al Method for producing silica-supported catalyst, and method for producing unsaturated carboxylic acid or unsaturated nitrile By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method for producing a silica-supported catalyst comprising Mo, V. Nb, and a component X (Sb and/or Te) to be used in a vapor phase catalytic oxidation or ammoxidation of proprane, comprising the steps of: (I) preparing a raw material mixture solution by mixing Mo, V, Nb, component X, a silica sol, and water;(II) obtaining a dry powder by drying the raw material mixture solution; and(III) obtaining a silica-supported catalyst by calcining the dry powder, wherein the silica sol contains 10 to 270 wt ppm of nitrate ions based on SiO2. Full Article
al Organophosphorus compounds, catalytic systems comprising said compounds and method of hydrocyanation or of hydroformylation using said catalytic systems By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT Organophosphorus compounds, catalytic systems comprising a metallic element forming a complex with the organophosphorus compounds and methods of hydrocyanation and of hydroformylation employed in the presence of the catalytic systems are described. Full Article
al Aliphatic polycarbonate quench method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present disclosure is directed to, in part, an aliphatic polycarbonate polymerization reaction initiated by combining an epoxide with carbon dioxide in the presence of a catalytic transition metal-ligand complex to form a reaction mixture, and further quenching that polymerization reaction by contacting the reaction mixture with an acid containing a non-nucleophilic anion produces a crude polymer solution with improved stability and processability. Full Article
al Substituted phenylcarbamoyl alkylamino arene compounds and N,N'-BIS-arylurea compounds By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Substituted phenylcarbamoyl alkylamino arenes; substituted phenylthiocarbamyl alkylamino arenes; substituted phenylcarbamoyl alkylamino heteroarenes; substituted phenylthiocarbamyl alkylamino heteroarenes; N-substituted aryl, N'-substituted aryl urea compounds; N-substituted aryl, N'-substituted heteroaryl urea compounds; N-substituted aryl, N'-substituted aryl thiourea compounds and N-substituted aryl, N'-substituted heteroaryl thiourea compounds are provided and may find use as androgen receptor modulators. The compounds may find particular use in treating prostate cancer, including castration-resistant prostate cancer and/or hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Full Article
al Crystalline form of 3-methylsulfonylpropionitrile By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to processes for preparing 3-methylsulfonylpropionitrile. The processes provide a good yield and a good purity of the final product and provide a controllable reaction. The present invention also relates to a crystalline form of 3-methylsulfonylpropionitrile having X-ray diffraction peaks at 13.9±0.1, 19.2±0.1, 20.0±0.1, 22.5±0.1, 23.2±0.1, 25.7±0.1, 28.1±0.1, 29.9±0.1, and 30.6±0.1 degrees 2θ, and wherein the most intense peak is the peak at 13.9±0.1 degrees 2θ. Full Article
al Halo active aromatic sulfonamide organic compounds and uses therefor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Aromatic N-halosulfonamide organic compounds have been known for over one hundred years. The ability of these compounds to release active halogen ions has been utilized in a range of biocidal and fungicidal applications. This disclosure deals with the use of halo active aromatic sulfonamide organic compounds as odor control and/or biocidal agents in a cleaning solution for use with bovines and other dairy animals. Full Article
al Process for preparing diaryl carbonates from dialkyl carbonates By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention provides a process for preparing diaryl carbonates from dialkyl carbonates and aromatic hydroxyl compounds using at least two reaction columns, a process section for recovering the dialkyl carbonate used in the reaction and for removing the alcohol of reaction, one or more process steps for removing the by-products obtained in the process which have a boiling point between that of the dialkyl carbonate and that of the alkyl aryl carbonate formed during the preparation of the diaryl carbonate, and a process step for further purification of the diaryl carbonate obtained from the reaction columns. Full Article
al Data retrieval in a two-way network By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system receives a first request for data associated with a data stream received over a first network from a remote source and then determines when the requested data will be available based on analyzing the data stream. The system communicates a second request for the requested data over a second network to the remote source when the requested data will not be available from the data stream within a threshold time and receives the requested data from the remote source over at least one from the list including the first network and the second network. Full Article
al Portable communication device for providing phone calling service By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A portable communication device for phone calling is herein disclosed and enabled. The portable communication device includes a USB interface for connecting to an external USB port of a computing device for enabling phone calling services using the portable communication device. Upon connecting the portable communication device to the external USB port of the computing device, a phone calling software component or data stored in the portable communication device may execute for enabling phone calling services. The portable communication device may also include one or more ports, and may include an interface for Ethernet connection for connecting to the Internet and for making phone calls without the need for connecting the portable communication device to the external USB port. The portable communication device may further include a Wi-Fi wireless component for local wireless communication, and may be implemented as an adapter-sized dongle for providing phone calling services. Full Article
