Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100011658 | Method and apparatus for refining coal - A method of processing coal to remove sulfur and other contaminants by mixing coal in a solution of aqueous ammonia having a selected concentration range (preferred range of 3%-5%) of ammonia to water in a reaction vessel. The mixing causes the solution to be brought into contact with the surfaces and pores of the coal. The process is monitored to detect when the concentration of aqueous ammonia in the reaction vessel has fallen below the selected range, and aqueous ammonia with an ammonia concentration in or above the selected range is fed into the reaction vessel to return the solution to within the selected range. The cleaned coal may be rinsed and dried, or dried without rinsing to form an ammonia coating on the coal surfaces and pores. Several plant layouts to practice the method are described. | 01-21-2010 |
20120241381 | Method and apparatus for removal of selenium from water - A method of treating selenium contaminated water to reduce the concentration of selenium in the water to levels below 5 μg/L uses a first stage treatment by an iron co-precipitation process to remove a bulk concentration of selenium from the water, followed by a second stage treatment wherein the water from the first stage is treated by either a hydride generation process or an ion-exchange media, or a combination thereof, to achieve a selenium concentration level below 5 μg/L. | 09-27-2012 |
20120279117 | Method and Apparatus for Refining Coal - A method of processing coal to remove contaminants by mixing coal in a solution of potassium permanganate in a selected concentration range, rinsing the coal, mixing the coal in a solution of ammonia hydroxide in a selected concentration range to cause the solution to be brought into contact with the surfaces and pores of the coal, discharging the processed coal from the second reaction vessel, monitoring the process to detect when the concentration of aqueous ammonia in the second reaction vessel has fallen below the selected range, and feeding aqueous ammonia solution with an ammonia concentration in or above the selected range to the second reaction vessel to return the solution to within the selected range. | 11-08-2012 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20140181368 | EQUALIZING WEAR ON STORAGE DEVICES WITH WRITE COUNTERS - Data stored in file blocks and storage blocks of a storage device may be tracked by the file system. The file system may track a number of writes performed to each file block and storage block. The file system may also track a state of each storage block. The file system may use information, such as the write count and the block state, to determine locations for updated data to be stored on the storage device. Placement of data by the file system allows the file system to manage wear on storage devices, such as solid state storage devices. | 06-26-2014 |
20140181430 | EQUALIZING WEAR ON STORAGE DEVICES THROUGH FILE SYSTEM CONTROLS - Data stored in file blocks and storage blocks of a storage device may be tracked by the file system. The file system may track a number of writes performed to each file block and storage block. The file system may also track a state of each storage block. The file system may use information, such as the write count and the block state, to determine locations for updated data to be stored on the storage device. Placement of data by the file system allows the file system to manage wear on storage devices, such as solid state storage devices. | 06-26-2014 |
20140181437 | EQUALIZING WEAR ON MIRRORED STORAGE DEVICES THROUGH FILE SYSTEM CONTROLS - Data stored in file blocks and storage blocks of a storage device may be tracked by the file system. The file system may track a number of writes performed to each file block and storage block. The file system may also track a state of each storage block. The file system may use information, such as the write count and the block state, to determine locations for updated data to be stored on the storage device. Placement of data by the file system allows the file system to manage wear on storage devices, such as solid state storage devices. | 06-26-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090182709 | DYNAMIC PRECONDITIONING OF A B+ TREE - Various approaches for processing a B+ tree data structure are described. In one approach, in a first transaction a first insert operation to a first data page of a first index page in the B+ tree data structure is detected, and then it is determined whether performing the first insert operation would block a second insert operation in a second transaction concurrent with the first transaction. At least one empty second data page is created in response to determining that the second insert operation would be blocked by the first insert operation. The B+ tree data structure is updated to include the at least one second data page in the B+ tree data structure, and the updated index pages and second data page are committed to retentive storage. Thereafter, the first insert can be completed. | 07-16-2009 |
20090187599 | Generating identity values in a multi-host database management system - Various approaches for generating key values in a database that is shared in a multi-host data processing arrangement. According to an example method, a shared sequence control structure contains a next key value. Mutually exclusive update access to the sequence control structure is provided for a plurality of instances of a database management system (DBMS) executing on the multi-host data processing arrangement. For a request for a new key value for a database record, a temporary copy of the next key value from the sequence control structure is stored, the sequence control structure is updated with a new next key value, and temporary copy of the next key value is stored as the new key value of the database record. | 07-23-2009 |
