Patents Assigned to Microsystems, Inc.
  • Patent number: 7167956
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that avoids inconsistencies between multiple translators in an object-addressed memory hierarchy. This object-addressed memory hierarchy includes an object cache, which supports references to object cache lines based on object identifiers instead of physical addresses. During operation, the system receives a read-to-share (RTS) signal for an object cache line, wherein the RTS signal is received from a requesting processor as part of a cache-coherence operation. If no processor owns the object cache line, the system causes the requesting processor to become the owner of the object cache line instead of merely holding a copy the object cache line in the shared state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory M. Wright, Mario I. Wolczko
  • Patent number: 7167843
    Abstract: An apparatus for private personal identification number (PIN) management comprises a memory and a PIN comparator in communication with the memory. The PIN comparator is configured to ascertain a first delay period of a preceding PIN. The first delay period is greater than zero if the preceding PIN does not match a validated PIN and the first delay period equals zero if the preceding PIN matches the validated PIN. The PIN comparator is further configured to receive a current PIN after at least the first delay period and delay for a second delay period if the current PIN does not match the validated PIN. The second delay period is greater than the first delay period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventor: Eduard de Jong
  • Patent number: 7167970
    Abstract: A system, which includes a processor that includes a plurality of cores, generates an address translation when there is a miss in a translation lookaside buffer (TLB). A hypervisor utilizes a translating load instruction that upon execution on the processor generates a data portion of a TLB entry. Execution of the translating load instruction utilizes information from a real-to-physical address translation table entry and information provided in the call to the translating load instruction to synthesize the data portion of a new virtual-to-physical translation table entry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Quinn A. Jacobson, Shailender Chaudhry
  • Patent number: 7168007
    Abstract: A method includes interfacing with a field replaceable unit (FRU) having a memory device configured to store a FRUID image including at least status data. The status data is extracted from the memory device. Repair information associated with a repair of the field replaceable unit is received. The repair information is stored in the memory device. A system includes a field replaceable unit (FRU) and a FRU tool. The FRU includes a memory device configured to store a FRUID image including at least status data. The FRU tool is configured to interface with the FRU, extract the status data from the memory device, receive repair information associated with a repair of the field replaceable unit, and store the repair information in the memory device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Raymond J. Gilstrap, Steven E. Weiss, Gregory S. Jumper, Ira K. Weiny, Krishna Mohan
  • Patent number: 7168088
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for fast and reliable fencing of resources such as shared disks on a networked system. For each new configuration of nodes and resources on the system, a membership program module generates a new membership list and, based upon that, a new epoch number uniquely identifying the membership correlated with the time that it exists. A control key based upon the epoch number is generated, and is stored at each resource controller and node on the system. If a node is identified as failed, it is removed from the membership list, and a new epoch number and control key are generated. When a node sends an access request to a resource, the resource controller compares its locally stored control key with the control key stored at the node (which is transmitted with the access request). The access request is executed only if the two keys match.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventor: Vladimir Matena
  • Patent number: 7167918
    Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for using condition defining data (e.g., access control instructions) attached to nodes in a tree to implement node-related conditions in a directory server having a tree structure are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes attaching condition defining data that includes a variable portion and a reference portion to a given node in the tree structure, and upon access to a subnode of said given node in the tree, using the reference portion and a property of the subnode to tentatively derive a value for the variable portion, changing the variable portion into the value, and evaluating the condition in said condition defining data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Byrne, Pransanta Behara
  • Patent number: 7167448
    Abstract: The system for prioritizing data flow in a low bandwidth environment provides an infrastructure for ensuring that urgent data, such as messages, can be rapidly communicated to system components while also ensuring that the system bandwidth is optimized to accommodate the transfer of larger, less urgent data files. The architecture is broadly comprised of a bandwidth management system that operates in conjunction with aggregation Mid-level Manager and application Mid-level Managers controlled by the service provider. The customer deployment can be implemented using a single proxy or a plurality of proxies. Customer access to system resources is controlled by a service provider web-access portal controlled by the service provider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Wookey, Trevor Watson, Jean Chouanard
