International Business Machines Corporation

Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation

Altus365, Inc.

Thomas Joseph Prorock

John Kenyon Gerken, Iii

William S Werdel

Dale Richard Compliment

Malcolm H Holloway

Antonio Abbondanzio

James Johnson Allen, Jr

Robert S Hoblit

Robert E Warren

Monsak Jason Chirakansakcharoen

David Thomas Rogers

Robert James Demick

David L Johnson

Raymond Lee Waddell, Jr

Long-Kim Vo Yates

Michael F Prorock

Karen Waluk

David Lawrence Bennett

Julia P Rockwell

A system and method for accelerating customer sales transactions in a retail store. A customer checkout accelerator provides a customer user interface to initiate a request for a preapproval amount for a sales transaction before reaching the point of sale terminal for completion of the purchase transaction. A card reader integrated into the customer checkout accelerator reads a customer payment card number when the payment card is swiped through the reader. A customer checkout accelerator server module resident on a store controller server determines a preapproval amount for the sales transaction and transmits the request to an external card services system for payment approval. The customer checkout accelerator also provides the ability to purchase additional promotional items in the checkout lane with this process integrated into the payment preapproval process. Once payment approval is obtained from the external card services system, an entry is placed in a preapproval database associated with the customer checkout accelerator server module on the store controller server. The server module forwards the approval notification to the point of sales terminal where it is placed in a preapproval cache for use in completing the actual sale transaction.

Customer checkout accelerator

A method, system and computer program product for providing access to government benefits is disclosed. The method comprises positioning a short-range transmitter in a predetermined product area in a store, and storing one or more marketing messages in the short-range transmitter, wherein the one or more marketing messages are associated with one or more specific products located in the predetermined product area. The one or more marketing messages are transmitted to a wireless computer, and a user is identified as a participant in a government benefits scheme. Available under a subsidy program are communicated to a user and upon purchase of an item, an analysis of benefits available under a subsidy program is provided.

Integration of WIC items and transactions into personal shopping devices

A media archive comprising a plurality of media resources associated with events that occurred during a time interval are processed to synchronize the media resources. Sequences of patterns are identified in each media resource of the media archive. Elements of the sequences associated with different media resources are correlated such that a set of correlated elements is associated with the same event that occurred in the given time interval. The synchronization information of the processed media resources is represented in a flexible and extensible data format. The synchronization information is used for optimized synchronous search capability, for enhanced synchronous playback of the archive resources, and for unified access to, and modification of, the archive resources.

Synchronization of media resources in a media archive

Methods, apparatus and computer program products for automatically identifying a calling party using voice recognition. Voice recognition is the computing task of identifying or validating a person's identity using characteristics of their voice. A first voice record is obtained from an identifiable party and associated with a voice identifier. When a second voice record is received from a calling party, the voice in the second voice record is compared to the voice in the first voice record to determine the identity of the calling party. If the there is a match between the voice in the second voice record and the voice in the previously obtained first voice record, then the called party is notified of the identity of the calling party. A voice identifier, when available, is preferably displayed to the called party on a screen instead of caller ID information.

Caller identification using voice recognition

A method, a system and a computer program product for defining manageable component objects to an application utilizing data roots. A manageable component engine creates a bridge manageable component model utilizing the data roots. Data roots, or root data, are retrieved and stored in a manageable component persistent index of an application. The manageable component persistent index is processed for one or more root objects during an initialization of a manageable component engine. The manageable component engine queries one or more data sources, and accesses data required for creating a manageable component object instance. One or more manageable component objects are registered in a manageable component repository. The manageable component bridge model is created and displayed via a graphical user interface.

Flexible and extensible framework and model for systems manageable components

Aspects to ensure maintenance of individual government benefits in a retail environment include identifying of an individual shopper with an associated level of available benefits during a shopping session. Purchases relative to predetermined criteria, including the associated level of available benefits, are tracked. Scheduling a next appointment during the shopping session for the individual shopper with an agency providing the government benefits based on the tracking occurs, wherein a potential lapse in benefits is avoided.

Method to ensure maintenance of individual government benefits in a retail environment

The present invention is directed to a system for processing coupons by a self checkout system, where the self checkout system includes at least one self checkout station coupled to a server. In a first aspect, a self checkout system includes a server for managing the self checkout system and at least one self checkout station coupled to the server, where the self checkout station includes a scanner for scanning at least one item for purchase by a customer, a coupon reader for receiving a coupon from the customer, and a coupon manager. The coupon manager attempts to validate the coupon against the at least one item scanned by the customer, and if the coupon fails to validate, the coupon manager stores the coupon in a coupon pool at the server such that the stored coupon can be utilized at a subsequent sales transaction.

