Abstract: A system and method for analyzing and managing business performance by designing and evaluating the performance of a business process model comprising a flow of business tasks and artifact sources that generate business artifacts. Business processes may be parsed to identify transformation opportunities meeting transformation conditions specified in a transformation knowledge. One or more identified transformation opportunities may be adopted, and parts of the process may be transformed according to transformation rules specified in a transformation knowledge. Analytics and computer simulation may be employed to evaluate business performance metrics of each of said transformed business processes. Iterative changes may be made to said business processes to manage business performance, reiterating transformation and evaluation steps until a satisfactory business process model is obtained.

Abstract: A computer implemented method and a computer system implementing the method of a business process transformation wizard leads a business analyst through a series of steps to invoke business transformation patterns, in order to analyze the results of those processes. The wizard first prompts the business analyst to specify business objectives of process transformation. Required parameters are added to the business process model guided by the business process transformation wizard until the business process model is completed. Once the model is completed, the wizard prompts the business analyst to select transformation techniques or patterns for optimizing process parameters and, for each selected transformation pattern, optimizes process parameters using a selected optimization technique.

Abstract: To support a purchase or a production of a product by accurately predicting a sold amount of the product.

Abstract: A system and method which support determination of a design process order. The system includes: a storage device that stores constraint data indicating a strength of a constraint that is given to a respective design process from a respective of the other design processes; a detection unit that accesses the storage device to detect, from the constraint data, a loop of relationships concerning a design process receiving a constraint from another design process; a selection unit that accesses the storage device to select, from the detected loop, a pair capable of canceling the loop when the pair is deleted and having a minimum total constraint strength; and an output unit that deletes the selected constraint pair from the constraint data and outputs data indicating a constraint that is to be satisfied by each design process.

Abstract: A computer implemented method and a computer system implementing the method of a business process transformation wizard leads a business analyst through a series of steps to invoke business transformation patterns, in order to analyze the results of those processes. The wizard first prompts the business analyst to specify business objectives of process transformation. Required parameters are added to the business process model guided by the business process transformation wizard until the business process model is completed. Once the model is completed, the wizard prompts the business analyst to select transformation techniques or patterns for optimizing process parameters and, for each selected transformation pattern, optimizes process parameters using a selected optimization technique.

Abstract: A system and method for analyzing and managing business performance by designing and evaluating the performance of a business process model comprising a flow of business tasks and artifact sources that generate business artifacts. Business processes may be parsed to identify transformation opportunities meeting transformation conditions specified in a transformation knowledge. One or more identified transformation opportunities may be adopted, and parts of the process may be transformed according to transformation rules specified in a transformation knowledge. Analytics and computer simulation may be employed to evaluate business performance metrics of each of said transformed business processes. Iterative changes may be made to said business processes to manage business performance, reiterating transformation and evaluation steps until a satisfactory business process model is obtained.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for arranging a progress schedule of a project includes steps for causing a computer to execute multiple simulations of the project, to select the simulation results indicating that the project would not be complete by the deadline among all the obtained simulation results, to modify the schedule of the selected results by increasing the workload per day for each process so that the project would be completed by the deadline, and to present the increased workload per day as recommended workload per day for each process.

Abstract: An impact of a change in design information is defined as a sum of an additional work amount that must be reworked in each design process referring to the design information. At a time of requesting an impact analysis of a design change, all processes referring to certain design information to be changed are extracted from a project monitoring unit. An impact of the change in the referred design information on each extracted process is calculated. With respect to design information created on the basis of the referred design information in each extracted process, the maturity levels at a time when the process makes a reference and at a time when the reference design information is changed are obtained. Then, the difference therebetween is determined as the work amount that may possibly become useless.

Abstract: A system for and method of supporting preparation of an operation schedule table for a development project, including an input accepting section for accepting, for each of a plurality of components to be developed, an input of a utilization method by which a first development project having a timetable already prepared is used in a second development project for which a new timetable is generated; a plan conversion section for converting, for each of the components, a plurality of operation processes planned in the first development project based on the utilization method for each of the components, to generate a plurality of operation processes for developing the components in the second development project; and a schedule section for scheduling the respective operation processes to generate a timetable for the second development project.

Abstract: A computer implemented method and a computer system implementing the method of a business process transformation wizard leads a business analyst through a series of steps to invoke business transformation patterns, in order to analyze the results of those processes. The wizard first prompts the business analyst to specify business objectives of process transformation. Required parameters are added to the business process model guided by the business process transformation wizard until the business process model is completed. Once the model is completed, the wizard prompts the business analyst to select transformation techniques or patterns for optimizing process parameters and, for each selected transformation pattern, optimizes process parameters using a selected optimization technique.

Abstract: To support a purchase or a production of a product by accurately predicting a sold amount of the product.

