Abstract: A high-resolution, per-packet measurement tool for analyzing a computer network that operates by sending a predetermined number of packets from a sender machine to a receiver machine with measurement information inserted into the packet. The system kernel at the sending machine stamps a sequence number and the sender's local time into the data section of each packet. When packets arrive at the receiver machine, they are similarly stamped by the receiving machine's kernel with the receiving machine's local time. The maintained packet information serves as the basis for latency analysis. For example, one set of latencies can be obtained with QoS mechanisms turned on, and another set with QoS mechanisms turned off, whereby the benefits of the QoS mechanisms can be accurately determined. To analyze the latencies, the present invention normalizes each time and each latency into relative latency information. Clock skew and timer jumps may be handled as part of the normalization.

Abstract: A method and system for allowing a regional service merchant that is outside of a given geographical boundary, but services inside the geographical boundary, to be included in a result set of a search directed to a location inside the geographical boundary. Text and/or glyphs are returned along with the regional service merchant's business listing so as to explain to a user why a business not physically residing in the search area has been included in the result set. An application programming interface ensures that, if a business is listed as a regional service merchant, then the text and/or glyph is stored in association with the business listing.

Abstract: An improved method and mechanism for recognizing chirographs (handwritten characters) input into a computer system. A primary recognizer is provided for converting chirographs to code points, and secondary recognizers such as binary CART trees are developed and trained to differentiate chirographs which produce certain code points at the primary recognizer. Each such secondary recognizer is associated with each selected code point. When a chirograph is received, the chirograph is provided to the primary recognizer whereby a code point corresponding thereto is received. If the code point corresponds to one of the secondary recognizers, the chirograph is passed to the secondary recognizer, and a code point is returned from the secondary recognizer. If not, the code point provided by the primary recognizer is returned.

Abstract: A method and system that enables customized computer machines to be more readily developed by removing the function of resource translation out of the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). A machine manufacturer describes a machine in firmware, such as accordance with the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, using ACPI machine language (AML). Operating system components such as a Plug and Play (PnP) manager in the kernel, in conjunction with an ACPI driver, interpret the description information and locate resources (bus bridges) for which translation is needed. For any arbitrary bus architecture or CPU to PCI bridge implementation that can be expressed, e.g., in ACPI firmware, the invention provides a translator external to the HAL. In one implementation, a PnP driver communicates with the ACPI driver and various drivers in driver stacks via I/O request packets (IRPs) to look for resource translators.

Abstract: A method and system that protects selected system and other files, by preventing changes to those files. In an asynchronous alternative, the change is prevented by copying back the original file when a protected file is changed, as known via an asynchronous notification. In an alternative synchronous embodiment, the change to the file is prevented from occurring. In the asynchronous notification alternative, a directory change notification notifies a file protection service whenever a file that has possibly changed is closed, providing the file identity as part of the notification. The file protection service determines from the file identify whether the file has been deemed protected. If protected, the file protection service prevents any actual change by verifying whether the protected file changed, such as by analyzing the file's contents against known valid contents. If not valid, the file protection service restores a saved copy that is itself verified.

Abstract: Intelligent Trust Management provides a centralized security facility that gives system components a flexible mechanism for implementing security policies. System components such as applications create a request describing an action that needs to be checked against an appropriate security policy. The request is given to a trust system that determines which policy object applies to the request, and may pass request arguments to the policy. The policy objects include executable code that uses any arguments along with dynamically obtained variable information to make a decision. The decision is returned to the system component, which then operates accordingly. Policy objects may maintain state and interface with the user independent of the system component in order to obtain information to make their decisions. Policy objects may call other policy objects and/or mathematically combine the results of other policy objects to make a decision.

Abstract: A method and system to remotely install management software on client machines of a network without requiring user-intervention such as a logon. A data discovery manager determines which discovered machines in a network should be configured for client installation, and queues a client configuration request (CCR) for each such machine. A client configuration manager dequeues each CCR, and attempts to establish a connection with the remote machine corresponding to the CCR. If successful, a bootstrap install service is downloaded to the client machine from a server having administrative rights, after which the bootstrap service is run to install the remainder of the management software on the client machine from a client access point server. If unsuccessful, retries may be attempted. Client machines having users with sufficient security rights may install the management software via a logon or other process at the client machine.

