International Business Machines Corporation

Raytheon Company

Symantec Corporation

Leon Lumelsky

Alan W Peevers

Sung M Choi

Nelson R Manohar

John L Pittas

Marc Segre

Stephen Peter Wood

Joe C St Clair

Alexander K Spencer

Robert L Mansfield

Satish Gupta

Carlo J Evangelisti

Calvin Bruce Swart

Anand Narasimhan

Peter Dirk Hortensius

James D Wagoner

Daniel H McCabe

Jonathan S Shapiro

Hector G Romero, Jr

Mark J Pavicic

Lawrence Cheng

The present invention provides methods, systems, devices, and computer program instructions for enabling low-power wireless devices (such as wireless telephones and personal digital assistants, or PDAs) to connect to a fast wired or wireless voice/data network. A novel relay point device, referred to as an 'extension point', is defined that flexibly extends the effective reach of network access points. Use of extension points enables the network infrastructure to be expanded (and subsequently re-configured, if necessary) simply and cost-effectively, requiring little or no additional physical wiring. The defined techniques provide an infrastructure that is scalable, supporting a large number of end users without substantial degradation to connection establishment time and data rates. Using the disclosed techniques, end devices are able to reach network services, and to communicate with other end devices, beyond the nominal working range of these devices and without limitation to the numbers of such devices.

Extension mechanism and technique for enabling low-power end devices to access remote networks using short-range wireless communications means

A Resource Management Framework (RMF) comprises an extensible, distributed, policy-based, object-oriented system and method for resource discovery and negotiation during the setup and control of a media session between one or more media servers and end users. The scope of the RMF framework is the management of multimedia resources used during simple, non-interactive as well as composite, complex, interactive multimedia sessions. The RMF enables iterative negotiated mapping over the requirements of an RMF-compliant application onto the offerings of one or more RMF-compliant media servers. It is an open-services architecture providing the ability to insert and apply services to enhance the suitability of offerings to requirements and vice versa, during a negotiated mapping session. Moreover, the RMF negotiated mapping algorithm itself is customizable via the use of policies (herein referred to as per-flow policies). The policies used to drive management decisions and service selections during these negotiated mapping are 'pluggable'. New or updated policies may be added, to augment or replace an existing policy so as to realize new behavior or refine existing behavior.

Policy-based multivariate application-level QoS negotiation for multimedia services

A distributed system for the management of distributed resources interconnected by a computer network and comprised of a plurality of limited supply resources (such as those associated with multimedia content servers, e.g., bandwidth, CPU, storage, etc.,). The system comprises a plurality of server resources, preferably with target multimedia content, real time processing engines, etc., and a plurality of intermediary system resources (such as directories and resource monitors). The resources in any particular server are classified or partitioned as global or local, where the ratio of global to local is specified and controlled by the system. The system assigns clients across local and global resources and coordinates the placement of replicas of target content across global resources. The placement is dynamic and performed when necessary based on the analysis of utilization patterns of target content and replicas by pluralities of clients.

Self-regulated resource management of distributed computer resources

A system and method for dynamically shaping available capacity of multi-media objects based on aggregated demand across distributed media/world-wide-web servers. Demand statistics (e.g., volume and density) for a given web object are used to characterize aggregated behavior with respect to request arrival time. The system dynamically shapes capacity by controlling, over time, the number of replicas of objects made available to such requests as well as the placement of such replicas. The system also enables on-demand replication of web objects across web servers by providing: (a) a ranking criteria to prioritize among web objects according to past demand; and, (b) a trigger criteria to determine when to apply the capacity shaping mechanism. The system effectively allows one or more media servers to share the streaming resources provided by a globally shared media server in such a way that the capacity of each media server is temporarily, and transparently augmented as needed to match predicted demand for its objects.

System and method for capacity shaping in an internet environment

A system providing access to web objects that matches predicted demand for web objects to available capacity on web servers. The system implements methods to dynamically shape both demand and capacity based on certain criteria. The system provides methods to dynamically shape demand for an object based on criteria such as arrival time, incoming geography, and costs requirements. In particular, the present invention characterizes future demand for an object based on aggregation and forecasting of past demand for such object. The system effectively permits control and customization of capacity across one or more media servers based on characteristics associated with the demand across one or more of them, and particularly, based on the dominating geographical traits of past demand. Moreover, the system dynamically shapes capacity by: (a) controlling the number of replicas associated with an object; and, (b) controlling the placement of these replicas across servers in a distributed network. In particular, the system drives capacity shaping measures over a particular object based on its predicted demand. Consequently, the number and location of replicas associated with an object is made to be variable over time and driven by predicted demand for a web object.

