Patents Examined by Tzu-Hsiang Lan
  • Patent number: 9087311
    Abstract: The invention resides in a method, system and program product for grouping related program sequences for performing a task. The method includes establishing, using a first code for grouping, one or more groups that can be formed between one or more related group-elements obtained from a plurality of groupable program flow documents, and executing, using a group program sequence engine, the groupable program flow documents, wherein each group-element considered an ancestor group-element of a group established and validated by the first code is executed before executing a related group-element obtained from the group, and wherein the related group-element of the group is executed only once during execution of the groupable program flow documents for performing the task. In an embodiment, the establishing step includes identifying a name attribute specified in the one or more related group-elements for establishing the one or more groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Martin H. Bartoy, Michael L. Gregor, Michael J. Howland, Kenneth D. King, Paul E. Rogers
  • Patent number: 8781882
    Abstract: A high performance capability assessment model helps an automotive industry business meet the challenges of the global marketplace. As a result, the automotive industry business can achieve the clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of core processes that reduce inefficiencies and waste that result from unnecessary process complexity and exceptions. In addition, the high performance capability assessment model helps the automotive industry business to identify specific areas in which improvements may be made and understand how to make the improvements, and establishes levels of capability along the way to reaching an ultimate capability goal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited
    Inventors: Ariano Arboletti, Giorgio Torresani, Nagendra Palle, Per Segerberg
  • Patent number: 8775323
    Abstract: Provided are a method and a system for providing a user tailored service using a social network service. The method includes at a user terminal, receiving a transaction approval message from a credit card company server when a customer uses a credit card, and obtaining purchase information of the customer based on the received transaction approval message, and forming a social network for sharing the purchase information of the customer with predetermined persons having a social relationship, wherein the predetermined persons include friends, family members, and colleagues of the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Kang-Yong Lee, Jaecheol Sim, Hwa-Shin Moon, Kee-Seong Cho, Won Ryu
  • Patent number: 8725546
    Abstract: A system of scheduling a plurality of jobs in a production environment may include a plurality of resources and a computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions for performing a method of processing a plurality of jobs. The method may include receiving a plurality of jobs and setup characteristics corresponding to each job. The method may also include grouping each job having a job size that exceeds a job size threshold into a large job subgroup and grouping each job having a job size that does not exceed the job size threshold into a small job subgroup. The large job subgroup may be classified as a high setup subgroup or a low setup subgroup based on the setup characteristics corresponding to each job in the large job subgroup. The large job subgroup may be routed to a large job autonomous cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Sudhendu Rai
  • Patent number: 8630893
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility management system that aggregates user posts from several social media sites contemporaneously with the posts being published to those sites. The system parses each of the aggregated posts to identify an entity that is targeted in each of the posts and presents the posts to the targeted entities in a real-time manner. The credibility management system computes a score to determine the impact that a user post would have on the credibility of a targeted entity. By presenting the computed scores and aggregated posts to the targeted entities, the credibility management system notifies the targeted entities about what is being said about them across social media, identifies the impact of those posts, and provides a platform whereby the targeted entities can reply in order to mitigate or improve the impact that the posts would have on credibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: Credibility Corp.
