Patent application number | Description | Published |
20160070618 | RECONSTRUCTION OF DENSE TREE VOLUME METADATA STATE ACROSS CRASH RECOVERY - Embodiments herein are directed to efficient crash recovery of persistent metadata managed by a volume layer of a storage input/output (I/O) stack executing on one or more nodes of a cluster. Volume metadata managed by the volume layer is organized as a multi-level dense tree, wherein each level of the dense tree includes volume metadata entries for storing the volume metadata. When a level of the dense tree is full, the volume metadata entries of the level are merged with the next lower level of the dense tree. During a merge operation, two sets of generation IDs may be used in accordance with a double buffer arrangement: a first generation ID for the append buffer that is full (i.e., a merge staging buffer) and a second, incremented generation ID for the append buffer that accepts new volume metadata entries. Upon completion of the merge operation, the lower level (e.g., level 1) to which the merge is directed is assigned the generation ID of the merge staging buffer. | 03-10-2016 |
20160070644 | OFFSET RANGE OPERATION STRIPING TO IMPROVE CONCURRENCY OF EXECUTION AND REDUCE CONTENTION AMONG RESOURCES - An offset range striping technique increases concurrency of operation execution directed to metadata managed by a volume layer of a storage input/output (I/O) stack, while reducing contention among resources of one or more nodes of a cluster. A logical unit (LUN) may be apportioned into multiple volumes, each of which may be partitioned into multiple regions, wherein each region is represented by a dense tree. The technique increases concurrency of operation execution (e.g., modifications to the metadata at the offset ranges), while reducing contention among the resources (e.g., CPUs and NVLogs) by distributing the offset range operations among the regions and mapping the regions to services and NVLogs. Such increased concurrency and reduction of contention may be achieved by implementation of the technique to (i) apportion each region into disjoint chunks (i.e., stripes) of contiguous offset ranges; (ii) organize a plurality of regions into one or more zones and populate a first zone before allocating a second zone; and (iii) stagger the mapping of services to starting regions of the volumes. | 03-10-2016 |
20160070714 | LOW-OVERHEAD RESTARTABLE MERGE OPERATION WITH EFFICIENT CRASH RECOVERY - A low-overhead merge technique enables restart of a merge operation with minimal logging of state information relating to progress of the merge operation by a volume layer of a storage input/output (I/O) stack executing on one or more nodes of a cluster. The technique enables restart of the merge operation by ensuring that metadata, i.e., metadata pages, generated during the merge operation is not subject to de-duplication by providing a unique value in each metadata page that distinguishes the page, i.e., renders the page distinct or “unique”, from other metadata pages in an extent store. In addition, the technique ensures that a reference count on each metadata page is a value denoting a lack of de-duplication. To that end, the extent store layer is configured to not increment the reference count for a metadata page if, during the merge operation, the page is identical (and thus subject to deduplication) to an existing metadata page in the extent store. | 03-10-2016 |
20160077744 | DEFERRED REFERENCE COUNT UPDATE TECHNIQUE FOR LOW OVERHEAD VOLUME METADATA - A deferred refcount update technique efficiently frees storage space for metadata (associated with data) to be deleted during a merge operation managed by a volume layer of a node. The metadata is illustratively volume metadata embodied as mappings from logical block addresses (LBAs) of a logical unit (LUN) to extent keys maintained by an extent store layer of the node. One or more requests to delete (or overwrite) an LBA range within a LUN may be captured as page keys associated with metadata pages during the merge operation and the storage space associated with those metadata pages may be freed in an out-of-band fashion. The page keys of the metadata pages may be persistently recorded in a reference count (refcount) log to thereby allow the merge operation to complete without resolving deletion of the keys. A batch of page keys may be organized as one or more delete requests and, once the merge completes, the keys may be inserted into the refcount log. Subsequently, a deferred reference count update process may be spawned (instantiated) to walk through the page keys stored in the refcount log and delete each key, e.g., from the extent store layer, independently and out-of-band from the merge operation. | 03-17-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100023340 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING PRODUCT SUBSTITUTIONS ALONG MULTIPLE CRITERIA IN RESPONSE TO A SALES OPPORTUNITY - A system and method evaluate product substitutions along multiple criteria in response to a sales opportunity, for instance, providing sales recommendations of configurable products in response to a customer request based on propensity functions. A customer propensity is determined to estimate attractiveness of a substitute product to a customer based on one or more attributes. A seller propensity is determined to estimate attractiveness to a seller of selling the substitute product based on one or more attributes. The customer propensity and the seller propensity are combined to find a plurality of substitute products. | 01-28-2010 |
20100057519 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSIGNING SERVICE REQUESTS WITH DUE DATE DEPENDENT PENALTIES - A system and method for deciding assignments for service requests includes determining a best policy, within a class of index-based policies, based upon historic data for handling previous requests. If a service request is waiting to be handled, an index for service requests is determined based upon the best policy and service requests are assigned to agents based upon the index. Service requests are preempted if a waiting service has a higher index than other service requests. | 03-04-2010 |
