Patents Examined by Afsar Qureshi
  • Patent number: 6993029
    Abstract: In a system in which communication is performed among a plurality of devices having a mechanism of disassembling a packet into ATM cells to send them and a plurality of devices having a mechanism of assembling the received ATM cells into the packet, a frame is prevented from being lost owing to change of virtual connections in the course of transferring the frame, improving reliability of the communication on the packet level. When the switch receives a request for change of switching, it does not processes that request at once, but confirms that the cell located at the boundary of the frame has been processed, before processing the change request, so as to protect the frame. When the switch receives a request for change of switching, it protects a frame by multicasting the cells to both destinations before change and after change, for a given period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2006
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuro Yoshimoto, Kazuho Miki, Akihiko Takase
  • Patent number: 6993035
    Abstract: The present invention describes a switching module for use either in port or speed expansion mode. The switching module is preferably used in a data transmission system consisting of a number of Local Area Networks LANs interconnected by a hub which includes a number of LAN adapters respectively connected to said LANs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2006
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alain Benayoun, Patrick Michel, Gilles Toubol
  • Patent number: 6990092
    Abstract: An iterative process for TDMA radiomobile communications where several reference sequences are distributed in each allocated timeslot. On reception, a multipath channel mesh representation and an iterative process are used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2006
    Assignee: France Telecom
    Inventor: Mohamed Siala
  • Patent number: 6990103
    Abstract: A method and apparatus that includes processing for providing distributed communication routing that begins by obtaining registration information from a plurality of forwarding engines. The processing continues by identifying the plurality of forwarding engines based on the registration information. Having done this, the process proceeds to generate at least one specific forwarding table for at least one corresponding forwarding engine of the plurality of forwarding engines. The processing then continues by forwarding the specific forwarding table to the corresponding forwarding engine. In an alternate embodiment, the processing determines internal routing connections and external routing connections for the plurality of forwarding engines after identifying the forwarding engines. The alternate processing continues by generating at least one external forwarding table, which provides forwarding information to routers external to a distributed router, for at least some of the plurality of forwarding engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2006
    Assignee: Alcatel Canada Inc.
    Inventor: Ramana V. Gollamudi
  • Patent number: 6987744
    Abstract: A system of the present invention is operative for locating a wireless mobile device in communication with a wireless local area network (WLAN) that includes a plurality of cells defining a wireless local area network each having an access point base station. The access point base stations communicate with wireless mobile devices using wireless communication signals as typically spread spectrum communication signals. A processor is operatively connected to each of the access point base stations and operative to process communication signals transmitted from a mobile device and determine which signals are first-to-arrive signals based on a common timing signal and conduct differentiation of the first-to-arrive signals to locate the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2006
    Assignee: Wherenet CORP
    Inventors: Timothy C. Harrington, Robert W. Boyd, Donald K. Belcher, David Wisherd
  • Patent number: 6982959
    Abstract: The present invention relates to defining triggers or threshold values for radio signal parameters that are used for determining whether or not to send a measurement report separately for the uplink and downlink direction. The triggers for the uplink and downlink are logically combined so that a measurement report may be sent when measurements in both the uplink and downlink satisfy the triggers, when either measurement does, or when only one of the uplink or downlink measurement does. Preferably, the measurement report is a mobile evaluated handover measurement report triggering a handover. It is preferably triggered in the mobile station when at least one upper threshold of the radio signal parameters for a mobile evaluated handover is exceeded or a lower threshold is gone under.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2006
    Assignee: Nokia Corporation
    Inventors: Oscar Salonaho, Kari Sipila
  • Patent number: 6980562
    Abstract: A method of random access by a user to a resource shared according to a protocol of the ALOHA type. If the instant of transmission of a data packet for a user that is supplied by at least one first random variable conflicts with time ranges of access to the resource that have been the object of prior booking, the random variable is temporarily modified into a modified second random variable of the same mean and greater variance as the at least one first random variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2005
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Marian Rudolf, Nicolas Voyer
  • Patent number: 6980550