al Method to publish remote management services over link local network for zero-touch discovery, provisioning and management By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system, method, and computer-readable medium are disclosed for realizing server management functionalities in the absence of a routable Internet Protocol (IP) network address of a remote access controller (RAC). A first device, which is operatively coupled to a link-local network, generates a Multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) IP multicast query message, which it then sends to a second device on the link-local network. In response, the second device, which comprises a RAC, returns its link-local IP address to the first device. Full Article
al Interfaces for digital media processing By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT APIs discussed herein promote efficient and timely interoperability between hardware and software components within the media processing pipelines of media content players. A PhysMemDataStructure API facilitates a hardware component's direct access to information within a memory used by a software component, to enable the hardware component to use direct memory access techniques to obtain the contents of the memory, instead of using processor cycles to execute copy commands. The PhysMemDataStructure API exposes one or more fields of data structures associated with units of media content stored in a memory used by a software component, and the exposed fields store information about the physical properties of the memory locations of the units of media content. SyncHelper APIs are used for obtaining information from, and passing information to, hardware components, which information is used to adjust the hardware components' timing for preparing media samples of synchronously-presentable media content streams. Full Article
al Virtualizing embedded devices By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A device virtualization system is described herein that separates common computer processing tasks of an embedded device from the application-specific peripherals of the embedded device to allow at least some functions of the device to be offloaded to servers or other computing devices. The device virtualization system greatly simplifies management, configuration, and control of virtual embedded devices. Because much of the software of the device runs on the virtualization server, information technology (IT) personnel can be assigned to manage the virtualization server and to apply any updates and diagnose any problems that occur. Moreover, a single server or group of servers can be used to provide virtualization services for a wide variety of virtualized embedded devices for a wide variety of users. Thus, the system enhances the usefulness of embedded devices and allows a longer lifetime and wider variety of uses than embedded devices today. Full Article
al System and method for providing digital messaging services By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a system and method for providing digital messaging services received from multiple sources over a communications network. The system includes a client system, including a display screen coupled to a communications link; a workstation including a web browser, a memory, and a processor, said workstation coupled to said communications link; a hosting system, including a graphics server, a content server, and a scheduling server, each in communication with each other via a communications link; and a workstation and data storage device coupled to the communications link; and a data storage device for storing data utilized by said hosting system. The client system requests and receives digital messaging services from said hosting system under a subscription agreement. Digital messaging services include advertisements procured from said client system, and one or more local content providers, national advertisers, local advertisers, corporate marketing groups, and advertising agencies. Interactive digital messaging services are also available through the present invention. A user accesses these services via a variety of input devices; such as a bar code scanner, a wireless telephone or personal digital assistant, a kiosk with touch screen design, microphone, or other similar input device. Full Article
al Printing device, mobile terminal, and computer readable recording medium for the same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 02 Jun 2015 08:00:00 EDT A printing device includes a printing device side wireless communication unit configured to execute wireless communication with a mobile terminal, an operation acquisition unit configured to acquire user operation thereof, and a processor. The processor is configured to acquire operation data which is generated as the operation acquisition unit acquires a user operation, acquire establishment data which is generated as the printing device side wireless communication unit establishes a wireless communication with the mobile terminal, and issue a request control to control the printing device side wireless communication unit to transmit request data requesting the mobile terminal to transmit print data necessary for printing, via the wireless communication, when the establishment data is acquired, the request control being issued in accordance with the operation data as acquired. Full Article