20110078071 | PRIORITIZING LOANS USING CUSTOMER, PRODUCT AND WORKFLOW ATTRIBUTES - Data representative of a plurality of mortgage applications is obtained. The applications participate in a mortgage origination process, and each of the applications has associated therewith customer-specific attributes and product-specific attributes. The mortgage origination process has a plurality of statuses. Data representative of at least one environmental attribute is also obtained. Each given one of the mortgage applications in a given one of the plurality of statuses at a given time is ranked by likelihood of not closing, based at least on the customer-specific attributes, the product-specific attributes, and the at least one environmental attribute. Those of the mortgage applications likely not to close which are likely not to close due to non-exogenous attributes are identified. For at least some of the mortgage applications likely not to close due to non-exogenous attributes, suggestion of a modification of at least one corresponding one of the product-specific attributes is facilitated, to enhance the likelihood of closing. | 03-31-2011 |
20110112889 | PROACTIVE DEMAND SHAPING FOR A CONFIGURABLE PRODUCT PORTFOLIO WITH UNCERTAIN DEMAND - Proactive demand shaping of configurable products with uncertain demand computes a lower bound and an upper bound on optimal profit by considering future demand distribution of one or more products, supply outlook of one or more components and customer behavior. The upper bound and the lower bound solutions are used to generate one or more rationing heuristics. Simulation may be used to determine a rationing policy to implement in practice. | 05-12-2011 |
20110241899 | Targeted Enforcement For Road User Charging - A method is disclosed that includes, for a set of passages of a vehicle, where each passage is associated with at least one confidence level, applying at least one heuristic to confidence levels corresponding to the set to determine at least one score. The method also includes performing the applying at least one heuristic for a number of sets of passages of a number of vehicles and selecting a number of the sets based on their associated at least one scores. The method additionally includes outputting identifications corresponding to each of the selected sets. Apparatus and computer readable media are also disclosed. | 10-06-2011 |
20110246058 | Anomaly Detection For Road User Charging System - A computer readable medium embodies a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a processing apparatus to perform operations including determining information corresponding to a number of differences in distances between ending points of journeys taken by a vehicle and starting points of consecutive journeys taken by the vehicle, and transmitting one or more representations of the information. Another computer readable medium tangibly includes instructions for, for each of a number of vehicles, receiving one or more scores corresponding to a vehicle, and determining a ranked list containing at least a portion of the scores, and outputting the ranked list. Another computer readable medium includes instructions for, for each of a number of vehicles, receiving information corresponding to a vehicle, using one or more metrics, calculating one or more values from the received information, and communicating one or more representations of the one or more value to one or more entities. | 10-06-2011 |
20120004937 | Reservation System with Graphical User Interface - Techniques for providing a reservation system are provided. The techniques include displaying a scalable visualization object, wherein the scalable visualization object comprises an expanded view element of the reservation system depicting information in connection with a selected interval of time and a compressed view element of the reservation system depicting information in connection with one or more additional intervals of time, maintaining a visual context between the expanded view and the compressed view within the visualization object, and enabling a user to switch between the expanded view and the compressed view to facilitate use of the reservation system. | 01-05-2012 |
20120042256 | HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AS A SERVICE - A scheduling system and method for high-performance computing (HPC) applications includes a network management component stored in physical memory and executed by a processor. The management component is configured to transform HPC resources into a schedulable resource catalog by transforming multi-dimensional HPC resources into a one dimension versus time resource catalog with a dependent graph structure between resources such that HPC resources are enabled to be provisioned into a service environment with predictable provisioning using the resource catalog. A graphical user interface component is coupled to the network management component and configured to provide scheduling visibility to entities and to enable a plurality of different communication modes for scheduling and communication between entities. | 02-16-2012 |
20120042320 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC RESCHEDULING OF MULTIPLE VARYING RESOURCES WITH USER SOCIAL MAPPING - A system and method for scheduling resources includes a memory storage device having a resource data structure stored therein which is configured to store a collection of available resources, time slots for employing the resources, dependencies between the available resources and social map information. A processing system is configured to set up a communication channel between users, between a resource owner and a user or between resource owners to schedule users in the time slots for the available resources. The processing system employs social mapping information of the users or owners to assist in filtering the users and owners and initiating negotiations for the available resources. | 02-16-2012 |
