Blackboard System Patents (Class 706/49)
  • Patent number: 11929065
    Abstract: A method includes receiving a representation of a spoken utterance, processing the representation of the spoken utterance to identify, from a number of candidate domains, a request and a serving domain, and routing the request to a personal assistant based on the request and the serving domain. Identification of the serving domain is based on one or more of a contextual state, a behavior profile of a speaker of the utterance, and a semantic content of the utterance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    Inventors: Giuseppe Iacobelli, Binh Nguyen, Josef Anastasiadis
  • Patent number: 11798540
    Abstract: Methods and systems for dynamically updating machine learning models that provide conversational responses through the use of a configuration file that defines modifications and changes to the machine learning model are disclosed. For example, the configuration file may be used to define an expected behavior and required attributes for instituting modifications and changes (e.g., via a mutation algorithm) to the machine learning model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Capital One Services, LLC
    Inventors: Tate Travaglini, Andrew Oestreicher, Victor Alvarez Miranda, Parag Jain, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 10849850
    Abstract: At least one of the embodiments described herein relate generally to a method of obtaining metadata for content stored in a first repository. The method may be performed at a second repository, and may include the acts of: identifying a content object stored in the first repository, the content object including learning content usable in an electronic educational system to provide electronic learning; identifying metadata for the content object stored in the first repository, the metadata associated with the learning content of the content object; retrieving the metadata associated with the learning content from the first repository; and storing a harvested content object corresponding to the content object. The harvested content object may includes the metadata associated with the learning content of the content object stored in the first repository.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: D2L Corporation
    Inventors: Phillip McClelland, Philip Brown, Chris Carleton
  • Patent number: 10847264
    Abstract: Generally, the present disclosure is directed to managing shared resources in a multi-modality medical system. A multi-modality medical system acquires, stores, processes, and displays data associated with a plurality of different medical modalities. Although different, independent modules within the medical system handle different modality workflows, such modules rely on common resources in the system. The method and systems described herein coordinate usage of the common resources, such as a display viewport, among the independent modality modules. For example, a token-based, locking scheme is utilized to exclusively assign a shared resource to a single modality component. This locking scheme prevents, for example, resource deadlocks from occurring during a patient procedure, thus enhancing patient safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: PHILIPS IMAGE GUIDED THERAPY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Richard E. Mansker, Bill Clark, Rex Kerr, Jason Spencer
  • Patent number: 10755810
    Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed for structuring and using information pertinent to in vivo biomarkers, specifically quantitative imaging biomarkers, using semantic web technology for personalized medicine and discovery science. It supports the development and application of statistical evidence at a level of granularity and sophistication more closely tied to the complexity of the disease itself and its underlying biology, including technology linking multiple biological scales, than has previously been eedisclosed. It provides data and computational services to analyze quantitative imaging and non-imaging data, coupled with multi-scale modeling to elucidate pre-symptomatic and clinical disease processes. It may be used to assess technical or analytical performance for its own sake and/or to further annotate the quantitative analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: ELUCID BIOIMAGING INC.