al Systems and methods for dynamically configuring communication data items By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Jul 2015 08:00:00 EDT Systems and methods reconfigure data transmitted on a network, the network using a communication protocol. The systems and methods include a processor that is operable to receive data from a second device on the network; a memory medium; and a data configurator operable to dynamically reconfigure the data from the second device, with the data from the second device being in the form of a network item defined by the second device. The data configurator is operable to pass the reconfigured data to the processor and/or the memory medium in the form of a device item that is native to the device. A data design tool generates a map configuration to define a unique relationship between the network item and the device item. The map configuration includes a network representation portion for data in the network item and a device representation portion for data in the data item. Full Article
al Trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) accelerated file retry option By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method of transferring data using a Trivial File Transport Protocol (TFTP) includes sending first request packet from client to server, first request packet requesting that first file be transferred; transferring first file according to first request packet if first acknowledgement packet is received at client from server indicating that server can accommodate request of first request packet; sending second request packet from client to the server if transfer of first file does not complete successfully, the second request packet including TFTP option indicating that transfer of first file be retried beginning at first block after final block that was successfully transferred in response to first request packet; and retrying transfer of first file according to second request packet if second acknowledgement packet is received at client from server indicating that server can accommodate request of second request packet. Full Article
al System and method for supporting video processing load balancing for user account management in a computing environment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system and method can support user account management in a computing environment. The computing environment can include a video encoding pool to support load balancing and a managing server, such as a privileged account manager server. The video encoding pool includes a set of nodes that are able to perform one or more video processing tasks for another node. Furthermore, the managing server can receive a request from a managed node in the computing environment for delegating a video processing task, and can select one or more nodes from the video encoding pool to load babalance and to perform the video processing task. Full Article
al Inferring causal paths in a distributed computing environment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Nov 2015 08:00:00 EST According to one embodiment, a method comprises evaluating messages between nodes of a distributed computing environment. Based on timing relationships of the messages, probability of causal links between pairs of messages determined. Based on the determined probability, at least one causal path comprising a plurality of causal links is inferred. Further, an overall probability that the inferred causal path is accurate is determined. In certain embodiments, the overall probability is output for the corresponding causal path to provide an indication of the confidence of the accuracy of such inferred causal path. Full Article
al Software-based aliasing for accessing multiple shared resources on a single remote host By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 08:00:00 EST In order to allow a single user registered on a single local host or other machine to access multiple shared resources on a remote host, an aliasing mechanism is employed so that multiple concurrent connections can be established by the user to a single remote host, with each connection using a different identity. Each connection can therefore be used to access a different shared resource on the remote host. In some illustrative examples, a user's identifier such as his or her machine log-in identification may be associated with two or more resource sharing aliases. As a result, two or more resource sharing sessions can be established by the user with a single remote host, with each of the sessions using a different one of the aliases. The resource sharing sessions are usually established in accordance with a resource sharing protocol such as the Server Block Message (SBM) protocol. Full Article
al Use of generic universal resource indicators By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 Jan 2016 08:00:00 EST Various arrangements for creating and using generic universal resource indicators are presented. To create a generic universal resource indicator, one or more parameters of a universal resource indicator may be identified. An interface that permits a parameter of the one or more parameters to be selected and mapped to a variable may be presented. A selection of the parameter for mapping may be received. An indication of the variable to map to the parameter of the selection may also be received. The generic universal resource indicator having a generic parameter corresponding to the parameter of the selection may be created. Full Article
al Apparatus and method for controlling peripheral in wireless communication system using an IP address By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 08:00:00 EST An apparatus and method control a connection between peripheral devices in a control server of a wireless communication system providing an IP-based communication service. The method for controlling the connection between peripheral devices includes registering at least one device in a group list classified by user identification information. The method also includes, if a control node including a user identifier of the group list requests a control of any one device included in the group list, checking an IP address of the device that is requested to be controlled by the control node. The method further includes sending a control command of the control node using the IP address. Full Article
