Abstract: What is disclosed includes a method for searching objects in response to a query that includes a first set of criteria pertaining to a first index, a second set of criteria pertaining to a second index, and logic joining the first set of criteria and the second set of criteria. The method includes querying the first and second indexes based on the first and second set of criteria, respectively, to obtain a first set of first-identifier values and a first set of second-identifier values, respectively. The method also includes correlating the first set of second-identifier values with a set of unique-identifier values and/or a second set of first-identifier values. The method also includes using the logic and, the set of unique-identifier values, and/or the second set of first-identifier values to determine a set of matched objects.

Abstract: A system for performing integrated searches and actions is disclosed. The system may include a search engine configured to generate a search result or report in response to a search query. The system may also include a queue manager coupled with the search engine. The queue manager may be configured to receive the search result or report from the search engine. The queue manager may also be configured to assign files in the search result or report to one or more service provider queues according to an action profile. The system may also include one or more nodes coupled with the one or more service provider queues. The one or more nodes may be configured to perform one or more actions on one or more files in the one or more service provider queues according to the action profile.

Abstract: A system for facilitating data discovery on a network, wherein the network has one or more data storage devices. The system may include a crawler program configured to select at least a first set of files and a second set of files, each of the first set of files and the second set of files being stored in at least one of the one or more data storage devices. The system may also include a data fetcher program configured to obtain a copy of the first set of files, the data fetcher program being further configured to resist against obtaining a copy of the second set of files. The system may also include circuit hardware implementing one or more functions of one or more of the crawler program and the data fetcher program.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for preparing a transmission schedule that when utilized results in a smooth transmission of a multimedia file and maintains a fixed buffer occupancy at the decoder. According to one embodiment of the invention, a transmission rate is calculated for the transmission of the first frame of the multimedia file that will cause the decoder buffer to be one-half full at the end of the transmission of that frame. This initial transmission rate is stored in the schedule with a time segment starting at zero and ending at the time when the transmission of the first frame is complete. Thereafter, a current time segment is defined starting at the time when the transmission of the first frame is complete and ending when the transmission of the second frame is complete. A transmission rate is calculated for the current time segment that will cause the decoder buffer to be one-half full at the end of the time segment.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for preparing a transmission schedule that when utilized results in the smooth transmission of a time-sensitive file over a communications network. According to one embodiment of the invention, for each frame, each potential ambiguity zone is analyzed to determine whether it would result in a feasible transmission, and the cost of each feasible ambiguity zone is found. Thereafter, the optimal feasible ambiguity zone for the frame is found and used to create a transmission schedule. A method for transmitting a file utilizing such a transmission schedule is also described.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for efficiently determining exact loss rate, or a loss curve, for a traffic source transmitted at a specified rate. The loss curve of a traffic source characterizes the loss rate of the traffic stream as a function of the allocated buffer size for a given transmission rate. Utilization of loss curve characterization allows for optimal resource allocation for a given source within a packet network. The present invention provides a deterministic method for computing the loss curve of a traffic source, examples of which include multimedia streams, elementary video streams, and MPEG-2 transport streams. The present method exploits the piecewise linearity of the loss curve and computes only the points at which the slope of the loss curve changes. The method is memory efficient and executes rapidly, for instance, a loss curve for a two-hour elementary video stream was determined within eleven seconds on a conventional Sun Ultra-2™ workstation.

Abstract: The resources required to support transmission of a traffic source, such as video or multimedia, over a packet-switched network are heavily dependent on the burstiness of the traffic source. The present invention provides methods for accurately and rapidly determining burstiness curves for traffic sources, such as elementary video and MPEG-2 transport streams. The described deterministic computation methods provide space and time efficiency in relation to the level of accuracy selected. The methods teach the exploitation of the piecewise linearity within the burstiness curves such that computations are only performed at points subject to slope change. The efficiency of the described methods suggest wide applicability to a range of traffic characterization situations, including QoS provisioning as well as real-time applications, such as TV distribution.

Abstract: The resources required to support transmission of a traffic source, such as video or multimedia, over a packet-switched network are heavily dependent on the burstiness of the traffic source. The present invention provides methods for accurately and rapidly determining burstiness curves for traffic sources, such as elementary video and MPEG-2 transport streams. The described deterministic computation methods provide space and time efficiency in relation to the level of accuracy selected. The methods teach the exploitation of the piecewise linearity within the burstiness curves such that computations are only performed at points subject to slope change. The efficiency of the described methods suggest wide applicability to a range of traffic characterization situations, including QoS provisioning as well as real-time applications, such as TV distribution.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling the data transfer rates of data sources in an asynchronous transfer mode-based network utilizes maximum and minimum data transfer rates of sources in the network. A switch instructs data sources within the network to modify their data transfer rates by detecting "potential congestion" and "congested" states.