    Inventors: Andrew J. Buckler, Keith A. Moulton, Mary Buckler, Larry Martell, David S. Paik, Xiaonan Ma, Samantha St. Pierre
  • Patent number: 10482088
    Abstract: According to an aspect of an embodiment, a computer system including at least one computer is configured to generate, specification concept graphs of nodes spec1, spec2, . . . , specm including concepts node and relation nodes according to at least one of a plurality of digitized data from user input from a plurality of computerized data sources d1, d2, . . . , dl forming a first set of evidences U; generate concept graphs of nodes c?1, c?2, . . . , c?n including concept nodes and relation nodes for corresponding obtained plurality of IKs ?1, ?2, . . . , ?n forming a second set of evidences U; select a subset of concept graphs of nodes c?i1, c?i2, . . . , c?ih from c?1, c?2, . . . , c?n according to a computable measure of any one or combinations of consistency, inconsistency or priority threshold between c?j in c?1, c?2, . . . , c?n to specification concept graph speck in spec1, spec2, . . . , specm. Generate knowledge fragments for corresponding obtained subset of concept graphs c?i1, c?i2, . . . c?ih.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Inventors: Eugene S. Santos, Eunice E. Santos, Evelyn W. Santos, Eugene Santos, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10311093
    Abstract: The present subject matter relates to entity resolution, and in particular, relates to providing an entity resolution from documents. The method comprises obtaining the plurality of documents from at least one data source. The plurality of documents is blocked into at least one bucket based on textual similarity and inter-document references among the plurality of documents. Further, within each bucket, a merged document for each entity may be created based on an iterative match-merge technique. The iterative match-merge technique identifies, from the plurality of documents, at least one matching pair of documents and merges the at least one matching pair of documents to create the merged document for each entity. The merged documents may be merged to generate a resolved entity-document for each entity based on a graph clustering technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Tata Consultancy Services Limited
    Inventors: Puneet Agarwal, Gautam Shroff, Pankaj Malhotra
  • Patent number: 10049418
    Abstract: Generally, the present disclosure is directed to managing shared resources in a multi-modality medical system. A multi-modality medical system acquires, stores, processes, and displays data associated with a plurality of different medical modalities. Although different, independent modules within the medical system handle different modality workflows, such modules rely on common resources in the system. The method and systems described herein coordinate usage of the common resources, such as a display viewport, among the independent modality modules. For example, a token-based, locking scheme is utilized to exclusively assign a shared resource to a single modality component. This locking scheme prevents, for example, resource deadlocks from occurring during a patient procedure, thus enhancing patient safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: VOLCANO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Richard E. Mansker, Bill Clark, Rex Kerr, Jason Spencer
  • Patent number: 9921871
    Abstract: An event processing system includes a multi-agent based system, which includes a core engine configured to define and deploy a plurality of agents configured to perform a first set of programmable tasks defined by one or more users. The first set of tasks operates with real time data. The multi-agent based system also includes a monitoring engine configured to monitor a lifecycle of the agents, communication amongst the agents and processing time of the tasks. The multi-agent based system further includes a computing engine coupled to the core engine and configured to execute the first set of tasks. The event processing system includes a batch processing system configured to enable deployment of a second set of programmable tasks that operates with non-real time data and a studio coupled to the multi-agent based system and configured to enable users to manage the multi-agent based system and the batch processing system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: MU SIGMA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.
    Inventors: Bharat Upadrasta, Srinivasan Sudarsanam, Zubin Dowlaty, Subir Mansukhani
  • Patent number: 9569531
    Abstract: A method and system for creating a histogram of oriented occurrences (HO2) is disclosed. A plurality of entities in at least one image are detected and tracked. One of the plurality of entities is designated as a reference entity. A local 2-dimensional ground plane coordinate system centered on and oriented with respect to the reference entity is defined. The 2-dimensional ground plane is partitioned into a plurality of non-overlapping bins, the bins forming a histogram, a bin tracking a number of occurrences of an entity class. An occurrence of at least one other entity of the plurality of entities located in the at least one image may be associated with one of the plurality of non-overlapping bins. A number of occurrences of entities of at least one entity class in at least one bin may be into a vector to define an HO2 feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: SRI International
    Inventors: Hui Cheng, Changjiang Yan, Harpreet Singh Sawhney, Feng Han
  • Patent number: 9361442
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for automatically triggering actions on a user device based on biometrics of nearby individuals are provided herein. A method includes capturing, via one or more sensors resident on a first computing device, one or more items of biometric information from one or more individuals located within a given proximity of the first computing device; determining a degree of proximity of the one or more individuals to the first computing device; transmitting, to a second computing device, (i) the one or more captured items of biometric information from the one or more individuals and (ii) the determined degree of proximity of the one or more individuals to the first computing device; and automatically executing one or more actions on the first computing device based on an instruction provided by the second computing device in response to said transmitting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Kuntal Dey, Hemank Lamba, Seema Nagar