al Calendar display apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 20 Nov 1990 08:00:00 EST A calendar display apparatus includes a reference signal generator, a calendar data generator, and rotational display members. The reference signal generator generates a reference signal every period of 24 hours. The calendar data generator generates year, month, date, and day data upon reception of the reference signal. The rotational display members are driven by signals from the calendar data generator so as to display a year, a month, a date, and a day. A scale corresponding to the rotational display member for displaying years is constituted by multiple circular scales. Scale marks representing years are sequentially and continuously formed on the multiple circular scales from its inner circumference to outer circumferences. Full Article
al Calendar watch having a centrally pivoted date indicator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 27 Nov 1990 08:00:00 EST A calendar watch includes a central date indicator (4). The indicator is united with a crown wheel (9) comprising teeth (11) forming a circular crown (12) arranged to be perpendicular to a face (13) of said wheel. The teeth (12) are driven by a finger (14) rotating in a plane intersecting said crown in its height. The finger is united with a date driving wheel (15). The invention permits easy transformation of a watch having its date display in a dial aperture to a watch having a date indicator rotating about the center of the movement. Full Article
al Watch with a metal rotating rim By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 04 Dec 1990 08:00:00 EST The rotating metal rim (19) is equipped with a toothed ring made of synthetic material (23) catch-fastened to the rotatating rim and catch-mounted on the frame (1) or by means of a band. The toothing of the ring (23) cooperates with at least one pawl (9) mounted in a recess of the frame and held in place on the one hand by a foot (11) and on the other hand by the rotating rim itself. The mounting of the unit and the after-sales service are facilitated. Full Article
al Watch case provided with a cap of hard material By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 18 Dec 1990 08:00:00 EST A cap (2) is made of sintered hard metal and has on the inside a cylindrical surface (20) and a frusto-conical surface (21) that are true ground. The cap's cylindrical surface (20) is fitted with radial play around an outer cylindrical surface (9) of an underlying middle (1) and the cap's frusto-conical surface (21) has the same inclination as a subjacent frusto-conical surface (14) on the outside of the middle. The cap (2) and the middle (1) are secured to one another by a ring of deformable material sandwiched between their cylindrical surfaces (9, 20). On the outside the cap (2) is formed over its thicker main portion (18) with a trued and polished surface (22) having the same inclination as its inside frusto-conical surface (21) such as to provide the thicker portion (18) with a parallelogrammatic cross-section. Full Article
al Apparatus dial and watch By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 01 Jan 1991 08:00:00 EST Apparatus comprising a dial provided with distinct zones formed by crown sectors 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 which are adjustable in function of a manual correction device respectively of a selecting device. Full Article
al Apparatus for recording and quickly retrieving video signal parts on a magnetic tape By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 29 Jan 1991 08:00:00 EST In an apparatus for recording and quickly retrieving video signal parts on a magnetic tape, during recording information about the local position of each video signal part is automatically stored in a memory associated with the apparatus, which is designed for storing identifying information for a large number of magnetic tape cassettes. The retrieval of each video signal part on each of the cassettes can be effected substantially without delay in the quick rewind mode of operation. Full Article
al Arrangement for automatically switching a videorecorder on and off in the absence of a code signal but in presence of a FBAS signal By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Feb 1991 08:00:00 EST The disclosed device enables the recording of television broadcasts which are preprogrammed in a memory. The presence of data lines of the television signal in combination with the presence of a color television signal is checked. When the data lines stop, the video recorder is switched on in real time by a clock time signal. Full Article
al Method for detecting the time messages in the faulty signal of a time-signal transmitter By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 06 Oct 1998 08:00:00 EDT A method is described for detecting the time messages in the faulty signal of a time-signal transmitter comprising the steps below. Probabilities are assigned to the received information/bits as they are received and whose sign specifies the value of the bit and whose numerical value indicates the certainty of reception. Except for the bits designating the minute information, the probabilities of successive time messages are totaled with time correctness in a one-dimensional memory field. From the totaled probabilities, a reduced time message is reconstructed that initially contains no information on the minutes. If the reconstructed time message does not change over two successive time intervals, and if preset minimum values for the number of probabilities are exceeded for all bits, then the reduced time message is recognized as being correct. The minutes are determined separately and added to the time message recognized as being correct. Full Article
al Continuous production process of tertiary alcohols by radical addition of secondary alcohols to alkenes By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 08:00:00 EST A process is disclosed for producing tertiary alcohols by radical addition of secondary alcohols to alkenes. The reaction is carried out as a continuous process in the presence of an organic peroxide as a radical initiator and during a mean contact time of the reaction mixture of up to a maximum of 1 hour. Full Article
