| 07th week of 2009 patent applcation highlights part 56 |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20090043546 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESS CONTROL - A method and system for process control using a model predictive controller. The control system can have one or more control devices operably coupled to a processing system for controlling a process of the processing system; a modeling tool to provide a non-linear model based at least in part on the process and to provide a plurality of linearized models based at least in part on the non-linear model, where the plurality of linearized models are linearized at different linearization rates; and a controller operably coupled to the modeling tool. The controller can select one of the plurality of linearized models based on a comparison of the plurality of linearized models with a reference model. The controller can send one or more control signals to at least one of the one or more control devices. The one or more control signals can be determined using the selected one of the plurality of linearized models. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043547 | Nonlinear function approximation over high-dimensional domains - An algorithm is disclosed for constructing nonlinear models from high-dimensional scattered data. The algorithm progresses iteratively adding a new basis function at each step to refine the model. The placement of the basis functions is driven by a statistical hypothesis test that reveals geometric structure when it fails. At each step the added function is fit to data contained in a spatio-temporally defined local region to determine the parameters, in particular, the scale of the local model. The proposed method requires no ad hoc parameters. Thus, the number of basis functions required for an accurate fit is determined automatically by the algorithm. The approach may be applied to problems including modeling data on manifolds and the prediction of financial time-series. The algorithm is presented in the context of radial basis functions but in principle can be employed with other methods for function approximation such as multi-layer perceptrons. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043548 | Computer implemented systems and methods for enhancing renewable energy educational activities - Systems and methods are provided for collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data associated with the performance of systems. Energy systems, specifically renewable energy generation systems, are used as examples. The aggregated data serve as the basis for a variety of services that facilitate the adoption and deployment of these systems. Services are provided that aid in enhancing energy educational activities . The services represent the quantity of energy generation as energy demands that the students may appreciate. Furthermore, the services are interactive and may allow the students to change System Parameters so that they more fully understand the influence of these parameters on the energy generation efficiency. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043549 | METHODS, APPARATUS, AND PRODUCTS FOR SEISMIC RAY TRACING - A computer implemented method for processing prestack seismic data representative of a subterrean contained in a model. The model may include a regular 3-D grid representative of the subterrean; attributes defined at each grid field; and at least one surface or body defined within the grid across which attributes are discontinuous and are not to be smoothed. The method may include ray tracing by solving kinematic or dynamic ray equations for the model in the grid where the interval velocities are not discontinuous, and by applying a refraction rule across the at least one surface or body. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043550 | Tessellated Conflict Space Data Fusion Process - A process of data fusion in potential conflict situations that provides, for the first time, a sound basis for Situation and Impact Assessment, leading to the ability to generate actionable plans and decisions. It uses a uniform representation method for relating time varying objects mapped onto a multi-dimensional space, whether these objects' properties can be either wholly determined or determined only in part. The method provides the best prediction of potential conflicts based on the data and background information available. The method is computationally tractable and scalable. The information generated can be re-used with changed assumptions and alternative courses of action. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043551 | Enhanced Tessellated Conflict Space Data Fusion Process - A process of data fusion in potential conflict situations that provides, for the first time, a sound basis for Situation and Impact Assessment, leading to the ability to generate actionable plans and decisions. It uses a uniform representation method for relating time varying objects mapped onto a multi-dimensional space, whether these objects' properties can be either wholly determined or determined only in part. The method provides the best prediction of potential conflicts based on the data and background information available. The method is computationally tractable and scalable. The information generated can be re-used with changed assumptions and alternative courses of action. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043552 | INTERACTIVE SIMULATION - Patent systems are often justified by assumptions that inventive activity will be spurred by the prospect of patent protection, leading to the accrual of greater societal benefits than would be possible under non-patent systems. One way to test this hypothesis is experimentally to simulate the behavior of inventors and licensees, in particular, and society, in general, under conditions approximating patent and non-patent systems. By measuring differences in a metric representing societal benefit, it is possible to make direct quantitative comparisons between such alternative systems. The simulation is simulating all parameters in the patent system, useful for economists, social scientists, IP professionals, students, attorneys, business people, and government planners, among others. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043553 | Design Tool for Identifying Project Energy Interdependencies - A simulation system [ | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043554 | Updating a Subterranean Model Using at Least Electromagnetic Data - To update a subterranean model, an initial subterranean model is provided, and based on the initial subterranean model, changes to subterranean parameters are predicted using a reservoir simulator. Electromagnetic data representing characteristics of a subterranean structure is computed according to the predicted changes to the subterranean parameters, and the initial subterranean model is modified based on comparing the computed electromagnetic data with observed electromagnetic data. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043555 | Method for Evaluating an Underground Reservoir Production Scheme Taking Account of Uncertainties - Method for evaluating an underground reservoir production scheme taking account of uncertainties. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043556 | Method of and system for planning a surgery - A system for virtually planning a size and position of a prosthetic implant for a bone on a patient includes a database containing pre-defined form factor information for a plurality of different implants and a circuit for obtaining surface shape information of the bone. The system further includes a circuit for defining baseline location parameters for an implant location in relation to a virtual representation of the bone based on the surface shape information and a circuit for assessing a fit calculation of each implant in relation to the virtual representation of the bone based on the form factor in formation and a plurality of fit factors at each of a plurality of incremental positions in relation to the bone. Still further, the system includes a circuit for selecting a best fit implant size and position from all of the fit calculations. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043557 | Method, System, and Apparatus for Emulating Functionality of a Network Appliance in a Logically Partitioned Environment - A network appliance is emulated in a logically partitioned environment. Activity of a logical partition (LPAR) acting as a network appliance is monitored. When a change in activity occurs in the LPAR acting as the network appliance, a set of business logic partitions served by the LPAR acting as the network appliance is determined, and resource utilization of each business logic partition served by the LPAR acting as the network appliance is determined. A determination is also made whether each business logic partition served by the LPAR acting as the network appliance needs more or less resources. Availability of resources is determined, and resources are allocated or deallocated to or from the business logic partitions served by the LPAR acting as the network appliance based on the need for resources and the availability of resources for each business logic partition. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043558 | DELAY CALCULATION METHOD CAPABLE OF CALCULATING DELAY TIME WITH SMALL MARGIN OF ERROR - A delay calculation method that is capable of calculating delay time with a small margin of error is provided for delay calculation in a logic circuit. The operating characteristics of transistor are expressed with a fixed resistance and a power supply voltage that changes with time. The power supply voltage is represented as a waveform which is a combination of two straight lines: the one indicating that the voltage, after a fixed delay of t | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043559 | Hardware Verification Batch Computing Farm Simulator - The exemplary embodiments provide a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for calculating the expected behavior of a group of hardware verification test cases. Batch simulation parameters are configured. A test case is submitted for evaluation. Historical performance data for test cases associated with the submitted test case is gathered. A set of performance statistics for the submitted test case is generated based on the historical performance data and the configured batch simulation parameters. A set of values for the submitted test is generated based on the generated performance statistics for the submitted test case and the historical performance data. The generated set of values and the generated set of performance statistics for the submitted test case are displayed to a user. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043560 | FEATURE ORIENTED PROTOCOL MODELING - Modeling protocols. A method includes accessing a number of model programs. Each model program includes computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions describe the behavior of at least one of another program, system, or component. Model programs may be disjointed in that they have independent meaning or dependent in that they include at least one of a state variable, action, or precondition that is dependent on another model program to impart meaning to the model program. An output model program is composed by unification including substituting state variables into another of the model programs without executing the model programs. Traces are generated from the output model program. Each of the traces includes a path of labels. The labels describe actions of the output model program from an initial state to an accepting state where a run is allowed to stop. The traces are output to a user. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043561 | SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR A MULTI DEVICE EMULATION IN NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - The present invention is a system and a method of emulating large numbers of network elements to enable testing the operational abilities of NMS devices to scale. According to embodiments of the present invention multiple network elements are emulated by using a single network element while ensuring that all multiple network elements appear to the NMS devices as real network elements The disclosed solution is comprised of an appliance that connects a NMS device to one real network clement. The appliance presents the network element to the NMS device as thousands of network elements with thousands of IP addresses. Using a real network element enables the system to emulate real world SNMP set/get behaviors. The proposed solution enables monitoring the behavior of NMS devices in controlled circumstances and to test their behavior under different load conditions. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043562 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND DISPLAYING A SHORT MESSAGE IN A USER PREFERRED LANGUAGE - A method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for displaying messages in a user-selected language is disclosed. A device receives a message in a sender-selected language. The device translates the message into a user-selected language to form a translated message and renders the translated message on a display. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043563 | PROGRESSIVE DISPLAY RENDERING OF PROCESSED TEXT - A method and a system are provided for processing displayed text and progressively displaying results of processing the displayed text. In some embodiments, displayed text may be submitted as processing requests to process portions of the displayed text. The processing may include translation of the portions of the displayed text from a source natural language to a target natural language, grammar checking of the portions of the displayed text, or other types of processing. Each of the processing requests may include one or more complete sentences, or other units of text. Further, each of the processing requests may be submitted independently of receiving a processing response corresponding to an immediately preceding submitted processing request. Changed or annotated text included in processing responses may replace corresponding displayed text. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043564 | Method and apparatus for constructing translation knowledge - The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for constructing translation knowledge to be used in a translator. According to the invention, a source-language sentence and a target-language sentence are converted by receiving the source-language sentence and the target-language sentence corresponding to the source-language sentence and attaching a prototype, a part-of-speech, relative position information, and syntactic information in a base phrase to each morpheme of the source-language sentence and the target-language sentence. Then, word alignment and syntactic alignment are performed in the converted source-language sentence and target-language sentence, thereby extracting translation knowledge on words and syntaxes, translation knowledge on a subcategory of a bilingual inflected-word, and translation knowledge on a bilingual sentence pattern based on the results of the word and syntactic alignment. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043565 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH TEXT DISAMBIGUATION - A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043566 | SPEECH PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD - A speech processing apparatus includes a plurality of microphones which receive speech produced by a first sound source to obtain first speech signals for a plurality of channels having one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of microphones, a calculation unit configured to calculate a first characteristic amount indicative of an inter-channel correlation of the first speech signals, a storage unit configured to store in advance a second characteristic amount indicative of an inter-channel correlation of second speech signals for the plurality of channels obtained by receiving speech produced by a second sound source by the plurality of microphones, and a collation unit configured to collate the first characteristic amount with the second characteristic amount to determine whether the first sound source matches with the second sound source. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043567 | VARIABLE FRAME OFFSET CODING - The present invention relates to an improvement in frame based codecs and in particular to a en encoding/decoding method, an coder/decoder (codec) and a radio communication device. The signal provided at the output of the improved frame based codec comprises frames of regular duration though the start of a frame is time offset in relation to the end of the preceding frame. The time offset varies from frame to frame. The output signal from the improved codec has no fixed framing grid. Time offsets may be positive, in which case two successive frames are separated with a gap in which substitution signals are inserted, or negative in which case two successive frames are overlapping. As substitution signals an extrapolation of the signal in a preceding frame, an interpolation of signals from a preceding frame and a following frame or a directly coded signal may be used. Negative offset makes it possible to capture transients in the signal to be encoded. The present invention relates to an improvement in frame based codecs and in particular to a en encoding/decoding method, an coder/decoder (codec) and a radio communication device. The signal provided at the output of the improved frame based codec comprises frames of regular duration though the start of a frame is time offset in relation to the end of the preceding frame. The time offset varies from frame to frame. The output signal from the improved codec has no fixed framing grid. Time offsets may be positive, in which case two successive frames are separated with a gap in which substitution signals are inserted, or negative in which case two successive frames are overlapping. As substitution signals an extrapolation of the signal in a preceding frame, an interpolation of signals from a preceding frame and a following frame or a directly coded signal may be used. Negative offset makes it possible to capture transients in the signal to be encoded. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043568 | Accent information extracting apparatus and method thereof - An accent type is determined by outputting mora synchronized signals, extracting a pitch pattern which is a variation pattern of a voice height (fundamental frequency) from a speech signal entered by a user, generating mora synchronized pattern from the pitch pattern and the mora synchronized signal, storing typical patterns for respective accent types, collating the mora synchronized pattern and reference accent pattern, calculating matching of the mora synchronized patterns with respect to the respective accent types, referring the matching and determining the accent type. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043569 | Pitch prediction for use by a speech decoder to conceal packet loss - There is provided a pitch lag predictor for use by a speech decoder to generate a predicted pitch lag parameter. The pitch lag predictor comprises a summation calculator configured to generate a first summation based on a plurality of previous pitch lag parameters, and a second summation based on a plurality of previous pitch lag parameters and a position of each of the plurality of previous pitch lag parameters with respect to the predicted pitch lag parameter; a coefficient calculator configured to generate a first coefficient using a first equation based on the first summation and the second summation, and a second coefficient using a second equation based on the first summation and the second summation, wherein the first equation is different than the second equation; and a predictor configured to generate the predicted pitch lag parameter based on the first coefficient and the second coefficient. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043570 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING SPEECH SIGNAL DATA - Method for processing speech signal data. A speech signal is divided into frames. Each frame is characterized by a frame number T representing a unique interval of time. Each speech signal is characterized by a power spectrum with respect to frame T and frequency band ω. A speech segment and a reverberation segment of the speech signal is determined. L filter coefficients W(k) (k=1, 2, . . . , L) respectively corresponding to L frames immediately preceding frame T are computed such that the L filter coefficients minimize a function Φ that is a linear combination of sum of squares of a residual speech power in the reverberation segment and a sum of squares of a subtracted speech power in the speech segment. The computed L filter coefficients are stored within storage media of the computing apparatus. