International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Louis Paul Herzberg

Antonio Ruiz

Charles Steven Lingafelt

Marc Hubert Willebeek-LeMair

Barry Edward Willner

Baiju V Patel

Frank Andre Schaffa

Alan G Ganek

Alan George Ganek

Gordon Wesley Braudaway

Isaac Weiss

Simcha Engel

Apparatus is provided for integrated, single and multiple person vehicle car seats, modular car seat systems, dual person car seats, variable base height and width car seats, car seat-inserts inserted into another car seat, foldable, for use in a land, sea or air vehicle, mounted onto the vehicle's built-in seat and used for securing a car seat user within a vehicle's regular seating positions. Car seat systems include components enabling addition or removal of seating positions for a desired number of car seat users as needed, limited only by available width and height space of the vehicle seat onto which it is mounted.

Integrated single, multiple and rolling car seat systems

Apparatus for single and multiple person vehicle car seats, specialized car seats, modular car seat systems, integrated car seats, dual person car seats, variable width car seats, reversibly and non-reversibly changeable car seat types, car seat-inserts inserted into a car seat, and overlapping car seats, for use in a land, sea or air vehicle, mounted onto the vehicle's built-in seat and used for securing a car seat user, such as an infant or older child or handicapped person, within a vehicle's regular seating positions. Car seat systems include components enabling addition or removal of seating positions for a desired number of car seat users as needed, limited only by available width space of the vehicle seat onto which it is mounted. Car seat systems, integrated car seat systems and/or multiple person car seats generally provide more and/or specialized seating positions for persons in car seats than provided for regular passengers in the vehicle width space taken up by the car seat systems or the multiple person car seat.

Single, multiple and integrated car seat systems

Apparatus for multiple person vehicle seats, specialized car seats, modular car seat systems, dual person car seats, and overlapping car seats, for use in a land, sea or air vehicle, mounted onto the vehicle's built-in seat and used for securing a car seat user, such as a small child, within a vehicle's regular seating positions. Car seat systems include components enabling addition or removal of seating positions for a desired number of car seat users as needed, limited only by available width space of the vehicle seat onto which it is mounted. Car seat systems and/or multiple person car seats generally provide more and/or specialized seating positions for persons in car seats than provided for regular passengers in the vehicle width space taken up by the car seat systems or the multiple person car seat.

Multiple person vehicle car seats

A method and system for providing multilevel information about video-on-demand services. The method comprises the steps of generating a display, on a computer display screen, of a tree having a plurality of nodes; and embedding in the nodes information about video-on-demand services. Preferably information is embedded in these nodes in the form of matrices. A wide range of information about the video-on-demand service may be embedded in the display. For instance, information may be embedded about usage patterns between the supplier of the video services and the consumer, a list of users, user statistics, satisfaction rates, failure rates, failure causes, rates of view to completion, cost monitor information, customer payment information, menus of videos, charge variations, special features and offers, user age, user education, geography, and any combination of the above.

Video on demand configuring, controlling and maintaining

A method and system for providing multilevel information about aspects of accounting. The method comprises the steps of generating a display, on a computer display screen, of a tree having a plurality of nodes, and embedding in the nodes multilevel information about said accounting aspects. For example, trees may be generated that represent credit, debit, revenue, expense, credit and/or debit plans, credit or debit thresholds, assets (cash, investments, receivables), inventory costing and control, short term and/or long term liabilities (stocks, bonds, mortgage notes), stockholders (equity, dividends, cost basis, restrictions, donations), working capital, cash flow (income statement, operations, earnings, forecast, historical data), customer data, manufacturing costs (processing, target), profit (product, division) taxes (income, sales, real estate, etc.). Information may be embedded with a matrix approach. As examples, matrices may be used that contain cost accounting information for a catalog of elements of products with a catalog of subsystem, matrices may be used that provide particular bookkeeping and accounting requirements, and matrices may be used that represent corporate accounting firms.

Controlling, configuring, storing, monitoring and maintaining accounting of bookkeeping information employing trees with nodes having embedded information

A method and system for providing multilevel information about multicast distribution. The method comprises the steps of generating a display, on a computer display screen, of a tree having a plurality of nodes, and embedding in the nodes information about the multicast distribution. The tree may display information about one or more of a variety of aspects of the multicast distribution. These aspects include display of the members of each of a plurality of particular multicast groups, group and/or member connectivity, group parameters, group statistics control, monitor and maintenance; acknowledge and/or operational status, etc. As a specific example, the nodes may represent capacities of a defined aspect. Displays may allow users having particular privileges to add, delete and/or modify nodes. Geometric shapes, having geometric aspects, may be used to represent the nodes; and the aspects of these shapes may be used to represent predetermined aspect of the multicast distribution. Also, a controller may be used to perform certain aspects of the multicast distribution, and information about these aspects of the multicast distribution may be embedded in the nodes.

Control and maintenance of multicast distribution employing embedded displays

A method and system for providing multilevel information about aspects of business. The method comprises the steps of generating a display, on a computer display screen, of a tree having a plurality of nodes, and embedding in the nodes information about said business aspects. For example, trees may be generated that provide information about arranging, performing, monitoring, maintaining and controlling a business. Information may be embedded with a matrix approach. As examples, matrices may be used that provide information about business models, business expansion capabilities, business short and long term predictions, business competitor data, comparison and differences, business histograms and predictors, business responsible entities, division, product, entity business plans, reporting and results, and business alarm functions.

