Patents by Inventor Mark Ackland

Mark Ackland 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).

  • Patent number: 7028304
    Abstract: A system server is used to manage communication over a network between the system server and a plurality of physical devices of a passenger entertainment system. The system is configured and operated using software to provide passenger entertainment. The system server comprises software for instantiating a dispatch object to open a framework network addressable unit objects, for instantiating one or more virtual line replaceable unit objects to manage communication between a network address unit and physical devices, and for communicating network messages through the dispatch object to the physical devices. The dispatch object tracks messages to the physical devices utilizing a queue and tracks messages from the physical devices utilizing a queue. The dispatch object maintains the status of related devices. The dispatch object also adds and removes one or more of the virtual line replaceable units. The network addressable unit objects move data from one storage location to another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins
    Inventors: Alan J. Weinberger, Rick Neugaubauer, Mark Ackland
  • Patent number: 6782392
    Abstract: A passenger entertainment system is configured and operated using system software to route and process passenger transactions from requesting computer processors and dispatch appropriate resources to fulfill the transactions. To achieve this, passenger transactions are transmitted to a message processor, which decodes them and generates a request in a predetermined format. The request is transmitted to a transaction dispatcher that routes the request to a passenger entertainment service manager. The passenger entertainment service manager generates a response to the request message by querying files in a database. Appropriate resources are dispatched to service the passenger transactions that are defined in the response to the query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2004
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan J. Weinberger, Douglas C. Infiesto, Mark Ackland