  • Patent number: 9122387
    Abstract: An adaptable graphical user interface is provided. The interface may include a setup region to display a group of available solvers to a user and to display parameters for at least one of the group of solvers to the user. The interface may include an options region to display a first group of active options to a user without requiring a user input for the first group of active options, where the first group of active options is determined based on a selected one of the group of solvers. The options region may further display a second group of active options to the user when another one of the solvers is selected by the user, where the second group of active options differs from the first group of active options.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
    Inventors: Mary Ann Branch Freeman, Marcelo Marazzi, Marjorie Berman, Rakesh Kumar, Tara Scott, Amy Kidd, Thomas Paul Lane
  • Patent number: 9002908
    Abstract: A system and method for routing and managing documents based on document content comprises obtain a document, determine a classification for the document based on the document content, determine a storage location for the document based on the document classification, determine whether the document is stored in the determined storage location, when the document is stored in the determined storage location, update the document in the determined storage location, when the document is not stored in the determined storage location, determine whether the document is stored in another storage location, when the document is stored in another storage location, add the document in the determined storage location and delete the document from the other storage location, and when the document is not stored in the other storage location, add the document to the determined storage location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: CA, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Stidworthy, Jamie Peter Bowen, Andrew Beattie
  • Patent number: 9002997
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for instance host configuration are disclosed. A system includes a plurality of instance hosts configurable for resource instances of a network-accessible service, and control servers to manage remote configuration of the instance hosts. In response to an instance configuration request from a client, a selected control server transmits, to a selected instance host, a sequence of one or more commands. The selected instance host instantiates a remote command executor. The remote command executor initiates configuration operations corresponding to the command sequence, and terminates. The selected control server provides a response to the instance configuration request, based at least in part on results of the operations initiated by the executor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Marcin Piotr Kowalski, Roland Paterson-Jones, James Alfred Gordon Greenfield
  • Patent number: 8818929
    Abstract: A method for merging information of high semantic level representing complex situations including several objects originating from several sensors ci, said information possibly being heterogeneous, said method including acquiring the various items of information arising from said sensors in raw form and transforming them so as to cast them into the form of conceptual graphs, a conceptual graph representing several concepts and the relations which exist between them, and being composed of entity nodes and relation nodes, with E the set of concept nodes defined on a support S, G1 and G2 two conceptual graphs defined on S, wherein the method determines a merging strategy denoted strategymerge as follows: strategymerge=fmerge?fcomp:E×E?E?{E×E} and said merging strategy is applied to the various items of information taking the form of graphs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignees: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Thales, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie
    Inventors: Claire Fraboulet-Laudy, Jean-Gabriel Ganascia
  • Patent number: 8744903
    Abstract: Apparatus, systems, and methods that operate to assist in resolving both expected and unexpected events that occur in the course of business operations are disclosed. Activities may include detecting the occurrence of an alert event, determining whether the alert event is an expected event or an unexpected event, presenting a resolution sequence for the expected event, and soliciting a new event resolution path for the unexpected event. Further activities may include determining an alert event is an unexpected event, displaying an alert message associated with the unexpected event, and soliciting recommendations to form a new event resolution path to be presented upon determining a new event has occurred that is similar to the alert event. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: SAP AG
    Inventors: Cyrille Waguet, Sabine Holz, Annette Jann
  • Patent number: 8683312
    Abstract: Systems and methods provide a mechanism to create and traverse inter-document links involving embedded documents. One aspect of the systems and methods includes creating and traversing inter-document links to and from documents that are embedded in a host document. A further aspect of the systems and methods includes creating and traversing inter-document links to an from documents that may be embedded at more than one level in an embedded document hierarchy. A still further aspect of the systems and methods includes creating and traversing inter-document links from a first document to an embedded document in a second document.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Robert K. McAfee, Martin Fox
  • Patent number: 8447719
    Abstract: A method of compiling causal rules into continuations for use in root cause analysis of a system comprising a plurality of inter-related elements, comprising defining observable events occurring on system elements; defining at least one of a cause and a result of each of the events; defining causal rules, each rule describing a causal relationship between an event and one of its cause and its result; and compiling the causal relationships as continuations in a continuation passing style (CPS) for use in analyzing the root cause of subsequent observed events symptomatic of at least one problem on the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Bob Bethke, Srikanth Natarajan
