Abstract: A control server, or similar central processor, manages the distribution of data (including audio and video), voice, and control signals among a plurality of devices connected via a wired and/or wireless communications network. The devices include audio/visual devices (such as, televisions, monitors, PDAs, notepads, notebooks, MP3, portable stereo, etc.) as well as household appliances (such as, lighting, ovens, alarm clocks, etc.). The control server supports video/audio serving, telephony, messaging, file sharing, internetworking, and security. A portable controller allows a user to access and control the network devices from any location within a controlled residential and/or non-residential environment, including its surrounding areas. The controllers are enhanced to support location-awareness and user-awareness functionality.

Abstract: A system and method for managing time and expense when communicating between a host and multiple network connections. A server program, inserted between an information requesting device and the network connections, reconfigures the information requesting device forcing the information requesting device to pass all requests through the server program. The server program then determines what type of network is being connected. Additionally, the server program makes costs visible to the user, warns the user when pre-specified budgets are exceeded, postpones actions to a later time when conditions are met, and automatically adapts user customization and system configuration values to the changing conditions of use. This allows asynchronous style browsing in which users can work disconnected from a cache of documents or trade off communication cost against information needs.

Abstract: A system for delivering packetized data in a network dynamically assigns a unique address to a mobile unit, allocates bandwidth within a wireless link by a token scheme and provides forward error correction for the packet. The system wirelessly transports the packets between a base station and an end point which is responsive to a link cell for linking the base station and the end point. The link cell contains a header and a body. The header in turn contains a forward error correction code, a radioport id and a token. The forward error correction code provides error detection and error correction that relies solely on a one-way communication of data bits from a sender to a receiver. The radioport id is a logical id assigned such that each radio-port in a vicinity has a unique id. The token enables the wireless transportation over a selected channel of the packets between the base station and the end point. The token is utilized to allocate the selected channel from a plurality of channels.

Abstract: A memory system contains one or more active storage elements. Each active storage element includes a memory element and a processing element associated with the memory element. The memory element contains microcode for implementing a specific function. A first bus connects the processing element to a host processor. A second bus connects the processing element to a peripheral.