Abstract: An improved hibernation method and system, including the use of a modified DMA (Direct Memory Access) mode of transferring data to and from the disk. The use of DMA increases data transfer speed, while freeing the system processor to perform other tasks, including compressing/decompressing the data transferred to and from the disk. An improved decoder is also provided that reduces the number of bounds checks needed on average for typical compressed data by first guaranteeing that there is sufficient room to decode literals and small substrings, whereby bounds checking is not needed. A combination hibernation mode and a suspend mode is also provided that essentially maintains power to the RAM while transparently backing the RAM with the hibernation file, such that if power to the RAM is interrupted, the RAM contents are automatically restored from the hibernation file when power is restored.

Abstract: A system and method that evaluates privacy policies from web sites to determine whether each site is permitted to perform operations (e.g., store, retrieve or delete) directed to cookies on a user's computer. Various properties of each cookie and the context in which it is being used are evaluated against a user's privacy preference settings to make the determination. An evaluation engine accomplishes the evaluation and determination via a number of criteria and considerations, including the cookie properties, its current context, the site, the zone that contains the site, and any P3P data (compact policy) provided with the site's response. The user privacy preferences are evaluated against these criteria to determine whether a requested cookie operation is allowed, denied or modified. A formalized distinction between first-party cookies versus third-party cookies may be used in the determination, along with whether the cookie is a persistent cookie or a session cookie.

Abstract: A pipeline I/O mechanism in a network redirector that breaks up large files into sections, and sends write (or read) requests for each section in a pipeline fashion to a network file server, without waiting for a response for a previously-sent section. The pipeline I/O mechanism tracks the returned status of each section for which a request was made, so that success or failure of the request is determined as a whole. The pipeline I/O system and method dramatically increase the performance of network remote I/O operations, particularly with file write operations directed to a file on a network file server.

Abstract: A method and system for implementing policy by accumulating policies for a policy recipient from policy objects associated with a hierarchically organized structure of containers, such as directory containers (sites, domains and organizational units) that includes the policy recipient. Based on administrator input, policy settings for the policy recipient may be accumulated into a specific order by inheriting policy from higher containers, which may enforce their policy settings over those of lower containers. Policy that is not enforced may be blocked at a container. The result is an accumulated set of group policy objects that are ordered by relative strength to resolve any policy conflicts. Policy may be applied to a policy recipient by calling extensions, such as an extension that layers the policy settings into the registry or an extension that uses policy information from the objects according to the ordering thereof.

Abstract: A method and system for increasing server cluster availability by requiring at a minimum only one node and a quorum replica set of replica members to form and operate a cluster. Replica members, independent from the nodes, maintain cluster operational data. A cluster operates when one node possesses a majority of replica members, which ensures that any new or surviving cluster includes consistent cluster operational data via at least one replica member from the immediately prior cluster. Arbitration provides exclusive ownership by one node of the replica members, including at cluster formation, and when the owning node fails. Arbitration uses a fast mutual exclusion algorithm and a reservation mechanism to challenge for and defend the exclusive reservation of each member. A quorum replica set algorithm brings members online and offline with data consistency, including updating unreconciled replica members, and ensures consistent read and update operations.

Abstract: A method and system for selectively enabling wake events in software of a computer system to overcome problems arising when hardware devices fail to clear a wake signal. The operating system manages wake events, and also distinguishes between events that are exclusively wake events, exclusively run-time events, and shared wake and run-time events. At boot time, the ACPI driver examines system tables provided by firmware to determine which GPEs are associated with wake-up events, either exclusively or shared with run-time events. These wake event associations are tracked and managed differently from events received on other hardware register pins. When the operating system receives events in a GPE Status hardware register that is enabled in a counterpart Enable register, the operating system runs an associated GPE method. When the GPE method has completed, the operating system selectively determines whether the event needs to be re-enabled.

