Abstract: A processing pipeline and method are disclosed that may enable real time video rate displacement mapping. The pipeline may include one or more: render units, texture units, memories, and displacement units. Render units may tessellate a geometric primitive into micropolygons and interpolate parameter values for each new vertex. The micropolygons may be defined by the intersection of the geometric primitive and boundaries projected from specified screen space regions. Texture units retrieve displacement values from a displacement map stored in memory. Displacement units displace each vertex of a micropolygon in the direction of the normal at each vertex by a distance based on the displacement value determined for the vertex location. Micropolygons that are displaced across a projected boundary may be returned to the render units and re-tessellated according to the projected boundaries. Parameter values for new vertices may be determined subject to an edge contract to prevent surface cracks.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing network access to internal hosts protected by a firewall is provided. A user on an external host logs in into a firewall. Once the user has been authenticated to the firewall, a session is established for the user, and tunnel configuration is transmitted to the user's process on the external host. The tunnel configuration data indicates the configuration of at least one tunnel for connecting to at least one internal host protected by the firewall. When creating a socket for connecting to the internal host, the socket is configured based on the tunnel configuration data. Tunnel objects and tunnel socket objects may be specially configured to establish a connection in a way that takes advantage of the power and simplicity of the inheritance feature of object oriented software. Various tunnel classes are provided to configure tunnels in a variety of mariners.

Abstract: In a computer system, a descriptive memory allocation system is described having a memory policy allocation module for setting memory allocation policies by an operating system in response to descriptive resource use requirements provided by an application requesting access to a specified address range in memory. The descriptive memory allocation system includes a descriptive resource allocator that uses descriptive memory use advice provided by an application to decide how to allocate memory to the application. The descriptive resource allocator includes memory allocation policies that may be set by the operating system after the operating system has determined the appropriate allocation scheme to implement based on an allocation advice provided by a requesting after the application. The application in providing its descriptive memory use information does not specify a specific allocation policy the operating system should use to allocate memory to it.

Abstract: In incremental garbage collectors based on the Train algorithm a futile condition may exist where the collector never finishes collecting an old train. The present invention provides an expanded collection set of a younger car with an object referenced from another train. That reference will be found by scanning the remembered sets of other car. If no such younger car is found, then a younger car with an external reference may be added to the collection set. One of these other cars is added to the collection set and, if there are no other changes, the collection will reduce the volume in the train being collected and therefore break the futile situation.

Abstract: Techniques for implementing virtual machine instructions suitable for execution in virtual machines are disclosed. The inventive virtual machine instructions can effectively represent the complete set of operations performed by the conventional Java Bytecode instruction set. Moreover, the operations performed by conventional instructions can be performed by relatively fewer inventive virtual machine instructions. Thus, a more elegant, yet robust, virtual machine instruction set can be implemented. This, in turn, allows implementation of relatively simpler interpreters as well as allowing alternative uses of the limited 256 (28) Bytecode representation (e.g., a macro representing a set of commands). As a result, the performance of virtual machines, especially, those operating in systems with limited resources, can be improved by using the inventive virtual machine instructions.

Abstract: A system and method of validating an application includes receiving the application and determining a set of accessed classes that are accessed by the application. The set of accessed classes are compared to a set of authorized classes to determine if one or more unauthorized classes are included in the set of accessed classes. And, validating only the applications that do not access unauthorized classes.

Abstract: Fact collection for a knowledge automation engine to use in detecting product issues on products. A knowledge automation engine may evaluate a check against a fact to detect a product issue on a product and provide a user of the product remediation information. A check may contain a product issue description, a rule to evaluate against a fact in order to detect the product issue, and remediation information to help a user address the product issue if the product issue is detected on the product. Product issues may include product installation validation and known product bugs. Facts used by the knowledge automation engine may include product configuration facts. Static facts may be collected into a fact repository. A fact collector may be used to collect facts not found in the fact repository but needed to execute checks on the knowledge automation engine.

Abstract: A method for storing a data set having an enabled probe identification component and an associated data component in a buffer, including storing the data set at a current offset if the buffer has sufficient space to store the data set between a current offset and a limit of the buffer and the buffer is not marked as wrapped, marking the buffer as wrapped, setting the current offset to zero and setting a wrapped offset to zero, if the buffer does not have sufficient space to store the data set between a current offset and a limit of the buffer, and incrementing the wrapped offset by a stored data set size until there is sufficient space between the current offset and the wrapped offset to store the data set if the buffer is marked as wrapped, wherein the stored data set size is determined using an enabled probe identification associated with the stored data set.

Abstract: A system and a method for improving magnified texture-mapped pixel performance in a single-pixel pipeline. A plurality of textured pixel addresses corresponding to a plurality of pixels may be generated. A FIFO or other memory unit may be used to linearly order the plurality of textured pixel addresses. Two consecutive textured pixel addresses out of the plurality of textured pixel addresses may be examined if they map to a common set of texels in texture space. The two consecutive textured pixel addresses may be merged together and propagated down the pipeline if they map to the common set of texels. However, only a first of the two consecutive textured pixel addresses may be propagated down the pipeline if the two consecutive textured pixel addresses do not map to a common set of texels. Texel data may be generated in response to receiving either the combined texel structure or the first of the two textured pixel addresses.

