Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett-packard Company

Andrew D Thomas

James Thomas Edward McDonnell

Simon Edwin Crouch

Stephen John Hinde

John Deryk Waters

Michael P Spratt

Lawrence Wilcock

Paul St John Brittan

Rycharde Jeffery Hawkes

Martin Sadler

Guillaume Alexandre Belrose

Roland M Hochmuth

Colin S I'Anson

Robert Paul Martin

Marianne Hickey

Colin I′ Anson

Mariann Hickey

A method comprises storing pixel data in a frame buffer, retrieving the pixel data from the frame buffer and processing at least one pixel value of the pixel data to generate an output pixel bit stream. The method further comprises storing pixel values in a first update buffer. The pixel values are derived from the output pixel bit stream. The method also comprises providing the pixel values from the first update buffer across a network to a remote graphics system.

Providing pixels from an update buffer

A user is pre-qualified for a service provided at a particular location. Location data indicative of where the service is to be triggered and a service element are stored. The service instance element is a full customised instance of the service delivery code or other item that provides an association between the user and an instance of the service for which the user is qualified. The user location, as indicated by a mobile entity associated with the user, is periodically checked against the location data. When a location match occurs, the service instance for which the user has been qualified is executed to deliver the required service to the user. An example is an airline traveler buying, from a travel agent, an air ticket having an associated service wherein, the traveler, upon arriving at the relevant airport, is contacted via its mobile device and guided through check-in and boarding.

Service delivery method and system

Location data about a mobile entity () is provided in encrypted form by a location server () to a recipient that is one of the mobile entity () or a service system () usable by the mobile entity. The location data (P) is encrypted such that it can only to be decrypted using a secret available to a decryption entity () that is not under the control of the recipient. This permits location data (P) to be provided in a confidential manner to service systems () and also protects billing relationships between participants. A mechanism is also described for limiting the accuracy of decrypted location data (L) made available to a service system ().

Providing location data about a mobile entity

A method is provided for augmenting a set of image recordings in which, in addition to making image recordings (), location data () is recorded for locations for which the user desires an, or a further, image recording. This desired-image-recording location data is subsequently used to retrieve one or more corresponding image recordings from a service system ().

Augmentation of sets of image recordings

The grammar of the speech input to a voice service system is normally specified by the voice service system. However, this can produce problems in respect of idioms, such as dates, which are expressed different ways by different users. To facilitate the handling of idioms, a user is permitted to specify their own idiom grammar which is then used by the voice service system to interpret idioms in speech input from that user. Typically, the normal grammar of speech input is specified by grammar tags used to mark up a voice page script interpreted by a voice page browser; in this case, it will generally be the voice browser that is responsible for employing the user-specified idiom grammar to interpret the corresponding idiom in the speech input by the user. The user-specified grammar can be pre-specified directly to the voice browser by the user or fetched by the browser from a remote location on the fly.

Idiom handling in voice service systems

A local entity without its own means of voice communication is provided with the semblance of having a voice interaction capability. This is done by providing a beacon device at or near the entity, the beacon device transmitting, over a short-range communication link, contact data identifying a voice service associated with, but hosted separately from, the entity. The transmitted contact data is picked up by equipment carried by a nearby person and used to contact the voice service over a wireless network. The person then interacts with the voice service, the latter acting as a voice proxy for the local entity. The contact data can be presented to the user in other ways, for example, by being inscribed on the local entity for scanning or user input into the equipment.

Voice communication concerning a local entity

Location information about a communicating entity (), in particular a mobile entity, is derived by identifying intermediate nodes () along the communication path being used by the entity, and then looking up, in a database (), the geographic significance of at least one of these nodes when considered in a direction along the communication path towards the entity of interest. Preferably, account is taken of any identified downstream/upstream nodes to refine the geographic significance of a node. The geographic significance information can be compiled by taking location fixes at a plurality of endpoint locations and associating the location data thus obtained with the intermediate nodes traversed when communication is effected from the corresponding endpoint locations.

Deriving location information about a communicating entity

A browser with a sound input receives a sound sequence that can be used to access a content site. The sound sequence encodes characters according to a predetermined scheme. These characters are extracted by the browser and may either directly constitute the URL of the content site, or include a site code that can be translated into the content site URL by a service system. In this latter case, the browser contacts the service system to have the site code translated into the content site URL. Once in possession of the content site URL, the browser contacts that site. Where the encoded characters represent a site code requiring translation, the URL of the translation service system is preferably included in the set of encoded characters with the encoding being such that the URL encodes to a musical tune.

Method and apparatus for accessing a content site with a sound sequence

A browser with a sound input receives a sound passage associated with a content site. The browser sends a representation of the sound passage to a service system where it is compared with stored representations of sound passages that each have an associated URI. On finding a match, the service system sends back the URI associated with the matched stored sound-passage representation. The browser uses this URI to access the content site.

Sound link translation

A method and device is provided for obscuring the location of a mobile entity to a specified accuracy level. Available location data that has a known accuracy greater than the specified accuracy has its accuracy decreased (85) by combining with the components of the available location data, additional components randomized over a range set by the difference between the known accuracy of the available location data and the specified accuracy level.

A mobile entity ( ) provides accuracy limit data (Q) that indicates a desired accuracy of location data (L) about the mobile entity. This data (Q) is passed, either directly or indirectly from the mobile entity ( ), to a location handling system ( ) which provides location data (L) about the corresponding mobile entity limited to the desired accuracy. In one embodiment, the location handling system is a location server. In another embodiment the location handling system is a decryption entity ( ) for decrypting encrypted location data.

When a person first enters an unfamiliar work space, it is useful for that person to know what devices are present in the space and often the person will spend the first few minutes looking around, effectively carrying out an inventory of the devices present. In order to simplify this process the devices are arranged to announce their existence by sound in response to a prompt, such as a handclap. To avoid the announcements being made all at once in an unintelligible manner, the devices interact with each other to order their announcements so that each device announcement is, at least in due course, made uninterrupted by announcements from other devices. Typically, this interaction involves the devices using a collision-detection and back-off protocol applied to the announcements themselves.

Device inventory by sound

Audio alerts are provided in an environment, such as a house, concerning categorized events to be reported. Examples of the events are receipt of e-mails and voice mails. The presence of a person entering or leaving a space of the environment is detected and a processing system determines reportable event categories that have occurred. Each possible event category has a corresponding audio signature. The event categories signatures that have occurred are played either simultaneously or sequentially, within the hearing of the person detected.

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San Mateo, CA, United States of America

Andrew D Thomas