Abstract: A method, system and apparatus for bill payment over a PSTN. The method can include processing a call in the PSTN to establish a telephonic connection between a caller and a call center configured to process bill payments. The method further can include resolving an identity for the caller separate from the established telephonic connection. The identity can be routed to the call center over a data communications link unrelated to the telephonic connection. Finally, a bill payment process can be managed for the caller within the call center based upon the routed identity. Preferably, the resolving step can include querying a LIDB through a name resolution adapter disposed in the PSTN for identifying information for the caller. Further more, the processing step can include performing the resolving step responsive to receiving an SS7 message in an SCP to set up the telephonic connection between the caller and the call center.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 12, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Thomas Creamer, Peeyush Jaiswal, Victor Moore, Scott Winters
Abstract: A metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) structure that includes multiple and distinct self-aligned silicide contacts and methods of fabricating the same are provided. The MOSFET structure includes at least one metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor having a gate conductor including a gate edge located on a surface of a Si-containing substrate; a first inner silicide having an edge that is substantially aligned to the gate edge of the at least one metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor; and a second outer silicide located adjacent to the first inner silicide. In accordance with the present invention, the second outer silicide has second thickness is greater than the first thickness of the first inner silicide. Moreover, the second outer silicide has a resistivity that is lower than the resistivity of the first inner silicide.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 11, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Abstract: The invention provides methods for determining film continuity and growth modes in thin dielectric films. The continuity determining method comprises: depositing a material on the substrate using a first value of a growth metric; depositing an amount of charge on a surface of the material; repetitively measuring a surface voltage of the material until an onset of tunneling to provide a Vtunnel (or Etunnel) value; repeating the above steps for different values of the growth metric; and comparing the Vtunnel (or Etunnel) values for different values of the growth metric to provide a measure of the continuity of the material on the substrate. The growth modes of the material can be determined by comparing the first derivative of the Vtunnel or Etunnel per growth metric curve versus the growth metric, and examining the linearity of the results of the comparison.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 13, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: A system, method and program product for assigning management classes to data objects. The disclosed system includes a class assignment system for assigning a management class to an inputted data object, wherein the class assignment system analyzes historical usage characteristics of existing data objects that have attributes similar to the inputted data object; and a data analysis system that analyzes existing data objects to generate a knowledge base of historical usage characteristics. The historical usage characteristics are updated as existing objects make their way through the storage lifecycle.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 10, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that, in an embodiment, receive a license to a number of resources in a cluster. The licensed resources may be activated and deactivated at any computer system in the cluster, so long as the number of active resources in the cluster is less than or equal to the number of licensed resources to the cluster. In this way, if a resource or a computer system containing resources in the cluster fails, the licensee may still use other licensed resources up to the number of licensed resources.
Type:
Application
Filed:
July 29, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Inventors:
Theodore Bauer, Jay Bryant, Richard Dettinger, Daniel Kolz
Abstract: A method, system and program product are disclosed that create new shapes at detected shape overlaps and includes those new shapes during routing and net checking when the new shapes require a larger space than any of the overlapping shapes. The invention thus detects and prevents spacing errors without the expense of time consuming design rule checking (DRC), facilitating early detection and prevention of errors.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 12, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Abstract: A memory subsystem that includes segment level sparing. The memory subsystem includes a cascaded interconnect system with segment level sparing. The cascaded interconnect system includes two or more memory assemblies and a memory bus. The memory bus includes multiple segments and the memory assemblies are interconnected via the memory bus.
Type:
Application
Filed:
July 30, 2004
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Inventors:
Timothy Dell, Frank Ferraiolo, Kevin Gower, Kevin Kark, Mark Kellogg, Warren Maule
Abstract: Reduces time for processing a request Simple Object Access Protocol, SOAP, message in a request means such as mobile equipment or the like. Sequence definition means divides one parent SOAP message as one request concerning a Web Service into segments of a Simple Object Access Protocol header and a SOAP body. Segment creation means creates the segment of the Simple Object Access Protocol body of the parent SOAP message and the segment of the SOAP header of the parent Simple Object Access Protocol message in this order. Sending means executes sending processing in parallel with creation processing by the segment creation means. Specifically, the sending means assigns one child Simple Object Access Protocol message enveloping the content of a segment to each of the segments, and sends each of the child Simple Object Access Protocol messages to the provider in accordance with a creation sequence of the segments.
