Patents Examined by Nan Hutton
  • Patent number: 8856159
    Abstract: A content recommendation system includes: an attribute value storage means which stores one or more attribute values of attributes for each content; a preference distribution storage means which stores a user preference degree for each attribute value; an attribute value acquisition means which acquires an attribute value of at least one attribute for each content; a preference distribution update means which updates the storage contents in the preference distribution storage means in accordance with the acquired attribute value; a condition determination means which selects an attribute value of one or more attributes in accordance with probability based on the user preference degree stored in the preference distribution storage means and determines the condition of the attribute value of the one or more attributes in accordance with the selected attribute value; and a content selection means which selects some or all of the contents in accordance with the determined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Sakamoto, Hiroki Kato, Tsuyoshi Takagi
  • Patent number: 8819089
    Abstract: An efficient method for storing relational data in a memory space uses B tree and B+ tree structures to store data for a database where non-identical values are stored in a string buffer and pointers to the string buffer are stored in a table buffer, and where identical data is stored only once, and each instance of that value in the database is referenced by a pointer to such identical data corresponding to the locations in the database where that identical value exists, thereby preserving physical memory and increasing the storage capacity of a fixed memory space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Antenna Vaultus Inc.
    Inventors: Arvind Goyal, Gennady Agranov
  • Patent number: 8751518
    Abstract: A set of search requests may be analyzed to detect fixed phrases suitable for inclusion in a search index. Sets of candidate phrases may be identified among the search requests. Fixed phrases may be detected among the candidate phrases using statistical techniques, for example, by identifying phrases having a relatively high pointwise mutual information (PMI) with respect to component keywords. Fixed phrase detection may include keyword and/or phrase clustering. Clusters may correspond to topics defined using a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) procedure. Fixed phrase detection may include identifying phrases having relatively high PMI within particular clusters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: A9.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Waseem Ahmad, Deepak Jain
  • Patent number: 8725688
    Abstract: A system and method for performing an image level restore of data is described. In some examples, the system receives a request to restore a file and transmits the request to an intermediate component. The intermediate component may then retrieve a directory file from an image of a secondary copy of a data set, identify a location of the file from the directory file, and provide the location to the requestor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: CommVault Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Kamleshkumar K. Lad
  • Patent number: 8719225
    Abstract: A system that implements a data storage service may store data on behalf of storage service clients. The system may maintain data in multiple replicas that are stored on respective computing nodes in the system. Updates to the stored data and to the membership of replica groups are propagated as replicated log records. A replica receiving a log record may compare metadata in the received log record to corresponding metadata in a log record that was previously appended to its log to determine a response. The metadata may include a sequence number, a lock generation identifier, an epoch identifier, or an indication of an epoch change. The replica may append the received log record to its log, drop the received log record, or cache the received log record for future use. If a log conflict indicates an invalid log stream branch, one or more log records may be deleted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy Andrew Rath
  • Patent number: 8706741
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for information processing may control reproducing from a play list. When reproducing is switched from a first play list to a second play list, the play list reproduction unit controls reproducing from the second play list to start from a reproduction segment of the second play list having a start time closest to a time point at which the reproducing from the first play list is stopped when the reproducing is switched from the first play list to the second play list.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Sho Murakoshi
  • Patent number: 8694515
    Abstract: Provided is an image search device which relatively easily searches a large amount of stored images for images that a user wishes to use for interpolation, and which includes: an interpolation range computing unit (103) which computes, as an interpolation range, a range of an area including a first photographing location where a first interpolation target image was taken and a second photographing location where a second interpolation target image was taken; an interpolation image candidate obtaining unit (104) which obtains, as candidate images, images whose photographing location are included in the interpolation range from the plurality of images; and an interpolation image selecting unit (106) which selects, from the candidate images, an image having a greater subject distance, which is a distance between a subject and an imaging device when the image was taken, as a traveling speed between the first photographing location and the second photographing location increases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kazutoyo Takata, Kenji Mizutani
  • Patent number: 8682871
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer-readable medium having instructions thereon for executing a method for providing object-oriented content-based exception handling in business software applications are provided. An embodiment provides for handling an exception based on both the context of a process step in a process chain of a business software application, as well as the specific content of the process. An embodiment includes the use of a database to associate content information with desired responses, in order to further automate exception handling. For those exceptions which cannot be handled in an automatic fashion, then manual intervention is requested.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: SAP AG
    Inventor: Karsten Soegaard Egetoft
  • Patent number: 8650161
    Abstract: Based on a probability of summary metadata associated with an entity of a media hosting service being inaccurate, a determination is made as to whether to verify the accuracy of the summary metadata. In response to determining to verify the accuracy of the summary metadata, a determination is made as to whether the summary metadata is inaccurate with respect to master metadata associated with the entity of the media hosting service. The summary metadata is updated with a correct value determined from the master metadata, in response to determining the summary metadata is inaccurate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Dasilva, Nicholas Austin White
  • Patent number: 8612389
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for discovering application configuration files in a system. The method includes the steps of: obtaining a process identifier of an application in concern; comparing the obtained process identifier with a process identifier of a process for operating configuration files in the system; and determining configuration files to be the configuration files of the application in concern if the obtained process identifier is identical to the process identifier of a process for operating the configuration files in the system. Application configuration files can be automatically discovered and thereby monitored, such that the change of the application configuration files can be effectively and accurately detected, so as to facilitate a user to perform various subsequent operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Tian Cheng Liu, Qiming Teng, Jie Qiu, Xiao Zhong