    Abstract: A method for forwarding data packets to one of a plurality of servers comprising receiving a data packet from a source, at a data packet forwarding device having a plurality of ports, performing a hashing function using a unique component of the data packet as a seed value for the hash, generating a hash value using the hashing function, looking up a table for an address of one of the plurality of servers using the hashed value as an index to the table, and forwarding the data packet to a server corresponding to the address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2005
    Assignee: Extreme Networks, Inc
    Inventors: Michael Yip, Desikan Saravanan, Arthur Lin, Edward Joel Rovner, Tash Hepting, Paul Anderson, Brian Bailey
  • Patent number: 6977936
    Abstract: Service detail records (SDRs) are generated for at least two layers in a stack of protocols used in a communications network, where protocol data units (PDUs) for a lower-level protocol encapsulate PDUs for a higher-level protocol. SDRs for the higher-level protocol include pointers to SDRs for connections at the lower level which encapsulate PDUs from which the higher-level SDRs were generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Love, Brian Woodroffe
  • Patent number: 6977925
    Abstract: An optimal printed circuit board input/output switching system is provided and includes a printed circuit board having multiple input/output ports with communication channels coupling the input/output ports to a switching fabric located thereon. Two printed circuit boards may be connected with a board connector for providing switching between input/output ports of the printed circuit boards in a dual-board switching system. The switching fabrics of each printed circuit board can function as an aggregate switching fabric to provide communication channel switching between the input/output ports of the two printed circuit boards. A dual-board switching system may include a single printed circuit board having the switching fabric located thereon. A board connector facilitates modification of the switching configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Cesura, Inc.
    Inventor: David Allen Pittman
  • Patent number: 6977906
    Abstract: According to the invention there is provided a computer implemented method for provisioning broadband service in a Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) network. A PPPoE session is established, and a username is randomly chosen from a list of usernames stored on a modem. An authentication request is then transmitted from the modem to a Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS) over a PPPoE network. The BRAS subsequently load balances the authentication request between the multiple Broadband Service Nodes (BSNs) and transmits the authentication request to one of the multiple BSNs determined by the load balancing. The modem then receives authorization from at least one of the multiple BSNs. The authorization preferably comprises a temporary dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address. Full configuration details, including a static IP address, are then obtained from an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The invention also provides a system and computer program product for performing the above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Craig Braswell Owens, Lester J. Chong
  • Patent number: 6977941
    Abstract: A packet switch having a structure of writing a variable length packet received from each of input lines into a shared buffer memory on a fixed length data block unit basis, wherein a buffer controller forms an input queue for each input line and, when the last data block of a variable length packet is registered in the input queue, links a linked address list for the input queue to one or a plurality of output queues corresponding to one or a plurality of packet destination output lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masami Takahashi, Akio Makimoto, Takahiko Kozaki, Takayuki Kanno, Yasuo Oginuma, Kaori Nakayama, Mitsuhiro Wada, Norihiko Moriwaki, Masumi Fukano, Yusho Futami
  • Patent number: 6975655
    Abstract: A method of controlling data sampling clocking of asynchronous network nodes, each asynchronous network node having a local clock and transmitting and receiving packets to and from an asynchronous network according to an asynchronous network media access protocol. An asynchronous network node capable of transmitting and receiving packets on the asynchronous network is designated as a master node. Each non-master asynchronous network node which desires to synchronously transport packets across the asynchronous network is designated as a slave node. A master node clock of the master node is synchronized with a slave node clock of each slave node. Each slave node clock is continuously corrected compared with the master node clock to smooth slave clock error to an average of zero compared with the master clock as a reference using timestamp information from the master node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2005
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew James Fischer, Tracy D. Mallory
  • Patent number: 6973079
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for reallocating switching circuitry in a switching fabric are disclosed. The switching fabric is used to permit data transfer among a plurality of interface units each having a plurality of data ports. The switching fabric is partitionable into a plurality of switch planes such that each switch plane can be assigned to transfer data associated with like data ports of the interface units. Each switch plane includes multiple switching channels each assignable to transfer data associated with one data port of one of the interface units, in a full implementation. The number of interface units is less than the number of switching channels in a switch plane, then the reallocation is performed such that multiple channels of at least one switch plane can be assigned to transfer data of multiple ports of at least one of the interface units. This results in switch plane channels that would otherwise be unused being utilized to transfer data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignee: Pluris, Inc.