  • Patent number: 7168092
    Abstract: A portable storage device, for example a secure smart card, contains network identification information and configuration information for a processing unit that is connectable to a data communications network, which processing unit includes a device reader for reading the portable storage device. The portable storage device includes storage and an access controller. The storage holds a network identity and configuration information for the processing unit and at least one encryption key. The access controller is operable to control access to the storage by implementing key-key encryption. An embodiment of the invention thus provides a medium not only for storing a network identity and configuration information for processing unit, but also for other secure information such as an encryption key associated therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: James E. King, Martin P. Mayhead
  • Patent number: 7167184
    Abstract: A method of performing a blending operation between a first pixel having a first pixel alpha value and a first pixel color data value and a second pixel having a second pixel alpha value and a second pixel color data value using a pre-defined set of logical operations and an associated set of pre-computed constant that includes calculating a first pixel blending factor and a second pixel blending factor based upon a selected Porter-Duff compositing equation, the first pixel alpha value, and the second pixel alpha value, such that there are no decisions to be made in an innermost calculation loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventor: James A. Graham
  • Patent number: 7168076
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates efficient join operations between a head thread and a speculative thread during speculative program execution, wherein the head thread executes program instructions and the speculative thread executes program instructions in advance of the head thread. The system operates by executing a primary version of a program using the head thread, and by executing a speculative version of the program using the speculative thread. When the head thread reaches a point in the program where the speculative thread began executing, the system performs a join operation between the head thread and the speculative thread. This join operation causes the speculative thread to act as a new head thread by switching from executing the speculative version of the program to executing the primary version of the program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Shailender Chaudhry, Marc Tremblay
  • Patent number: 7167920
    Abstract: A system and method for establishing communications channels between and among peers in a peer-to-peer networking environment. Pipes may be used as communication channels for sending and receiving messages and other data between services or applications over input and output endpoints. Pipes may be asynchronous, unidirectional, stateless and unreliable. Bidirectional pipes may also be supported. Pipes may have ends that may be moved around and bound to different peers at different times. Point-to-point and propagate pipes may be supported. Pipes may connect peers that have a direct physical link and peers that do not have a direct link. Peers may communicate through pipes without knowing on which peer a pipe endpoint is bound. A message is sent to all peer endpoints currently connected (listening) to the pipe. The set of connected endpoints may be obtained from a pipe service using a pipe binding protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bernard A. Traversat, Mohamed M. Abdelaziz, Michael J. Duigou, Eric Pouyoul, Jean-Christophe Hugly, Li Gong, William J. Yeager, William N. Joy, Michael J. Clary
  • Patent number: 7167894
    Abstract: A distributed processing system includes a first computer, and a second computer that is coupled to the first computer by a computer network. The first computer also includes a first Java virtual machine and a Java control system. The second computer includes a second Java virtual machine and a Java control system client. The second computer is configured to execute a task object. The task object includes several sub-tasks including one or more common sub-tasks. The task object also includes a quantity of input data for processing by the task object and a scheduling class that schedules execution of each of the sub-tasks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Konstantin I. Boudnik, Weiqiang Zhang, Alexei Volkov
  • Patent number: 7166807
    Abstract: An integrated circuit current sensor includes a lead frame having at least two leads coupled to provide a current conductor portion, and substrate having a first surface in which is disposed one or more magnetic field transducers, with the first surface being proximate the current conductor portion and a second surface distal from the current conductor portion. In one particular embodiment, the substrate is disposed having the first surface of the substrate above the current conductor portion and the second surface of the substrate above the first surface. In this particular embodiment, the substrate is oriented upside-down in the integrated circuit relative to a conventional orientation. A current conductor portion can be deposited proximate to a surface of the substrate and proximate to the one or more magnetic field sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Allegro Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Jay Gagnon, Richard Dickinson, Michael C. Doogue, Andreas P. Friedrich, William P. Taylor
  • Patent number: 7165727