    Inventors: Jeffrey M. Stibel, Aaron B. Stibel
  • Patent number: 8626548
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and machine-readable media are disclosed to assign one or more tasks to a plurality of warehouse employees. In one embodiment, a method is provided which comprises receiving an order for an item stored in a warehouse. A location of the item in the warehouse can be determined. A current location of each of the warehouse employees can be determined based on a strength of a signal from a wireless device assigned to each of the warehouse employees. The signal can be detected by at least two wireless access points at different location in the warehouse. At least one of the warehouse employees can be selected to fill the order based on the current location of each of the warehouse employees and the locations of the item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Oracle International Corporation
    Inventor: Surilkumar Patel
  • Patent number: 8589206
    Abstract: A system, method, program product and service for processing a multiple service level bid in a resource management framework. A buyer's agent is provided to receive a multiple service level request from a business unit and query a resource unit broker for available resource types that can be utilized to provide at least some of the service level requirements of the multiple service level request. A mapping system is provided to map the available resource types to a list of resource sets (i.e., bidding options) and a prioritization system is provided to order the list. Once the list is ordered, a bidding system is provided to submit a bid for the highest priority resource set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gregory J. Boss, Christopher J. Dawson, Rick A. Hamilton, II, Timothy M. Waters
  • Patent number: 8527327
    Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus to determine which aspects of a project are under control and whether the trend is toward increasing or decreasing control. The degree of control is measured within and across projects for different drivers of project performance. This gives the project organization a holistic view of whether specific project enablers are driving projects out of control or contributing to bringing projects under control. This also enables organizations to use project control trends to implement corrective actions proactively. Effective project control also increases the probability that each project activity and the overall project will be completed as planned. In addition, effective project control leads to more predictable project timelines and a greater willingness for suppliers to provide fixed priced project services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Inventor: Mark Lawrence
  • Patent number: 8510147
    Abstract: A method and system for calculating pipeline integrity business risk score for a pipeline network is provided. The method includes a step of first calculating a structural risk score, an operational risk score and a commercial risk score for each pipeline segment in a pipeline network. The method further includes calculating pipeline integrity business risk score for each pipeline segment. The structural risk score, operational risk score, commercial risk score and pipeline integrity business risk score for each pipeline segment is rolled-up to calculate the respective risk scores of a pipeline network. The rolled-up risk scores are calculated by computing weight factors for each pipeline segment, relative risk scores weight of each pipeline segment and relative risk scores contribution of each pipeline segment. The system of the invention comprises executable files, dynamic linked libraries and risk score computing modules configured to display the risk scores using a dashboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Infosys Limited
    Inventors: Dipayan Mitra, Sandeep Kumar Dewangan, Larry Joesph Rubenacker, Manish Verma, Prakash Dhake, Paras Sachdeva
  • Patent number: 8489441
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention, directed to assessing quality of recorded service data, comprises the step of receiving a record containing service data at a service record evaluator. The method further comprises selecting at least one information field of a plurality of information fields contained in the received record, and determining a numerical quality score for each selected information field. Each of the quality scores is used to compute a cumulative quality score for the record, and it is determined whether the cumulative quality score is no less than a minimum quality threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John A. Bivens, Valentina Salapura, Maja Vukovic
  • Patent number: 8478624
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention, directed to assessing quality of recorded service data, comprises the step of receiving a record containing service data at a service record evaluator. The method further comprises selecting at least one information field of a plurality of information fields contained in the received record, and determining a numerical quality score for each selected information field. Each of the quality scores is used to compute a cumulative quality score for the record, and it is determined whether the cumulative quality score is no less than a minimum quality threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John A. Bivens, Valentina Salapura, Maja Vukovic
  • Patent number: 8442851
    Abstract: A system for providing feedback to a chairperson in an electronic meeting scheduling system to enable improved meeting resource management, in which a chairperson can indicate the attendance modes that are permitted for specific invitees to a meeting. The meeting invitations indicate to the invitees the attendance modes they are permitted to use. Meeting invitees are presented with user interface options allowing them to select from potentially multiple attendance modes, determined in response to inputs from the chairperson, and/or in response to information describing resources. As meeting resources are allocated to accepting invitees, those resources become unavailable for selection by subsequently accepting invitees. Meeting acceptances are collected such that indications of how accepting attendees will attend the meeting are made available in a chairperson interface so that the chairperson can adjust resources allocated for the meeting to reflect how accepting attendees are planning to attend.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corinne M. Ryan, Ruthie D. Lyle
  • Patent number: 8412551
    Abstract: A method and computer program product for optimization of large scale resource scheduling problems. Large scale resource scheduling problems are computationally very hard and extremely time consuming to solve. This invention provides a Lagrangian relaxation based solution method. The method has two distinct characteristics. First, the method is formal. It is completely structure-based and does not use any problem domain specific knowledge in the solution process, either in the dual optimization or the primal feasibility enforcement process. Second, updating the Lagrangian multipliers after solution of every sub-problem without using penalty factors results in fast and smooth convergence in the dual optimization. The combination of high quality dual solution and the structure-based primal feasibility enforcement produces a high quality primal solution with very small solution gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: ABB Research Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiaoming Feng, Yuan Liao, John Dennis Finney, Adolfo Fonseca
  • Patent number: 8392230
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility management system that aggregates user posts from several social media sites contemporaneously with the posts being published to those sites. The system parses each of the aggregated posts to identify an entity that is targeted in each of the posts and presents the posts to the targeted entities in a real-time manner. The credibility management system computes a score to determine the impact that a user post would have on the credibility of a targeted entity. By presenting the computed scores and aggregated posts to the targeted entities, the credibility management system notifies the targeted entities about what is being said about them across social media, identifies the impact of those posts, and provides a platform whereby the targeted entities can reply in order to mitigate or improve the impact that the posts would have on credibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Credibility Corp.