    Inventors: James D. Carlson, Steven J. Schwartz, Eric J. Spada, Eric J. Pelletier, Jeffrey A. Koehler
  • Patent number: 6970426
    Abstract: A metering device has a first token bucket with a profile, a rate, and a maximum number of tokens. The device has another token bucket with its own profile, two associated rates, and a maximum number of tokens. In operation, the device monotonically increments the number of tokens in the first token bucket at its rate if the bucket has less than the maximum number of tokens for that bucket, and monotonically increments the number of tokens in the other token bucket at the same rate if the first token bucket is full and the other token bucket is not. Additionally, the device monotonically increments the number of tokens in the second token bucket according to the second rate associated with the token bucket if it is not full.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: Extreme Networks
    Inventor: Stephen R. Haddock
  • Patent number: 6970435
    Abstract: An apparatus and method that correct skew associated with data receive from different transmission links. A known training pattern is sent through the transmission links. The training pattern is recovered and forwarded through delay registers/selecter logic to a memory buffer. A programmed controller accesses the memory and searches for the training pattern. If the training pattern is found for each transmission link, the offsets between the transmission links are determined and are used by the delay registers/selecter logic to adjust the position of the pattern so that the patterns from each link is linearly aligned within the memory buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Buchanan, John Marshall, Christopher G. Riedle
  • Patent number: 6970422
    Abstract: A method and a system for a quality of service (QoS) point coordinator (PC) for a basic service set (BSS) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) is disclosed. The PC includes a QoS management entity (QME) and an admission control entity (ACE). The QME receives at least one reservation request message that characterizes one of a QoS session and a QoS application (session/application) that can be of a continuoustperiodic flow type that is time sensitive, or can be of a discontinuous/bursty flow type that is time tolerant. The reservation request message contains at least one QoS parameter set and requests a resource of a communication channel in the BSS for the QoS session/application. The communication channel is organized into superframes, such that each superframe includes a contention-free period (CFP) and a contention-period (CP). The reservation request message requests apredetermined bandwidth of each CFP of the communication channel in the BSS.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: AT&T Corp.
    Inventors: Jin-Meng Ho, Wei Lin
  • Patent number: 6965582
    Abstract: A cellular radio communication system operating in accordance with a time division multiple access protocol assigns different fractional loading factors to different time slots. As a result, as well as because of the effects of local propagation conditions, different time slots will have different interference levels. A mobile station in a worst-case propagation environment (such as near the edge of a cell or when subject to severe shadowing fading) can be assigned a time slot having a low interference level, while a mobile station in a good propagation environment can be assigned a time slot having a higher interference level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Timothy J. Moulsley
  • Patent number: 6961323
    Abstract: A technique whereby a subscriber of a multiple access communication network such as a cellular communication system is permitted to make a reservation to guarantee availability of a shared physical communication resource, such as a cellular radio telephone traffic channel, at an appointed date, time and location. The reservation is made in advance by the subscriber requesting the network to mark a requested resource for the subscribers exclusive use during the requested period of time. The reservation may be made any number of ways, such as through the subscriber terminal itself, by making arrangements themselves or on their behalf by others at a conference call center, through Web servers connected through the Internet, or by other means. Whenever a resource of the requested type is available during the requested period, the controlling stations in the network reserve that resource for that subscribers' exclusive use as the appointed time draws near.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2005
    Assignee: Cisco Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaode Xu, Wenfeng Huang, Ian Sayers
  • Patent number: 6959005
    Abstract: A system providing a framework for the negotiation of a dual-channel communication protocol between modems connected by a communications link. The dual-channel communications link includes a data channel used for sending and receiving data or code and a command channel for sending and receiving command and status information. Enhanced capabilities include providing that data on the data channel may be compressed using one of a plurality of compression algorithms, data may also be encrypted using one of a plurality of encryption algorithms. Additionally, LCP spoofing is provided as a way to reduce the time required to establish PPP links.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2005
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce P. Osler, Kevin Riley