Abstract: An automatic vehicular traffic flow control technique defines a controlled area, wherein vehicles belonging to different traffic streams contend for occupancy of a conflict zone. A traversal order is computed for the vehicles in the controlled area, wherein the ordered vehicles are assigned to traverse the conflict zone sequentially in accordance with their respective positions in the traversal order. Tracking and tracked vehicles are designated, wherein a respective tracked vehicle immediately precedes each of the tracking vehicles in the traversal order. The tracking vehicles maintain a specified physical relationship with their respective tracked vehicles until the tracked vehicle has traversed the conflict zone. The speed of the traffic streams is increased as necessary so as to achieve a desired throughput through the conflict zone.

Abstract: An automatic vehicular traffic flow control technique defines a controlled area, wherein vehicles belonging to different traffic streams contend for occupancy of a conflict zone. A traversal order is computed for the vehicles in the controlled area, wherein the ordered vehicles are assigned to traverse the conflict zone sequentially in accordance with their respective positions in the traversal order. Tracking and tracked vehicles are designated, wherein a respective tracked vehicle immediately precedes each of the tracking vehicles in the traversal order. The tracking vehicles maintain a specified physical relationship with their respective tracked vehicles until the tracked vehicle has traversed the conflict zone. The speed of the traffic streams is increased as necessary so as to achieve a desired throughput through the conflict zone.

Abstract: An improved automobile. An exemplary automobile includes an engine, a set of wheels connected to the engine, a chassis connected to the engine, and an electrochromatic windshield connected to the chassis. The electrochromatic windshield is operable to darken and un-darken the electrochromatic windshield. A video projection system is also connected to the chassis. The video projection system is operable by a driver to project an overlay image on the electrochromatic windshield. The electrochromatic windshield can be darkened by activation of the video projection system and un-darkened by deactivation of the video projection system. The video projection system can be used to project a map onto the electrochromatic windshield. The video projection system can then be used to project a relative position of the driver's vehicle, other vehicles and obstructions on the map, as well as highlighting and tracking, via graphical markings, these objects as they enter the windshield's projection plane.

Abstract: Establishing communication between people when face-to-face communication is difficult by pointing a portable device in a direction of a target and recording a position and orientation of the portable device and by recording a distance between the portable device and the target. Further, this communication is established by calculating a location of the target based on the recorded position, orientation, and distance and broadcasting, via the portable device, a message including the calculated location of the target. Moreover, this communication is established when the target receiving the message, compares the calculated location of the target with an actual position of the target to determine whether the target that received the initiation message is within a predetermined proximity of the calculated location of the target. If the receiving target is within the predetermined proximity of the intended target, a reply is transmitted to the portable device to initiate handshaking.

Abstract: A vehicle control system including a vehicle and a vehicle controller for receiving information regarding the vehicle and its environment and vehicle control input via a vehicle control, applying control logic predefined for the vehicle control input and the information to determine an aspect of the vehicle to control and how to control the aspect, and sending a control directive to at least one vehicle subsystem to carry out the determined control of the aspect, where when the vehicle is in a first operational state the controller allows the vehicle control input to control the vehicle subsystem directly related to the vehicle control input without modification by the controller, and where when the vehicle is in a second operational state the controller uses the vehicle control input to determine a vehicle objective and sends the control directive to any of the vehicle subsystems in order to achieve the vehicle objective.

Abstract: A method and system for determining the focus of a document are provided. Candidate topics in the form of topic nodes in a hierarchy of topics are input into a focus determining algorithm. For each candidate topic node, a score is allocated to the topic of each level of the hierarchy of the topic node , the scores for each topic are summed and one or more topics are determined to be the focus of the document based on the scores. The scores allocated to the topic of each parent level of the hierarchy of the topic node are progressively lower for the topic of each parent level of the hierarchy. The candidate topics may be provided by identifying occurrences of references to a topic in a document, providing a plurality of possible topics in the form of topic nodes in a hierarchy of topics, and, for each identified occurrence of a reference to a topic, determining the appropriate topic node and adding the topic node to the candidate topics.

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method for compiling, storing, and interpreting, as often as needed, a representation of any MPI datatype, including the steps of compiling a tree representation of an MPI datatype into a compact, linear data gather scatter program (DGSP) wherein the DGSP is of a form general enough to encode an arbitrarily complex datatype, registering the compact linear DGSP with a communications subsystem for later interpretation by the subsystem for at least one of sends, receives, packs and unpacks, creating a registered DGSP, and interpreting the registered DGSP. In one embodiment of the present invention, the form of the DGSP uses a single generalized representation. In another embodiment the single generalized representation covers any of the arbitrarily complex datatype patterns that can arise in this context.