  • Patent number: 8375030
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention disclose a system and a method for determining a differentially private aggregate classifier for a set of databases, wherein each database in the set of databases is associated with a classifier and a noise value, wherein the classifier and the noise value are determined locally for each database, such that a combination of the classifier and the noise value ensure a differential data privacy of the database, and wherein the differentially private aggregate classifier preserves the differential data privacy of each database. The differentially private aggregate classifier is a combination of the classifiers of the set of databases modified with the noise value corresponding to a smallest database in the set of databases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Shantanu Rane, Manas A. Pathak, Bhiksha Ramakrishnan
  • Patent number: 8352494
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for distributed nearest-neighbor search for image retrieval are disclosed. An example distributed image retrieval system includes a root server and a plurality of leaf servers. The root server controls the clustering of images in the image corpus, and determines the assignment of image clusters to a collection of leaf servers. Each leaf server is independently configured to perform a two-stage nearest-neighbor search in a locality-sensitive hash space for a received query image within the leaf server's assigned images clusters. Thus, the distributed image retrieval system is modular and amendable to tuning, modifications, duplication, and replacement on a per-server basis. In addition, the design of the image retrieval system allows flexible load balancing among the leaf servers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventor: Mihai Badoiu
  • Patent number: 8271420
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for integrating educational software. In one implementation, a first method includes providing on a first server an integrated learning management system adapted to exchange education data and materials via a connector interface, providing on the first server a first component which responds to requests made by the integrated system via the connector interface to exchange education data and materials with a first source learning management system, and exchanging education data and materials between the integrated system and the first system via the first component by use of the connector interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Blackboard Inc.
    Inventors: Deborah Everhart, Robert L. Alcorn
  • Patent number: 8180723
    Abstract: A method of performing root cause analysis for use in a system comprising a plurality of inter-related elements, wherein at least some of the elements experience one or more abnormal conditions, comprising defining one or more conditions for more than one element symptomatic of abnormal operation of the element; defining one or more causal relationships between the conditions and results on one or more related elements; compiling the conditions and causal relationships of each element for which conditions and relationships have been defined, as at least one continuation in a continuation passing style (CPS); receiving one or more observed events symptomatic of abnormal operation of at least one element of the system; processing the received events using the conditions and the continuations; concluding at least one root cause of the received events consistent with the received events; and outputting the root cause.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Bob Bethke, Srikanth Natarajan
  • Patent number: 8165700
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing an integrated HMI application for monitoring and interacting with both batch and non-batch processes in a process plant are disclosed. A plurality of independent stand-alone software objects defining various batch process interface views are embedded within a non-batch process control interface application. A blackboard service is provided for storing batch control data used by the various stand alone software objects. The blackboard service may be adapted to communicate with a batch control server to receive batch control data for populating the various batch interface views with data relating to various batch processes being carried out in the process plant and to send instructions for controlling the various batches input by users via the various batch interface views.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan William Pettus, Tusar Nanda, Aaron C. Jones, William George Irwin, James Henry Moore, Jr., David L. Deitz, Danny H. Do, Dawn Marruchella
  • Patent number: 8019834
    Abstract: A system and method is provided to facilitate communication and collaboration by considering the timing of a user's activities on one or more clients via accessing, from a centralized server, information about the user's client-server interactions. The systems and methods can harness existing protocols and data exchange used in legacy client-server applications for email, making available to one or more client-side message routing applications, information about a user's interactions with email across multiple clients. Applications include considering the time since the last client-server interaction to guide decisions about if, when, and how to route messages so as to limit the mobile relay of information a user has already seen, providing information to colleagues about a user's current or past “inbox presence,” and forecasting the time until a user will have access to a device or communication channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Eric J. Horvitz, Johnson T. Apacible
  • Patent number: 7788207
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for integrating educational software. In one implementation, a first server receives an identifier of a second server that provides at least one source educational course. A second server receives metadata for the at least one source educational course and stores the metadata.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Blackboard Inc.
