Patents Assigned to Amazon Technologies
  • Programmatically simulating system conditions
    Patent number: 9077643
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for programmatically simulating one or more system conditions for a network resource using one or more services. In one implementation, a server receives a request to initiate a treatment. The request identifies a treatment definition. The server determines, based on the treatment definition, the one or more services and deploys the one or more services to the network resource. The one or more services simulate the one or more system conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Luis Felipe Cabrera, Peter N. De Santis
  • Interacting with cloud-based applications using unrelated devices
    Patent number: 9078082
    Abstract: Systems and method provide logic facilitating an interaction between a networked server and multiple, unrelated devices. In one implementation, a computer-implemented method enables a user of a device to interact with or control multiple, unrelated devices across a could computing environment using a networked server. The method includes receiving, at the networked server, an instruction from the control device. A corresponding instruction understandable by an unrelated controlled device is generated by the networked server, and the corresponding instruction is operable to cause the controlled device to perform the received instruction. The networked server may transmit the corresponding instruction to the controlled device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Sunbir Gill, Brandon C. Bell, Piragash Velummylum, Ethan Z. Evans, Lars Brubaker
  • Directed audio for speech recognition
    Patent number: 9076450
    Abstract: Techniques are described for selecting audio from locations that are most likely to be sources of spoken commands or words. Directional audio signals are generated to emphasize sounds from different regions of an environment. The directional audio signals are processed by an automated speech recognizer to generate recognition confidence values corresponding to each of the different regions, and the region resulting in the highest recognition confidence value is selected as the region most likely to contain a user who is speaking commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramy S. Sadek, Edward Dietz Crump, Joshua Pollack
  • Enhanced inventory holder
    Patent number: 9073736
    Abstract: Embodiments herein are directed to an inventory system having multiple inventory holders and drive units for moving the inventory holders. Features herein are directed to moving inventory items relative to a bin of an inventory holder or between inventory holders in the inventory system. The inventory system may include actuation units or some other mechanism on the drive units for assisting in moving inventory items relative to a bin of an inventory holder or between inventory holders. The inventory holders each include one or more inventory bins. A mobile drive unit is included, which includes an actuator configured for selectively actuating at least one of the inventory bins for moving at least one inventory item relative to the bin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Mustafa Mustansir Hussain, Neeraj Goyal, Venkataramanan Subramanian, Vikas Vishwanatham
  • Wideband tapered antenna with parasitic grounding element
    Patent number: 9077066
    Abstract: Methods and systems for extending a bandwidth of a wideband antenna of a user device are described. A wideband antenna includes a parasitic element coupled to ground and a single radio frequency (RF) input coupled to an antenna structure at a first point. The antenna structure comprises a tapered side that tapers away from the first point to create an increasingly larger gap between the antenna structure and ground. The antenna structure is configured to operate as a feeding structure to the parasitic element, the parasitic element not being conductively connected to the antenna structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Tzung-I Lee
  • Context-aware notifications
    Patent number: 9075435
    Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
  • Generating item suggestions from a profile-based group
    Patent number: 9076172
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments relating to generating profile-based groups to obtain item suggestions. A network page is rendered in a client computing device comprising a topic field to input a topic and a third party criteria selection mechanism to select at least one third party user. The user inputs the topic and the third party criteria. A request for suggestions relating to the topic is then sent from the client computing device to a server computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jennifer R. O'Twomney, Maren Marie Costa, Aaron M. Donsbach, Devraj Varadhan, Marina A. Pai, Michael Crutcher, Sean M. Scott, Anoop Balakrishnan, Ryuichi Hirano
  • Recommendation system with user interface for exposing downstream effects of paricular rating actions
    Patent number: 9076179
    Abstract: An interactive system generates personalized item recommendations for users based partly or wholly on ratings assigned by the users to particular items. The system includes an item rating user interface that enables a user to view, prior to rating an item, information regarding the types of items that will be recommended to the user if the user assigns a particular rating or type of rating to the item. The user interface thereby enables users to refrain from performing rating actions that will tend to result in low utility or “poor quality” recommendations from the users' perspectives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Xavier, George M. Ionkov, Jeffrey D. Lehman, Japan S. Doshi, Sandy Wenling Qiu, Bobby P. Nath
