Abstract: What is disclosed is a method having the first step of receiving, on a routing manager port address, a set of accounting request packets from a network access server having a network access server port address. Then, parsing the accounting request packet to derive a command flag and forwarding the set of accounting request packets to an authentication server, having an authentication server port address, over the authentication server port address. The method includes the further step of generating a set of routing table modification commands for a network router based on the command flag. What is also disclosed is an apparatus having a network access server, an authentication server coupled to the network access server, and a routing manager coupled to the network access server and the authentication server. The network access server has a network access server port address, the authentication server has an authentication server port address, and the routing manager has a routing manager port address.

Abstract: Methods, devices, and systems are provided in a multi-level computer architecture which provides improved capabilities for managing courseware and other content in a shared use operating environment such as a computer network. In particular, the invention provides a commercial networked instruction content delivery method and system which does not exclude synchronous sharing but is focused on asynchronous sharing. Security in the architecture provides content property holders with the ability to know how many minutes of use an individual made of licensed material and with increased certainty that their material cannot be used, copied, or sold in usable form unless lo and until a user site is connected or reconnected to a minute-by-minute counter which is located off the premises of the user. This security link helps protect software and other works which are being sold or licensed to an individual, organization, or entity, and creates income opportunities for owners of such content.

Abstract: A method of and apparatus for managing resource allocation and bandwidth overflow in a cooperative, distributed computing environment manages data transmissions between a sourcing device and one or more listening devices through a single source plug. When a new selection request is submitted to a sourcing device, the sourcing device first determines if the selection request will exceed the bandwidth capabilities of any devices. If it is determined that the selection request will exceed the bandwidth capabilities of a device, then the sourcing device determines the status of a warning bit within the request. The warning bit specifies whether or not the sourcing device should automatically free up the necessary bandwidth and implement the selection or reject the selection request and warn the requesting device. When selections are implemented, the sourcing device maintains a record of each requesting device which has requested a selection.

Abstract: A packet is routed by “dead reckoning” on a network having a generally regular topology. The packet is received at a node where a local routing decision is made. The packet is output in a direction selected according to the routing decision. The packet carries in addition to a destination address a directional flag indicating explicitly the preferred direction of onward travel and the routing decision is made using this flag. Several flags may be used, corresponding to different dimensions of the network.

Abstract: A method for recognizing and acting upon dynamic data in a computer network such as the Internet. The method begins by having the user (at a machine connected to the computer network) define at least one data source that he or she is interested in monitoring. The data source includes information identifying a location (i.e. a URL) of the data object to be monitored, together with recognition criteria which determines whether the data source is valid. For each data source, the user may then define a set of one or more action criteria, wherein each action criteria has a given polling interval and includes information identifying a sensitivity criteria and an action to be taken if the sensitivity criteria for the data source is met. The inventive process retrieves one or more data sources from the Internet, examines the data sources according to the sensitivity criteria, and triggers actions if any of the sensitivity criteria are met.

Abstract: A system for automatic generation of personalized output from an on-line analytical processing system. The system processes at least one scheduled service in an on-line analytical processing system and generates personalized output based on personalization information for subscribers of the service to one or more subscriber output devices. The system enables a user to specify global and service-specific personalization information including specification of multidimensional filters to be applied to services and the specification of trigger criteria to be satisfied before output is generated. Personalization information may also be set for each output device for a particular subscriber.

Abstract: The invention disclosed herein enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process which allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols. The targeting also includes a time element. Information can be brought to the attention of the consumer precisely when it has become applicable, which may occur immediately upon receipt of the message, but may also occur long after the message arrives. The communications process may operate without intruding on consumers who do not exhibit the precisely-specified need for the information, and it may operate without compromising the security or privacy of the consumers who participate.

Abstract: A pilot computer can control the Web browser of at least one passenger computer. The user of the passenger computer is instructed to log onto a control site, which downloads an active control, such as an applet, to the passenger computer. An active control is also provided to the pilot computer. If the pilot computer desires to present a particular Web page to both the pilot computer and the passenger computer for, e.g., discussing the page during a conference call, the pilot computer transmits the appropriate URL to the control site, which then retrieves the Web page. Next, the control site sanitizes the page by disabling its hyperlinks, and then the control site causes the passenger computer's active control to download the sanitized page. Also, the control site filters the page such that the hyperlinks are not disabled, but are rather encoded to point back to the control site, and this filtered page is downloaded to the pilot computer.

Abstract: A message dispatch system is provided for a multi-computer server having a number of server computers connected via respective server network links. The message dispatch system, which is connectable to an external telecommunications network, includes a message dispatcher configured to receive external client requests for the multi-computer server from the external telecommunications network and to dispatch the client requests to selected server computers via the server network links. The message dispatcher is configured to determine a server to which an external client request is to be dispatched in response to parameters representative of message traffic volume on the server network links. Load balancing is performed based on parameters representative of the server network link loading, rather than, or possibly in addition to measurements on processor loading. Suitable network loading parameters can be derived by monitoring packets passing from and/or to the individual server computers.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention is a system and method for selecting a mirrored service in a network, such as the Internet, by utilizing a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) attribute. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the BGP attribute, which may be stored in a border router, is accessed for each mirrored service for a prefix associated with the user requesting a host name. The attributes from each mirrored service are compared with each other to determine a “best” attribute which meets a predetermined criteria. The mirrored service associated with the best attribute is then selected as a resolution for the host name.

