Abstract: A 120 degree bump placement layout for an integrated circuit power grid is provided. This layout improves integrated circuit performance and reliability and gives an integrated circuit designer added flexibility and uniformity in designing the integrated circuit. Further, a patterned bump array for a top metal layer of an integrated circuit having a plurality of 120 degree bump placement structures is provided.

Abstract: A method and system that manage upgrades in a high-availability computer system by viewing the upgrade process as driving the system between a succession of stable configurations. The mechanism used by a described embodiment is an availability manager that is capable of ascertaining the state of each component and driving it toward a goal state by driving toward a succession of desired stable configurations. A high-level orchestration agent instructs the availability manager when a stable configuration has been reached and it is time to drive toward a next stable configuration.

Abstract: A mother board retaining bracket is mounted to an outer circuit board housing and supports an edge of a mother board. The mother board retaining bracket prevents the mother board from moving, e.g., during transportation, and prevents the associated failure of the computer system. The computer system further includes single and double locker belt retaining brackets. The single locker belt retaining bracket extends across a retaining clip on one side of a circuit board and locks the retaining clip in place. The double locker belt retaining bracket extends across retaining clips on both sides of a circuit board and locks the retaining clips in place. In this manner, the single and double locker belt retaining brackets prevent the retaining clips from becoming shook loose.

Abstract: A heat sink assembly includes a retainer having a body, a finger extending from the body and legs extending from the body. The assembly further includes a heat sink having a base and fins extending from the base, where slits in the fins define a trench. A package which includes an electronic device is located between a circuit board and the heat sink and the retainer holds the heat sink in place. To secure the heat sink with the retainer, the retainer is positioned so that the finger of the retainer is aligned with the trench of the heat sink and the legs of the retainer are aligned to slide around the circuit board. The retainer is then moved to slide the finger into the trench and the legs around the circuit board.

Abstract: A system and method is provided for non-invasive testing of smart cards. In a preferred embodiment, a host computer is connected to a controller, which is then connected, through a switch, to at least one computing device and at least one testing device. The testing device further includes a card terminal and a probe. Each probe includes a motor that is coupled to a cylindrical tube. The motor-tube configuration is used to actuate a card detect sensor in the card terminal. In response to a command provided by the host computer, the controller initiates a particular test. In one test, for example, the motor-tube configuration is used to simulate repeated insertions and removals of smart cards.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a distributed store configured to maintain a primary state of session data. The system may also include one or more application servers that each may include a client state of the session data for access by clients of the system. The session data may include one or more attributes. An application server may track accesses of the attributes. In one embodiment, the application server may track accesses of the attributes by storing information identifying the accessed attributes. The distributed store may synchronize the primary state with the client state using the tracked accessed attributes. In some embodiments, the application server may perform a binary or object graph comparison of the tracked accessed attributes and a benchmark of the session data to determine the attributes that are modified, and the distributed store may synchronize the primary state with the client state using only the modified attributes.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a primary state of session data. Application servers may include client states of the session data and may access the primary state. The session data may include attributes. An application server may generate a set of attributes of the session data for synchronizing the primary state with the client state. The set may exclude immutable attributes. In some embodiment the set may further exclude attributes only immutably accessed and/or further exclude attributes that were not accessed. In some embodiments, the application server may use a binary comparison or an object graph comparison of the set of attributes to a benchmark of the client state to determine a subset of the generated set of attributes that are modified. The distributed store may synchronize the primary state with the client state using the generated set of attributes or, in some embodiments, using only the modified attributes.

Abstract: Methods for establishing communication between computing entities are provided. In one example, a service model illustrates communication with a web server using a service proxy to manage a communication exchange. The service model includes a dispatcher within the service proxy to process the communication exchange. The processing of the communication exchange includes defining a request, defining a container in which to enclose the request, defining a post request event to dispatch the container with the request, and defining a response container for obtaining a response to the request. The container with the request is transmitted through the web server to a service for a responding entity. The service uses a delegate registry to map the request to a delegate which obtains a response from the responding entity. The response is formatted and transmitted through the web server to the service proxy which provides the response to the requesting entity.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a primary state of session data. One or more application servers may include client states of the session data and may be configured to access the primary state. The session data may include one or more attributes. The distributed store may lock the primary state for access by a process executing on one of the application servers. Information may be maintained on which attributes are mutably accessed by the process. An object graph comparison of the mutably accessed attributes and a benchmark version of the attributes may be performed to determine which of the mutably accessed attributes were actually modified. The modified attributes may be used to synchronize the primary state with the client state.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a distributed store configured to maintain a primary state of session data. The system may also include one or more application servers that each may include a client state of the session data. The session data may include one or more attributes. In one embodiment, the client state may be accessible by clients of the system. The application server may compare the client state to a benchmark of the client state to determine a subset of the attributes that have been modified in the client state. In some embodiments, the comparison may be a binary differencing or object graph differencing of the client state and the benchmark of the client state to locate the modified attributes. The distributed store may synchronize the primary state with the client state using the subset of the attributes.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a primary state of session data. Application servers may include client states of the session data and may access the primary state. The session data may include attributes. The distributed store may provide locked access to the primary state to processes executing within the application servers. While one process has locked access, other processes are not allowed to access the primary state. In one embodiment, the distributed store provides locked access to portions of the primary state to threads executing within a process with locked access. While a portion of the primary state is locked for a thread, other threads cannot access the portion. In one embodiment, the distributed store may request the process to release the locked access. The process may release the locked access in response to the request. In one embodiment, the process may release the locked access when no longer needed.

