Patents by Inventor Bruce E. Martin

Bruce E. Martin 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).

  • Method and apparatus for determining equality of objects in a distributed object environment
    Patent number: 6697877
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing relationships among objects in a distributed object environment includes a method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to identical objects; a method and apparatus for providing a unique identifier for an object; a method and apparatus for checking role types for the formation of relationships; and a method and apparatus for caching role and object locations in roles in a relationship. In the method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to the same object, a unique object identifier is compared to determine if the objects referred to by the object references are identical. The unique identifier is provided by concatenating information identifying the machine address of the process that created the object in addition to the process ID, the time of creation and a process counter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2004
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce E. Martin, Jefferson A. Dinkins, Mark W. Hapner
  • Method and apparatus for managing relationships among objects in a distributed object environment
    Patent number: 5815710
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing relationships among objects in a distributed object environment includes a method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to identical objects; a method and apparatus for providing a unique identifier for an object; a method and apparatus for checking role types for the formation of relationships; and a method and apparatus for caching role and object locations in roles in a relationship. In the method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to the same object, a unique object identifier is compared to determine if the objects referred to by the object references are identical. The unique identifier is provided by concatenating information identifying the machine address of the process that created the object in addition to the process ID, the time of creation and a process counter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1998
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce E. Martin, Jefferson A. Dinkins, Mark W. Hapner