20120150682 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING PRODUCT SUBSTITUTIONS ALONG MULTIPLE CRITERIA IN RESPONSE TO A SALES OPPORTUNITY - A system and method evaluate product substitutions along multiple criteria in response to a sales opportunity, for instance, providing sales recommendations of configurable products in response to a customer request based on propensity functions. A customer propensity is determined to estimate attractiveness of a substitute product to a customer based on one or more attributes. A seller propensity is determined to estimate attractiveness to a seller of selling the substitute product based on one or more attributes. The customer propensity and the seller propensity are combined to find a plurality of substitute products. | 06-14-2012 |
20120324470 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC RESCHEDULING OF MULTIPLE VARYING RESOURCES WITH USER SOCIAL MAPPING - A system and method for scheduling resources includes a memory storage device having a resource data structure stored therein which is configured to store a collection of available resources, time slots for employing the resources, dependencies between the available resources and social map information. A processing system is configured to set up a communication channel between users, between a resource owner and a user or between resource owners to schedule users in the time slots for the available resources. The processing system employs social mapping information of the users or owners to assist in filtering the users and owners and initiating negotiations for the available resources. | 12-20-2012 |
20130275993 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC RESCHEDULING OF MULTIPLE VARYING RESOURCES WITH USER SOCIAL MAPPING - A system and method for scheduling resources includes a memory storage device having a resource data structure stored therein which is configured to store a collection of available resources, time slots for employing the resources, dependencies between the available resources and social map information. A processing system is configured to set up a communication channel between users, between a resource owner and a user or between resource owners to schedule users in the time slots for the available resources. The processing system employs social mapping information of the users or owners to assist in filtering the users and owners and initiating negotiations for the available resources. | 10-17-2013 |
20150347191 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC RESCHEDULING OF MULTIPLE VARYING RESOURCES WITH USER SOCIAL MAPPING - A system and method for scheduling resources includes a memory storage device having a resource data structure stored therein which is configured to store a collection of available resources, time slots for employing the resources, dependencies between the available resources and social map information. A processing system is configured to set up a communication channel between users, between a resource owner and a user or between resource owners to schedule users in the time slots for the available resources. The processing system employs social mapping information of the users or owners to assist in filtering the users and owners and initiating negotiations for the available resources. | 12-03-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110066459 | Correlated Analytics For Benchmarking In Community Shared Data - Exemplary embodiments of this invention provide a method that includes estimating an empirical distribution of a metric for a company. The method includes estimating a distribution of the metric for a plurality of companies. The method further includes determining whether the company is an outlier, based on the empirical distribution of the metric for the company and the distribution of the metric for the plurality of companies, and generating at least one recommendation based determining whether the company is an outlier. | 03-17-2011 |
20110238460 | Dynamic Pricing of a Resource - A method of dynamic pricing of a resource is presented. For example, the method includes determining a set of anticipated demands for one or more users to acquire the resource according to uncertainty of the one or more users in preferring one or more certain time periods of a plurality of time periods for acquiring the resource. Prices for the resource differ between at least two of the plurality of time periods. Each anticipated demand of the set is associated with a different one of the plurality of time periods. The method further includes setting prices for the resource during each of the plurality of time periods according to the determined set of anticipated demands. The determining of the set of anticipated demands and/or the setting of prices are implemented as instruction code executed on a processor device. | 09-29-2011 |
20120158412 | Identification of Contact Mode for Contacting Parties to Maximize the Probability of Achieving a Desired Outcome - Computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer readable storage medium having computer program product encoded thereon for identifying a contact mode for contacting parties to maximize a probability of achieving a desired outcome. A plurality of parties are divided into a plurality of clusters of parties according to a list of attributes that are statistically significant with respect to achieving a desired outcome. A subset of parties from each cluster of parties of the plurality of clusters of parties are selected, and parties in each subset of parties are contacted by different ones of a plurality of contact modes. A result of the contacting for each subset of parties is analyzed to identify a contact mode of the plurality of contact modes for contacting the parties in each cluster of the plurality of clusters that maximizes a probability of achieving the desired outcome. | 06-21-2012 |