al Apparatus and method for optical transmission of serial data using a serial communications port By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 08:00:00 EST Accessory for a laptop computer with LCD display which is connected to the laptop serial communications port and optically transmits data to a portable information device, such as a wristwatch designed to receive data as sequential pulses of light. The accessory includes a microcomputer with an RC timebase which is calibrated each time it is used by a special internal program, so that the input baud rate to the accessory matches the communications baud rate of the data received from the laptop. The internal program also permits selection of an output baud rate for the optically transmitted data. Full Article
al Analog wrist watch and pager providing message display on cover glass By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 08:00:00 EDT An LCD is integrated with the cover glass of a wrist watch radio paging receiver which indicates the time data with a dial plate and hands, and a message is displayed on the cover glass by controlling this LCD. In this message display, the parts of the characters indicating the message are made transparent and the remaining parts intercept light. In this manner, message display is made possible by the difference in light transmissivity. Full Article
al Electronic postage meter system having plural clock system providing enhanced security By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 08:00:00 EST A system includes a system time counter associated with a micro controller and a secure clock module having a real time clock and an elapsed time counter. The system synchronizes operation between the secure clock module and the system time counter. The synchronized time entered into the system time counter is utilized in the operation of the system. The real time clock time can be caused to be entered into the elapsed time counter at certain point in the operation of the system. The relationship of the time provide enhanced systems security. Full Article
al Apparatus for measuring intervals between signal edges By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus for measuring a time interval between a start signal edge and a stop signal edge provides a stable clock signal as input to a delay line formed by a series of similar logic gates. The output signal of the last gate of the series is phase locked to the clock signal by adjusting a bias signal controlling the switching speed of all gates. The clock signal and the output signal of each gate form a set of phase distributed periodic timing signals applied to a start time measurement unit (TMU) and a similar stop TMU. The start TMU counts edges of one of the timing signals occurring between an edge of an arming signal and the start signal edge and generates output data representing a time delay between the arming signal and the start signal edge. The data represents the start delay as a whole and fractional number of clock signal periods by conveying the counter output and by indicating which of the timing signals had an edge most closely following the start signal edge. The stop TMU similarly produces output data indicating a whole an fractional number of clock cycles occurring between the arming signal and the stop signal edge. The delay represented by the start TMU output data is subtracted from the delay represented by the stop TMU output data to determine the interval between the start and stop signal edges. Full Article
al Equatorial sundial apparatus utilizing one or more concave cylindrical focusing mirrors By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 08:00:00 EDT An equatorial sundial apparatus with an adjustable base assembly utilizing one or more concave cylindrical focusing mirrors. One of the benefits that is derived from this apparatus is the use of one or more concave cylindrical mirrors to project a focused beam of light onto a calibrated surface from which the time can be read. This sundial has the additional benefit of not suffering from blurring of the time indicator in a shadow or non-focused beam of light typical of other sundials. This sundial's focused light forms a sharply demarcated indicator from which time can be read to the minute. A further benefit of this apparatus is the ability to incorporate multiple concave cylindrical focusing mirrors to reduce the size of the visual field or screen where the time is read and to incorporate various shapes and designs for ornamental purposes without significant compromise of the sundials accuracy for telling time. An additional benefit of this apparatus is the ability to quickly, accurately and easily adjust the apparatus to the proper tilt upon setup according to the latitude where it will be located by means of an adjustable base assembly. Full Article
al Diurnal solar event triggering mechanism By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 08:00:00 EDT A mechanism for determining whether the sun is visible at a diurnal solar event and for mechanically triggering actions based upon the sun being visible during the diurnal solar event is disclosed. The mechanisms of the invention can perform these operations without intervention or supervision for long periods of time. Certain embodiments have been applied to provide a diurnal solar event trigger based upon sidereal noon for a clock providing accurate timing for 10,000 years without intervention or supervision. Full Article
al Portable self contained light generating device powered by a flow of falling granular material By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT A portable self contained light generating device which is powered by a flow of granular material falling under the influence of gravity to impinge upon and cause a paddle wheel to rotate thereby turning a small generator producing electricity to power one or more light emitting diodes for illumination. The device equipped with a multi-position power/illumination control switch and in some embodiments also provided with a battery providing supplemental power. Full Article
