3com Corporation

Other

Fusion-io, Inc.

Nathan M Whitney

Carl Ketcham

Allen E Shupe

Peter M Rigstad

Jack Yang

Kevin J Smart

Kurt Dobson

Methods, storage controllers, and systems for backing data of a non-volatile storage device using a backing store are described. One method includes satisfying storage operations using a non-volatile storage device, determining an age for data stored on the non-volatile storage device, and copying data of the non-volatile storage device having an age that satisfies a data retention time threshold to a dedicated backing store. One storage controller includes an operations module that satisfies storage operations using a non-volatile storage device, an age module that determines an age for data stored on the non-volatile storage device, and a backup module that copies data of the non-volatile storage device having an age that satisfies a data retention time threshold to a dedicated backing store.

Apparatus, system, and method for backing data of a non-volatile storage device using a backing store

New network elements that are installed in a network are automatically configured using an imprinting process. In this process, when they are first installed and turned on they start listening for packets on the network. When a packet is received, the new network element &ldquo;imprints&rdquo; to this packet by adopting configuration information, such as site ID and subnet ID values, that are contained in one or more fields in the first packet. The site ID and subnet ID values allow the new network element to intelligently communicate with other network elements. If the new network element does not receive a packet in a given amount of time, e.g., 30 or 60 minutes, the new network element assumes that it is the first element of the network. It therefore adopts site ID and subnet ID values from another source, such as deriving them from a pre-installed, 48-bit Medium Access Control address that is assigned to the network element.

Imprinting method for automated registration and configuration of network devices

A plurality of wireless nodes in a network, such as elements of a residential or office home computer system, security system, HVAC or sprinkler system, or the like, communicate with each other over a radio frequency channel. A node generates a packet and transmits it to all the other nodes within range. All the receiving nodes in turn retransmit the packet to all the nodes within range of them. This process floods the network with packets, insuring that all of the nodes at the site receive the packet. The packet contains a de-looping code that is processed by all the nodes that receive the packet. The de-looping code insures that the packet is broadcast by any given node only once. Collisions resulting from multiple nodes simultaneously trying to gain access to the RF medium is avoided by implementing an exponential backoff algorithm, by which all the nodes wait for a random period of time before attempting transmission on the medium. The nodes may communicate with higher level logical domains by virtue of selected nodes functioning as bridges to higher domains. The higher level domains can include neighborhood, regional, or global networks, including global IP-based cabled networks.

Simple wireless network with store and forward methods incorporating anti-looping codes

A method and apparatus for implementing a speakerphone within a personal computer having a voice-capable modem and an audio board is provided. The personal computer executes host software providing the user interface for speakerphone operation and the indirect interconnection for audio data routing between the voice-capable modem and the audio board without requiring physical jumpering between the modem and audio board. For half duplex speakerphone operation, the host software performs switching between transmit and receive modes by monitoring received audio signal energy levels and switching accordingly. For full duplex operation of the voice-capable modem, the modem's DSP provides echo cancellation of locally generated echoes. Also, for full duplex operation of the audio board, the host software provides echo cancellation for acoustic echoes generated by the speaker audio feeding into the user's microphone.

Method and apparatus for a host-based personal computer speakerphone

The compression method utilizes a combination of both lossy and lossless compression to achieve significant compression while retaining very high subjective quality of the reconstructed or decompressed signal. Methods and apparatus for compression and decompression of digital audio data are provided. In one preferred embodiment, the compression method or apparatus has a bit rate control feedback loop particularly well suited to matching the output bit rate of the data compressor to the bandwidth capacity of a communication channel. Embodiments trade-off various error sources in order to keep perceptible distortion levels to a minimum for a fixed bit rate. Preferred embodiments also utilize a unique combination of run length and Huffman encoding methods in order to take advantage of both local and global statistics.

Growing community of inventors

West Jordan, UT, United States of America

Nathan M Whitney