20090204967 | Reporting of information pertaining to queuing of requests - Various approaches for capturing context data in a data processing arrangement are described. In one approach, a method controls shared access to an object for a plurality of requestors. An access control routine receives an access control request from a first routine of one of the requestors. The access control request specifies a type of control over access to the object and specifies a role descriptor that describes a processing context in the first routine of the requested access control to the object. The context is not visible to the access control routine without the role descriptor. The method determines whether the type of control can or cannot be immediately granted to the requestor. If the type of control cannot be immediately granted to the one of the requestors, the specified type of requested control and role descriptor are stored by the access control routine. | 08-13-2009 |
20090276430 | Record-level locking and page-level recovery in a database management system - Disclosure of approaches for processing database transactions against a database. In one approach, a first transaction is received that specifies an operation for changing state of a first record stored in a first database page. In processing the operation, the state of the record is changed, and information is stored in a companion page. The information includes a transaction identifier, data describing the specified operation, a page identifier of the first page, a before look and an after look of the first record for an update operation, and an after look of the first record for an insert operation. In response to a commit of the first transaction, a process determines whether a second transaction, that specifies a change in state for a second stored in the first page, is in-process. In response to determining that the second transaction is in process, the companion page is stored in an audit trail. In response to determining that no such second transaction is in process, a transaction identifier of the first transaction and associated data of the first page are stored in the audit trail. | 11-05-2009 |
20100146003 | Method and system for building a B-tree - Various approaches for adding data items to a database are described. In one approach, a method includes receiving a plurality of data items; each data item is to be stored under a unique primary key in the database. In response to each received data item, one of a plurality of fragment builders is selected and the data item is provided as input to the selected fragment builder. The fragment builders operate in parallel to create respective pluralities of B-tree fragments from the input data items. The B-tree fragments are merged into a single B-tree of the database, which is then stored. | 06-10-2010 |
20110099347 | MANAGING ALLOCATION AND DEALLOCATION OF STORAGE FOR DATA OBJECTS - Various approaches for managing storage for data objects. In one approach, data describing a plurality of allocation control areas are stored. Each allocation control area references a respective set of free pages that are available for allocation for storing data objects. In response to a request to delete a data object, a non-blocking exclusive lock is sought on an initial one of the allocation control areas. If the lock is granted, each page having data of the data object is returned to the respective set of free pages of the initial one of the allocation control areas. If the lock is denied, another one of the allocation control areas to which a non-blocking exclusive lock can be granted is determined, and each page is returned to the respective set of free pages of the other one of the allocation control areas. | 04-28-2011 |
20120140993 | SECURE BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION FROM AN INSECURE DEVICE - Biometric authentication is enhanced by prompting an individual to perform an action challenge. For example, when an individual provides a facial picture for facial recognition to access secure data the individual may be prompted to provide a second picture of the individual performing an action. In one case, the individual is prompted to provide a second picture with an eye closed or an open mouth. The action challenge improves security by preventing attackers from spoofing an individual's biometric information. The enhanced biometric authentication may be used on mobile devices, such as mobile phones and laptop computers, to provide access to secure data, such as bank account information. | 06-07-2012 |
20130061304 | PRE-CONFIGURED CHALLENGE ACTIONS FOR AUTHENTICATION OF DATA OR DEVICES - An authentication system is enhanced by prompting an individual to perform a challenge action. For example, the individual may be requested to move the device in a particular motion, after entering a username/password combination. The challenge action is known only by the individual, such that an imposter, even with authentication information, does not know the challenge action. The challenge action improves security by preventing attackers from spoofing an individual's authentication information. The enhanced authentication system may be used on mobile devices, such as mobile phones and laptop computers, to provide access to secure data, such as bank account information. | 03-07-2013 |
20130061305 | RANDOM CHALLENGE ACTION FOR AUTHENTICATION OF DATA OR DEVICES - An authentication system is enhanced by prompting an individual to perform a randomly-selected challenge action. For example, the individual may be requested to move the device in a particular motion, after entering a username/password combination. The randomly-selected challenge action verifies the individual is located at the device, which prevents automated attacks to steal the individual's identity. The challenge action improves security by preventing attackers from spoofing an individual's authentication information. The enhanced authentication system may be used on mobile devices, such as mobile phones and laptop computers, to provide access to secure data, such as bank account information. | 03-07-2013 |
20130325883 | PRESERVING DATA INTEGRITY ACROSS INCOMPATIBLE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURES - Values may be interchanged between computers with different computer architectures by implementing a transform function in a database serving the values to the computers. The transform function may convert a value for use on a computer with a different word length than the word length of the computer hosting the database. For example, the database may have 36-bit words, and a client may have 32-bit words. The transform function may operate without data loss and be capable of reversing the transform to enable round trips for data between the database and client. | 12-05-2013 |