Abstract: A registration service enables one or more plug-in applications to register with a web-based application. The web-based application may be, for example, a management console for managing items in a distributed environment. The registration service enables plug-in applications to register dynamically or statically. Dynamic registration enables the web-based console to continue executing while registration is performed. In contrast, static registration occurs during initialization of the web-based console. Each plug-in application provides a registration descriptor containing information regarding the plug-in application. The registration descriptor is processed by the registration service to facilitate registration of the plug-in application.

Abstract: A client-server system may include a distributed store configured to maintain a primary state of session data including one or more attributes. One or more other nodes may include other instances of the primary state. The system may compare the primary state to a benchmark primary state to generate a subset of the attributes of the session data that have been modified in the primary state. Another instance of the primary state may be synchronized with the primary state using the subset of the attributes. In one embodiment, the comparing may include performing binary differencing of binary representations of the primary state and the benchmark primary state to determine the modified attributes. In another embodiment, the comparing may include performing object graph differencing of object graph representations of the primary state and the benchmark primary state to determine the modified attributes.

Abstract: Modified full-rail differential logic circuits are activated by a delayed clock and include a sense amplifier circuit that is triggered by a second delayed clock. The addition of the sense amplifier circuit, and second delayed clock signal allows the sense amplifier circuit to act as the driver and therefore there is no need for increasing the size of the differential logic network to provide a driver function. Consequently, the modified full-rail differential logic circuits of the invention are capable of operating efficiently under heavy load conditions without the increased size and the significant reduction in speed associated with prior art full-rail differential logic circuits.

Abstract: Authentication and session management can be used with a system architecture that partitions functionality between a human interface device (HID) and a computational service provider such as a server. An authentication manager executing on a server interacts with the HID to validate the user when the user connects to the system via the HID. The authentication manager interacts with authentication modules. Each authentication module may be configured to authenticate a user based on a different authentication mechanism (e.g., using a smart card, using a login and password, using biometric data, etc.) and may be utilized in connection with one or more sessions. The authentication manager and authentication modules are also responsible for controlling access to services/sessions and may remove/revoke or augment such access. A session manager executing on a server manages services running on computers providing computational services (e.g., programs) on behalf of the user.

Abstract: An object-oriented interrupt processing system in a computer system creates a system database including a device namespace containing an entry for each device in the computer system and an interrupt namespace containing an entry for each interrupt source, arranged as an Interrupt Source Tree. Each entry in the Interrupt Source Tree is cross-referenced to a corresponding entry in the namespace and contains a reference to an interrupt handler for the corresponding interrupt source. When an interrupt occurs, a single interrupt dispatcher is invoked, to access the Interrupt Source Tree and cause execution of the corresponding interrupt handler.

Abstract: A delay locked loop having an adjustable capacitance stage is provided. The adjustable capacitance stage facilitates a selective post-silicon adjustment of capacitance amounts between a DLL loop filter capacitance and a power supply noise filter capacitance, thereby allowing a designer to reduce capacitance area space wastage and to obtain an optimal DLL performance level.

Abstract: Network address (e.g. IP address) allocation under first and second protocols (e.g. RADIUS and DHCP) is achieved using a directory service. A common network address pool is maintained under the control of a directory service. The directory service allocates network addresses in response to requests. The directory service also maintains a record of network address allocation to users, which can be achieved by storing a network address allocated to a user at the user's entry in the directory. Thus, for example, IP address allocation under RADIUS and DHCP can be unified using a common address pool and mappings between IP addresses and the user/hosts information in an ISO/CCITT X.500 based directory service using LDAP.

Abstract: A multilingual agent of the present invention assists clients and users of clients in locating, accessing, and understanding documents on servers and also assists servers and providers of servers in making documents on the servers available to clients and users of clients, regardless of the languages in which the documents are written. A networked computer system in which the preferred embodiment of the present invention operates includes a client, a server, and a multilingual agent connected to one another via a network. The multilingual agent includes a document analyzer, a language identifier, a language converter, and a link modifier. In the operation of one aspect of the multilingual agent of the present invention, when the client retrieves a document from the server, the multilingual agent determines whether the document is written in a language that is unfamiliar to the user of the client.

Abstract: A server housing assembly includes a main chassis and a bezel assembly. The main chassis preferably has a 1U form factor. The bezel assembly includes a bezel chassis slidably received by the main chassis such that the bezel assembly is slidable between an inward position and an outward position with respect to the main chassis. The bezel assembly includes a bezel pivotally coupled to the bezel chassis to be pivotable between an upper position and a lower position with respect to the main chassis. The main chassis includes main electronic components, and the bezel assembly includes bezel electronic components electrically coupled or coupleable to the main electronic components. The bezel assembly is operatively associated with the main chassis such that the bezel electronic components remain electrically coupled to the main electronic components through all positions of the bezel assembly or the bezel.