Patents by Inventor Wayne Loofbourrow

Wayne Loofbourrow 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).

  • Publication number: 20140351244
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hornkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye
  • Patent number: 8775435
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye
  • Patent number: 8751588
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that clusters threads of messages is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives multiple message threads, where each message thread includes one or more messages that are related to each message in that thread. For each of the message threads, the device computes a thread signature using affinity groups, where each affinity group is a group of messages that are related to each other. Furthermore, the device creates a group of related messages using the thread signatures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Patent number: 8549086
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that creates message affinity groups uses the affinity groups to relate messages and threads is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives messages, where the messages include message addresses. The device determines multiple affinity groups of message addresses based on a probability that a message including one of the message addresses also includes one or more of the other message addresses in the affinity group. In addition, the device presents one or more of the affinity groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Publication number: 20120158854
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that focuses messages is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives a first and second group of message. The device further selects a related message from the second group of messages that is related to each message in the first group. This selecting is based on an affinity group, where the affinity group includes a message address that occurs in at least one of the messages in the second group and the affinity group is determined using the message addresses contained in the first and second groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, Yan Arrouye
  • Publication number: 20120158857
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that clusters threads of messages is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives multiple message threads, where each message thread includes one or more messages that are related to each message in that thread. For each of the message threads, the device computes a thread signature using affinity groups, where each affinity group is a group of messages that are related to each other. Furthermore, the device creates a group of related messages using the thread signatures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Publication number: 20120158856
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that focuses messages is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives a first and second group of message. The device further selects a related message from the second group of messages that is related to each message in the first group. This selecting is based on an affinity group, where the affinity group includes a message address that occurs in at least one of the messages in the second group and the affinity group is determined using the message addresses contained in the first and second groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, Yan Arrouye
  • Publication number: 20120158855
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of a device that creates message affinity groups uses the affinity groups to relate messages and threads is described. In an exemplary method, the device receives messages, where the messages include message addresses. The device determines multiple affinity groups of message addresses based on a probability that a message including one of the message addresses also includes one or more of the other message addresses in the affinity group. In addition, the device presents one or more of the affinity groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Patent number: 8190614
    Abstract: Systems and methods for compressing an index are described. In one exemplary method, the results of a search are annotated and then encoded into one or more chunks of compressed data in accordance with the annotations of the results. The annotations include an indication of a best encoding method selected from a set of available encoding methods, and an indication of whether to switch to a new chunk during encoding or to continue encoding in the current chunk. Other methods are described and data processing systems and machine readable media are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Patent number: 8122029
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. To insure that the most updated index is available without having to update the index after every change (which can consume enormous resources), a specially marked postings list is generated for a changed item. During retrieval, the specially marked postings list supplements the existing content of an inverted index referencing the changed item. In this manner, the retrieval result for items containing the term under which the changed item was originally indexed is updated in accordance with the specially marked postings list to insure the most accurate retrieval result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hornkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yun-chih S. Li
  • Publication number: 20120005214
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2011
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye
  • Publication number: 20110289093
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. To insure that the most updated index is available without having to update the index after every change (which can consume enormous resources), a specially marked postings list is generated for a changed item. During retrieval, the specially marked postings list supplements the existing content of an inverted index referencing the changed item. In this manner, the retrieval result for items containing the term under which the changed item was originally indexed is updated in accordance with the specially marked postings list to insure the most accurate retrieval result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2011
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yun-chih S. Li
  • Patent number: 8024322
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye
  • Patent number: 7917516
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. To insure that the most updated index is available without having to update the index after every change (which can consume enormous resources), a specially marked postings list is generated for a changed item. During retrieval, the specially marked postings list supplements the existing content of an inverted index referencing the changed item. In this manner, the retrieval result for items containing the term under which the changed item was originally indexed is updated in accordance with the specially marked postings list to insure the most accurate retrieval result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yun-chih S. Li
  • Publication number: 20100281032
    Abstract: Systems and methods for compressing an index are described. In one exemplary method, the results of a search are annotated and then encoded into one or more chunks of compressed data in accordance with the annotations of the results. The annotations include an indication of a best encoding method selected from a set of available encoding methods, and an indication of whether to switch to a new chunk during encoding or to continue encoding in the current chunk. Other methods are described and data processing systems and machine readable media are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Publication date: November 4, 2010
    Inventor: Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Publication number: 20100274781
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2010
    Publication date: October 28, 2010
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye
  • Publication number: 20100242035
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed that monitor upgrade availability for computer information on a user's computer and allows the user to determine which of the available upgrades will be downloaded to the user's computer and installed. The upgrade availability for computer information on the user's computer is monitored in the background, without user-intervention when the user connects to a network, such as the Internet. If any such upgrades are available, a flag is set to notify the user of such upgrades. The user is notified of any available upgrades when computer information is accessed for which an upgrade is available, and given a choice of whether or not to download the available upgrade(s). The downloaded upgrade(s) may then be installed by an installation means. In this manner, the present invention allows for the user to download only those upgrades desired by the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: September 23, 2010
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Gordon R. Meyer, Albert R. Howard, JR., Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Patent number: 7797643
    Abstract: A user interface comprises an interactive control and method for quickly changing the amount of text displayed in each item in a list of text items. The control allows the user to choose from a large range of choices for how much text is displayed and provides live updates of the changes. The method saves the user time by eliminating the need to refresh the screen when changing the amount of text displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Steven P. Jobs, Stephen O. Lemay, Jessica Kahn, Sarah Wilkin, David Hyatt, Jens Alfke, Wayne Loofbourrow
  • Patent number: 7783589
    Abstract: Systems and methods for improving indexing are described. In one exemplary method, a 2-level table is used to improve performance when searching an index. A first table contains a subset of more frequently occurring terms and a second and larger table contains terms that occur rarely, with the first table optimized for updating and the second table optimized for searching. The second table is searched only when a search of the first table is unsuccessful. Other methods are described and data processing systems and machine readable media are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: John Martin Hornkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Wayne Loofbourrow, Yun-chih S. Li, Yan Arrouye
  • Patent number: 7765213
    Abstract: Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne Loofbourrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler, Yan Arrouye