    Inventors: Robert L. Alcorn, Deborah A. Everhart
  • Publication number: 20100070451
    Abstract: The invention relates according to a first aspect to a method of driving a telecommunications network comprising equipment responsible for carrying out network control tasks, each item of equipment comprising a knowledge base intended for storing, in the form of elements dubbed knowledge, contextual information required in order for the equipment to carry out the control tasks for which it is responsible, the method being characterized in that: a logical neighbourhood is defined, consisting of network equipment—intended to cooperate in order to carry out one and the same control task; the knowledge stored in the various knowledge bases is mutualized in the logical neighbourhood, by implementing for each item of equipment of the logical neighbourhood a cooperation of said item of equipment with the other items of equipment of the logical neighbourhood; in each item of equipment of the logical neighbourhood, the same control task is carried out by feeding it with the mutualized knowledge stored in the knowledge
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2007
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventor: Louis Hugues
  • Patent number: 7664570
    Abstract: The safety in robotic operations is enhanced and the floor space in a factory or the like is effectively utilized. A virtual safety barrier 50 including the trajectory of movement of a work or tool 7 mounted on a wrist 5 of a robot 1 in operation is defined in a memory. At least two three-dimensional spatial regions S (S1 to S3) including a part of the robot including the work or tool are defined. Predicted positions of the defined three-dimensional spatial regions obtained by trajectory calculations are matched with the virtual safety barrier 50, and if the predicted position of any one of the defined three-dimensional spatial regions based on trajectory calculations is included in the virtual safety barrier 50, a control is effected to stop the movement of the robot arms 3 and 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazutsugu Suita, Morihiko Okura
  • Patent number: 7613723
    Abstract: A system, apparatus and method are provided that enable the receipt of answers to questions from users and to make those answers persistent within a generalized database schema. A set of one or more middleware entities and components are provided to process the user's answers that are submitted to the system. The middleware entities differentiate one user from another user by use of a session. Different sets of questions are grouped into encounters, and the answers to the questions for a particular encounter are given a unique identifier. The unique identifier can be used to identify the user and/or the particular encounter. The answers to the questions can be retrieved and viewed in numerous ways, such as by user, by encounter, by question, by question type, by answer, by answer type, etc. The selection of database schema and the structure of the middleware enables the system to handle any answer to any question without requiring the restructuring of the database or database schema.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Inventor: Ricky Dale Tully
  • Patent number: 7577486
    Abstract: A quality improvement system, which automatically performs engineering analysis and problem coping to improve the quality of semiconductor products. The quality improvement system is connected to a plurality of external databases, which store semiconductor product quality information acquired in a plurality of manufacturing processes, and a client server, which is operated by an engineer. The quality improvement system receives quality information from the external databases, receives engineer comments from the client server and associates the quality information and comments and stores them in a knowledge database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2009
    Assignee: Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Toyofuku
  • Publication number: 20090018986
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for integrating educational software. In one implementation, a first server receives an identifier of a second server that provides at least one source educational course. A second server receives metadata for the at least one source educational course and stores the metadata.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Publication date: January 15, 2009
    Inventors: Robert L. Alcorn, Deborah A. Everhart
  • Patent number: 7292685
    Abstract: A system is provided for pro-actively suggesting communication features to users, comprising a tuple space for facilitating collaboration among software agents, a plurality of device agents for controlling operation of associated communication devices for respective ones of the users, and a plurality of user agents representing a plurality of users, each of the user agents (i) facilitating creation, by a user desirous of communicating, of groups of users to be communicated with, (ii) poking tuples to the tuple space indicative of each user's availability for communication; (iii) peeking anti-tuples to the tuple space for eliciting communication availability of respective ones of the users in the groups of users to be communicated with and in response causing associated device agents to display via respective ones of the devices the aforementioned availability to the user desirous of communicating, and to effect communication between the user desirous of communicating and a selected one of the respective users