Abstract: The invention disclosed herein enables a collection of computers and associated communications infrastructure to offer a new communications process which allows information providers to broadcast information to a population of information consumers. The information may be targeted to those consumers who have a precisely formulated need for the information. This targeting may be based on information which is inaccessible to other communications protocols. The targeting also includes a time element. Information can be brought to the attention of the consumer precisely when it has become applicable, which may occur immediately upon receipt of the message, but may also occur long after the message arrives. The communications process may operate without intruding on consumers who do not exhibit the precisely-specified need for the information, and it may operate without compromising the security or privacy of the consumers who participate.

Abstract: A method, system, and program for use in a data processing system for sending private messages from a single electronic message. A plurality of recipients is identified for an electronic message. A number of different sections are designated within the electronic message for separate receipt by each of a number of recipients within the plurality of recipients. Responsive to an indication to send the electronic message, an electronic message is automatically generated for each of the number of recipients, wherein the message of a given recipient within the number of recipients excludes sections within the number of sections designated for other recipients within the number of recipients.

Abstract: A system for collecting and displaying performance improvement information for a computer is implemented in a method for providing performance improvement information to a client device. The method includes the steps of receiving a request from the client device for network content, retrieving the requested network content, and transmitting the network content to the client computer with information relating to a performance improvement associated with the retrieval and/or transmission of the network content.

Abstract: An information distribution program (36) is provided for automatically distributing information over a network (24) connecting a plurality of computers (15). Each computer (15) is installed with the information distribution program (36), which comprises a family construction module (44), a publication module (40), a subscription module (42), and an information tree (46). The information tree (46) stores the most recent information available to the computer (15). The family construction module (44) organizes the various computers (15) connected to the network (24) into immediate and extended families of related computers (15). The publication module (40) automatically distributes, “publishes” or “pushes” the information to the immediate and extended family members of a computer (15) which have shown an interest in the information.

Abstract: A system for dynamically controlling a network device is implemented in a network device including a parser and a service provider. The parser includes instructions for selectively invoking the service provider in response to a command parsed from an external input received by the network device.

Abstract: A method of dynamically generating a Web page at a Web server in response to an HTTP request from a Web client in a computer network. The Web page has a hypertext reference identifying a linked page supported on each of a set of other servers in the computer network. In response to the request, a given one of the set of other servers is identified based on some given criteria, e.g., shortest access time, lightest current load, or the like. Information identifying a path to the identified other server is then inserted into the hypertext reference as the Web page (including the hypertext reference) is returned to the Web client in response to the request. Thus, if the hypertext reference is later activated by the user browsing the returned Web page, the linked page is preferentially served from the identified other server.

Abstract: A system for providing flexible billing in a cable environment can establish billing practices based on tier level of service, quality of service or the amount of network resources consumed. A plurality of tiers or levels of service can be defined by parameters including at least a maximum or peak bit rate or bandwidth for providing services over a shared channel. A plurality of levels or tiers of services are defined by maximum bandwidth or bit rate and a subscriber receives service at that subscribe-to level or at a slower data rate depending on availability of shared bandwidth. Quality of service is maintaining the specified bandwidth, jitter or delay. The amount of network resources consumed may be expressed in terms of the amount of data transmitted or the connect time of a network access device to the network.

Abstract: A message transfer arrangement includes a client node and a server node interconnected by a data link. The client node sequentially receives requests from user applications and generates, in response to each request, command messages for transmission by said interface, each command message including a command and having a transmit slot identifier identifying the request in the sequence of requests received by said request receiver and a transmit sequence identifier identifying the command message in the sequence of command messages relating to the request. The selection of whether to transmit a command message related to one request or to a subsequent request is based on a received slot identifier and a received sequence identifier in a response message. The server node receives command messages from, and transmits response messages to, the client node over the data link.

Abstract: A system and method of collecting and maintaining historical top communicator information on a communication device. The system and method is located on a communication device, which is attached to a network, and responds to internal an external data requests for host information. A top communication storage device and an RMON protocol storage device are inspected by top communicator logic for communicator information. Non-user excluded information is stored within the top communication storage device and updated periodically, along with an RMON database, according to a RMON alarm/user history poller and a user defined timer.

Abstract: A method of communicating via an electronic mail system includes creating a text portion of a message. An audio portion of the message is also recorded. The audio portion is digitized. The digitized audio portion is coupled to the text portion to form a complete message. The complete message is transmitted via the electronic mail system. The complete message is received at a destination unit, which provides for the visual displaying of the text portion of the message, together with the audio outputting of the audio portion of the message.