Patents by Inventor Mark E. Francis

Mark E. Francis 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 providing a product metadata driven operations support system
    Patent number: 8725674
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing a metadata driven framework for operations support systems are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method provides a hierarchical schema for a product. For example, a metadata for each element in the hierarchical structure, and a metalanguage for controlling tasks such as data collection, data orchestration, validation, field rendering, etc. are then created. In one embodiment, the method then provides framework aware engines for compiling the metadata and metalanguage into runtime forms. For each service or product to be provided, the product or service specific behavior and the operations support systems that are impacted are identified. The framework aware engine then compiles the metadata at runtime to generate at least one update for at least one operations support function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Richard L. Bennett, Richard R. Erickson, Mark E. Francis, Brian D. Freeman, Steven R. Polston