System and method for integrated load distribution and resource management on internet environment

A system and method for configuring service-oriented resources suitable for the resource management in a media server and more particularly, for resource configuration across distributed media servers. Heterogeneous media serves are configured in terms of homogeneous service-oriented resource units each used to represent a resource allocation commitment from a participating server for provisioning a particular media service on demand. A service unit associated with each different service supported by a media server represents an envelope of resource requirements as needed for provisioning a service. The method includes generating a resource envelope, and additionally compensating, at a media server, for differences between true resource utilization and resource envelope projected by a service unit. Each service unit also comprises a signature representing metadata used to control access to a service unit by defining rights, privileges, and characteristics of services that may use that particular server unit.

Management of service-oriented resources across heterogeneous media servers using homogenous service units and service signatures to configure the media servers

The present invention switches a source of a streaming session between a primary server and its client, from the primary server to another server at arbitrary points during the progress of the streaming session. The switching of the source is accomplished through the use of a virtual socket capable of simultaneously phasing in a new streaming connection while phasing out an old streaming connection during a streaming session that preserves the temporal progress of the session. The virtual socket acts as a client-based intermediary between the client and one or more streaming servers, thus enabling a client application to establish a streaming connection with respect to content and not to the end-party, i.e., server.

System for seamless streaming of data stored on a network of distributed primary and target servers using segmentation information exchanged among all servers during streaming

A singlecast interactive radio system of the invention delivers digitized audio-based content to subscribers, upon their request, economically and with human voice quality. The system includes personal radio station servers, and a plurality of user terminals, and exploits one of the existing wireless communication networks as a transmission medium. A highly compressed voice-based information content is stored on data network servers, such as Internet World Wide Web servers. The personal radio station server stores multiple subscriber's profiles with topics of individual interest, assembles a content material from various Web sites according to the topics, and transmits the content to a subscriber's user terminal on subscriber's request over the wireless digital network. The user terminal restores voice-based material with at least AM-radio voice quality and transmission costs of such a material is very low in comparison to existing methods of voice communication, at least as a result of chosen compression algorithms. The user terminal optionally integrates, electrically and mechanically, a conventional radio and with a cellular phone equipment. The user can control system functions hands-free by issuing voice commands only. Such functions include, but are not limited to, cellular telephony voice dialing and control, secure network log-on based on voice identification, hands-free tuning to conventional radio-stations, changing audio playback level, and switching between functions. The user terminal also retrieves text material from the Internet or other data depositories, plays the material back as a computer-generated speech, digitizes a voice response from the user, and delivers the response to other e-mail addresses over related networks, including wired networks.

Singlecast interactive radio system

A gateway enables point to multipoint connectivity from voice, data, or SVD clients over voice and data networks. The gateway connects one or more known voice networks (e.g. telephone networks) and one or more data networks (e.g. LANs, WANs, and internet) so that clients on either network may access any of the networks via various devices like analog telephones, data modems, SVD modems, or direct data network connections (e.g., ethernet, token ring). The gateway has connections to both the data network(s) as well as the voice network(s). The gateway is capable of splitting a signal with both voice and data streams and routing either and/or both of these streams over the voice network alone, the data network, or both. A process, executing on the gateway enables the gateway to establish connections on gateway paths and to control and direct a flow of voice and data information between the destinations on these networks.

Multipoint simultaneous voice and data services using a media splitter gateway architecture

An image display system (10) includes an image buffer (20,22) having a plurality of addressable locations for storing image pixel data. The system further includes circuitry (24,34,36) coupled to an output of the image buffer for converting image pixel data read therefrom to electrical signals for driving an image display (18). The circuitry is responsive to signals generated by an image display controller (16) for generating one of a plurality of different timing formats for the electrical signals for driving an image display having a specified display resolution. The apparatus further includes circuitry (40,42) for configuring the image buffer in accordance with the specified display resolution. The image buffer is configurable, by example, as two, 2048 location by 1024 location by 24-bit buffers and one 2048 location by 1024 location by 16-bit buffer; or as two, 2048 location by 2048 location by 24-bit buffers and one 2048 location by 2048 location by 16-bit buffer. Each of the 24-bit buffers store R,G,B pixel data and the 16-bit buffers each store a color index (CI) value and an associated window identifier (WID) value. Circuitry at the output of the image buffer decodes CI and WID values into R,G,B pixel data and a Key value specifying pixel mixing.