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2007
    Assignee: Mitel Knowledge Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas Gray
  • Patent number: 7222113
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method and system for implementing a software agent control architecture. The method includes the step of generating a plurality of agents, wherein the agents are respectively configured to implement a rule-based behaviour. Respective rule sets for each of the agents are accessed, wherein the rule sets are configured for processing using respective rule engines of each of the agents. Respective incoming messages are received and delivered to the agents. The rule-based behaviour for each of the agents is implemented by processing the incoming messages using the rule engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2007
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Edward P. Katz
  • Patent number: 7184994
    Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system, method and computer program product for providing an object recognition blackboard system architecture. The system for recognizing objects in content can include: a blackboard comprising a plurality of experts, and data comprising original input data and data created by processing of any of the plurality of experts, and a controller operative to control the experts; a belief model, coupled to the controller, comprising a set of beliefs and probabilities associated with each belief of the set of beliefs; a belief network, coupled to the controller; and a relations subsystem, coupled to the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventors: Ivan Bella, Christopher Hood
  • Patent number: 6915285
    Abstract: A method of detecting feature interaction conflicts between agents in response to events in a multi-agent system comprises posting said events as tuples and event requests as anti-tuples from said agents in said multi-agent system, receiving said events and said event requests in a tuple space, generating responses to each of said agents for said events which match said event requests of said agents, wherein feature interaction conflict is detected when more than one of said agents are to exert control over an event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignees: Mitel Corporation, The University of Ottawa
    Inventors: Tom Gray, Ahmed Karmouch, Magdi Ahmer, Serge Mankovskii
  • Patent number: 6907397
    Abstract: An embedded device for playing media files is capable of generating a play list of media files based on input speech from a user. It includes an indexer generating a plurality of speech recognition grammars. According to one aspect of the invention, the indexer generates speech recognition grammars based on contents of a media file header of the media file. According to another aspect of the invention, the indexer generates speech recognition grammars based on categories in a file path for retrieving the media file to a user location. When a speech recognizer receives an input speech from a user while in a selection mode, a media file selector compares the input speech received while in the selection mode to the plurality of speech recognition grammars, thereby selecting the media file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: David Kryze, Luca Rigazio, Patrick Nguyen, Jean-Claude Junqua
  • Patent number: 6611724
    Abstract: An online monitor that can be permanently attached to a device to be monitored continuously monitors a set of analog signals and initiates data capture over a window of time when a user programmable set of conditions is satisfied. The online monitor includes a digital signal processing unit, a modular, interchangeable, analog signal conditioning base unit that can be tailored to the specific requirements of the process to be monitored and a modular, interchangeable, communication interface unit. The interface unit permits the digital signal processing unit to exchange data with external equipment such as network computers via a number of industry standard communication fieldbus protocols. The online monitor provides the capability to define the trigger condition under which data capture is initiated by comparing a user defined signal to a function of the instantaneous value of another signal or constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2003
    Assignee: Square D Company
    Inventors: Paul Robert Buda, Larry Alan Dew, Todd Charles Wheaton, Jackie Laverne Winn
  • Patent number: 6532444
