Patents by Inventor Alan Shields

Alan Shields has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20070143792
    Abstract: An extensible mechanism for storage and interchange of objects is described herein. According to first aspect of the disclosure, objects having respective class definitions are received. The objects are represented in an interchange format by mapping the class definitions of the objects to corresponding fields defined within the interchange format. According to a second aspect of the disclosure, the objects are loaded into a persistent store by mapping the class definitions of the objects to corresponding fields of the store. According to at least a third aspect of the disclosure, a data structure for a unique identifier element is described, along with processes using the unique identifier element to determine whether to update an existing object in the store, or to create a new object in the store.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2006
    Publication date: June 21, 2007
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Colin Acton, Frederic Azera, Constantin Stanciu, Samuel Clement, Stephen Husak, Alan Shield, Andrew Simms
  • Publication number: 20060026662
    Abstract: A multi-standard receiving device processes broadcast transmission signals that use multiple differing transmission standards. Processing entails conversion of the transmission standard's protocol standard into a normalized transport agnostic representation in order to allow consistent manipulation of a broadcast transmission signal's contents regardless of the transmission standard.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Publication date: February 2, 2006
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Shield, Shawn Pickett, Glenn Curtis, Thaddeus Pritchett, Eric Silverberg
  • Publication number: 20060025093
    Abstract: A multi-receiving device receives broadcast transmission signals based on different transmission standards. A determination is made as to a particular transmission standard that is used by a received broadcast transmission signal, and the receiving device is configured as to the particular transmission standard in order to parse or process metadata included in the received broadcast transmission signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Publication date: February 2, 2006
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Shield, Shawn Pickett, Glenn Curtis, Thaddeus Pritchett
  • Publication number: 20060026643
    Abstract: Various embodiments provide accurate EPG lineup construction and PVR scheduling for users, regardless of their geographic location. In accordance with the described embodiments, the guide retrieves and aggregates data from multiple available sources, particularly in-band scanning and EPG metadata download. Services are then identified and sorted into logically equivalent groups. Once the services are grouped, in accordance with one embodiment, an analysis is conducted the outcome of which is directed to selecting which services to use for tuning and which services to use for scheduling on a given channel/preset. In addition, various embodiments can, in an automated fashion, assign services to presets/channels, as well as provide a user interface and methods for editing a lineup, modifying tuning information and personalizing presets/channels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Publication date: February 2, 2006
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Eric Silverberg, Alan Shield, Christopher Pezzee, Glenn Curtis, Shawn Pickett, Thaddeus Pritchett, Mark Schwesinger
  • Patent number: 6882119
    Abstract: The lamp circuit includes a power supply, a main switch, and a light and control circuit all serially connected, the light and control circuit wherein the following elements connected in parallel: a first light-producing element capable of producing light of a first type and serially connected to a first switch member; a second light-producing element capable of producing light of a second type and serially connected to a second switch member; and a control circuit member selectively commanding either one of the first switch member, the second switch member and both the first and second switch members to be closed upon the main switch closing the lamp circuit, the first and second switch members remaining opened if not commanded otherwise by the control circuit member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Inventor: Alan Shields
  • Publication number: 20040090190
    Abstract: The lamp circuit includes a power supply, a main switch, and a light and control circuit all serially connected, the light and control circuit comprising the following elements connected in parallel:
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2003
    Publication date: May 13, 2004
    Inventor: Alan Shields