  • Account state simulation service for cloud computing environments
    Patent number: 9075788
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for an account state simulation service for cloud computing environments are disclosed. A system includes a plurality of service managers coordinating respective distributed network-accessible services, and a metadata manager. The metadata manager receives an account state change simulation request, indicating (a) an initial account state of a client account and (b) a collection of operations to be simulated. The metadata manager generates a response to the account change state simulation request, comprising at least one of (a) a representation of an expected end state of the client account reachable as a result of performing the collection of operations (b) an indication of an expected failure of a particular operation of the collection of operations or (c) an estimate of an expected billing amount associated with an implementation of the collection of operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory B. Roth, James E. Scharf, Jr., Rajiv Ramachandran, Anders Samuelsson, Keith A. Carlson
  • Implementing contests in social networks
    Patent number: 9076303
    Abstract: Various systems, methods, and programs embodied in computer-readable mediums are provided for implementing a contest between various social networks. A contest is staged between at least two teams using a server accessible by a plurality of clients. The contest requires each of the teams to achieve a predefined goal. The membership to each one of the teams is restricted to a plurality of individuals associated with a respective one of a plurality of social networks accessible by the server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph C. Park, Kian Fai Leong, Woo Jin Kim, David A. Inman, Hsueh-Li Lu
  • Interface selection element display
    Patent number: 9075514
    Abstract: A finger of a user detected within a predetermined range from a surface of a display screen can be used to navigate through and select content in accordance with various embodiments. In response to detecting the finger within the predetermined range, a selection element can be positioned offset from the finger. The offset positioning keeps the selection element from being obscured by the finger and, thus, enabling it to remain visible to the user. In response to detecting the user's finger approaching the surface of the display screen, the selection element becomes fixed in its current location when the finger reaches a threshold distance from the surface. Accordingly, as the finger gets closer to the surface, it starts to converge with the selection element. Finally, the finger converges with the selection element when the finger reaches the surface of the display screen to select the desired content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kenneth Mark Karakotsios, Nicholas Ryan Gilmour
  • SCALABLE TESTING IN A PRODUCTION SYSTEM WITH AUTOSCALING
    Publication number: 20150186236
    Abstract: A network-based production service is configured to process client requests for the production service via a network, capture production request data defining the requests and store the production request data in a data store. A test system comprising one or more controllers creates test jobs according to a test plan for testing the production service. The test plan creates a test profile for using specified production request data to simulate a load on the production service. Each job created by the test plan specifies a portion of production request data. A job queue receives and queues test jobs from one or more controllers configured to add test jobs to the job queue according to the test plan. Workers access jobs from the job queue and the production request data from the data store as specified in each job and replay the production request data to the production service.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2015
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: RAMAKRISHNAN HARIHARAN CHANDRASEKHARAPURAM, CARLOS ALEJANDRO ARGUELLES
  • Service provider optimization of content management
    Patent number: 9071502
    Abstract: A system and method for monitoring the performance associated with fulfilling resource requests and determining optimizations for improving such performance are provided. A processing device obtains and processes performance metric information associated with processing a request for an original resource and any embedded resource. The processing device uses the processed performance metric information to determine a set of service providers for alternatively hosting, processing, and/or transmitting at least a portion of the original resource and/or any embedded resources. In some embodiments, in making such a determination, the processing device assesses performance metric information collected and associated with subsequent resource requests for the original resource and any embedded resources using each of a variety of alternative set(s) of service providers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark S. Baumback, David William Bettis, Jonathan A. Jenkins
  • Efficient shuffling of mobile drive units for inventory holders
    Patent number: 9067317