Abstract: A technique for incorporating power information in a register transfer level design involves defining a module representing an integrated circuit block having its own power grid. The integrated circuit block, when in a power off mode effectuated by a deactivation of a clock signal to the integrated circuit, uses a device dependent on a power grid of an adjoining integrated circuit block to preserve output information from the integrated circuit block to the adjoining integrated circuit block.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus by which functions may be derived from other functions in a programming language. A function is essentially processed as a class, except that the object is automatically destructed after the final line of code is executed. In one or more embodiments of the present invention, a function has the ability to inherit from a superfunction. Inheritance in this context means that all functions in the hierarchy execute in order from the lowest level superfunction to the derived function invoked by the calling statement. Further, the derived function has access to all nonprivate methods and variables defined in the superfunctions. All functions in the hierarchy remain instantiated until the derived function has executed. At this point, the functions are destructed in reverse hierarchical order. If a function in the hierarchy enters an error condition, the execution process is halted.

Abstract: Provided are a method, system and article of manufacture for a firmware image. A computer readable medium, comprises at least one data structure stored in the computer readable medium. The at least one data structure comprises a firmware image for installation on a hardware device and metadata, wherein the metadata is used to control the installation of the firmware image on the hardware device. A firmware update application on a data processing system interprets the metadata and based on the interpretation installs the firmware image on the hardware device. The firmware update application installs firmware images for different types of devices.

Abstract: A system and method for application-transparent synchronization with a persistent data store. In one embodiment, the system may include a persistent data store configured to store a plurality of data items, such as a relational database, for example. The system may further include an application configured to modify a local data subset including a local copy of a given data item. The local data subset may be a disconnected rowset object, for example. Additionally, the system may include a first synchronization provider configured to synchronize the modified local data subset with the persistent data store, where synchronization of a given modified local copy with a corresponding data item occurs transparently to the application.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for transmitting messages between communication devices via a communication channel allowing at least voice messages to be transmitted, the messages including data subdivided in a sequence of basic data units, the method including: a) encoding the basic data units as unique signals (usj) including a predetermined number of basic signals (bi), each basic signal having a unique fixed frequency (fi); b) transmitting a sequence of unique signals (usj) during a sequence of fixed time periods (t1, t2, t3, . . . ); c) receiving and decoding the sequence of unique signals (usj) into the sequence of basic data units; the data being transmitted in superposition over voice.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus providing, controlling and managing a dynamically sized, highly scalable and available server farm are disclosed. A Virtual Server Farm (VSF) is created out of a wide scale computing fabric (“Computing Grid”) which is physically constructed once and then logically divided up into VSFs for various organizations on demand. Each organization retains independent administrative control of a VSF. A VSF is dynamically firewalled within the Computing Grid. Allocation and control of the elements in the VSF is performed by a control plane connected to all computing, networking, and storage elements in the computing grid through special control ports. The internal topology of each VSF is under control of the control plane. A request queue architecture is also provided for processing work requests that allows selected requests to be blocked until required human intervention is satisfied.

Abstract: A garbage collector that reclaims memory space no longer needed by a mutator treats a generation of a dynamically allocated heap as being divided into “car” sections. For each car section, the collector maintains a remembered-set structure in which it keeps a record of the locations in the generation where the collector has previously found references to locations in that car section. The collector operates in increments in each of which it collects a respective collection set consisting of one or more of the generation's car sections. From the remembered sets associated with a collection set's car sections, it generates scratch-pad lists whose entries tell where locations identified by those remembered sets still contain references to collection-set locations. In situations in which the remembered sets are particularly large, the collector divides the operation of generating the scratch-pad lists into a plurality of collection intervals separated by mutator intervals.

Abstract: A system for creating and editing checks for a knowledge automation engine to use in detecting product issues on products. A knowledge automation engine may evaluate a check against a fact to detect a product issue on a product and provide a client of the product remediation information. A check may contain a product issue description, a rule to evaluate against a fact in order to detect the product issue, and remediation information to help a client address the product issue if the product issue is detected on the product. Product issues may include product installation validation and known product bugs. Facts used by the knowledge automation engine may include product configuration facts. Statistics on check execution results may be accumulated to provide additional information on products through their life cycle.

Abstract: The header inscription of one or more columns in a data table is reduced in horizontal width. A user having input to a first view of a data table can select a desired column at any location in the column to reduce the horizontal width of the header inscription. The header inscription is reduced in horizontal width, and a second view of the data table is displayed in which the header inscription of the selected column has reduced horizontal width. The header inscriptions of some or all columns in the data table can also be reduced in horizontal width by selection of a single column. Further, the header inscription style utilized in the reduction of the horizontal width can be user selected.

Abstract: A high density memory is disclosed wherein multiple memory cells are placed in a single cell region. To accommodate the multiple memory cells, multiple bit lines are provided. Also provided is a multiplexer circuit that is coupled to the multiple bit lines. When the memory cells in a region are activated by a common word line, they put their stored data bits onto the multiple bit lines. The multiplexer circuit then selects one of the bit lines, and provides the data bit on that bit line to a latch. In one implementation, the multiplexer circuit comprises a plurality of bit line circuits, and each bit line circuit comprises a precharge circuit, a precharge control circuit, a data sensing circuit, and a sensing control circuit. These components of the bit line circuits help to ensure that the memory operates effectively and without data corruption.

Abstract: Provided are a computer implemented method, system, and program for discovering components within a network. A discovery operation is initiated to discover a network component. Upon discovering information on one network component, an entry is added to a data store providing information on the discovered component. In response to adding the entry to the data store, at least one of a plurality of programs is called to process the added entry, wherein each called program either accepts or declines to process the added entry. One program accepting to process the added entry initiates a further discovery operation in response to accepting the added entry. A new entry is added to the data store providing information on one network component discovered during the further discovery operation, wherein at least one program is called to process the new entry in response to adding the new entry.