High definition multimedia display

An information signal content authoring system is provided. The authoring system includes a speech analyzer, responsive to a spoken utterance signal provided by a narrator. The spoken utterance signal is representative of information available to the narrator. The speech analyzer generates a speech signal representative of one or more prosodic parameters associated with the narrator. A text-to-speech converter, responsive to a text signal representative of the information available to the narrator, generates a phonetic representation signal from the text signal and synthesizes a speech signal from the text signal. The text-to-speech converter also generates one or more prosodic parameters from the text signal. A spectrum comparator, operatively coupled to the speech analyzer and the text-to-speech converter, compares the spectral parameters of the speech signal generated by the speech analyzer to the speech signal synthesized by the converter and generates a variance signal indicative of a spectral distance between the two speech signals. The variance signal is provided to the text-to-speech converter to adjust the prosodic parameters. An output portion, operatively coupled to the text-to-speech converter, outputs the phonetic representation signal and the prosodic parameters from the converter as a composite encoded signal representative of information content available to the narrator. The output portion further preferably includes an editor, response to editing commands issued by the narrator, for editing at least a portion of the composite encoded signal.

TTS and prosody based authoring system

An image buffer is described for an X.times.Y pixel display, which image buffer stores compressed image pixel data for a plurality of n.times.m matrices of pixels, each matrix represented by a pair of color codes and MASK having nm bit position, each positions mapping to a pixel in the matrix, a manifested bit value in a MASK bit position defining the color code assigned to a mapped pixel. The image buffer includes serial registers for feeding pixel color code values to a buffer serial output and multiplexers for providing n bit values from the MASK on n of its output lines. Gating circuitry, controlled by bit values on the output lines, are operative to gate either a first set of inputs or a second set of inputs into the shift registers. Control circuitry is provided for feeding a pair of color codes and the MASK bit values to the gating circuits and multiplexers, respectively, and for serially operating the serial shift registers in response to the gating of the inputs from the gating circuits.

Compressed image frame buffer for high resolution full color, raster

A display system is described which includes storage for receiving a compressed pixel image manifesting at least a pair of encoded colors and a bit MASK that defines which pixels of a pixel subset of the pixel image receive one of the colors. The system comprises a plurality of memory modules. The pixels in the subset are interleaved in the memory modules. A generator is provided for applying signals to cause data to be written into each of modules in parallel. Register means are provided for applying data manifesting the encoded colors to the modules. Control apparatus is responsive to the MASK bits for controlling the generator to write the encoded color data, in parallel and in a single memory cycle, into all pixel positions of the subset that are designated for the color(s) by MASK bit position values.

Frame buffer organization and control for real-time image decompression

SIMD computer architecture is used in conjunction with a host processor and coordinate processor to render quality, three-dimensional, anti-aliased shaded color images into the frame buffer of a video display system. The method includes a parallel algorithm for rendering an important graphic primitive for accomplishing the production of a smoothly shaded color three-dimensional triangle with anti-aliased edges. By taking advantage of the SIMD architecture and said parallel algorithm, the very time consuming pixel by pixel computations are broken down for parallel execution. A single coordinate processor computes and transmits an overall triangle record which is essentially the same for all blocks of pixels within a given bounding box which box in turn surrounds each triangle. The individual pixel data is produced by a group of M.times.N pixel processors and stored in the frame buffer in a series of repetitive steps wherein each step corresponds to the processing of an M.times.N block of pixels within the bounding box of the triangle. Thus, each pixel processor performs the same operation, modifying its computations in accordance with triangle data received from the coordinate processor and positional data unique to its own sequential connectivity to the frame buffer, thus allowing parallel access to the frame buffer.

Parallel rendering of smoothly shaped color triangles with anti-aliased

Method and apparatus for implementing a raster graphic display video data path that provides arbitrary mixing of a plurality of images. The video data path is highly parallelized, and employs parallel devices operating under the control of a set of look-up tables. The look-up tables are loadable from a controller, such as a host workstation. The raster graphic display video data path functions with unlimited screen resolutions, and also enables a variety of different pixel data formats from a potentially large number of different sources. Outputs from several image sources are mixed under the control of the host workstation, with a resultant pixel value being based on (a) a combined translucency coefficient (alpha) of the images, for each image source, and (b) a window identification number assigned by the host workstation. Pixel value conversion to a common predetermined format provides coherency between pixel values generated by a number of different image sources, such as HDTV and graphics servers. A separate frame buffer is allocated for each of the sources.

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Stamford, CT, United States of America

Leon Lumelsky