  • Patent number: 8549021
    Abstract: An apparatus, method, and system of generating a confidential document by adding additional information to image data are described, each of which obtains administrator setting information set by an administrator, and user setting information set by a user. Information for display to the user is controlled based on at least the administrator setting information to satisfy the requirement set by the administrator setting information even when the user setting information differs from the administrator setting information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Masaaki Ishikawa, Hiroshi Shimura
  • Patent number: 8527482
    Abstract: A method for reducing redundancy between two or more datasets of potentially very large size. The method improves upon current technology by oversubscribing the data structure that represents a digest of data blocks and using positional information about matching data so that very large datasets can be analyzed and the redundancies removed by, having found a match on digest, expands the match in both directions in order to detect and eliminate large runs of data by replace duplicate runs with references to common data. The method is particularly useful for capturing the states of images of a hard disk. The method permits several files to have their redundancy removed and the files to later be reconstituted. The method is appropriate for use on a WORM device. The method can also make use of L2 cache to improve performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Chrysalis Storage, LLC
    Inventors: Steve Heller, Ralph Shnelvar
  • Patent number: 8521751
    Abstract: A search device, a search method and a program, are provided, which improve the search speed in a longest prefix or suffix match search. At the time of registration, the search device stores an inputted registered pattern, generates one or more set of a first character string which has a length of a multiple of a predetermined number of characters and a remaining second character string by dividing the registered pattern into two, obtains a plurality of hash values by applying a plurality of hash functions to the first character string, and updates the contents which the plurality of hash values indicate. The search device extracts a partial character string of the length which is equal to the estimated length from the search key and determines whether the partial character string which is extracted is registered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Kiyohisa Ichino
  • Patent number: 8473467
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method that receives an unstructured document including a number of primitive elements. The method identifies a default set of document reconstruction operations for reconstructing the unstructured document to define a structured document. The method performs at least one of the document reconstruction operations from the default set. Based on results of the performed document reconstruction operations, the method identifies a profile for the unstructured document. The method modifies the set of document reconstruction operations for reconstructing the unstructured document according to the identified profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Robert Levy, Philip Andrew Mansfield
  • Patent number: 8380685
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises an association unit configured to divide input image data into regions and to associate each region with one or more types of objects; an addition unit configured to add metadata to each object based on the type of each object; and a determination unit configured to determine whether or not a specific object that associates a first one of the regions with a second one of the regions different from the first one is present among the objects. In the case where the determination unit has determined that the specific object is present, the addition unit is configured to further add, to a first object that is present in the first one of the regions, metadata for associating the second one of the regions with the first one of the regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Ito
  • Patent number: 8364663
    Abstract: A client generates an index token for each of a plurality of data objects received from a server as a function of at least one of the plurality of fields of the data object. The client creates an index for the plurality of data objects based on the generated index token for each data object. The client may then utilize the index to search plurality of data objects to identify and render a subset of the data objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Vladimir Dumitrean
  • Patent number: 8364714
    Abstract: A system and associated method for improving efficiency and data security of a relational database management system (RDBMS). Access path security is configured for respective users of the RDBMS, having either access-by-key or access-by-scan value. The access-by-key access path security requires an end user to specify a search key in a query as configured for the end user to service the query. Only few users with administrative capacity are configured with the access-by-scan access path security, which permits servicing queries in conventional ways without screening queries by scanning database. The RDBMS calculates the most efficient access path for the query received from the end user, and retrieves data requested by the query only when the calculated access path is permitted by the access path security for the end user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: John Kliewe
  • Patent number: 8209342
    Abstract: A data structure that includes at least one partition containing non-confidential quasi-identifier microdata and at least one other partition containing confidential microdata is formed. The partitioned confidential microdata is disguised by transforming the confidential microdata to conform to a target distribution. The disguised confidential microdata and the quasi-identifier microdata are combined to generate a disguised data structure. The disguised data structure is used to carry out statistical analysis and to respond to a statistical query is directed to the use of confidential microdata. In this manner, the privacy of the confidential microdata is preserved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, LP
    Inventors: Divesh Srivastava, Nikolaos Koudas, Ting Yu, Qing Zhang
  • Patent number: 8195668
    Abstract: In one example embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes a central website that interfaces with one or more end users to establish a profile for each of the end users to be used in matching the end users to each other for a potential relationship. Information is provided in the profile and the information includes relevant characteristics of corresponding end users. A first end user is asked one or more questions after their profile is established, the questions being posed to a second end user whose respective profile has also been established and whose profile has already been matched to the first end user's profile. Answers for the questions from the first and second end users are compared and a subsequent message is sent to the first end user if the answers provided by the first end user and the second end user are compatible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Match.com, L.L.C.
    Inventors: Ricky J. Drennan, Sharmistha Dubey, Amanda W. Ginsberg, Anna M. Roberts, Marty L. Smith, Stanley E. Woodby, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8176067
    Abstract: A set of search requests may be analyzed to detect fixed phrases suitable for inclusion in a search index. Sets of candidate phrases may be identified among the search requests. Fixed phrases may be detected among the candidate phrases using statistical techniques, for example, by identifying phrases having a relatively high pointwise mutual information (PMI) with respect to component keywords. Fixed phrase detection may include keyword and/or phrase clustering. Clusters may correspond to topics defined using a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) procedure. Fixed phrase detection may include identifying phrases having relatively high PMI within particular clusters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: A9.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Waseem Ahmad, Deepak Jain