symbols being multiplexed or orthogonal frequency sub-carriers. The inventive method comprises the following steps in relation to each symbol carried by the digital signal, consisting in: performing at least two transforms towards the frequency domain (8,9) on a portion of the received signal essentially corresponding to the symbol, said transforms being performed with a determined time lag (10) therebetween: estimating the parameters (r0, r1, . . . , rn, r?0, r?1, . . . , r?n) of the communication channel from pre-determined binary information contained in the digital signal; and estimating the symbol from a combination of the result of each of the transforms performed and the estimated communication channel parameters.

Abstract: Configuring at least one radio frequency (RF) instrument according to a plurality of RF measurement configurations for performing a plurality of tests on a device under test (DUT). A list of RF measurement configurations may be stored in a computer memory. The list of RF measurement configurations comprises a plurality of parameters for configuring operation of the at least one instrument. Information regarding the list of RF measurement configurations (e.g., a data stream) may be provided to the at least one RF instrument. The at least one RF instrument may perform the plurality of tests on the DUT, including the at least one RF instrument configuring itself according to the RF measurement configurations based on processing of the information. Configuring enables the at least one RF instrument to perform the plurality of tests on the DUT in a deterministic manner.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for light-field imaging. Light-field camera designs are described that produce higher spatial resolution than conventional plenoptic camera designs, while trading-off the light-field's angular sampling density. This lower angular resolution may be compensated for by a light-field image processing method that inserts data synthesized by view interpolation of the measured light-field. In one embodiment, a light-field image processing method that performs three-view morphing may be used to interpolate the missing angular samples of radiance. The light-field camera designs may be implemented in hand-held light-field cameras that may capture a light-field with a single exposure. Some of the light-field camera designs are internal to the camera, while others are external to the camera. One light-field camera design includes a single, relatively large lens and an array of negative lenses that are placed in front of (external to) the main lens of a conventional camera.

Abstract: System and method for merging differences between graphical programs. Information is received regarding matches and differences, e.g., in hardware, software, configuration, and/or connectivity, between first and second graphical programs, each comprising respective pluralities of interconnected nodes. The information is analyzed to merge differences between the first and second graphical programs, e.g., for each difference: removing all non-common nodes and connections thereto in the second sub-graph from the second graphical program, adding all common nodes and connections thereto in the first sub-graph to the second graphical program, determining all edges in the first sub-graph that connect common nodes to non-common nodes; and for each determined edge, adding to the second graphical program an edge that connects a corresponding common node in the second sub-graph with a corresponding non-common node added from the first sub-graph. A merged graphical program is displayed on a display, e.g.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium for applying Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) to local image patches using an adaptive color lookup table. Per-channel color quantization may be performed to find representative colors for a local image patch. Each combination of the representative values corresponds to a representative color. The probabilities of the representative colors may be computed using a local GMM color model and stored to corresponding entries in an adaptive color lookup table. For every pixel in an image patch, the closest representative color may be found, and the corresponding probability may be retrieved from the lookup table and used for the pixel. The method may, for example, be applied to each local window in a method for automatically determining segmentation in a digital video image sequence to calculate the foreground probabilities for the pixels in a propagated classifier via a GMM.

Abstract: Testing a first graphical program intended for implementation on a programmable hardware element. The first graphical program may be stored. The first graphical program may include a first plurality of nodes connected by lines which visually specify first functionality. The first graphical program may be intended for implementation by the programmable hardware element. A second graphical program may be stored which visually specifies testing functionality for the first graphical program. The second graphical program may be executable by a host computer to simulate input to the programmable hardware element when configured by the first graphical program. The first graphical program and the second graphical program may be executed (e.g., by a host computer) to test the first functionality when implemented by the programmable hardware element. During execution, simulated outputs may be monitored.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently utilizing endpoint virtualization information during backup operations. A computer system includes a backup server that permits the identification, browsing and selecting of files within virtual layers. Examples of virtual layers comprise at least a user data layer, an applications layer, and an operating system layer. Backup messages are sent to a corresponding client computer to backup the selected files or layers. The client computer includes a virtualization agent configured to manage one or more virtual layers in the client. In response to determining the selected data corresponds to a virtual layer of the one or more virtual layers, a backup agent in the client is configured to communicate with the virtualization agent in order to identify one or more files that correspond to the virtual layer, retrieve the one or more files, and send the one or more files to the backup server.