Abstract: Provided is a system and method for black-box testing of software using positive and negative test cases with N-way combinations of parameter values. An original model comprising valid and invalid values is modified in a first phase, by generating exclusions (constraints) for pairs of invalid values. A first suite of test cases is generated from the modified model, and positive test cases eliminated, creating a first test suite with only negative tests. In a second phase, the original model is modified by eliminating invalid values, from which a second test suite having only positive test cases for all valid N-way combinations is generated. Merging the two test suites provides a suite of positive and negative test cases that test software with N-way combinations of values, in which each negative test case has only one invalid value.

Abstract: A parameterized scene graph provides mutable (animated) values and parameterized graph containers such that an application program or the like can selectively change certain aspects of the scene graph description while leaving other aspects intact, and also reuse portions of the scene graph with different parameters. To this end, mutable values are provided, which provide the higher level code with hooks into the scene graph enabling the scene description to be changed. The mutable values may be varied over time to provide animation. A parameterized graph container is also described that enables a scene graph portion to be templatized for reuse throughout a scene in a generic way. In this manner, a single parameterized graph container may be efficiently reused in a scene graph, with different values for its parameters.

Abstract: Filtering trees for selectively notifying subscribers of events are provided, and are constructed with OR nodes to substantially reduce their size. The filtering trees have nodes representing event variables that ultimately branch to leaf nodes thereunder, and the leaf nodes identify which of a set of queries are satisfied by an actual event. A mechanism recursively merges nodes of trees into a single tree, and uses OR nodes when nodes cannot be combined, to essentially add a parallel path in the resulting tree to traverse. Nodes that can be combined are those that represent the same event variable, and may have data points that are merged into a combined node. Threshold gains in efficiency may be evaluated to determine whether the original trees should be kept instead of the resulting tree.

Abstract: Document libraries that facilitate content contribution to and management of a website. In general, a document library comprises a database, a special “document library” file system folder and the documents in that folder (or within subfolders of that folder). The database maintains properties of documents in the document library file system folder, and is used to dynamically update views of the document library file system folder and views of properties of the documents. Each document folder is a folder in which content of a specified type may be read and saved.

Abstract: A proactive, resilient and self-tuning memory management system and method that result in actual and perceived performance improvements in memory management, by loading and maintaining data that is likely to be needed into memory, before the data is actually needed. The system includes mechanisms directed towards historical memory usage monitoring, memory usage analysis, refreshing memory with highly-valued (e.g., highly utilized) pages, I/O pre-fetching efficiency, and aggressive disk management. Based on the memory usage information, pages are prioritized with relative values, and mechanisms work to pre-fetch and/or maintain the more valuable pages in memory. Pages are pre-fetched and maintained in a prioritized standby page set that includes a number of subsets, by which more valuable pages remain in memory over less valuable pages. Valuable data that is paged out may be automatically brought back, in a resilient manner.

Abstract: An electronic module that inserts into or is otherwise associated with a pen or other writing instrument. The electronic module includes a mechanism, such as an accelerometer, for detecting pen motion. The electronic module is preferably mounted in a substitute ink cartridge for a pen. Ballistic information generated by the accelerometer is transmitted via the radio transmitter to a computer (e.g., a personal computer), where processing and/or storage of the accelerometer information may occur. The accelerometer information may be used, for example, for handwriting recognition or digital ink generation. The electronic module is preferably provided in a casing that is shaped like an ink cartridge. Contemporary pens usually include two cartridges within the pen, a first that supplies ink to the nib, and a second that presses the first against the nib. The components may be mounted in a cartridge that is placed in the position of the second cartridge.

Abstract: A feature extractor samples points on an input pattern drawn in real time. In addition to X and Y coordinates, each sample has an up/down or Z coordinate value representing whether or not the sample point is a perceptible part of the pattern. The groups of coordinate values are transformed into respective sets of coefficients of Chebyshev polynomials by least-squares fit. A recognition unit can use the coefficients as features to identify the character. Additional features, such as aspect ratio and center of gravity, are also derived to aid in recognizing the pattern or reconstructing its image.