    Inventors: Jeffrey M. Stibel, Aaron B. Stibel
  • Patent number: 8352305
    Abstract: A system and method for synchronizing broadcast advertising inventory data between a broadcast vendor system and a media buyer's media resource planning system features a database that stores advertising inventory data received from the broadcast vendor system and the media buyer's resource planning system. A matching application in communication with the database performs a comparison between a previous package of advertising inventory data and a revised package of advertising inventory data. An analysis application in communication with the matching application and the database enables a user to review results of the comparison and directs uploading of the revised package of advertising data from the database to the media buyer's resource planning system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Starcom Mediavest Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert Vollrath, Stephen Poulin
  • Patent number: 8332247
    Abstract: Methods and systems optimize travel costs both on and off a sequence of one or more networks used to represent travel, communication, or transport of anything within a spatial medium. Such systems and methods can develop a data structure for optimizing travel costs for a region having an embedded network. The data structure includes a grid representation of the region having an array of cells covering the region, an optimal-cost grid dataset containing optimal costs for travel between an initial location in the region and cells in the grid, a hybrid grid-network dataset representing travel costs within the network, within the grid, and between the network and the grid, and back-links among elements of the hybrid grid-network dataset, reflecting optimal travel routes originating at the initial location. Methods and systems also include querying the datasets of the data structure to generate a route with an optimal travel cost from the initial location to a query point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Inventors: G. William Bailey, William A. Huber
  • Patent number: 8296176
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes accessing information regarding a visitor to a website; accessing a plurality of filters that are each associated with one of a plurality of lead buyers and being defined by a set of lead criteria specified by the associated lead buyer; and, for each of the filters, determining whether the information regarding the visitor satisfies the set of lead criteria defining the filter and, if the information regarding the visitor satisfies the set of lead criteria defining the filter, selecting the filter as a filter for which the visitor qualifies as a lead. The method includes, for each of the filters for which the visitor qualifies as a lead, accessing information indicating a potential revenue to be obtained by a lead matcher from the lead buyer associated with the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Adchemy, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Edward Chatwin, Steve Na
  • Patent number: 8285579
    Abstract: A method and system for enabling an automatic determination and allocation of product support resources. The automated process allocates support resources based on a combination of product and market requirements and historical data on resources used by similar products in similar markets. Projects requiring a support infrastructure are algorithmically classified by a combination of product complexity metrics and target market maturity metrics. Then, support infrastructure requirements are calculated based on the combined classification along with historical usage records for similarly classified products. The classification and allocation process is automated so that a product (or multiple products competing for available resources) can self-provision/request its resource requirement as a part of the product development and go-to-market process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lisbeth Ann Dineen, Verlyn Mark Johnson, John Edward Laskowski, Janet Rooney Olausen, Clark Lewis Roscher, Christina Anne Stockey
  • Patent number: 8244569
    Abstract: A system for location-based management of construction is provided. A plurality of location systems generate one or more locations where construction activities associated with one or more elements in each location can be performed. A construction activity location system associates each of a plurality of construction tasks with one of the locations. An element splitting system receives an element selection and associates one or more construction tasks of the element with two or more locations. A construction activity association system associates one or more of the plurality of construction tasks with one or more of the other construction tasks. A construction sequence system generates a sequence of construction tasks based on the layer associated with each construction task and based on the other construction tasks associated with each construction task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Vico Software Kft.
    Inventors: Olli P. P. Seppanen, Clay J. Freeman, Marcel Broekmaat
  • Patent number: 8219434
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for ad hoc coordination actions in business processes. A computer-implemented method for implementing an ad-hoc coordination action framework, extending on a business process framework, includes enabling ad-hoc coordination actions as generic callable services in a work context, implementing the ad-hoc actions as templates defining state transitions between roles participating at the work context, and enabling the work context to track state transitions as a conversation thread.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: SAP AG
    Inventor: Joerg Beringer