Abstract: A method for managing data storage is described. The method includes receiving data from an external host at a peripheral storage device, detecting a file system type of the external host, and adapting a caching policy for transmitting the data to a memory accessible by the storage device, wherein the caching policy is based on the detected file system type. The detection of the file system type can be based on the received data. The detection bases can include a size of the received data. In some implementations, the detection of the file system type can be based on accessing the memory for file system type indicators that are associated with a unique file system type. Adapting the caching policy can reduce a number of data transmissions to the memory. The detected file system type can be a file allocation table (FAT) system type.

Abstract: A system and method for efficient upgrading of computing system software. A computing system includes clients and one or more servers coupled to a network. Cluster server software allows the clients and server(s) to work together as a cluster. This software is platform- and version-specific depending on the customer. Each customer has a customized configuration with customer-dependent edits performed on the original configuration. When a new-release configuration is made available, the three configurations are translated to abstract object trees. A series of predetermined abstract operations are preformed on the abstract object trees in order to generate a target abstract object tree. The target abstract object tree is translated to a target file, wherein the target file includes the common portions between the original and new-release configurations and the merged upgrades of the customized and new-release configurations.

Abstract: A method of encoding a stream of data elements is provided which involves splitting the stream of data elements into a first stream and a second stream; encoding the first stream to produce a first encoded stream; performing a constellation mapping using a combination of the first encoded stream and a third stream which is based on the second stream. This may involve defining a signal constellation; defining a plurality of co-sets within the constellation such that a minimum distance between constellation points within each co-set is larger than a minimum distance between any constellation points within the signal constellation; performing said constellation mapping by using the first encoded stream to identify a sequence of co-sets of said plurality of co-sets, and by using the third stream to identify a sequence of constellation points within respective co-sets of the sequence of co-sets identified by said first encoded stream.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for generating a three-dimensional (3D) shape based on a two-dimensional (2D) image. In one embodiment, an image comprising a 2D representation of a 3D object is received. Characteristics of one or more light sources affecting the image may be determined. A 3D mesh approximating a shape of the 3D object may be generated based on a first downsampled version of the image. A candidate image may be rendered based on the 3D mesh and the characteristics of the light sources. The 3D mesh may be output if a difference between the image and the candidate image is smaller than a threshold error value.

Abstract: A system and method for creating and using configuration diagrams for configuring distributed systems. The methods described herein may be used for various types of operations in configuring distributed systems, including creating programs, managing programs in the distributed system, deploying programs to various distributed devices, configuring remote execution or inter-operation of distributed programs, and executing distributed applications. Embodiments of the invention utilize graphical iconic-based techniques for performing the above operations. The configuration diagram may include device icons which represent devices and program icons which represent programs. Device icons and program icons may be associated with each other to accomplish various program creation and deployment operations. Device icons and program icons may also interact with graphical program nodes or icons. Context sensitive device connections and/or program connections are displayed.

Abstract: A system and method for aggressive loop parallelization using speculative execution is disclosed. The method may include transforming code of a target application for concurrent execution, which may include adding an instruction to create a global address table entry for each store operation on which a load operation of a different loop iteration is dependent. The method may include replacing a standard load instruction with a special instruction configured to determine if an operand address of the load matches an operand address in one of the global address table entries. Another special instruction may remove a table entry following execution of the corresponding store operation. If an operand address of a load of a currently executing thread matches an operand address in the global address table, the method may include setting a checkpoint, completing execution of the thread in a pre-fetch mode, and re-executing the thread from the checkpoint.