Doing business employing linked trees having retrievable embedded information

The present invention provides methods and apparatus that reverse the notion of the attack process in using intentional image distortion techniques as a means of indelibly marking an original image. It also provides for imparting and removing intentional image distortion to further obscure an embedded invisible watermark. It further provides means for hiding a watermark embedded into a watermarked image. It also provides for imparting distortion on an reference image to form a single level or multilevel caricature of the entire (or part of) the reference image.

Marking and determining distortion in an image

This invention provides methods and apparatus for a special object such as a handicapped individual and/or special equipment with access to and from telecommunications and computer controlled equipment. The equipment being such as to let it be known of the special object being in a particular moving or still environ, and requiring special attention from and/or by others entering or located in that environs The special object, handicapped person or special equipment is made known to those in the environ so as to protect/preserve/serve that object, individual, special equipment, and/or to others entering or located in that environ. The equipment transmits an alarm type signal that a handicapped individual or special equipment is in the environ. The computerized apparatus/method being adapted to be responsive to particular sensations, seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, etc., which are operational in the particular handicapped individual. The special object has a level of bi-directional interactivity with their environ and/or those responsible for the environ and/or the special object via the computerized telecommunications apparatus/method.

Warning method and apparatus

A system, method and apparatus for Video-on-demand (VOD) satisfying the desire of `surfers`. The process entails a server operating in a standard Near-Video-on-demand (NVOD) mode, whereby it repeatedly transmits multiple copies of each program on separate channels. Each copy is delayed by a staggered time interval. The server also repeatedly transmits a beginning portion of each NVOD program of a duration up to the staggered time interval. The invention provides a way to fulfill a VOD user requests asynchronous with the start of a NVOD transmission but which still makes primary use of the NVOD transmission for that requestor. The invention further advantageously provides fixed asset utilization in a predictable manner.

Fixed video-on-demand

A multiple position camera apparatus and method for a three-dimensional computer controlled telepresence camera system useful in surrogate travel type applications. In one embodiment, it enables a telepresence application provider to form multi-view application specific stored image sequences from up to six orthogonally positioned cameras. It furthermore enables a telepresence user to subsequently retrieve for remote viewing particular subsets of the available image sequences and/or groups of sequences via a monitoring and display system. A viewing procedure provides the user with the ability to proceed spatially and/or contiguously along any camera to camera direction. It further uses a wire cage to enable the definition and setting of the field of view of each camera.

Multiple view telepresence camera system using a wire cage which

A system and method for Video-on-Demand (VOD) satisfying the desire of `surfers`. The process entails a server operating in a standard NVOD mode, whereby it continuously sends multiple copies of each program on separate channels. Each copy is delayed by a staggered time interval. The invention provides a way to fulfill a VOD user request asynchronous with the start of a NVOD transmission but which still makes primary use of the NVOD transmission for that requestor. The system and method combines independent server service satisfying an asynchronous request for only a short duration, usually less than or equal to the NVOD staggered time interval, and then aligns that requestor with an immediately previously commenced NVOD transmission.

Hybrid video-on-demand based on a near-video-on-demand system

A rights controlling concentrator (RCC) is an apparatus for separating and controlling 'rights of receiving' and 'rights of transmitting' of a group of stations or groups of stations on a ring-of-trees local area network. RCC elements perform collectively to separately control, limit and/or make available the 'rights of receiving' and the 'rights of transmitting' of a group of stations or groups of stations. Control of the 'rights of receiving' ensures that its membership is only forwarded frames transmitted by an external station which has a destination within the membership, and that the external stations only be forwarded frames transmitted by the membership which have a destination within the external stations. Frames that are transmitted to a destination in one group traverse only stations within that group. Frames that are deemed by the RCC not to be of interest to any group of stations are withheld from that group by the RCC controlling both frame receiving and transmitting rights. This significantly reduces the workload of groups of stations, because frames are not passed through station groups that are not necessary for the frames to reach their destination. Furthermore, since data frames are handled by fewer stations, the reliability of the main ring is increased. Control of the 'rights of transmitting' ensures that the token is, or can be, withheld from stations that are 'listen only' and need not be given the rights to transmit. This reduces the travel time of the token around the ring (and the Token Target Rotation Time (TTRT)), providing faster repeating opportunities for the transmitting stations to transmit.

Apparatus for fiber distributed data interface dynamic station bypass

In standard token-based LANs (e.g., FDDI, Token Ring) an equal share of the ring bandwidth is made available to each node. Certain nodes (e.g., bridges, routers, servers) require a larger representation (bandwidth) than other nodes. A surrogate (bridge/router) node is presented which achieves this in a standard compliant manner. The bridge/router may serve as a surrogate on each ring representing multiple stations from the other ring. The multiplicity of stations is adjusted either statically or dynamically to provide sufficient added bandwidth to the surrogate to reduce delay and packet loss characteristic of the conventional single station bridge or router. The increased bandwidth utilization and FDDI ring performance resulting from the implementation of this invention is transparent to the individual stations and the ring in a way that is advantageous to both single media and multimedia usages within defined network local and non-local areas.

Apparatus for connecting two fiber distributed data interface rings

A method and apparatus allow the interoperability of a token ring packet data network managed by the timed-token protocol (FDDI-I) and a TDM network (FDDI-II) with a given bandwidth allocation assigned to the packet data timed-token protocol. Only a single token is used, and the delay and loss of packets which cannot be transmitted on account of limited bandwidth is reduced. The flow of packets into the slots of the communications ring following the TDM protocol is controlled by varying the amount of time in which the token is held by the interface between the two communication rings. That is, the time in which the token is held by the interface is a function of the number TDM slots allocated to the transmission of packet data.

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Monsey, NY, United States of America

Louis Paul Herzberg