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043571 | Methods and Systems for Sample Rate Conversion - Methods and systems for sample rate conversion convert a sampled signal to a higher data rate signal. Conversion pulses are received, having a conversion rate that is higher than the sample rate of the sampled signal. Sample points are then reconstructed from the sampled signal, in real time, on either side of a conversion pulse. An interpolation is performed between the reconstructed sample points, at the time of the conversion pulse. The interpolation results are outputted in real time. The process is repeated for additional conversion pulses. The outputted interpolated amplitudes form the higher data rate signal having a data rate equal to the conversion rate. Sample rate conversion is thus performed in real time according to the higher data rate clock, rather than with fixed ratios. As a result, when the higher data rate clock is affected by, for example, jitter or other frequency variations, the higher data rate samples immediately track the lower data rate samples. This helps to insure that the output higher data rate data tracks the lower rate data, thus providing a more accurate sample rate conversion. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043572 | PULSE ALLOCATING METHOD IN VOICE CODING - A pulse allocating method capable of coding stereophonic voice signals efficiently. In the fixed code note retrievals (ST | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043573 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECOGNIZING A SPEAKER IN LAWFUL INTERCEPTION SYSTEMS - A method and apparatus for identifying a speaker within a captured audio signal from a collection of known speakers. The method and apparatus receive or generate voice representations for each known speakers and tag the representations according to meta data related to the known speaker or to the voice. The representations are grouped into one or more groups according to the indices. When a voice to be recognized is introduced, characteristics are determined according to which the groups are prioritized, so that the representations participating only in part of the groups are matched against the o voice to be identified, thus reducing identification time and improving the statistical significance. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043574 | Speech coding system and method using bi-directional mirror-image predicted pulses - There is provided a method of decoding speech data generated from a speech signal. The method comprises receiving the speech data having at least one main pulse in a subframe of the speech data; generating a first predicted pulse, based on the at least one main pulse, on one side of the main pulse in the subframe of the speech data, wherein the first predicted pulse has a lower gain than the main pulse; generating a second predicted pulse, as a mirror image of the first predicted pulse on a reverse time scale, on the other side of the main pulse in the subframe of the speech data; reconstructing the speech signal using the at least one main pulse, the first predicted pulse and the second predicted pulse. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043575 | Quantized Feature Index Trajectory - Indexing methods are described that may be used by databases, search engines, query and retrieval systems, context sensitive data mining, context mapping, language identification, image recognition, and robotic systems. Raw baseline features from an input signal are aggregated, abstracted and indexed for later retrieval or manipulation. The feature index is the quantization number for the underlying features that are represented by an abstraction. Trajectories are used to signify how the features evolve over time. Features indexes are linked in an ordered sequence indicative of time quanta, where the sequence represents the underlying input signal. An example indexing system based on the described processes is an inverted index that creates a mapping from features or atoms to the underlying documents, files, or data. A highly optimized set of operations can be used to manipulate the quantized feature indexes, where the operations can be fine tuned independent from the base feature set. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043576 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TUNING AND TESTING IN A SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM - Systems and methods for improving the performance of a speech recognition system. In some embodiments a tuner module and/or a tester module are configured to cooperate with a speech recognition system. The tester and tuner modules can be configured to cooperate with each other. In one embodiment, the tuner module may include a module for playing back a selected portion of a digital data audio file, a module for creating and/or editing a transcript of the selected portion, and/or a module for displaying information associated with a decoding of the selected portion, the decoding generated by a speech recognition engine. In other embodiments, the tester module can include an editor for creating and/or modifying a grammar, a module for receiving a selected portion of a digital audio file and its corresponding transcript, and a scoring module for producing scoring statistics of the decoding based at least in part on the transcript. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043577 | SIGNAL PRESENCE DETECTION USING BI-DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION DATA - A system and method for using bi-directional conversation data to improve signal presence detection are disclosed. The detector module is adapted to communicate with a signal enhancement module. The detector module collects data from a transmit direction of the connection and a receive direction of a data connection. The collected data from the transmit and the receive direction is used to classify at least one of data in the transmit direction and data in the receive direction. Responsive to the classification, the signal enhancement module enhances data in one of the transmit direction and the receive direction. Hence, data classification accuracy is improved by using data from both the transmit and receive directions. In one embodiment, the detector module applies a voice activity detection module (VAD) process to detect the presence or absence of voice data in the collected data. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043578 | Enhancing the Response of Biometric Access Systems - Disclosed are arrangements that provide security for items to which access is restricted by providing a single layer of security requiring a biometric signature ( | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043579 | TARGET SPECIFIC DATA FILTER TO SPEED PROCESSING - A method is presented which reduces data flow and thereby increases processing capacity while preserving a high level of accuracy in a distributed speech processing environment for speaker detection. The method and system of the present invention includes filtering out data based on a target speaker specific subset of labels using data filters. The method preserves accuracy and passes only a fraction of the data by optimizing target specific performance measures. Therefore, a high level of speaker recognition accuracy is maintained while utilizing existing processing capabilities. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043580 | System and Method for Controlling the Operation of a Device by Voice Commands - The present invention includes a speech recognition system comprising a light element, a power control switch, the power control switch varying the power delivered to the light element, a controller, a microphone, a speech recognizer coupled to the microphone for recognizing speech input signals and transmitting recognition results to the controller, and a speech synthesizer coupled to the controller for generating synthesized speech, wherein the controller varies the power to the light element in accordance with the recognition results received from the speech recognizer. Embodiments of the invention may alternatively include a low power wake up circuit. In another embodiment, the present invention is a method of controlling a device by voice commands. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043581 | Methods and apparatus relating to searching of spoken audio data - This invention relates to a method of searching spoken audio data for one or more search terms comprising performing a phonetic search of the audio data to identify likely matches to a search term and producing textual data corresponding to a portion of the spoken audio data including a likely match. An embodiment of the method comprises the steps of taking phonetic index data corresponding to the spoken audio data, searching the phonetic index data for likely matches to the search term, wherein when a likely match is detected a portion of the spoken audio data or phonetic index data is selected which includes the likely match and said selected portion of the spoken audio data or phonetic index data is processed using a large vocabulary speech recogniser. The large vocabulary speech recogniser may derive textual data which can be used for further processing or may be used to present a transcript to a user. The present invention therefore combines the benefit of phonetic searching of audio data with the advantages of large vocabulary speech recognition. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043582 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CREATION OF VOICE TRAINING PROFILES WITH MULTIPLE METHODS WITH UNIFORM SERVER MECHANISM USING HETEROGENEOUS DEVICES - A system and method for creating user voice profiles enables a user to create a single user voice profile that is compatible with one or more voice servers. Such a system includes a training server that receives audio information from a client associated with a user and stores the audio information and corresponding textual information. The system further includes a training server adaptor. The training server adaptor is configured to receive a voice profile format and a communication protocol corresponding to one of the plurality of voice servers, convert the audio information and corresponding textual information into a format compatible with the voice profile format and communication protocol corresponding to the one of the plurality of voice servers, and provide the converted audio information and corresponding textual information to the one of the plurality of voice servers. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043583 | DYNAMIC MODIFICATION OF VOICE SELECTION BASED ON USER SPECIFIC FACTORS - The present invention discloses a solution for customizing synthetic voice characteristics in a user specific fashion. The solution can establish a communication between a user and a voice response system. A data store can be searched for a speech profile associated with the user. When a speech profile is found, a set of speech output characteristics established for the user from the profile can be determined. Parameters and settings of a text-to-speech engine can be adjusted in accordance with the determined set of speech output characteristics. During the established communication, synthetic speech can be generated using the adjusted text-to-speech engine. Thus, each detected user can hear a synthetic speech generated by a different voice specifically selected for that user. When no user profile is detected, a default voice or a voice based upon a user's speech or communication details can be used. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043584 | System and method for phonetic representation - A method for generating an Approximate Phonetic Representation (APR) of a given word, the word having a sequence of characters, the method comprising: Receiving the word; Generating the APR by applying at least one metaphone3 translation rule to encode one or more of the characters of the given word into a resulting APR; and Returning either the generated APR and/or one or more words matching the APR from a dictionary of words. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043585 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING SPEECH SYNTHESIS WITH A CACHE OF PHONEME SEQUENCES - Disclosed are systems, methods, and computer readable media for performing speech synthesis. The method embodiment comprises applying a first part of a speech synthesizer to a text corpus to obtain a plurality of phoneme sequences, the first part of the speech synthesizer only identifying possible phoneme sequences, for each of the obtained plurality of phoneme sequences, identifying joins that would be calculated to synthesize each of the plurality of respective phoneme sequences, and adding the identified joins to a cache for use in speech synthesis. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043586 | Detecting a Physiological State Based on Speech - A computer-implemented method identifies a spoken audio signal representing speech of a person and estimates a physiological state of the person based on the spoken audio signal. For example, the method may identify articulatory patterns (such as landmarks) in the speech and estimate the person's physiological state based on those articulatory patterns. The method may estimate, for example, the amount of time the person has been without sleep. The method may produce the physiological state estimate without performing speech recognition on the spoken audio signal. The method may produce the physiological state estimate in real-time. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043587 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING RECOGNITION ACCURACY IN SPEECH RECOGNITION APPLICATIONS - A speech recognition system and method are provided to correctly distinguish among multiple interpretations of an utterance. This system is particularly useful when the set of possible interpretations is large, changes dynamically, and/or contains items that are not phonetically distinctive. The speech recognition system extends the capabilities of mobile wireless communication devices that are voice operated after their initial activation. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043588 | SOUND-SOURCE SEPARATION SYSTEM - A system capable of reducing the influence of sound reverberation or reflection to improve sound-source separation accuracy. An original signal X(ω,f) is separated from an observed signal Y(ω,f) according to a first model and a second model to extract an unknown signal E(ω,f). According to the first model, the original signal X(ω,f) of the current frame f is represented as a combined signal of known signals S(ω,f−m+1) (m=1 to M) that span a certain number M of current and previous frames. This enables extraction of the unknown signal E(ω,f) without changing the window length while reducing the influence of reverberation or reflection of the known signal S(ω,f) on the observed signal Y(ω,f). | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043589 | RECORDING AND SELECTING AN AUDIO REGION - A program product, a graphical user interface, a computer system including such a graphical user interface and method for recording and selecting an audio region are described. Such a method comprises storing multiple takes of the same audio region and storing a data structure representing a take container to store multiple takes. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043590 | Noise Detection for Audio Encoding by Mean and Variance Energy Ratio - The techniques described are utilized for detection of noise and noise-like segments in audio coding. The techniques can include performing a prediction gain calculation, an energy compaction calculation, and a mean and variation energy calculation. Signal adaptive noise decisions can be made both in time and frequency dimensions. The techniques can be embodied as part of an AAC (advanced audio coding) encoder to detect noise and noise-like spectral bands. This detected information is transmitted in a bitstream using a signaling method defined for a perceptual noise substitution (PNS) encoding tool of the AAC encoder | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043591 | AUDIO ENCODING AND DECODING - An audio encoder comprises a multi-channel receiver ( | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043592 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES - Methods and systems for managing product development processes are provided. A computerized method for managing a process includes presenting to a user one or more templates based on a triggering event. Each template represents a process approach. The method also includes receiving from the user a selection of a particular template of the one or more templates. The method also includes creating a case from the particular template. The case includes multiple process topics associated with the particular template. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043593 | Event Prediction - There are many situations in which it is desired to predict outcomes of events. In an example, an event prediction system is described which receives variables for a proposed event. The system accesses learnt statistics describing belief about weights associated with the variables and uses the weights to determine probability information that the proposed event will have a specified outcome. The process involves combining the accessed statistics and mapping them into a number representing the probability. In another example, a machine learning process using assumed density filtering is used to learn the statistics from data about observed events. The event prediction system may be used as part of any suitable type of system such as an internet advertising system, an email filtering system, or a fraud detection system. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043594 | Method and system for shortage deduction processing - There is disclosed a method and system for automatically processing of shortage deduction transactions utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for goods sold. A shortage deduction takes place, in connection with transactions involving one selling company and one buying company, when the buying company remits less than the pre-agreed rate citing reasons related to shipping or transportation issues for withholding part or all of the payment. The processing may include data matching and proactively tracing invoice transactions that are identified as shortage upon comparing the Electronic Product Code (EPC) information. If mismatch occurs during transportation a claim is filed with the freight company. If mismatch occurs after goods are received at the retailer's store(s) a declination will be issued. Deductions are also declined when EPC comparisons made on shipments that the deductions reference do not result in mismatch. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043595 | USING A SOFTWARE APPLICATION TO CONFIGURE A FOAM SPRING MATTRESS - An aspect of the present invention relates to a method and system of receiving information of a user's support facility comfort requirements; using a software application to determine a proper support facility firmness configuration to match the user's requirement; selecting foam springs with the proper user required firmness as determined by the software application; and configuring the selected foam springs within the support facility to match the user's firmness requirements. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043596 | Systems and methods for consolidated entitlement management - An embodiment relates generally to a method of managing entitlements. The method includes receiving an indication of at least one purchase of a product by a user and determining an entitlement history of the user. The method also includes determining a plurality of purchasing conditions based on the entitlement history state and the at least one purchase of the product and providing the plurality of purchasing conditions for a user to select. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043597 | System and method for matching objects using a cluster-dependent multi-armed bandit - An improved system and method for matching objects using a cluster-dependent multi-armed bandit is provided. The matching may be performed by using a multi-armed bandit where the arms of the bandit may be dependent. In an embodiment, a set of objects segmented into a plurality of clusters of dependent objects may be received, and then a two step policy may be employed by a multi-armed bandit by first running over clusters of arms to select a cluster, and then secondly picking a particular arm inside the selected cluster. The multi-armed bandit may exploit dependencies among the arms to efficiently support exploration of a large number of arms. Various embodiments may include policies for discounted rewards and policies for undiscounted reward. These policies may consider each cluster in isolation during processing, and consequently may dramatically reduce the size of a large state space for finding a solution. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043598 | Method and apparatus for information and document management - A telecommunications system includes a network; one or more user devices operably coupled to the network; one or more servers operably coupled to the network, the servers defining document storage locations; and a document management service including: a document address database configured to identify geographical locations associated with the document storage locations; a map display manager configured to cause a display to display a map of geographical locations associated with the document storage locations; and a geography manager configured to allow access to documents at locations defined by the document address database and displayed by the map display manager in association with a particular geographical location. