Patents Represented by Attorney Patterson and Sheridan, LLP
  • Patent number: 8332452
    Abstract: The present invention is generally related to the field of image processing, and more specifically to an instruction set for processing images. Vector processing may involve performing a plurality of dot product operations to generate operands for generating operands for a new vector. The dot product operations may require the issue of a plurality of permute instructions to arrange the vector operands in desired locations of a target register. Embodiments of the invention provide a dot product instruction wherein a mask field may be used to specify a particular location of a target register in which to transfer data, thereby avoiding the need for permute instructions for arranging data, reducing dependencies between instructions, and the usage of temporary registers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eric Oliver Mejdrich, Adam James Muff
  • Patent number: 8332754
    Abstract: Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for rendering a document having collapsible sections of content. In one embodiment, the document may be received and rendered for display. Rendering the document for display may include collapsing all but a first section of the collapsible sections of content. Rendering the document for display may also include collapsing all but a second section of the collapsible sections of content, upon determining that a period of time has elapsed since collapsing all but the first section of the collapsible sections of content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lisa Seacat DeLuca, Steven M. Miller
  • Patent number: 8332592
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus that may be utilized to maintain coherency of data accessed by both a processor and a remote device are provided. The remote device may include coherency logic, referred to herein as a snoop filter, designed to filter memory access requests that do not require bus commands to be sent to the processor. The snoop filter may filter requests based on a remote cache directory designed to mirror the processor cache directory, such that only those requests that target cache lines indicated to be valid in the processor cache result in snoop commands sent to the processor. Other requests (targeting data that is not cached in the processor) may be routed directly to memory without the latency conventionally associated with snoop requests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Russell D. Hoover, Eric O. Mejdrich
  • Patent number: 8328939
    Abstract: The present invention generally comprises a diffuser plate for a PECVD chamber. The diffuser plate comprises a plurality of hollow cathode cavities. The edge of the diffuser plate that will reside closest to a slit valve within a processing chamber may have the shape and/or size of the hollow cathode cavities adjusted to compensate for the proximity to the slit valve. By adjusting the shape and/or size of the hollow cathode cavities closest to the slit valve, the diffuser plate may permit a uniform plasma distribution across the processing chamber and thus, a uniform film thickness upon a substrate during a PECVD process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Soo Young Choi, John M. White
  • Patent number: 8330766
    Abstract: A system and method for performing zero-bandwidth-clears reduces external memory accesses by a graphics processor when performing clears and subsequent read operations. A set of clear values is stored in the graphics processor. Each region of a color or z buffer may be configured using a zero-bandwidth-clear command to reference a clear value without writing the external memory. The clear value is provided to a requestor without accessing the external memory when a read access is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: David Kirk McAllister, Steven E. Molnar, Jerome F. Duluk, Jr., Emmett M. Kilgariff, Patrick R. Brown, Christian Johannes Amsinck, James Michael O'Connor, John Matthew Burgess, Gregory Alan Muthler, James Robertson
  • Patent number: 8328527
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining pump fillage, using data arrays of pump plunger position with respect to time and/or pump plunger load with respect to time. In this manner, well operators may be able to accurately monitor the pump fillage and control the pump accordingly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Weatherford/Lamb, Inc.
    Inventor: Victoria M. Ehimeakhe
  • Patent number: 8327878
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for grounding a chamber isolation valve for a processing system are provided. In one embodiment, a grounded chamber isolation valve for a plasma processing system is described. The chamber isolation valve includes a door and a bracing member movably attached to and opposing the door, and at least one electrically conductive member in electrical communication with the door, the at least one electrically conductive member comprising one or more reaction bumpers disposed on the bracing member that are adapted to contact at least one grounded component of the plasma processing system when the door is in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ke Ling Lee, Shinichi Kurita, Emanuel Beer
  • Patent number: 8328901
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention generally provide a containment system having integrated bubble tight-dampers. In another embodiment, the containment system includes an integral auto-scan mechanism disposed in the housing of the containment system so that a filter element, disposed in the housing, may be leak tested without accessing the interior of the housing. In yet another embodiment, a method for testing a filter disposed in a containment system includes challenging an upstream side of a filter element disposed in a housing of the containment system with a test aerosol, and automatically moving a probe disposed within the housing to obtain samples for leak testing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Camfil Farr, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas C. Morse, Mark Huza
  • Patent number: 8331807
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus mounted with a toner cartridge having a memory unit includes a toner cartridge which stores a plurality of control data depending on toner in the memory unit, an acquisition unit which selects one of the plurality of control data in the memory unit and acquires image formation-related information and a setting unit which sets image formation parameters on the basis of the image formation-related information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toru Homma, Hiroshi Hashidume, Hisanobu Ajima, Nobuo Tohata, Takahiro Nakajima, Takumi Hatano
  • Patent number: 8331604
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, A microphone-earphone includes a speaker connected to an acoustic device configured to measure acoustic characteristics of a listener's external auditory canal, and configured to output an acoustic signal toward the listener's external auditory canal, a microphone device disposed outside the listener's external auditory canal, an acoustic tube including one end connected to the microphone device and the other end opening to the listener's external auditory canal, and a housing including an opening portion which accommodates the speaker and is so disposed as to guide sound, which is output from the speaker, to the listener's external auditory canal. An inside diameter of the acoustic tube is less than a diameter of the opening portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Saito, Toshifumi Yamamoto, Norikatsu Chiba, Yasuhiro Kanishima, Takashi Fukuda
