Abstract: The virtual supercomputer is an apparatus, system and method for generating information processing solutions to complex and/or high-demand/high-performance computing problems, without the need for costly, dedicated hardware supercomputers, and in a manner far more efficient than simple grid or multiprocessor network approaches. The virtual supercomputer consists of a reconfigurable virtual hardware processor, an associated operating system, and a set of operations and procedures that allow the architecture of the system to be easily tailored and adapted to specific problems or classes of problems in a way that such tailored solutions will perform on a variety of hardware architectures, while retaining the benefits of a tailored solution that is designed to exploit the specific and often changing information processing features and demands of the problem at hand.

Abstract: The present invention is a real-time intelligent find-assistant that suggests useful search terms to a buyer shopping an electronic catalog, as they progress in their online journey to find a particular item for potential purchase. In contrast to current approaches, the present invention uses an adaptive algorithm to extract and rank-order possible search terms from candidate vendor catalog pages, based upon a measure of relevance, or utility, derived from the proximity of possible non-generic terms in the vendor catalog to the terms already selected by the user in their current search. Also in contrast to current approaches, the invention captures and stores buyers' entire history of choices over time (even years), and uses this knowledge to make increasingly useful suggestions to a buyer as to what item descriptions to look for, as they progress through their search, thus allowing an organization to leverage expert purchasing behaviors for use by novice buyers.

Abstract: A flexible, intelligent electronic procurement method and system that emulates and learns from the adaptive behavior of a user trying to find a product in an electronic catalog. The invention allows for searching heterogeneous catalogs in virtually any format, and does not require pre-defined hierarchies, nor the pre-loading of vendor catalog contents, nor the scrubbing of vendor data. It does not impose fixed structures on the user, and it does not force the user to think like someone else. Instead, the invention allows the user to choose their own way to navigate a catalog of items, and then by recording successful search scenarios and storing that knowledge in a dynamic collection of search paths, the invention organically evolves. As the collection of search paths can be accessed by other users, the utility of the invention increases over time once implemented in a given environment.

Abstract: The virtual supercomputer is an apparatus, system and method for generating information processing solutions to complex and/or high-demand/high-performance computing problems, without the need for costly, dedicated hardware supercomputers, and in a manner far more efficient than simple grid or multiprocessor network approaches. The virtual supercomputer consists of a reconfigurable virtual hardware processor, an associated operating system, and a set of operations and procedures that allow the architecture of the system to be easily tailored and adapted to specific problems or classes of problems in a way that such tailored solutions will perform on a variety of hardware architectures, while retaining the benefits of a tailored solution that is designed to exploit the specific and often changing information processing features and demands of the problem at hand.

Abstract: A flexible, intelligent electronic procurement method and system that emulates and learns from the adaptive behavior of a user trying to find a product in an electronic catalog. In contrast to existing methods and systems, the invention allows for searching heterogeneous catalogs in virtually any format, and does not require pre-defined hierarchies, nor the pre-loading of vendor catalog contents, nor the scrubbing of vendor data. It does not impose fixed structures on the user, it does not require the user to start ‘from scratch’ when looking for a new item, and it does not force the user to think like someone else. Instead, the invention allows the user to choose his own way to navigate catalogs of items, and then, by remembering successful search scenarios, and storing that knowledge in a dynamic, growing database (or ‘forest’) of collected search paths, or ‘find-trees’, the invention grows and improves, that is, it evolves organically over time.

Abstract: The virtual supercomputer is an apparatus, system and method for generating information processing solutions to complex and/or high-demand/high-performance computing problems, without the need for costly, dedicated hardware supercomputers, and in a manner far more efficient than simple grid or multiprocessor network approaches. The virtual supercomputer consists of a reconfigurable virtual hardware processor, an associated operating system, and a set of operations and procedures that allow the architecture of the system to be easily tailored and adapted to specific problems or classes of problems in a way that such tailored solutions will perform on a variety of hardware architectures, while retaining the benefits of a tailored solution that is designed to exploit the specific and often changing information processing features and demands of the problem at hand.

Abstract: The virtual supercomputer is an apparatus, system and method for generating information processing solutions to complex and/or high-demand/high-performance computing problems, without the need for costly, dedicated hardware supercomputers, and in a manner far more efficient than simple grid or multiprocessor network approaches. The virtual supercomputer consists of a reconfigurable virtual hardware processor, an associated operating system, and a set of operations and procedures that allow the architecture of the system to be easily tailored and adapted to specific problems or classes of problems in a way that such tailored solutions will perform on a variety of hardware architectures, while retaining the benefits of a tailored solution that is designed to exploit the specific and often changing information processing features and demands of the problem at hand.

Abstract: The present invention, termed the Interactive Organic Agent (IOA), augments electronic procurement shopping software with functionality that enables the purchasing organization to capture, in real-time, any changes in supplier item price and availability, as the buyer (user) is shopping or browsing the buyer-side remote catalog index. In particular, as the buyer is viewing remote-catalog pages of items that have been selected as the result of a search, or simply via browsing, the IOA automatically, without any required user action, makes a direct connection to the live supplier online site(s) that correspond to the items being viewed, and then retrieves the latest price & availability data.

Abstract: The present invention, named PriceAudit, is an electronic procurement tool that enables the buyer, or purchasing organization, to precisely audit, and therefore validate, on a near real-time basis, their purchasing patterns and prices across all of their (or any other) internet-based suppliers. It allows the comparison of punchout (live supplier internet catalog) price information with prior or negotiated prices, offering the ability to audit and analyze price changes. This enables the user to compare and track price changes from punchout suppliers, compile information for Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements, and ensure compliance with supplier contracts, via comparison of prices paid with prices negotiated with a supplier.

Abstract: The virtual supercomputer is an apparatus, system and method for generating information processing solutions to complex and/or high-demand/high-performance computing problems, without the need for costly, dedicated hardware supercomputers, and in a manner far more efficient than simple grid or multiprocessor network approaches. The virtual supercomputer consists of a reconfigurable virtual hardware processor, an associated operating system, and a set of operations and procedures that allow the architecture of the system to be easily tailored and adapted to specific problems or classes of problems in a way that such tailored solutions will perform on a variety of hardware architectures, while retaining the benefits of a tailored solution that is designed to exploit the specific and often changing information processing features and demands of the problem at hand.

Abstract: A flexible, intelligent electronic procurement method and system that emulates and learns from the adaptive behavior of a user trying to find a product in an electronic catalog. In contrast to existing methods and systems, the invention does not require the pre-loading of index hierarchies, it does not impose fixed structures on the user, it does not require the user to start ‘from scratch’ when looking for a new item, and it does not force the user to think like someone else. Instead, the invention allows the user to choose his own way to navigate catalogs of items, and then, by remembering successful search scenarios, and storing that knowledge in a dynamic, growing database (or ‘forest’) of collected search paths, or ‘trees’, the invention evolves ‘organically’ over time. Thus, the utility of the invention increases over time once implemented in a given environment.