Patents Assigned to AOL LLC
  • Publication number: 20080030477
    Abstract: Navigating on a display includes tracking coordinate information of an input tool on a display and moving a visible portion of a page of information on the display a distance equal to a change in the coordinate information of the input tool multiplied by a multiplier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Publication date: February 7, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Luigi Lira
  • Publication number: 20080031203
    Abstract: A first device may communicate by joining a wireless mesh network that includes at least one wireless device configured to operate a wireless routing protocol, discovering a group of other wireless devices configured to participate in the wireless mesh network, and accessing an interest metric for a second wireless device in the group of other wireless devices. The interest metric is based in part on a network topology from the wireless mesh network. The interest metric is related to an interest threshold and it is determined whether relating the interest metric to the interest threshold supports enabling messaging communications. If so, messaging communications may be enabled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2006
    Publication date: February 7, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventor: David S. Bill
  • Publication number: 20080025347
    Abstract: Latency in a real-time electronic communication is dynamically managed. A communication delay arising from a receiving data buffer is measured and a latency adjustment necessary to adjust the size of the communication delay to within a predetermined range and an optimal range for a size of the communication delay are determined. Using these parameters, the number of samples for an audio playback data block passing through the receiving data buffer is modified.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2007
    Publication date: January 31, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC, A Delaware Limited Liability Company (formerly known as America Online, Inc.)
    Inventors: John Mantegna, Shuwu Wu
  • Patent number: 7325249
    Abstract: An unwanted message may be identified by inspecting the payload portion of a message being communicated, comparing the characteristics of the payload portion with stored data indicating characteristics of other messages, and identifying a security condition based on a comparison of the message inspected. The characteristics inspected may include the payload portion of a message or the whole message when the characteristics are being compared against messages being exchanged on more than one local exchanging system. Furthermore, the characteristics of messages may be tracked for comparison against the characteristics of future messages. A threshold number of those characteristics may subsequently implicate a hostile security condition, even if a current comparison of these characteristics does not reach the threshold necessary to implicate a hostile security condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Lorin R. Sutton, Jr., Craig E. Despeaux, Michael K. Adamski
  • Patent number: 7325065
    Abstract: An authorized client communication system seeking access to a host communication system may be identified by performing a mathematical computation on a client communication system-specific identifier and an access password. Communications from the client communication system are terminated if the result of the mathematical computation does not correspond to an authorized client communication system. Another aspect involves storing information about an authorized client communication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company
    Inventor: Robert G. Watkins
  • Patent number: 7324896
    Abstract: A corridor search process is used to identify locations of interest along a travel route. The corridor search process identifies locations of interest along a travel route by using a grid search process that first identifies shape points that correspond to the travel route. Each shape point is associated with a portion of a grid system used to delineate a region of geography through which the route traverses. The portions of the grid system correspond to a corridor along the travel route. References to redundant portions of the grid system are removed, and locations of interest are identified based on an association between a location of interest with a particular portion of the grid system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Marc E. Smith
  • Patent number: 7324897
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for displaying a route symbol with narrative driving directions. A route symbol for a particular maneuver may be used to represent the road to which the maneuver relates. For example, one type of a route symbol that may be used to represent a road may be an interstate route symbol that has substantially the same appearance (e.g., substantially the same or similar shape, and/or substantially the same coloration) as an interstate route sign used to mark the interstate itself. Another example of a type of a route symbol that represents a road is an highway route symbol that looks substantially the same as a highway route sign used to mark a state highway. A route symbol used for the display of a maneuver also may include route symbols that are related to the type of maneuver, such as the type of a turn, described by the maneuver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Michael David Schmitz
  • Publication number: 20080021860
    Abstract: Search results may be provided to a user. A search query may be received from the user. A query feature vector may be formed for the search query. The query feature vector may be compared with news feature vectors associated with documents related to current events. An augmented query feature vector may be formed based on results of the comparison of the query feature vector with the news feature vectors. The augmented query feature vector may be compared with feature vectors related to target documents. Search results that include target documents may be identified based on results of the comparison of the augmented query feature vector with the feature vectors related to the target documents. The user may be made able to perceive at least some of the identified search results.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2006
    Publication date: January 24, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Anthony Wiegering, Harmannus Vandermolen, Karen Howe, Michael Sommers
  • Patent number: 7321824
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for presenting a route in a manner that emphasizes the route and provides context information. For example, a vivid color or vivid colors may be used to display the route, and pastel colors or other desaturated colors may be used for non-route context information. This may result in a map in which the vivid colors of the route stand out over the faded style of the non-route context information to emphasize the route. In this manner, the map may both emphasize the route and provide context information for the route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventor: David W. Nesbitt
  • Publication number: 20080016453
    Abstract: An icon or file is provided to facilitate communications across a network. The icon or file represents a contact or set of contacts and is separate from the communications program's user interface. At least one action is executed in response to an operation performed on the icon or a command issued to the file. The actions may generally include, for example, retrieving profile information about the contact, setting an alert to indicate that the contact's network/login status has changed (e.g., login, logout, or idle), or performing communications with the contact. The action may be the same action that would be executed in response to an operation performed on a representation of the contact or set of contacts in a user interface of a communications program.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Scott Quillen, Ira Rosenblatt