al Moon phase menstrual tracking and educational system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST A system and method for tracking and informing about a physical, emotional, or physiological cycle, such as a menstrual cycle, includes at least one definition entry and at least one date indicator. Each definition entry defines indicia such as color to represent a stage of a physical, emotional, or physiological cycle. Each date indicator includes a date section and a tracking section corresponding to each date section. The date section of the date indicator indicates at least one date, wherein the tracking section is capable of being marked so as to indicate indicia corresponding to a definition entry to signify the stage of the physical, emotional, or physiological cycle for each date. According to one embodiment, the date indicators are arranged according to phases of the moon to allow correlation of a user's cycle to the lunar cycle. Full Article
al Method for detection of unfastening or removal of absorbent article from the body By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EDT A method for detecting and conveying an alarm signal, when an absorbent article is unfastened or, completely removed from the body of the wearer. The method is intended to be used in parallel with a method for detecting wetness in the absorbent article and further relates to an integrated detection-and-alarm method for detecting unfastening and/or wetness in an absorbent article. A system for detecting and conveying an alarm signal when an absorbent article is unfastened or removed from the body of the wearer and/or when the article is wet. The system includes (a) and absorbent article having at least one absorbent layer, the object to be displaced, such as a fastening system, one or more sensoring devices, one or more transmitting devices, and (b) a remote receiver. Furthermore, the system relates to the use of the system in the care of children and adults suffering from incontinence and/or psychological illnesses. Full Article
al Virtualized data storage in a network computing environment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods and systems for load balancing read/write requests of a virtualized storage system. In one embodiment, a storage system includes a plurality of physical storage devices and a storage module operable within a communication network to present the plurality of physical storage devices as a virtual storage device to a plurality of network computing elements that are coupled to the communication network. The virtual storage device comprises a plurality of virtual storage volumes, wherein each virtual storage volume is communicatively coupled to the physical storage devices via the storage module. The storage module comprises maps that are used to route read/write requests from the network computing elements to the virtual storage volumes. Each map links read/write requests from at least one network computing element to a respective virtual storage volume within the virtual storage device. Full Article
al Adjustment of the number of task control blocks allocated for discard scans By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A controller receives a request to perform a release space operation. A determination is made that a new discard scan has to be performed on a cache, in response to the received request to perform the release space operation. A determination is made as to how many task control blocks are to be allocated to the perform the new discard scan, based on how many task control blocks have already been allocated for performing one or more discard scans that are already in progress. Full Article
al Optimizing a cache back invalidation policy By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method, a system and a computer program product for enhancing a cache back invalidation policy by utilizing least recently used (LRU) bits and presence bits in selecting cache-lines for eviction. A cache back invalidation (CBI) utility evicts cache-lines by using presence bits to avoid replacing a cache-line in a lower level cache that is also present in a higher level cache. Furthermore, the CBI utility selects the cache-line for eviction from an LRU group. The CBI utility ensures that dormant cache-lines in the higher level caches do not retain corresponding presence bits set in the lower level caches by unsetting the presence bits in the lower level cache when a line is replaced in the higher level cache. Additionally, when a processor core becomes idle, the CBI utility invalidates the corresponding higher level cache by unsetting the corresponding presence bits in the lower level cache. Full Article
al Virtual machine trigger By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A computing system includes a parent partition, child partitions, a hypervisor, shared memories each associated with one of the child partitions, and trigger pages each associated with one of the child partitions. The hypervisor receives a system event signal from one of the child partitions and, in response to receiving the system event signal, accesses the trigger page associated with that child partition. The hypervisor determines whether the trigger page indicates whether data is available to be read from the shared memory associated with the child partition. The hypervisor can send an indication to either the parent partition or the child partitions that data is available to be read from the shared memory associated with the child partition if the hypervisor determines that the trigger page indicates that data is available to be read from the shared memory associated with the child partition. Full Article