20120158572 | Determining the Probability of an Action Being Performed by a Party at Imminent Risk of Performing the Action - A computer implemented method, a data processing system, and a computer readable storage medium having a computer program product encoded thereon for determining a probability of an action being performed by a party at risk of performing the action. Input information that is pertinent to determining whether the party is at risk of performing the action is received by a data processing system. The data processing system forms an incentive structure for the party based on the received input information, the incentive structure comprising a probability of the party performing the action, and determines an optimal probability of the party performing the action based on the formed incentive structure. | 06-21-2012 |
20120239590 | MANAGING CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS AMONG A PLURALITY OF CHANNELS - A method, data processing system, and computer program product for managing communications sent to a plurality of customers are presented. A set of features of a customer in the plurality of customers and a plurality of channels for communicating with the customer are identified. A number of times to test the plurality of channels is identified based on a number of customers in the plurality of customers. A weighting for the set of features of the customer is identified from results of testing a channel in the plurality of channels. The weighting is identified in response to determining that the plurality of channels have been tested the number of times. A probability of success in using the channel to communicate with the customer is identified based on the weighting and the set of features. A determination is made whether to use the channel to communicate with the customer based on the probability. | 09-20-2012 |
20130138474 | CUSTOMER RETENTION AND SCREENING USING CONTACT ANALYTICS - Potential customer loss is identified under circumstances where structured data may be ineffective. Game theory analytics of customer loss enable the construction of a parameter list to be screened. Concepts are associated with the parameters and their ranges. Keywords associated with the concepts are mined by an extraction engine to identify contact records of customers at risk of loss. Appropriate customized loss mitigation and customer retention strategies can be implemented. | 05-30-2013 |
20130332249 | OPTIMAL SUPPLEMENTARY AWARD ALLOCATION - A method of allocating a new incentive to a portion of a population includes identifying a plurality of group features of the population based on retention data clustering members of the population into a plurality of groups having similar risk profiles based on the plurality of group features and a plurality of categorical factors, dividing each of the plurality of groups into an experimental group and a control group respectively corresponding to members of the population that have received a previous incentive and that have not received the previous incentive, computing an effectiveness score of the previous incentive for each group based on a comparison of the corresponding experimental group and the corresponding control group, and generating a set of potential target groups for the new incentive based on the effectiveness scores. | 12-12-2013 |
20130332260 | OPTIMAL SUPPLEMENTARY AWARD ALLOCATION - A method of allocating a current incentive to a portion of a population includes identifying a plurality of group features of the population based on retention data, clustering members of the population into a plurality of groups having similar risk profiles based on the plurality of group features and a plurality of categorical factors, dividing each of the plurality of groups into an experimental group and a control group respectively corresponding to members of the population that have received a previous incentive and that have not received the previous incentive, computing an effectiveness score of the previous incentive for each group based on a comparison of the corresponding experimental group and the corresponding control group, and generating a set of potential target groups for the new incentive based on the effectiveness scores. | 12-12-2013 |
20140081713 | INFLUENCING SERVICE PROVIDER PERFORMANCE USING OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE METRICS - A plan to incentivize performance is obtained based on objective and subjective metrics. A first step encompasses understanding the effect of actions on each objective metric on future service provider performance. A subset of objective metrics is obtained via regression analysis. For the subset identified in the first step, a set of clusters is identified in the multi-dimensional space of objective metrics. For each cluster, actions based on service provider performance relating to subjective metrics are effected. Expert guidance based on macroeconomic factors are further considered. | 03-20-2014 |
20140201044 | DETERMINING A PAYMENT POLICY - A method of generating a recommendation reducing a cost of subject attrition includes generating a plurality of policies, wherein each of the plurality of policies models a dependence of an attrition risk of each of a plurality of subject categories on a plurality of payment components of the plurality of subject categories, and each of the plurality of policies is associated with a respective set of weights on the plurality of subject categories, determining a benefit of each of the plurality of policies, selecting a selected policy from among the plurality of policies according to the benefit, and generating a recommendation for adjusting a specific payment component of a specific subject for each policy according to the selected policy. | 07-17-2014 |