    Abstract: An application identifier (AID) comprises at least one customization parameter for an application to be installed onto a smart card. The application may be installed onto the smart card by providing the AID, instantiating the application onto the smart card, storing the AID onto the card, and configuring the application in accordance with the stored AID, wherein the application is configured in accordance with the at least one customization parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventor: Eduard K. de Jong
  • Patent number: 7167728
    Abstract: A portable telephone provides a graphical user interface (GUI) using a high-resolution display. The GUI provides a Universal Mailbox for storing both electronic mail and voicemail messages, either of which can be accessed by a user from the same display screen. An automatic reply feature allows a user to initiate an outgoing reply to a received message with the touch of a button. For a reply to a voicemail message, the GUI accesses Caller ID information to automatically identify and dial out to the phone number of the sender of the original message. For an electronic mail reply, the GUI automatically displays a reply form addressed to the source address. Reply forms may be generic, custom designed for a specific source address, or provided by the sender. An advanced call control feature automatically checks an outgoing telephone number against a database to determine whether the phone number is currently appropriate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Annette Wagner, Jeffrey Herman, Herbert Jellinek, Susan Booker
  • Patent number: 7167870
    Abstract: A method for automatically maintaining a database that stores coverage data for testing software code under development is provided. The method includes providing modified instrumented software and using test cases of a test suite to execute the modified instrumented software. Modified coverage data that includes a call tree defining a path of each test case is created. The method also includes replacing the coverage data with the modified coverage data at scheduled intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Madhava V. Avvari, Philip A. Chin, Murali K. Nandigama, Uday S. Dhanikonda
  • Patent number: 7167812
    Abstract: A system that facilitates high-sensitivity detection of anomalous signals in systems with low-resolution sensors. During system operation, a low-resolution sensor monitors a signal within the system. The system periodically polls the low-resolution sensor in a burst mode to obtain a plurality of measurements of the signal within a specified short time interval, wherein the measurements are spread across multiple quantizing bins. The system then determines a mean value for the plurality of measurements. The system repeats the steps of polling the low-resolution sensor and determining the mean value to create a time-series of mean values. This time-series of mean values is subsequently analyzed to determine whether the signal is anomalous.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Aleksey M. Urmanov, Kalyanaraman Vaidyanathan, Kenny C. Gross
  • Patent number: 7165186
    Abstract: A system and method for selectively checkpointing application components. In one embodiment this method may include deploying a plurality of application components on a server, determining checkpoint information for each application component on the server, and selectively checkpointing each component during execution of each component according to the checkpoint information for each component. In one embodiment the checkpoint information may be provided by a checkpoint selection heuristic, which makes checkpoint selections based on a description of one or more methods of the application component. In one embodiment the checkpoint information may be provided by a deployment descriptor, which may have multiple overriding tiers to facilitate precise selection of methods, components and modules for checkpointing. In one embodiment the checkpoint and activation process may include callback routines which prepare an application component for checkpointing and activation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Satish C. Viswanatham, Laurence P. Cable, Sreeram Duvur, Akm Nazrul Islam, Mark Basler, Kenneth Ebbs
  • Patent number: 7164587
    Abstract: An electromagnetic (EM) shielding assembly shields an electronic component mounted on a circuit board. The assembly includes a shielding portion that is electrically conductive and can be mounted adjacent an electronic component that it is desired shield. The shielding portion at least partially surrounds the component, thereby providing a degree of EM shielding. The assembly also includes at least one resiliently biased electrically conductive connection member in electrical communication with the shielding portion. The connection member is operable electrically to connect the shielding portion to a predetermined voltage by bearing down upon an electrically conductive contact of the circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul J. Garnett, Sean Conor Wrycraft
  • Patent number: 7165255
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for managing surplus memory in a multitasking system. The system operates by reserving a guaranteed amount of memory from a heap for a task. Heap memory not reserved for a task is surplus memory. When the system receives a request from the task to allocate memory for a new object, the system determines if memory is available within the guaranteed amount of memory. If so, the system allocates memory for the new object from the guaranteed memory. Otherwise, if available, the system reserves an additional amount of memory to the task from surplus memory in the heap. The system then allocates memory for the new object from the additional amount of memory. Allocating memory for the new object from the additional amount of memory delays garbage collection of the memory. Surplus memory can be transparently reclaimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Grzegorz J. Czajkowski, Laurent P. Daynes