    Abstract: A system and method to interact with networked objects, via a computer using utterances, speech processing and natural language processing. A Data Definition File relates networked objects and a speech processor. The Data Definition File encompasses a memory structure relating the networked objects, including grammar files and a natural language processor. The speech processor searches a first grammar file for a matching phrase for the utterance, and to search a second grammar file for the matching phrase if the matching phrase is not found in the first grammar file. The system also includes a natural language processor to search a database for a matching entry for the matching phrase; and an application interface to perform an action associated with the matching entry if the matching entry is found in the database. The system utilizes context-specific grammars, thereby enhancing speech recognition and natural language processing efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: One Voice Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Dean Weber
  • Patent number: 6507918
    Abstract: In a method for implementation of a fault diagnostic system having a number of diagnostic modules and in an in-vehicle fault diagnostic system, a second diagnostic module whose diagnostic result depends on the result of the fault diagnosis of at least one first diagnostic module begins its diagnostic cycle without waiting for the diagnostic result of the first diagnostic module. The second diagnostic module writes its diagnostic result into a secondary fault memory. When the first diagnostic module has ended its diagnostic cycle without finding a fault, the diagnostic result of the second diagnostic module is transferred from the secondary fault memory into a primary fault memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Bernd Last, Martin Jehle, Stefan Treinies
  • Publication number: 20020107826
    Abstract: An architecture for a computer system for problem solving and tutoring includes multiple domain dependent agents, each having a knowledge base, multiple domain independent agents and dedicated blackboards assigned to each agent. The agents communicate with their dedicated blackboards via a transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) links and messages are moved between the blackboards by a blackboard agent. The domain independent agents include a control agent that passes a token between the agents. An agent may function only when it has the token. The domain independent agents also include a user interface agent, a database agent and a tutoring agent. Training/testing data repository and student databases are also present. The latter stores information regarding student actions during testing or tutoring sessions. The architecture may be employed on multiple machines to permit geographically diverse users to simultaneously role-play.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2001
    Publication date: August 8, 2002
    Inventors: Surya Ramachandran, Anand Kancherlapalli
  • Publication number: 20020103776
    Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system, method and computer program product for providing an object recognition blackboard system architecture. The system for recognizing objects in content can include: a blackboard comprising a plurality of experts, and data comprising original input data and data created by processing of any of the plurality of experts, and a controller operative to control the experts; a belief model, coupled to the controller, comprising a set of beliefs and probabilities associated with each belief of the set of beliefs; a belief network, coupled to the controller; and a relations subsystem, coupled to the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Inventors: Ivan Bella, Christopher Hood
  • Patent number: 6427142
    Abstract: An intelligent agent workbench is disclosed for developing a computer-based intelligent agent that can be inserted between a system and an individual performing a pre-defined function with the system and/or that can supplant such function performed by such individual. In the workbench, an agent author allows a workbench user to create and modify an intelligent agent in a graphical representation. The workbench also has an execution engine for executing a non-graphical representation of the agent both within the workbench and outside the workbench as a stand-alone agent, and an interpreter for automatically translating between the non-graphical and graphical representations. The agent has an instance structure representing a current problem instance, perception structures, task performance structures, and a priority structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Chi Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Wayne W. Zachary, Jean-Christophe Le Mentec, Serge Schremmer, James Stokes, Joan M. Ryder, James H. Hicinbothom, Monica Weiland, William Weiland
  • Patent number: 6411947
    Abstract: A method for automatically interpreting an electronic message, including the steps of (a) receiving the electronic message from a source; (b) interpreting the electronic message using a rule base and case base knowledge engine; and (c) classifying the electronic message as at least one of (i) being able to be responded to automatically; and (ii) requiring assistance from a human operator. The method for automatically interpreting an electronic message may also include the step of retrieving one or more predetermined responses corresponding to the interpretation of the electronic message from a repository for automatic delivery to the source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Brightware, Inc.