  • Patent number: 8332655
    Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for debugging a computer system is provided. According to one embodiment of the invention, a method includes encrypting data and query program instructions using correlated order invariant encrypting, the data and query program instructions operating in a customer computer system. The encrypted data and encrypted query program instructions are then transferred to a servicing entity having a test system. The encrypted data and encrypted query program instructions are run on the test system to generate a set of results. The set of results are then used to generate a diagnosis of a problem with the customer computer system. Thus the customer problem can be resolved without the servicing entity having access to the customer's data and query program instructions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Pramod Gupta
  • Patent number: 8332359
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and articles for creating a document revision history for a document imported into a first Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) from a second EDMS. Metadata and content from the second EDMS is “mirrored” within the first EDMS to create an artificial or mirrored revision history of a document within the first EDMS. Doing so allows users of the first EDMS to access any version of a document and its history, as though the document had always existed on the first EDMS. Content may be stored onto the first EDMS or a reference to the content may be stored instead. Rules may be developed to resolve conflicts between different document versions in the first and second EDMS.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Robert M. Kreuch, Michael Seaman, Roger G. Bacalzo, Grace Smith, Eric L. Edeen
  • Patent number: 8325194
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention sets forth a control crossbar unit that is designed to transmit control information from control information generators to destination components within the computer system. The control information may belong to various traffic paradigms, such as short-latency data traffic, narrow-width data traffic or broadcast data traffic. The physical connections within the control crossbar unit are categorized based on the different types of control information being transmitted through the control crossbar unit. The physical connections belong to the following categories: one-to-one (OTO) connections, one-to-many (OTM) connections, valid-to-one (VTO) connections, valid-to-many (VTM) connections wire-to-one (WTO) connections and wire-to-many (WTM) connections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Dane Mrazek, Yongxiang Liu, Yin Fung Tang, David Glasco
  • Patent number: 8327388
    Abstract: A method of executing a physics simulation is performed in a system comprising a computational platform, a main application stored in the computational platform, a secondary application stored in the computational platform, and a cloth application programming interface (API) implemented in the computational platform. The method defines a cloth simulation call in the cloth API, and by operation of the main application, invokes a software routine using the cloth simulation call. Additionally, by operation of the secondary application, a state of the physics simulation is updated in response to the software routine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Matthias Müller, Bruno Heidelberger
  • Patent number: 8325630
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a technique for routing traffic in networks represented by logical topologies, such as Multi Chassis Port Channel (MCPC) or Multi Chassis Ether Channel (MCEC) topologies, is provided. By modifying a port priority vector (PPV) to include an additional “Switch ID” field that identifies a designated bridge ID or a local switch ID, depending on whether the corresponding port is used as an MCT, a routing protocol designed to avoid loops in routing paths, such as STP, may avoid blocking MCT ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Tameen Khan, Ronak Desai
  • Patent number: 8327071
    Abstract: In a multiprocessor system level 2 caches are positioned on the memory side of a routing crossbar rather than on the processor side of the routing crossbar. This configuration permits the processors to store messages directly into each other's caches rather than into system memory or their own coherent caches. Therefore, inter-processor communication latency is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: John M. Danskin, Emmett M. Kilgariff, David B. Glasco, Sean J. Treichler
  • Patent number: 8327337
    Abstract: Techniques are described for debugging a processing element (or elements) in a stream based database application in a manner that reduces the impact of debugging the processing element (or elements) on the overall running environment by selectively fusing (or un-fusing) processing elements running on a group of compute nodes. In addition to fusing and un-fusing processing elements or otherwise modifying a state of the stream application, a debugging application and stream manager may modify data flows within the application stream in a variety of ways to minimize any disruption resulting from a debugging session.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Eric L. Barsness, Ryan K. Cradick, Michael D. Pfeifer, John M. Santosuosso
  • Patent number: 8325239
    Abstract: A digital video camera may include a digital video image sensor for capturing digital video footage to be stored on an internal memory. The digital video image sensor and internal memory may be housed in a camera body. A retractable arm having a data connector may be attached to the camera body. The arm can be extended from and retracted into the camera body, while the data connector can be used to transfer digital video footage to an external device, such as a computer. The data connector may conform to a standard for connecting peripheral devices, such as the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394 (IEEE 1394) standard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan Kaplan, Ariel Braunstein, John Louis Warpakowski Furlan
  • Patent number: 8326853
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention improve the ability for users of an immersive virtual environment to manage and change their avatars or avatar profiles, including their behavior, during their virtual experience. In one embodiment, a user associates each avatar or avatar profile they control or own with a task from a predetermined set of tasks or purposes. A virtual world identity manager (VWIM) may collect and evaluate data about the virtual experience of the user, including virtual environment, virtual behavior, and virtual interaction with other users. Using this information, the VWIM may assist the user with identity management, including notifying the user of an identity or behavioral mismatch, and dynamically prompting the user to change identity or behavior, and recommending appropriate identities or behaviors for the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dettinger D. Richard, Kulack A. Frederick
  • Patent number: D672336
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: CISCO Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan Timothy Lister, Nicola Girotti, Mads Sukhdev Hindhede, Eskild Timme Hansen