  • Patent number: 7320073
    Abstract: A simple scheme is provided for server storage of private keys and certificates in a secure manner, thus solving the difficult problems of roaming certificates. A user can access his private keys and certificates from anywhere in the network. Despite that the server stores the user's private keys, the server must not be able to impersonate the user on a network or sign messages for the user. A scheme for truly secure transactions is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Vasileios Zissimopoulos, Ognian Zdravkov Topalov
  • Publication number: 20080010667
    Abstract: Leveraging a persistent connection to provide a client access to a secured service may include establishing a persistent connection with a client in response to a first request from the client, and brokering a connection between the client and a secured service based on a second request from the client by leveraging the persistent connection with the client. The brokering may occur before the client attempts to connect to the secured service directly and the connection may be established between the client and the secured service without provision by the client of authentication information duplicative or additional to authentication information provided by the client to establish the persistent connection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2007
    Publication date: January 10, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Robert Hirsh
  • Publication number: 20080010253
    Abstract: A user is made able to configure a search query to be responsive to temporal factors in order to adjust the search query to more accurately reflect the user's true information need. By adjusting the search query in this way, the user is more likely to receive satisfactory search results.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2006
    Publication date: January 10, 2008
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Kulraj Sidhu, Abdur R. Chowdhury
  • Patent number: 7315946
    Abstract: Access to content may be administered by storing content, the content comprising one or more selections, accessing a passive optical out-of-band token associated with the content, determining an access right for the content based on the passive optical out-of-band token, and enabling access to the content in accordance with the access right.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Steven M. Blumenfeld, William J. Raduchel
  • Patent number: 7315886
    Abstract: A home-networking gateway may provide a service to a device on a home network by transparently accessing (or spoofing) a capability of a different device on the home network. The device capabilities may be automatically detected and used. A home-networking gateway also may transparently provide a service from a host system to a device on a home network by accessing a service on a host system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: AOL LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company
    Inventors: Patrick Meenan, David Clyde Chiles, Jeffrey J. Damick
  • Publication number: 20070297594
    Abstract: Controlling use of a telephone line includes receiving a specification from a first entity that defines one or more supervisory controls on use of a controlled telephone line by a second entity. The supervisory controls specify people with whom the second entity may or may not communicate over the controlled telephone line, and times at which the second entity may or may not communicate over the controlled telephone line. An indication of desired communications between the second entity and a third entity at a particular time over the controlled telephone line is received. A determination is made as to whether the desired communications are consistent with the specified supervisory controls. The desired communications are controlled when the desired communications are not consistent with the specified supervisory controls. In addition, the supervisory controls enable the first entity to interrupt existing calls over the controlled telephone line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2007
    Publication date: December 27, 2007
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventors: Michaela Barnes, Stephen Murphy
  • Patent number: 7313384
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for the configuration of a home-networking system. Home-networking configuration information may be stored on a host system in a manner accessible to the home-networking system and migrated to a home-networking gateway or router that has not yet been configured. Wireless configuration information may be stored on a home-networking gateway or router and used to configure one or more wireless access points through the use of a physical connection, such as a wired communications pathway. One or more wireless home-networking devices may be configured based on wireless configuration information stored in a central repository on a host system or a home-networking system. The wireless configuration information may be accessible only through the use of a security code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: AOL LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company
    Inventors: Patrick Meenan, David Clyde Chiles
  • Publication number: 20070288852
    Abstract: A user of an instant messaging system may store names of other users of the instant messaging system on a participant list (which may be referred to as a “buddy list”), and the names may be categorized into one or more groups. Similarly, a user of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, may store contact information about people on the mobile device. Information describing the on-line presence of the user within the instant messaging system or the geographic location of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone associated with the user, may be disseminated to users on the participant list or to people on the contact list based on notification information that is associated with groups of users or contacts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2007
    Publication date: December 13, 2007
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Edmund Fish
  • Publication number: 20070288639
    Abstract: Generally, a terminal can access a resource selection device to access a content source, the content source being structured and arranged to respond directly to the terminal. For example, a PC (“personal computer”) may be pointed at a load-balancing switch. The load balancing switch translates the PC's traffic and directs the PC traffic to a server (or switch) providing streaming services. The server responds directly to the terminal, but uses the IP address/identity of the load-balancing switch with which the terminal is communicating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Publication date: December 13, 2007
    Applicant: AOL LLC
    Inventor: Scott Brown
  • Publication number: 20070282956
    Abstract: A method for organizing a message thread containing one or more messages. A root message and reply groupings are identified, each reply grouping depending from the root message. Each reply grouping has one or more child reply messages depending from a common parent message. The child reply messages within each reply grouping are ordered in chronological order based on the time of each of the one or more child reply messages was received or sent. The reply groupings are hierarchically ordering based on a relationship between the reply grouping and its parent message. A single display allows a user to view the message thread and the content of all of the messages in accordance with the hierarchical ordering.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2006
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: AOL, LLC
    Inventor: Eric Staats