    Abstract: A mobile drive unit that freely and independently moves about a facility to transport inventory holders. The mobile drive unit may operate through communications with other drive units, or under a more centralized control of a management module. For various operating scenarios, the mobile drive unit is directed to shuffle the inventory holders in a manner that minimizes travel of the mobile drive unit, thereby improving overall system efficiency. One or more mobile drive units may be used to transport inventory holders to and from a region, and to sequentially reposition or slide each of the inventory holders within the region according to a priority ordering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter R. Wurman, Matthew David Verminski, Michael Cordell Mountz
  • Host-managed gift card program
    Patent number: 9070122
    Abstract: A host-managed gift card program may enable merchants to offer and redeem gift cards without integrating a gift card program with a point of sale (POS) system used by the merchant. The merchant may rely on a host, at least in part, to issue gift cards, manage a ledger, assist in redemption of gift cards when the cards are redeemed at the merchant's location, and perform other gift card-related tasks for the merchant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Michal J. Geller, Brian Randolph Williams
  • Automated detection and exposure of behavior-based relationships between browsable items
    Patent number: 9070156
    Abstract: Various processes are disclosed for discovering item relationships between particular items, such as products represented in an electronic catalog, based on monitored user behaviors (e.g., item viewing activities, item purchases, shopping cart activities, etc.). The discovered item relationships may, for example, be used to generate personalized item recommendations for users, and/or to supplement item detail pages of an electronic catalog with lists of related items. Also disclosed are processes for generating personalized item recommendations based on users' search activities and browse node visits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory D. Linden, Brent Russell Smith, Nida K. Zada
  • Inertial sensor fusion orientation correction
    Patent number: 9068843
    Abstract: A system for determining and correcting a calculated orientation of a computing device based on data from an accelerometer and a gyroscope. The system compares a predicted direction of gravity in a predicted frame of the device with a measured direction of gravity in a sensor frame of the device, and determines an angle of the difference between the directions. A correction is calculated to rotate the predicted frame around an axis by the angle relative to a sensor frame, the axis being perpendicular to both the predicted and measured directions of gravity. A predicted orientation of a reference “Earth” frame relative to the predicted frame is calculated based on the gyroscope data. A corrected orientation is determined by applying the correction to the predicted orientation, providing an orientation of the Earth reference frame relative to the sensor frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jung Bae Sohn, David William Devries
  • Datacenter aisle containment structure
    Patent number: 9072193
    Abstract: An air containment system for a datacenter. The air containment system includes horizontally slidable vertical rails that engage the rear rails to two adjacent server racks. The vertical rails can include a front face that is compressible to provide an airtight connection with the server racks. Filler plates attach to adjacent vertical rails and fill the space between a top of the server rack and the top of the rails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: John William Eichelberg
  • Wireless credential sharing
    Patent number: 9071967
    Abstract: Various embodiments enable devices to share network authentication credentials or other information. For example, a computing device authorized to access a wireless network can be used to manage access to the wireless network, such as by modifying, sharing, or creating a password to access the wireless network. A peer-to-peer connection can be established between the authorized computing device and at least one other computing device (e.g., a guest computing device). Upon establishing the peer-to-peer connection between the devices, a service, application, or system component operating on each device can be used to share network authentication credentials between the devices. For example, the user of the authorized device can cause to be transmitted network authentication credentials to a guest computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Damon Michael Davies, Mike Kan, Scott Austin Haynie, Aidan Nicholas Low, David MacGregor Foltz
  • Local speech recognition of frequent utterances
    Patent number: 9070367
    Abstract: In a distributed automated speech recognition (ASR) system, speech models may be employed on a local device to allow the local device to process frequently spoken utterances while passing other utterances to a remote device for processing. Upon receiving an audio signal, the local device compares the audio signal to the speech models of the frequently spoken utterances to determine whether the audio signal matches one of the speech models. When the audio signal matches one of the speech models, the local device processes the utterance, for example by executing a command. When the audio signal does not match one of the speech models, the local device transmits the audio signal to a second device for ASR processing. This reduces latency and the amount of audio signals that are sent to the second device for ASR processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Bjorn Hoffmeister, Jeffrey O'Neill