Abstract: Embodiments of the invention comprise a design tool for designing an application interface. The design tool includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that visually represents a hierarchy of data and the relationships between the data. Thus, the design tool eliminates the need for an interface designer to have independent knowledge of the structure of the data (i.e., the data fields and relationships between the data). The design tool's GUI represents the data and the relationships between the data in a hierarchical display referred to as a data palette. An output hierarchy comprised of output levels is created as the user selects fields from the data palette to be displayed in the application's interface. When a data field is selected, the design tool automatically determines the appropriate interface component and output level of the output hierarchy using the relationships defined for the data. Output levels are associated with interface components that comprise the application's interface.

Abstract: The mechanism catalogues data such as multimedia data. A catalogue is a collection of one or more catalogue elements. An index is used to access a catalogue. An element of a catalogue has one or more attributes. An attribute provides information that can be used to search for, answer questions about, and navigate through a catalogue. An attribute of a catalogue element can be an element that has attributes. A catalogue element attribute that is an element is referred to as an attribute element. Attribute elements and attributes are used to build an index that can be used to facilitate catalogue access. Within a catalogue, smaller catalogues can be created by, for example, querying and user designation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for symmetrically compressing and decompressing video information in real time by coupling block and wavelet techniques. In the compression pipeline, the image is divided into blocks comprising 2k×2k pixels (in the preferred embodiment, k=1). The average color of each block is computed. The system computes an average luminance for each block and differential luminances of each pixel of the plurality of pixels of each block. A first plurality of frequency details of each block are determined by Haar transforming the differential luminances. The system computes an average color difference between each block and the preceding block, and quantizes the average color difference and the first plurality of frequency details using Lloyd-Max quantization. In an alternate embodiment, skip codes are generated for blocks having the same quantized average color difference and second plurality of frequency details.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a method for allowing a data controlling object to interface with any number of user interface objects without requiring separate interface code for each user interface object and without restricting the user interface to certain predetermined designs. The present method provides objects called association objects that are interposed between a data controlling object and each user interface object. Each kind of user interface object has a corresponding association object. The association object for a particular kind of user interface object contains code that allows the association object to interact with the specific kind of user interface object with which it is associated. Each association object also presents a standard interface to a data controlling object, regardless of the kind of user interface object with which the association object is associated.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving access to literature is described. Embodiments of the invention comprise an access mechanism that searches current and past literature (e.g., journal publications or other articles) and selects some or all of the literature for a user based on criteria established for the user. In one embodiment of the invention, the access mechanism is coupled to an electronic medical records system used to enter patient information and user profile information and coupled to one or more literature (e.g., medical, scientific, current affairs, law, dental, etc.) libraries or database(s). Search criteria is obtained from user profile information established for a physician (or other user of the electronic medical records system) and patient information. The search criteria is used to generate a request for literature from the libraries. The search criteria may act as a filter of the literature that is contained in a library.

Abstract: The system is a generalized solution for management of multimedia assets. Generalized interfaces are used between a browser component, indexing server, archive server, tertiary storage manager, and method player components. The generalized interface defines a communication protocol that can be used by any browser, indexing server, archive server, tertiary storage manager, or method player component. Thus, system components supplied by multiple vendors can be interconnected to form a multimedia system that communicates using the generalized interfaces of the invention. A browser component can accept input such as search requests and display multimedia data. An indexing server component includes a data catalogue that catalogues multimedia data. The catalogue can be used to identify catalogue elements associated with data that can satisfy a search request. A search mechanism is used to identify the desired multimedia data.

Abstract: A method for providing stand-in objects, where relationships among objects are automatically resolved in an object oriented relational database model without the necessity of retrieving data from the database until it is needed. A “fault” class is defined, as well as fault objects whose data haven't yet been fetched from the database. An object that's created for the destination of a relationship whenever an object that includes the relationship is fetched from the database. When an object is fetched that has relationships, fault objects are created to “stand-in” for the destination objects of those relationships. Fault objects transform themselves into the actual enterprise objects—and fetch their data—the first time they're accessed. Subsequently, messages sent to the target objects are responded to by the objects themselves.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for embedding of bytecode data in a transport stream is described. Embodiments of the invention serve to make Java™ bytecode (in a class file) concurrently available to a user that is receiving media information through a transport stream. To ensure the concurrent delivery of bytecode, the information is embedded within spaces allocated in the transport stream, or in packets that carry the media data. In one embodiment of the invention, media data is grouped in structured packets referred to as Packetized Elementary Stream (PES) packets. Predefined spaces are available in each PES packet where bytecode data is embedded. In one embodiment of the invention the pre-defined space is allocated within the header segment of a PES packet. In another embodiment bytecode instruction are embedded within a private stream segment of a PES packet. One transport stream used with the invention is an MPEG-2 transport stream that includes structured packets that transport the PES packets.