Type:
Application
Filed:
April 7, 2005
Publication date:
February 16, 2006
Applicant:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for improving a medical infusion pump. Users of medical infusion pumps, such as insulin pumps, require a bolus of a medication at predicable times of the day, such as at or near mealtimes for insulin pumps. The disclosed medical infusion pump determines bolus time intervals during which boluses are usually taken, and, alerts the user at one or more calculated alert times during an active bolus time interval when a bolus has not yet been delivered during the active bolus time interval. Advantageously, a different set of bolus time intervals are determined by day of week, to accommodate, for example, different bolus patterns during weekends versus weekdays.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 28, 2004
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: A thin film transfer join process in which a multilevel thin film structure is formed on a carrier, the multilevel thin film structure is joined to a final substrate and then the carrier is removed. Once the carrier is removed, the dielectric material and metallic material that were once joined to the carrier are now exposed. The dielectric material is then etched back so that the exposed metallic material protrudes beyond the dielectric material. Also disclosed is a module made by the foregoing process.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 19, 2002
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Jeffrey B. Danielson, Balaram Ghosal, James Kuss, Matthew Wayne Oonk, Chandrika Prasad, Eric Daniel Perfecto, Roy Yu
Abstract: A method and structure relating to multisegmented plated through holes. A substrate includes a dielectric layer sandwiched between a first laminate layer and a second laminate layer. A through hole is formed through the substrate. The through hole passes through nonplatable dielectric material within the dielectric layer. As a result, subsequent seeding and electroplating of the through hole results in a conductive metal plating forming at a wall of the through hole on a segment of the first laminate layer and on a segment of the second laminate layer, but not on the nonplatable dielectric material of the dielectric layer. Thus, the conductive metal plating is not continuous from the first laminate layer to the second laminate layer.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 14, 2003
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Donald S. Farquhar, Robert M. Japp, John M. Lauffer, Konstantinos I. Papathomas
Abstract: An arrangement for providing gracefully degraded services on the Internet under overloaded conditions, involving tagging user request to indicate the status of said request and providing appropriate level of degraded services gracefully responsive to said tagging information.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 21, 2001
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Mark Gee-Gwo Mei, Kun-Lung Wu, Philip Shi-Lung Yu
Abstract: A method, system and program product for providing domain level business object keys in Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) applications. An instance of an EntityBean object is provided with both a primary key and a domain key class. The primary key class is associated with a home selected for the EntityBean object, and the domain key class is associated with a particular business application within which the EntityBean object is being utilized. The EntityBean and associated home is utilized across different business applications, while ensuring uniqueness across the different applications.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 7, 2001
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: A portable phone is equipped with a position detector that detects the geographical position of the portable phone, and a telephone system may ring one or more land-based phones or portable phones according to the geographical position of the portable phone. One or more geographical regions are defined, with corresponding telephone parameters defined for each region. When a portable phone enters a defined region, exits a defined region, or changes between two defined regions, the function of one or more land-based phones or portable phones may change. The preferred embodiments thus allow changing the function of one or more other phones based on the self-detected geographical position of a portable phone. In this manner the convenience of using portable phones is greatly enhanced.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 12, 2001
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Cary Lee Bates, Jeffrey Michael Ryan, John Matthew Santosuosso
Abstract: A system generates the report to include a header section representing information, a parts section listing line items, and a footer section representing information. The system prints a first page of the report including the header section, a first parts subsection, and the footer section. The first parts subsection lists a quantity of line items that is less than or equal to a first number. The system prints any additional pages of the report to include a header subsection, subsequent parts subsection, and a footer subsection. The header subsection represents a portion of the information represented by the header section, and the footer subsection represents a portion of the information represented by the footer section. The subsequent parts subsection(s) lists a quantity of line items that is less than or equal to a second number.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 29, 2001
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: A system, apparatus and method for processing Personal InFormation EXchange Syntax (PFX) objects in a data processing system is presented. The PFX object may be formatted, i.e. may maintain a syntax, as defined by PKCS (Public Key Cryptography Standard) standards, and in particular PKCS #12. A PFX object utility allows a user to view and edit the contents of data objects embedded within a PFX object via a graphical user interface. Graphical objects represent the data objects embedded within a PFX object. A user may drag and drop objects onto other objects within the PFX object, and the PFX object utility automatically performs the necessary operations.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 2, 2000
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Julianne Yarsa, Anthony Nadalin, Bruce A. Rich, Theodore Jack London Shrader
Abstract: A document feeder device is disclosed. The document feeder device includes a frame, a first roller shaft coupled to the frame, and a second roller shaft coupled to the frame. The first shaft is cantilevered. The document feeder device further includes a bearing coupled to the first roller shaft. The bearing has an eccentric shape and the eccentric shape allows the bearing to be rotated such that the position of the first roller shaft stays parallel to a second roller shaft. As a result, rollers attached to the first and second roller shafts are kept aligned so that they reliably feed documents through a printer. The document feeder device decreases production costs by eliminating the need for additional frame hardware and/or more rigid frame hardware.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 11, 2004
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: The invention provides a method of forming a phase shift mask and the resulting phase shift mask. The method forms a non-transparent film on a transparent substrate and patterns an etch stop layer on the non-transparent film. The invention patterns the non-transparent film using the etch stop layer to expose areas of the transparent substrate. Next, the invention forms a mask on the non-transparent film to protect selected areas of the transparent substrate and forms a phase shift oxide on exposed areas of the transparent substrate. Subsequently, the mask is removed and the phase shift oxide is polished down to the etch stop layer, after which the etch stop layer is removed.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 13, 2003
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Toshiharu Furukawa, Mark C. Hakey, Steven J. Holmes, David V. Horak, Charles W. Koburger, III, Peter H. Mitchell, Larry A. Nesbit
Abstract: A method of fabricating an integrated circuit device comprises etching a trench in a substrate and forming a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell having a storage capacitor at a lower end and an overlying vertical metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) comprising a gate conductor and a boron-doped channel. The method includes forming trenches adjacent the DRAM cell and a silicon-oxy-nitride isolation liner on either side of the DRAM cell, adjacent the gate conductor. Isolation regions are then formed in the trenches on either side of the DRAM cell. Thereafter, the DRAM cell, including the boron-containing channel region adjacent the gate conductor, is subjected to elevated temperatures by thermal processing, for example, forming a support device on the substrate adjacent the isolation regions. The nitride-containing isolation liner reduces segregation of the boron in the channel region, as compared to an essentially nitrogen-free oxide-containing isolation liner.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 9, 2004
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method perform runtime query optimization during execution of a query to select from among multiple available plans, or implementations, capable of implementing the query. The runtime query optimization utilizes a runtime-derived performance criterion to dynamically select from among multiple query implementations. A performance criterion is dynamically evaluated during execution of at least a portion of a query, and one of a plurality of query implementations defined in the query is selected based upon the dynamically-evaluated performance criterion. Once selected, execution of the query is continued using the selected query implementation.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
June 7, 2002
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
David Glenn Carlson, Kevin James Kathmann, Lawrence Kenneth Nash