    Inventors: Amy Rice, Julie Hsu
  • Patent number: 6314555
    Abstract: A system for building collaborative software agents is provided with a set of editors for capturing data for installation in the individual agents. The collaborative software agents will normally form a community, including some standard agents, provided by the system, and will collaborate to provide functionality in a domain selected by the user. Each collaborative software agent built by the system is provided with co-ordination policies, selected by the user, and represented by a co-ordination graph. A single collaborative software agent can be provided with more than one collaborative policy and is capable of running more than one collaborative policy simultaneously with different agents of the system. An exception handler flags an exception during use of the collaborative agents in the relevant domain when the value of a variable for an agent conflicts with a relevant constraint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: British Telecommunications public limited company
    Inventors: Divine T Ndumu, Hyacinth S Nwana, Lyndon C Lee
  • Patent number: 6304833
    Abstract: A method for the selection of hypotheses for modeling physical phenomena, includes detecting if selected features are present by analyzing actual sensed data and parameter values of an initial physical phenomena model; comparing feature estimating hypotheses to the actual data for determining a belief probability assignment value (bpa) for each of the hypotheses which indicates the likelihood that the selected features exist in the actual data and the likelihood that such selected features cannot accurately be determined as existing due to the presence of noise; selecting a set of the hypotheses most accurately modeling the physical phenomena based on the bpa of each selected hypotheses meeting a predetermined criteria; generating evidential support values and lack of evidential support values for subsets of the set having non-zero subset bpa's; ranking the subsets having non-zero subset bpa's in order of decreasing subset bpa; unioning subsets of the power set for forming unioned subsets and determ
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2001
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: David J. Ferkinhoff, Sherry E. Hammel, Kai F. Gong, Steven C. Nardone
  • Patent number: 6256679
    Abstract: A computer software architecture for an embedded computer system. The architecture includes a hierarchy of software object classes. One classification includes a common information blackboard object. Data is written to the blackboard object by processes in a protected manner, and is otherwise globally readable by all processes. A run-time executive is provided to schedule and coordinate processes. Processes register with the run-time executive at start-up. One process can know the existence and generation of data by another process. The architecture is layered in increasing levels of system abstraction. In one embodiment, the embedded system is an airborne fuel gauging subsystem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2001
    Assignee: Simmonds Precision Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Rhoads, II, Keith Patrick Darwin, Mark Robert Chaffee, Harold Frederick Clark, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6212510
    Abstract: A system which observes the world through a video camera and/or other sensors, automatically learns a probabilistic model of normative behavior through the use of a Hidden Markov Model, and uses that model to infer the kind of activity currently under view and detect unusual behavior. The use of hidden Markov models is made possible by entropic training of the model with an &thgr;&thgr; entropic estimator that folds structure learning into the parameter estimation process to remove parameters from the Hidden Markov Model which have little information content, thus to permit real time robust unusual behavior detection. In one embodiment, the system consists of three components: image analysis; model learning; and signal analysis. In image analysis, each frame of video is reduced to a vector of numbers which describe motion of objects in front of the camera, with a sequence of such vectors, one for each frame of video, establishing the “signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Matthew E. Brand
  • Patent number: 6192355
    Abstract: This invention relates to a method of configuring a set of objects in a computer, each object having at least one possible value, each value being determined or undetermined, and at least one of said object values being accessible to a user for assigning at least one value to be determined or undetermined, said values being constrained by a rule base defining a number of relationships between the values. The undetermined object values are searched in order to find at least one first subset of values, said first subset and a subset of determined values defining at least one first possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said first subset exists, said search being initiated when at least one value of an object is changed or said search being initiated upon a user request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Assignee: Baan Development B.V.
    Inventor: Hans Jorgen Skovgaard
  • Patent number: 5991743
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a system and method for proactively monitoring risk exposure. In this invention, risk related information is received at an input knowledge source. A shared database stores the risk related information received at the input knowledge source. A plurality of domain knowledge sources formulates a decision on how the risk related information in the shared database affects a predetermined risk category. An output knowledge source generates a risk related report in response to the decisions formulated by each of the plurality of domain knowledge sources. A risk analytics router routes the risk related information in the input knowledge source to the shared database, the risk related information in the shared database to at least one of the domain knowledge sources, the decisions formulated from the domain knowledge sources to the shared database, and the decisions from the shared database to the output knowledge source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1999
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Russell Robert Irving, Angelika Dorothea Linden, James Patrick Quaile