Abstract: This invention describes a method and apparatus for vertically locking input and output video frame rates. The output vertical sync pulse is locked in phase with the input vertical sync pulse, regardless of the input format and frequency. The output resolution, horizontal refresh rate, and delay are all user selectable. Two Phase Locked Loops are connected in series to achieve vertical lock between the input and output frames. Locking the vertical sync pulses between the input and output frames will eliminate mixing of pixels from different input frames in one output frame. The first Phase Locked Loop generates the output pixel clock required to satisfy the user's display preferences but may not precisely represent the desired output pixel clock required for frame locking because current Phase Locked Loops use integer dividers. A second Phase Locked Loop adjusts its output, which is the reference frequency to the first Phase Locked Loop, until a lock is achieved.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a system for delivering an interactive multimedia work from a storage device, for example a hard disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, a network server, etc. to a playback device, for example a personal computer, in a manner that provides improved performance regardless of the playback sequence selected by a user. In one embodiment of the present invention, for each segment of an interactive multimedia work, a probability factor is assigned to each possible alternative succeeding segment. In addition a retrieval and delivery time cost factor is also assigned to each possible succeeding segment. In one embodiment of the invention, the time cost factor for each resource is assigned a fixed value. In another embodiment, the time cost factor is recalculated periodically to reflect changes in location and status of resources. The probability and time cost factor for each possible succeeding segment are combined to produce a relative priority ranking.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for distributing picture mail to a frame device community is described. The present invention comprises one or more interconnected frame devices. Each frame device has a display region (e.g. an LCD) surrounded with a border region modeled to resemble a traditional picture frame. The border region may be comprised of wood, plastic, or any other aesthetically pleasing compound. Each frame device is configured to connect to an interconnection fabric to periodically obtain image data from a centralized repository and then display that data according to criteria established by an authorized user. The data repository is populated with image data via the image collection process. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the user may specify filter criteria which establishes what network addresses (e.g. picture mail address) are authorized to populate the data repository.

Abstract: The present invention employs a generative approach for configuring systems such that a system may be configured based on component or resource requests, or input in the form of need. The present invention provides a constraint-based configuration system using a structural model hierarchy. The structural aspects of the model provide the ability to define a model element as being contained in, or by, another model element. In addition, the structural model provides the ability to identify logical datatype and physical interconnections between elements and establish connections between elements. To configure a system, the present invention accepts input in the form of requests (e.g., component or resource) or needs, such as an expression of a need for a desktop computer system to be used in a CAD (i.e., computer-aided design) environment.

Abstract: A graphical user interface (GUI) and accompanying functionality for binding Web page definitional elements to a back-end state (e.g., client- or server-side back-end state) and custom logic is provided. In one embodiment, a template containing definitional elements, custom logic, and bindings are generated that define all or a portion of a Web page based on input received and functionality provided by the invention.

Abstract: One or more embodiments provide a completion object comprised of various states of completion of a client request. The completion object may be manipulated to transition from one state to another by both the client and server. The following states of completion may be provided: idle, ready, active, completing, completed, and acknowledged. In the idle state, the completion object is obtained by the client (by constructing a new object or retrieving an existing object that has been recycled). In the ready state, the request has been initialized but not yet issued to the server or I/O device. In the active state, the server processes the I/O request. In the completing state, the server has completed the I/O operations requested but has not yet stored the results. In the completed state, the server stores the results to be returned to the client and notifies the client.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing user notification. In a desktop environment in which multiple applications, or applets may be simultaneously resident in main memory, it may be necessary to release or unload one or more applications or applets from main memory to provide memory space for a newly selected application or applet. Applications or applets thus unloaded are incapable of providing feedback or user notification of state changes associated with the respective application or applet. An embodiment of the invention provides a user notification class for notifying users of application or applet state changes. For each application or applet that needs to provide user notification, the desktop manager loads an instance of a notification class as an independent thread which will operate even when the associated application or applet is not resident in main memory. The user notification class instance performs all notification functions on behalf of the application or applet.

Abstract: The invention provides the ability to interactively select and configure a product among a set of related products based on availability and compatibility of features and options. It does not impose an order in the selection of products, features or options; only valid selections can be made at any time. To create an electronic representation of the product information to achieve the above goal, the invention provides a framework for defining a systems by defining the components of the system using elements contained in a parts catalog and defining relationships between the components of a system. A configuration system validates a configuration using the system definition, the current state of the configuration and user input.

Abstract: The invention is a method and apparatus for generating one or more Steiner trees representing a connection of at least two points. In accordance with an embodiment of the method, a Boolean network function is generated which represents a network of interconnects connecting the at least two points. A binary decision diagram (BDD) for the Boolean network function is generated, the BDD having a root and at least one variable node. The number of vertices for at least one variable node of the BDD is determined. The solution values for one or more of the variables of the Boolean network function are determined in accordance with a path(s) through the BDD from the root to one or more of the variable nodes. In one embodiment, the Boolean network function represents interconnects in an encoded space containing the points to be connected, the interconnects having no greater than “n” segments and arranged to join at a joint.

Abstract: The invention is a method and apparatus for optimizing a real function in the Boolean domain. In accordance with an embodiment of the method, the real function is represented as a Boolean function. A binary decision diagram for the Boolean function is generated, the binary decision diagram having a root and at least one variable node. The number of vertices for at least one variable node of the binary decision diagram is determined. The function is optimized by selecting a path or paths from the root to at least one variable node of the binary decision diagram having the least number of vertices. The solution values of one or more variables of the Boolean function are determined in accordance with the path(s) through the binary decision diagram. These values comprise an optimized solution set for the real function.