Abstract: A method for facilitating sharing of widget programs among a plurality of personal electronic devices is disclosed. The method includes establishing a database of the widget programs capable of being executed by the plurality of personal electronic devices. The method further includes receiving, over a communication network, a widget forwarding request from at least one of the plurality of personal electronic devices. An instance of a selected one of the widget programs is then transmitted, in response to the widget forwarding request, to another of the plurality of personal electronic devices.

Abstract: Systems and methods for gesture recognition for input device applications are described. In one embodiment, a system for gesture recognition includes a pair of IR LED emitters, an imaging module such as a camera or other imaging device, an LED emitter control module and a processing module. The IR LEDs generate IR light to highlight a target from one or more angles, and the received images are processed to identify target position and/or motion to provide output data based on the determined target position and/or motion.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing, sharing, storing and playing widgets and associated media content on a personal audiovisual device, such as a digital photo frame, are described. In one implementation, widgets may be selected by a user for rendering based on capabilities of a user's device, with the widgets then provided to the device for playback. Digital content such as audio files, images, and/or video may be rendered in conjunction with playback of the widget. Widgets may be shared between users so as to facilitate sharing of media content.

Abstract: A method for automatically updating software executed by an electronic device is disclosed herein. The method includes receiving, at the electronic device, an update indication from a server that updated software is available for the electronic device. The method further includes modifying, in response to the update indication, a boot state of the electronic device and initiating operation of the electronic device in an update mode. The updated software is received, at the electronic device, during operation in the update mode. The method further includes initiating, upon determining the updated software has been correctly received, operation of the electronic device in a normal mode.

Abstract: A method for automatically updating software executed by an electronic device is disclosed herein. The method includes receiving, at the electronic device, an update indication from a server that updated software is available for the electronic device. The method further includes modifying, in response to the update indication, a boot state of the electronic device and initiating operation of the electronic device in an update mode. The updated software is received, at the electronic device, during operation in the update mode. The method further includes initiating, upon determining the updated software has been correctly received, operation of the electronic device in a normal mode.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed to control power consumption within a processor. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes logic to identify at least one instruction type and to initialize a counter value corresponding to a maximum number of instructions to be performed, the maximum number being at least partially dependent upon the identified at least one instruction type. The example apparatus also includes processing logic to be enabled or disabled based, at least in part, on the counter value.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing, sharing, storing and playing widgets and associated media content on a personal audiovisual device, such as a digital photo frame, are described. In one implementation, widgets may be selected by a user for rendering based on capabilities of a user's device, with the widgets then provided to the device for playback. Digital content such as audio files, images, and/or video may be rendered in conjunction with playback of the widget. Widgets may be shared between users so as to facilitate sharing of media content.

Abstract: Method, apparatus and system embodiments provide support for multiple SoEMT software threads on multiple SMT logical thread contexts. A thread translation table maintains physical-to-virtual thread translation information in order to provide such information to structures within a processor that utilize virtual thread information. By associating a thread translation table with such structures, a processor that supports simultaneous multithreading (SMT) may be easily retrofitted to support switch-on-event multithreading on the SMT logical processors.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed to control power consumption within a processor. An example processor disclosed herein comprises an instruction retirement unit; a first set of functional blocks to process a first set of instructions having a first instruction type; a second set of functional blocks to process a second set of instructions having a second instruction type; and a controller to enable the first set of functional blocks to process an instruction allocated to the instruction retirement unit if the type of the instruction is the first type, and to disable the first set of functional blocks after the instruction is retired by the instruction retirement unit.

Abstract: A technique for sharing register resources within a microprocessor. Embodiments of the invention pertain to a register sharing technique within a microprocessor for multiple-threads of instructions that facilitates an optimal number of physical registers to be mapped to a desired number of logical registers without incurring significant hardware overhead.

Abstract: Short-quasi-unique-identifiers (SQUIDs) are generated and assigned to the data objects stored in memory. Pointers to a particular data object contain the data object's assigned SQUID. If a data object is moved to a second allocated memory segment, a new pointer to the second allocated memory segment is placed at the original memory segment, so that any pointers to the original memory segment now point to the new pointer. The distribution of SQUIDs is uniform. SQUIDs can be generated by counting, generated randomly, generating through some hashing mechanism, or other means. In comparing two different pointers, it is determined that the two pointers do not reference the same data object if the SQUIDs are different. On the other hand, if the SQUIDs are identical and the address fields of the two pointers are identical, then the two pointers reference the same data object.