Self-checkout coupon sharing

A system and method for accelerating customer sales transactions in a retail store. A customer checkout accelerator provides a customer user interface initiate a request for a preapproval amount for a sales transaction before reaching the point of sale for completion of the purchase transaction. A card reader integrated into the customer checkout accelerator reads a customer payment card number when the payment card is swiped through the reader. A customer checkout accelerator server module resident on a store controller server determines a preapproval amount for the sales action and transmits the request to an external card services system for payment approval. The customer checkout accelerator also provides the ability to purchase additional promotional items in the checkout lane with this process integrated into the payment preapproval process. Once payment approval is obtained from the external card services system, an entry is placed in a preapproval database associated with the customer checkout accelerator server module on the store controller server. The server module forwards the approval notification to the point of sales terminal where it is placed in a preapproval cache for use in completing the actual sale transaction.

A method and system for using a JAVA&#x2122; Custom ClassLoader to dynamically build and maintain a list of JAVA&#x2122; Class Files and resources that are used by applications that run in Point Of Sale (POS) terminals or other POS devices. The JAVA&#x2122; Class Files and resources are ordinarily obtained from a file server known as a controller. If communication between the POS terminal and the controller is lost, other POS devices dynamically collaborate in a 'self healing' process to find and provide the required resources (e.g., JAVA&#x2122; Class Files) to run the POS terminal in an off-line mode. The present system is thus autonomic, self-learning and self-healing.

Autonomic self-healing of java resources

Embodiments of methods, system, and computer program products are provided that may facilitate monitoring of data processing system events. For example, data processing system event data may be collected and sent to an event handler program module. Once the event handler program module receives the data processing system event data, a remote program module, which resides in a different address space than the event handler program module, may be notified. The data processing system event data may then be sent from the event handler program module to the remote program module. Data processing system events may, therefore, be monitored from a remote location without the need to log in to the data processing system to manually extract the event data. Moreover, the data processing system event data may be sent from the event handler program module to the remote program module as events occur, thereby providing event notification in real-time. As a result, a remote program module need not expend processing resources polling the data processing system to determine if any events have occurred and remote personnel need not log in to the data processing system to check for events. A remote program module may monitor multiple data processing systems and may send event data to another remote program module. Thus, a scalable, hierarchical monitoring system may be constructed.

Methods, systems, and computer program product for remote monitoring of a data processing system events

A Fast Ethernet LAN hub may include a plurality of 100 Mbps ports, each dedicated to a single station or shared with a high speed Ethernet segment. The ports on the Fast Ethernet hub are connected to a low speed 10 Mbps LAN segment through a high speed LAN/low speed LAN bridge port. Because of the mismatch in data transmission rates, the LAN bridge may experience congestion as a result of data flow at the high speed/low speed interface. To minimize the impact on high speed ports, a congestion control system responds to a congested state by identifying 100 Mbps ports currently actively communicating with remote stations through the 10 Mbps port. Any 100 Mbps port identified as supporting a current connection to a network management station is excluded from the set of identified ports. The identified ports are temporarily prevented from sending or receiving data. Other 100 Mbps ports on the hub remain unaffected by the congestion control action.

Method and system for congestion flow control in a high speed network

A method and system for determining the topology of a communications network that utilizes routing information fields contained within transmission frames for controlling routine transmissions. First, a plurality of transmission frames associated with routine data transmissions are collected. Next, a plurality of routing information fields are extracted from the plurality of transmission frames. Thereafter, the plurality of routing information frames are analyzed and parsed, thereby yielding interconnected topology data. Finally, the interconnected topology data from the plurality of routing information fields is converted and stored into programming language data objects, such that the data objects may thereafter be utilized to display the interconnected topology of the communications network.

Token ring network topology discovery and display

Apparatus and method which allow an SNMP managed device to register with a Network Management system. The SNMP managed device generates and transmits, to the Management Station or other network stations, a Frame indicating that the managed device is present in the network. The process of transmitting the frame continues until the Management Station responds with a frame acknowledging receipt. The managed device then sets a Timer and monitors for receipt of the Response frame from said Management Station. If the timer expires and the Response frame is not received within the timer interval, the registration process is initiated. Thus, the invention discloses a dynamic way of registering, monitoring and initiating registration (if contact is lost) of an SNMP device with a Management Station.

Growing community of inventors

Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Thomas Joseph Prorock