al Dynamically improving memory affinity of logical partitions By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT In a computer system that includes multiple nodes and multiple logical partitions, a dynamic partition manager computes current memory affinity and potential memory affinity to help determine whether a reallocation of resources between nodes may improve memory affinity for a logical partition or for the computer system. If so, the reallocation of resources is performed so memory affinity for the logical partition or computer system is improved. Memory affinity is computed relative to the physical layout of the resources according to a hardware domain hierarchy that includes a plurality of primary domains and a plurality of secondary domains. Full Article
al Storage device and method for controlling data invalidation By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A storage device according to an embodiment includes: a host interface connected to a host; a memory including a first buffer that stores a logical address range designated by an invalidation instruction received from the host via the host interface and a second buffer that stores an internal logical address range which is an area combination with the logical address range; a nonvolatile memory; and a controller. The controller includes: an invalidation instruction processor that stores the logical address range designated by the invalidation instruction in the first buffer; an area combination executor that generates the internal logical address range by the area combination with the logical address range and stores the internal logical address range in the second buffer; and an invalidation executor that executes invalidation processing on the nonvolatile memory based on the internal logical address range. Full Article
al Method and apparatus for optically backing up data By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An optical backup apparatus is provided and includes an optical storage device, an interface module to connect with at least one type of external storage medium, and a control unit to back up data from the external storage medium to the optical storage device in response to an external remote control operation. Full Article
al Automatically preventing large block writes from starving small block writes in a storage device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A mechanism is provided in a storage device for performing a write operation. The mechanism configures a write buffer memory with a plurality of write buffer portions. Each write buffer portion is dedicated to a predetermined block size category within a plurality of block size categories. For each write operation from an initiator, the mechanism determines a block size category of the write operation. The mechanism performs each write operation by writing to a write buffer portion within the plurality of write buffer portions corresponding to the block size category of the write operation. Full Article
al System and method for determining a level of success of operations on an abstraction of multiple logical data storage containers By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Various systems and methods are described for configuring a logical data storage container. In one embodiment, an instruction to perform an operation to modify an attribute of the logical data storage container that is an abstraction of a plurality of pertinent storage containers is received. A translated instruction to perform a sub-operation associated with the operation is transmitted to each of a number of the plurality of pertinent storage containers. A level of success of the performing of the operation on the logical data storage container is detected based on a comparison of a threshold value to a level of success of the performing of the sub-operation on each of the number of the plurality of pertinent storage containers. A report of the detected level of success is communicated. Full Article
al System and method for virtual machine conversion By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT System and method for conversion of virtual machine files without requiring copying of the virtual machine payload (data) from one location to another location. By eliminating this step, applicant's invention significantly enhances the efficiency of the conversion process. In one embodiment, a file system or storage system provides indirections to locations of data elements stored on a persistent storage media. A source virtual machine file includes hypervisor metadata (HM) data elements in one hypervisor file format, and virtual machine payload (VMP) data elements. The source virtual machine file is converted by transforming the HM data elements of the source file to create destination HM data elements in a destination hypervisor format different from the source hypervisor format; maintaining the locations of the VMP data elements stored on the persistent storage media constant during the conversion from source to destination file formats without reading or writing the VMP data elements; and creating indirections to reference the destination HM data elements in the destination hypervisor format and the existing stored VMP data elements. Full Article
al Dynamically expandable and contractible fault-tolerant storage system with virtual hot spare By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A dynamically expandable and contractible fault-tolerant storage system employs a virtual hot spare that is created from unused storage capacity across a plurality of storage devices. This unused storage capacity is available if and when a storage device fails for storage of data recovered from the remaining storage device(s). On an ongoing basis, the storage system may determine the amount of unused storage capacity that would be required for the virtual hot spare (e.g., based on the number of storage devices, the capacities of the various storage devices, the amount of data stored, and the manner in which the data is stored) and generate a signal if additional storage capacity is needed for a virtual hot spare. Full Article