Abstract: A system for authenticating digital data capable of preventing change or disguise of data by improvement or interchange in case of no confidentiality in the data itself so as to maintain the data. When writing digital data from an input device to a memory and transferring the digital data from the memory to a receiving device, device authentication is performed between the input device and the memory and between the memory and the receiving device respectively. At the same time, when writing digital data to the memory, in the case of implementing on the digital data an electronic signature by a one-way hash function and also reading from the memory and transferring the digital data, the implemented electronic signature is decrypted so as to transfer the digital data after ensuring that it has not been changed since it was recorded. Thus, it is possible to prevent change or disguise of data by improvement or interchange in case of no confidentiality in the data itself so as to maintain the data.

Abstract: A system and method for analyzing and managing business performance by designing and evaluating the performance of a business process model comprising a flow of business tasks and artifact sources that generate business artifacts. Business processes may be parsed to identify transformation opportunities meeting transformation conditions specified in a transformation knowledge. One or more identified transformation opportunities may be adopted, and parts of the process may be transformed according to transformation rules specified in a transformation knowledge. Analytics and computer simulation may be employed to evaluate business performance metrics of each of said transformed business processes. Iterative changes may be made to said business processes to manage business performance, reiterating transformation and evaluation steps until a satisfactory business process model is obtained.

Abstract: A method (and system) for simulating an implementation model of a business solution includes simulating business artifacts that invoke the implementation model of the business solution, at least one of simulating and executing a component of the business solution during at least one intermediate stage of a development and integration lifecycle of the implementation model, and analyzing results from the simulation of the implementation model during said at least one intermediate stage of the development and integration lifecycle of the implementation model, thereby allowing a user to simulate an implementation model using both real solution components and simulated solution components.

Abstract: To provide an electronic watermark method and system for which the detection reliability of embedded information does not depend on the strength of signals that are measured in frames. To achieve the above object, information is prepared for embedding as a bit stream, the sign of the bit stream being changed in accordance with a sign inversion cycle, and the bit stream being embedded in a frame. As for detection of information, values obtained through observation of frames are accumulated, and the accumulated values are compared with threshold values that are varied in accordance with the accumulated values obtained by observation. The comparison results are then employed to detect the embedded information.

Abstract: To provide an electronic watermark method and system for which the detection reliability of embedded information does not depend on the strength of signals that are measured in frames. To achieve the above object, information is prepared for embedding as a bit stream, the sign of the bit stream being changed in accordance with a sign inversion cycle, and the bit stream being embedded in a frame. As for detection of information, values obtained through observation of frames are accumulated, and the accumulated values are compared with threshold values that are varied in accordance with the accumulated values obtained by observation. The comparison results are then employed to detect the embedded information.

Abstract: The invention makes it possible to properly certify a genuine owner, and to inhibit deterioration of image quality of media information to which an embedding operation is performed by adaptively determining amount of embedding for characteristic values such as pixel values. It includes a data hiding method for embedding message data into media data comprising the steps of obtaining a secondary key by inputting a key having a predetermined value to a specified function; determining hiding positions in which the message data will be embedded according to the obtained secondary key, and selecting one of plural hiding functions according to the secondary key so that the selected hiding function is used for each of the determined hiding positions; and embedding the message data into each of the determined hiding positions according to the selected hiding function corresponding to the hiding position.

Abstract: A method and system for displaying a three-dimensional object without requiring depth sorting of polygons or z-buffer calculation. The three-dimensional space is divided into rectangular parallelepipeds and tetrahedrons. A determination of the depth order of the rectangular parallelepipeds and tetrahedrons is made based on a view vector. The rectangles and tetrahedrons are then processed in order of depth from the furthest from the view point to the nearest. As each tetrahedron is processed, geometric data of a polygon containing the iso-valued surface is determined, the intensity of illumination calculated and the polygon data transferred to the display apparatus for display. The method and system of the present invention avoid the need for large memories to store intermediate data.

Abstract: To render a three-dimensional object by using a plurality of dots, surfaces forming the three-dimensional object are divided into several regions based on curvature of the surfaces forming the object. A plurality of dots are arranged on the surfaces forming the object in accordance with rules which are different with respect to the different regions. To render a sphere by using a plurality of dots, spherical surfaces of the sphere are divided into polar regions and the equatorial region. In polar regions, dots whose number increase in accordance with radius around the axis of revolution are distributed at an equal interval on coaxial circumferences on polar regions. In the equatorial region, a certain number of dots are distributed at an equal interval on coaxial circumferences on the equatorial region so that a dot on the circumference are placed between dots on adjacent circumferences in the equatorial region.

Abstract: An electronic zigzag sewing machine is provided with a presser foot including a switch lever pivotable between a first and second position. During buttonhole stitching operation the switch lever remains in the first position, but it is shifted to the second position when either one of longitudinal ends of a buttonhole is detected. A photo-sensor is mounted to the presser foot to output a detection signal when the switch lever is in the second position. A pattern number designating a specific stitch pattern of the buttonhole stitches is renewed to the next in response to the detection signal from the photo-sensor. A control system is provided to nullify operation of the photo-sensor during production of bar tacks of the buttonhole stitches so that the pattern number is not renewed in areas of the bar tacks irrespective of output of the detection signal.