Wal-mart Stores, Inc.

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Amlan Chatterjee

Jack P Hsu

Mohan Kishore

Chirag R Shah

Thomas R Mueller

Luu Tran

Divya Jain

An improved data access layer (DAL) architecture enables database connection pooling or multiplexing across machine boundaries. Drivers installed at web servers communicate with servers in a DAL. The DAL servers present a virtual database to the web servers, and the DAL servers in turn open connections to a set of physical databases. DAL servers are able to recycle connections that are no longer needed, or to move available connections from one DAL server to another, so as to provide improved efficiency in connection management, burst management, and peak load management. Scalability is thereby improved, and more efficient use of system resources is facilitated.

Data access layer

In a wireless portal system having a wireless server, a client aware Extensible Markup Language (XML) content integration and transformation method and system. The client aware XML content integration and transformation system includes logic for identifying wireless client devices connecting to the wireless server by using particular characteristics of the client in presenting XML content formatted in response to connection requests from the client to the server. In one embodiment of the present invention, the client aware XML content transformation system receives an indication of a client type and uses this information to automatically search for XML content from a plurality of back-end resource servers on the Internet and transforms the content into a format suitable for delivery to the client. The means of formatting the XML content uses a style sheet such as an Extensible Style sheet Language (XSL) specific to the client type of the client requesting the XML content to transform the XML content into an appropriate markup to the client.

Client aware extensible markup language content retrieval and integration in a wireless portal system

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Amlan Chatterjee