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043599 | Associations of polymorphisms in the fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) and its haplotypes with carcass quality, growth and feed efficiency in beef cattle - The physiological regulation of intake, growth and energy partitioning in animals is under the control of multiple genes, which may be important candidates for unraveling the genetic variation in economically relevant traits in beef production. The present invention relates to the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the bovine gene encoding fibroblast growth factor 8 (“FGF8”) and their associations with economically relevant traits in beef production. The invention further encompasses methods and systems, including network-based processes, to manage the SNP data and other data relating to specific animals and herds of animals, veterinarian care, diagnostic and quality control data and management of livestock which, based on genotyping, have predictable meat quality traits, husbandry conditions, animal welfare, food safety information, audit of existing processes and data from field locations. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043600 | Video Enhanced electronic application - Disclosed is a method and system for providing a video recording, live video, slides, pictures, animation, or the like, of an applicant's personal statement or other additional information by way of an electronic link embedded within an applicant's electronic application, thus allowing submission and review of the application by an application reviewer without the difficulties associated with submitting a separate video tape recording, and without complicating the electronic application creation, submission, and review process. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043601 | Repair Procedure Development System - A repair procedure development system is disclosed that may allow for an organized, automated decision making approach to repairs. Some embodiments use four categories and sub-categories of component, subcomponent, discrepancy, and repair, although other categories and numbers of categories may be used. The repair procedure development system may use a decision analysis tree to cycle through all possible permutations in the categories, and may therefore generate all possible discrepancies and repairs for particular hardware elements. In addition, the repair procedure development system may use a repair matrix to define the steps and sequences that are needed to perform any repair defined in the decision tree, with the option to select specific steps from multivariable steps. The repair procedure development system may capture knowledge data from one or more technical groups and may help merge specification requirements with repair procedures. The repair procedure development system may be transferable to other engineering groups. The repair procedure development system may allow an engineer to spend more time on the floor working issues, to interact more among technical disciplines, and to play a more proactive role in processing, while increasing technical accuracy and safety by reducing errors and communication disconnects. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043602 | METHOD FOR INCREASING THE AWARENESS AND EXPOSURE OF A BRAND - A method for increasing the awareness and exposure of a brand including providing a plurality of competitive activities each capable of ascertaining a winner from among entrants, each competitive activity providing a contest utilizing a contest product, providing a sponsor having a brand-name product, selecting from the plurality of competitive activities one or more competitive activities where the brand-name product is related to the contest product, providing advertising opportunities to the sponsor associated with the competitive activity, inviting a plurality of entrants to compete in the competitive activity, and ascertaining a winner from among entrants by conducting the competitive activity. The competitive activities may include performing a task related to a trade, and the brand-name product may be associated with the trade. The brand-name product may be used in the competitive activity. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043603 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT SERVICES - Systems and methods are operable to value commercial properties. An exemplary embodiment identifies a type of commercial property based on an identified commercial property, the identified type of commercial property selected from a list of property types, retrieves a plurality of objective valuation parameters and subjective valuation parameters pertaining to the identified type of commercial property, retrieves at least one valuation parameter for the identified commercial property, and values the identified commercial property based upon the at least one valuation parameter for the identified commercial property and based upon the plurality of objective valuation parameters and subjective valuation parameters pertaining to the identified type of commercial property. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043604 | Disposition of component virtual property rights - A method and system provides transactions and arrangements in virtual world environments. A user can participate in transactions to acquire virtual property and related virtual rights. In some implementations, real-world and virtual parties can be involved in possible transfers of various types of virtual property and virtual property rights. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043605 | MEDICATION MANAGING APPARATUS - When the present time of a clock circuit is a medication time recorded in advance in a SD card, a notice that the medication time has come is given by a voice output portion or the like. Presence/absence of a medicine package in each block of a medicine package case is sensed by a medicine package sensor. The time point and the presence/absence of the medicine package are recorded in the SD card. A notice corresponding to the presence/absence is output. At a time except for the medication time, taking-out of the case, opening/closing of the cover, taking-out and return of the medicine package are recorded in the SD card based on detection signals from the medicine package sensor, medicine package case sensor, and case cover opening/closing sensor. A notice corresponding to the sensed situation is output, | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043606 | MEDICAL MANAGEMENT MODELER AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - A method and system for determining custom population Return on Investment (ROI) forecasted savings estimates for use in evaluating the desirability of active health care management programs and the depth of penetration of such programs. The method and system further include a graphical user interface and returns a statistical confidence of the predicted savings or loss. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043607 | MEDICAL IMAGE SYSTEM - A medical image system comprises a medical imaging apparatus, an injector, and a hospital management server having database. The injector has (a) communicating means for allowing communication with the hospital management server; and (b) a patient identifying portion which includes a detecting means for detecting patient-specific information and a means for transmitting the recognized information, further comprising (c) checking means being provided for at least one of the hospital management server and the injector or being provided as a separate apparatus, the means receives information transmitted from the patient identifying portion, and checks the received information to identify the patient. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043608 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTING COMPLIANCE RELATED SERVICES - A comprehensive medication management system is disclosed. The comprehensive medication management system offers a number of compliance related services that may be offered to patients in to improve medication therapy compliance. The system identifies compliance barriers facing individual patents and recommends services designed to overcome those barriers. The system further provides feedback to patients to document their progress. The system proactively identifies patients who may benefit from compliance services and blocks their transactions until the services are explained. The point of sale block may be expanded to other classes of patients so that the transactions of other classes of patients blocked and other messages delivered or some other customized interactions carried out. The medication management system may serve as a central repository of information about a patient's medication treatment program and the medication management system may provide quick and easy access to a patient's entire medication history to facilitate consultations between a pharmacist and the patient. The medication management system may generate lists of tasks for pharmacists to perform in order to deliver the compliance related services to individual patients. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043609 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING TARGETED PATIENT COMMUNICATIONS - A comprehensive medication management system is disclosed. The comprehensive medication management system offers a number of compliance related services that may be offered to patients in to improve medication therapy compliance. The system identifies compliance barriers facing individual patents and recommends services designed to overcome those barriers. The system further provides feedback to patients to document their progress. The system proactively identifies patients who may benefit from compliance services and blocks their transactions until the services are explained. The point of sale block may be expanded to other classes of patients so that the transactions of other classes of patients blocked and other messages delivered or some other customized interactions carried out. The medication management system may serve as a central repository of information about a patient's medication treatment program and the medication management system may provide quick and easy access to a patient's entire medication history to facilitate consultations between a pharmacist and the patient. The medication management system may generate lists of tasks for pharmacists to perform in order to deliver the compliance related services to individual patients. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043610 | COMPREHENSIVE MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A comprehensive medication management system is disclosed. The comprehensive medication management system offers a number of compliance related services that may be offered to patients in to improve medication therapy compliance. The system identifies compliance barriers facing individual patents and recommends services designed to overcome those barriers. The system further provides feedback to patients to document their progress. The system proactively identifies patients who may benefit from compliance services and blocks their transactions until the services are explained. The point of sale block may be expanded to other classes of patients so that the transactions of other classes of patients blocked and other messages delivered or some other customized interactions carried out. The medication management system may serve as a central repository of information about a patient's medication treatment program and the medication management system may provide quick and easy access to a patient's entire medication history to facilitate consultations between a pharmacist and the patient. The medication management system may generate lists of tasks for pharmacists to perform in order to deliver the compliance related services to individual patients. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043611 | INTERFACE SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING COMPREHENSIVE PATIENT MEDICATION RECORD - A comprehensive medication management system is disclosed. The comprehensive medication management system offers a number of compliance related services that may be offered to patients in to improve medication therapy compliance. The system identifies compliance barriers facing individual patents and recommends services designed to overcome those barriers. The system further provides feedback to patients to document their progress. The system proactively identifies patients who may benefit from compliance services and blocks their transactions until the services are explained. The point of sale block may be expanded to other classes of patients so that the transactions of other classes of patients blocked and other messages delivered or some other customized interactions carried out. The medication management system may serve as a central repository of information about a patient's medication treatment program and the medication management system may provide quick and easy access to a patient's entire medication history to facilitate consultations between a pharmacist and the patient. The medication management system may generate lists of tasks for pharmacists to perform in order to deliver the compliance related services to individual patients. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043612 | Electronic Health Management System - A method and system of aggregating, integrating and reporting medical data for the purpose of encouraging the use of a health care program recommended to a patient by a health care provider, comprises maintaining a database of recommended health care actions by patient and health care provider; maintaining a database of recommended changes in recommended health care actions by patient and health care provider; requesting agreement by a health care provider to the recommended changes for at least one patient of that provider; communicating to that patient (1) the recommended changes and (2) the agreement by the health care provider to such recommended changes; maintaining a database of actual changes in recommended health care actions by health care provider; and delivering to at least certain of the health care providers an incentive to recommend health care actions that include the recommended changes. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043613 | Generating output data based on patient monitoring - Exemplary system and method embodiments may include real-time monitoring data regarding administration of a health-related procedure to a recipient patient which is posted to a patient data record that has restricted read/write access. In some instances the monitoring data is processed to determine compliance or non-compliance based on comparison of the health-related procedure with a predetermined benchmark standard. Exemplary aspects of the monitoring data transmitted and/or received via one or more communication links may include updated confirmation of a patient identifier and verification of an updated parameter regarding administration of the health-related procedure. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043614 | PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS FOR DIRECT MARKETING INSURANCE PRODUCTS WITH VOICE RESPONSE UNIT TO CLOSE SALE THEREOF - The invention provides a method and apparatus for the sale of insurance products using a telemarketing system combined with a voice response unit (“VRU”) housed at a licensed agency to efficiently offer, make, and close the sale of insurance products. The direct marketing process includes providing a lead file to an agency, operating a dialer from the agency to call a consumer, obtaining an indication of interest in an insurance product using an unlicensed agent, and passing the consumer to a VRU housed in a licensed agency to offer and close sale using a pre-approved script. Also, the apparatus for direct marketing of insurance products includes an outbound autodialer, a VRU at a licensed agency, telephonic or computer interfaces, and related connection equipment. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043615 | Systems and methods for predictive data analysis - The systems and methods herein generally pertain to the computation of a likelihood that an item with a given set of characteristics will exhibit a future trait. The system generally comprises an input module for receiving the set of characteristics, a database for storing parameters relating to the set of characteristics, a computerized predictive model for estimating the likelihood, a business logic processor for executing the predictive model, and a processor for processing the set of characteristics based on its predicted likelihood. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043616 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE INTERNET EXCHANGE OF GOLF COURSE TEE TIMES - The invention relates to a system and method for the Internet exchange of golf course tee times. According to the invention, system-affiliated golfers with one or more golf course tee times can offer said tee times online on the Internet when, instead of using his/her tee times, the user wishes to hand a tee time over for exchange such that it can be taken by other users of the exchange system. The system users can open as many options as necessary in order to take tee times deposited by other users in the exchange system in accordance with the tee times that he/she has previously handed over, i.e., the user can take one tee time for each tee time that he/she has previously deposited for exchange. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043617 | System and Method for Managing the Delivery of Orders for Goods - A system and method for managing the delivery of goods. The system and method particularly provides for manifesting and controlling route-based delivery of orders or packages from a vendor to one or more locations accessible by customers. The locations may include automated, self-service vending machines and/or will-call lockers, under the control of a system (ideally centralized and automated) that can receive and actively manage manifest information. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043618 | Work Management System, Work Management System Construction Support Service, Control Method and Program - [Object] Even when multiple work processes depending on one another progress in parallel, it is possible to appropriately manage the progress of the whole work that includes these work processes. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043619 | Evaluation of a Process Metric - An exemplary method of responding to a request for a value of at least one metric associated with at least one process includes a step of determining whether responding to the request requires updating the value of the at least one metric. When responding to the request does not require updating the value of the at least one metric, a response is determined based at least in part on at least one stored value of the at least one metric. When responding to the request does require updating the value of the at least one metric, the value of the at least one metric is updated and a response is determined based at least in part on the at least one updated value of the at least one metric. Updating the value of the at least one metric, at least when responding to the request requires updating the value of the at least one metric, includes steps of determining at least one new value of the at least one metric based at least in part on at least one stored value of the at least one metric and storing the at least one new value of the at least one metric. The method also includes a step of responding to the request with the determined response. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043620 | METHOD FOR COPY PROPAGATIONS FOR A PROCESSOR - A method for copy propagations of a processor including two clusters, each cluster comprising a first function unit and a second function unit, a first local register file and a second local register file being respectively accessible by the first and second function unit only, and a global register file having a ping-pong structure to access the first and second local register files, the method comprising the steps of: (a) listing possible copy propagation paths between two nodes of a data flow graph; (b) calculating a profit of machine cycles for each of the copy propagation paths according to constraints of the processor; and (c) performing a copy propagation through the copy propagation path if the profit thereof is greater than a threshold value. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043621 | System and Method of Team Performance Management Software - The invention is an application for teams of information workers, their managers, and human resources professionals to evaluate and raise performance based on communication metrics and norms of behavior within a team. A model and management Web pages enable users to collectively set norms of behavior, communicate, make decisions, set roles and goals, receive evaluations according to their norms, and in other ways conduct interpersonal relations in a business context. Modules acquiring data from email and document management systems, groupware, directories, and other information sources are included. Said information is joined with the invention's internally generated data. An expert system generates observations and advice permitting the team to more appropriately deploy information, adhere more closely to its norms, and lessen stress caused by interpersonal friction. Management is provided a means of assessing teams, setting policies, and defining parametric ranges for norms. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043622 | Waste Determinants Identification and Elimination Process Model Within a Software Factory Operating Environment - Within the context of a software factory, process sensors detect time consuming activities that extend beyond an estimated predetermined completion timeline for a project. These process sensors also detect wait states that are caused by processes and activities of tasks that are not critical to completing the project. A process analysis is used to determine if defined added value processes and activities identified in a value stream analysis are interdependent to a critical path for executing the project. If the defined added value processes and activities identified in the value stream analysis are determined to not be interdependent to the critical path for executing the project, then a determination is made that performance of the defined added value processes and activities identified in the value stream analysis is wasteful and such processes and activities are eliminated from the process. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043623 | Method and system for effective market research - A method of improving market research to understand the effectiveness of advertising campaigns is provided. A first questionnaire is provided to one or more survey participants that includes questions relating to participant's prior interactions with and beliefs about one or more advertised brands. For a predetermined time, the participants then go about their normal every day activities and simultaneously, while experiencing an advertisement or a brand, they provide, to a survey administrator, communications related to the brand via a mobile telecommunication device. These communications are compiled and displayed. During the predetermined time, an administrator may recommend real-time adjustments to the advertising campaign based on data collected via the communications. Shortly after the predetermined time ends, a second questionnaire is provided, which relates to the participant's interactions during their normal daily activities. The questionnaire responses are compared and along with the information provided in the communications, a determination is made regarding the effectiveness of the advertising that the participants encountered. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043624 | ELECTRONIC PROFILE CREATION - A method is implementable in an electronic system coupled to an electronic device, which is, in turn, coupled to a display device. A web page displayable on the display device is served to the electronic device. The displayed web page includes a user interface, which, in turn, includes a selection field. A first set of selectable tags is displayed in the selection field. Each of the first-set tags corresponds to a respective vocational characteristic of a first set of vocational characteristics. At least one selection by a user of a tag is received. An employment profile of the user is generated using the at least one tag selection. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043625 | Process Management System and Method - The present invention relates to process management and control, such as a P&L forecast, budgeting and management system using data collection and computation to produce optimized P&L estimates. The production parameters and cost structure are collated and processed with a dedicated algorithm to simulate the sales forecast and cost factors of the required materials, the required machine hours, and the required labor hours to calculate profitability. The process produces indicators to easily examine the root causes of each project's areas of potential improvement. This present invention provides an application and tool for an effective management of a process. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043626 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PRODUCT INFORMATION IN LAN - Provided is a system and a method for reporting data in a Local Area Network (LAN), which includes at least one router for broadcasting both product information of an entire shopping center including product advertisement information and product information including identification information of each of shopping center local communication terminals providing the product advertisement information, and identification information of each of shopping center local communication terminals located within a coverage area of each of the at least one router; and a user local communication terminal for receiving the product information and the identification information, detecting the product advertisement information and displaying the detected product advertisement information, finding product information including any one of the received identification information among the received product information of the entire shopping center, analyzing the found product information to detect product advertisement information of the found product information, and first displaying the detected product advertisement information. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043627 | System and method for calendar presence retrieval - A presence system enables retrieval of calendar presence information of presentities from calendar servers using a calendar agent and calendar interfaces to the calendar servers. Each calendar server maintains calendar schedule information for one or more of the presentites. The calendar agent is operable to generate queries for the calendar schedule information to the calendar servers via a respective calendar interface for each calendar server. The calendar agent is further operable to receive calendar schedule information from the calendar servers via the respective calendar interfaces, and to convert the received calendar schedule information into calendar presence information. Each calendar interface is configured to communicate with the calendar agent via a first protocol and to communicate with a respective one of the calendar servers via a respective second protocol. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043628 | PRINT-SHOP JOB PRICE OPTIMIZATION VIA THE USE OF PLANNING, SCHEDULING AND SIMULATION - Methods and systems for improving resource usage in a print shop are disclosed A system may include a workflow management system and a plurality of resource in the print shop. The workflow management system may be configured to receive a plurality of print jobs for processing at the print shop and determine a cost per item for processing the plurality of print jobs based on economic data associated with the print jobs. The workflow management system may determine whether the cost per item will be reduced by adding, removing or modifying a print job. An added print job may be of a different type than the plurality of print jobs. The plurality of resources may be capable of processing the plurality of print jobs. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043629 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVISION OF MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AND PRODUCTS - A system and method are provided for the comprehensive provision of maintenance related information and products to a client. By one approach, item information is received from a client regarding at least one of a plurality of disparate items. The method also includes receiving manufacturer information regarding the plurality of disparate items from information from manufacturers of the items. A selectively accessible database is created that includes at least in part the item information, the manufacturer information, and maintenance information derived at least in part from the manufacturer information relating to servicing at least one of the disparate items and/or to a product relating to at least one of the disparate items. The client is provided with access to the maintenance information stored on the selectively accessible database. The maintenance information can be accessed from brick and mortar hardware stores as well. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043630 | Scheduling method for achieving revenue objectives - The scheduling method arranges and schedules tasks to ensure the completion of a revenue goal within a specified period of time. A revenue goal is first determined, and an associated task list is identified. Each task is assigned a completion time and the income generated. The tasks are arranged into categories based on completion time and the categories are then ordered according to income generated and assigned the lowest low-end (minimum) income generated according to the tasks within. The daily task completion time available is determined and the tasks are then scheduled to fill the available time so that the revenue goal is achieved or exceeded within the specified time period. The method steps may be stored on a computer readable medium and executed by a computer processor. Method instructions and data may also be accessed and executed via a computer network such as an internet-based system. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043631 | Dynamic Routing and Load Balancing Packet Distribution with a Software Factory - A system decision engine enables a software factory to effectively handle intelligent load balancing and distribution to workers on a software assembly line through the use of pre-configured rules. The pre-configured rules are based on a projected availability of workers based on past traffic analysis of work packets being sent to particular workers on the software assembly line. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043632 | MANAGING BUSINESS PROCESS CALENDARS - A system and method of managing business process calendars. A method of managing a process includes defining at least one process to be performed by a first entity for at least one second entity, and associating a first subset of a plurality of tasks of the at least one process with the first entity. The method further includes associating a second subset of the plurality of tasks with the at least one second entity, and creating a process calendar based upon the at least one process and the plurality of tasks. The method additionally includes displaying the process calendar. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043633 | PHARMACY TASK LIST GENERATOR - A comprehensive medication management system is disclosed. The comprehensive medication management system offers a number of compliance related services that may be offered to patients in to improve medication therapy compliance. The system identifies compliance barriers facing individual patents and recommends services designed to overcome those barriers. The system further provides feedback to patients to document their progress. The system proactively identifies patients who may benefit from compliance services and blocks their transactions until the services are explained. The point of sale block may be expanded to other classes of patients so that the transactions of other classes of patients blocked and other messages delivered or some other customized interactions carried out. The medication management system may serve as a central repository of information about a patient's medication treatment program and the medication management system may provide quick and easy access to a patient's entire medication history to facilitate consultations between a pharmacist and the patient. The medication management system may generate lists of tasks for pharmacists to perform in order to deliver the compliance related services to individual patients. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043634 | Worker Adaptive Task management and Workflow System - A system provides a daily workflow list that is tailored according to nurse tenure, experience, specialty, licensure and education, for example. An adaptive healthcare workflow and task management system includes a repository of first information indicating clinician tasks and related subtasks for performance by a clinician in providing a particular care service to a patient. The system includes a repository of second information indicating experience and qualifications of multiple different clinicians. A rules processor, in response to a particular clinician identifier and data identifying a clinician task to be performed by the particular clinician in providing a particular care service to a patient, employs the first and second information in adaptively determining a subtask related to the clinician task to be indicated to be performed by the particular clinician based on experience and qualifications of the particular clinician. An output processor provides data for reproduction and presentation to the particular clinician indicating the subtask related to the clinician task to be indicated to be performed by the particular clinician. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043635 | SCHEDULING CHART CREATION SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR THE SAME - A scheduling chart creation system which reasonably controls a plurality of constraint conditions and creates a scheduling chart that corresponds to various working patterns and terms of employments. The scheduling chart creation system comprises a hierarchy control section and an application selection section. The hierarchy control section controls various rule information which is the information on terms of employment of employees and forms a constraint conditions at the time of creating a scheduling chart. The application selection section selects the rule information which is applied to the creation of the scheduling chart from the rule information. The hierarchy control section has an organization-data hierarchy control section which hierarchically controls the information of organization to which an employee belong as the rule information, and a time-data hierarchy control section to hierarchically controls a working date and a working pattern of the employee. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043636 | SOFT SKILLS JOB MATCHING SYSTEM AND METHOD - This invention involves a method and system for assessing the match between jobseekers and jobs by using perceptual mapping techniques to ascertain the proper fit of employee to employer. The purpose of this system is to add additional important information to the job matching process to enhance the quality and efficiency of the hiring process. This system involves a soft skills job matching system and method of using the same. The system uses vector algebra to find the closest match of employee to employer. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043637 | Extended value and risk management system - A method of and system for creating an organization risk matrix and an organization value matrix and using said matrices to support the management and optimization of one or more aspects of organization risk and value, the development and optimized delivery of standard and customized risk transfer products for one or more organizations, and the development, valuation and sale of securities for one or more organizations. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043638 | INTEGRATION OF REORDER-POINT BASED PLANNING AND TIME-PERIOD PLANNING - A system and method to perform time period planning and reorder point planning in a single planning run. Forecast data for a first subset of locations and inventory data for a second subset of locations is supplied to the planning system. Time period planning is performed on the first subset of locations and reordering point planning is performed on the second subset of locations in the same planning run. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043639 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING MARKET TRENDS IN ONLINE TRADING - A system and method for accessing, extracting, filtering, organizing, and rendering statistical records on electronic systems is provided. Statistical information available on disparate electronic systems, and/or other e-commerce environments such as online shopping sites, can be gathered, extracted and presented to determine market trends. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043640 | INFORMATION PORTAL WEBSITE FOR WIDELY-DISTRIBUTED COMPLEX COMMODITIES - The system and methods of the present application comprise one or more computers that perform a search for complex products for purchase. Information and computer software stored and executed on a general purpose computer provide a member of a Web site with the ability to obtain recommendations for purchase of complex products based on the member's profile and the characteristics of available complex products. The system and methods also determine the characteristics that potentially matching complex products would possess to match the member's preferences. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043641 | PRETRIAL RELEASE SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present invention describes a system and method whereby enhancements are made to an agency pretrial information system by a consortium of service and equipment providers and such enhancements are self funded by means of a electronic custodial fee so as to allow the addition of desired and/or recommended components without necessitating a considerable, or in some instances, any capital investment on the part of the agency. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043642 | Flexible magazine management service - A method for managing a magazine subscription management service is disclosed. A magazine package is associated with a consumer, wherein the package includes a price based on a number of magazines in the package. Selections for the number of magazines are received from a consumer, each selected magazine having a corresponding publication frequency including a number of issues and a period for delivery. Distribution of issues of each of the selected magazines according to the corresponding publication frequency is enabled. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043643 | Managerial decision support system and method - The system and method accepts the inputs of an aggregate (long-range) production plan draft, a profit and loss target, a sales target, and a stock target. Then, the accepted long-range production plan draft is deployed into master production schedule and then a feasibility of the long-range production schedule draft is simulated. Based on the simulated result, the system and method calculates an amended schedule, a predicted profit and loss, and predicted sales of the long-range production schedule draft. Further, a supply schedule is calculated on the middle-range production schedule draft deployed from the long-range plan draft. Based on the supply schedule, the middle-range production schedule draft, and a planned buying unit price, the system and method calculates a predicted stock, an estimated loss of inventory price decline, and a planned acquisition cost of inventory. Each calculated prediction data item is displayed on screen. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043644 | UNIVERSAL TRANSACTION MANAGER AGENT, SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for providing transaction control for purchasing decisions that involve the use of credits, debits, loyalty points, affinity points, promotions, or currency transfers. The present invention provides a common forum where merchants desiring to target consumers prior to or at the time of purchase are matched with customers who desire information, goods, or services related to the merchant. In general, the matching and coordinating of the credit accounts, debit accounts, loyalty (points) programs, affinity (points) programs, promotions, and currency exchanges are performed such that consumers and businesses may obtain the greatest financial, promotional, or desired benefit on purchases of goods and services. Further, merchants may present promotional opportunities to consumers or businesses prior to, at the time of or after transacting the payment of goods or services. | 2009-02-12 |
| 20090043645 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION OF PRODUCT REDEMPTION COUPONS - Provided is a method and system for the electronic distribution of product redemption coupons to remote personal computers located at users' homes. A centrally located repository, such as an online service provider or web site on the Internet, stores packages of coupon data for downloading on demand to the user's computer. The user may view, select, sort and print desired coupons from the downloaded package. The user's demographic as well as coupon selection data is provided back to the online service and coupon distributor and issuers for subsequent marketing analysis. The online service can perform subsequent coupon processing on previously downloaded coupon packages such as variation of discount amounts. The online service provider can also determine how many times a particular coupon was viewed. When the printed coupons are presented at a retail store, the discount is provided to the user. Upon redemption by the store via a coupon redeeming center, transaction data is also supplied to the coupon issuers and distributor for integration into marketing analysis. The electronic coupon system is secure due to the inclusion of user-specific identification indicia printed thereon. | 2009-02-12 |