20140201047 | DETERMINING A PAYMENT POLICY - A method of generating a recommendation reducing a cost of subject attrition includes generating a plurality of policies, wherein each of the plurality of policies models a dependence of an attrition risk of each of a plurality of subject categories on a plurality of payment components of the plurality of subject categories, and each of the plurality of policies is associated with a respective set of weights on the plurality of subject categories, determining a benefit of each of the plurality of policies, selecting a selected policy from among the plurality of policies according to the benefit, and generating a recommendation for adjusting a specific payment component of a specific subject for each policy according to the selected policy. | 07-17-2014 |
20140236666 | ESTIMATING, LEARNING, AND ENHANCING PROJECT RISK - A method for ranking a plurality of objects includes obtaining an initial set of data relating to the objects, generating an initial set of estimates based on the initial set of data, wherein the initial set of estimates includes, for each of the objects, an initial estimated change in performance and an initial estimated likelihood of decline in the performance, incrementally and dynamically refining the initial set of estimates in accordance with a new set of data from new data sources and relating to the objects to produce a refined set of estimates, wherein the refined set of estimates includes, for each of the objects, a refined estimated change in performance and a refined estimated likelihood of decline in the performance, without modifying or replacing a system used to generate the initial set of estimates, and generating a list that ranks the objects according to the refined set of estimates. | 08-21-2014 |
20140236667 | ESTIMATING, LEARNING, AND ENHANCING PROJECT RISK - Ranking a plurality of objects includes obtaining an initial set of data relating to the objects, generating an initial set of estimates based on the initial set of data, wherein the initial set of estimates includes, for each of the objects, an initial estimated change in performance and an initial estimated likelihood of decline in the performance, incrementally and dynamically refining the initial set of estimates in accordance with a new set of data from new data sources and relating to the objects to produce a refined set of estimates, wherein the refined set of estimates includes, for each of the objects, a refined estimated change in performance and a refined estimated likelihood of decline in the performance, without modifying or replacing a system used to generate the initial set of estimates, and generating a list that ranks the objects according to the refined set of estimates. | 08-21-2014 |
20140316846 | ESTIMATING FINANCIAL RISK BASED ON NON-FINANCIAL DATA - A method for estimating a risk associated with a project includes preparing a plurality of data models, where each of the plurality of data models examines a different dimension of the project, classifying each of the plurality of data models to produce a plurality of prediction models, where each of the plurality of prediction models is defined by a plurality of quality metrics, and where the plurality of quality metrics includes a preliminary estimate of the risk and a measure of confidence in the preliminary estimate, and computing a refined estimate of the risk based on a quality of the plurality of quality metrics. | 10-23-2014 |
20140316959 | ESTIMATING FINANCIAL RISK BASED ON NON-FINANCIAL DATA - A method for estimating a risk associated with a project includes preparing a plurality of data models, where each of the plurality of data models examines a different dimension of the project, classifying each of the plurality of data models to produce a plurality of prediction models, where each of the plurality of prediction models is defined by a plurality of quality metrics, and where the plurality of quality metrics includes a preliminary estimate of the risk and a measure of confidence in the preliminary estimate, and computing a refined estimate of the risk based on a quality of the plurality of quality metrics. | 10-23-2014 |
20150066596 | BEHAVIOR PRICING ANALYTICS - A method for systematically determining a pricing strategy based on one or more of a business insight, a price perception model and a surprise model. | 03-05-2015 |
20150081424 | ITEM BUNDLE DETERMINATION USING TRANSACTION DATA - A method includes obtaining transaction data for two or more items, determining valuations for the two or more items, grouping the two or more items into one or more bundles, wherein each bundle comprises a different combination of the two or more items, estimating a joint distribution of valuations for the two or more items in each of the one or more bundles based on the transaction data for the two or more items, and estimating expected profits for each of the one or more bundles over a range of bundle prices from the joint distribution. | 03-19-2015 |
20150088761 | IMPLEMENTING A BARGAINING STRATEGY BETWEEN TEAMS WITH MAJORITY VOTING - A method of implementing a bargaining strategy includes receiving a first plurality of attributes corresponding to team members of a first team, and a second plurality of attributes corresponding to team members of a second team. The two teams participate in a bargaining process and each team bargains pursuant to a majority rule. The method includes determining at least one critical first team member from the first team using the first plurality of attributes, and at least one critical second team member from the second team using the second plurality of attributes. The at least one critical first and second team members are determinative of an agreeable outcome of the bargaining process. The method includes generating suggested bargaining terms likely to result in the agreeable outcome of the bargaining process between the first and second teams according to the at least one critical first and second team members. | 03-26-2015 |
20150088762 | IMPLEMENTING A BARGAINING STRATEGY BETWEEN TEAMS WITH MAJORITY VOTING - A method of implementing a bargaining strategy includes receiving a first plurality of attributes corresponding to team members of a first team, and a second plurality of attributes corresponding to team members of a second team. The two teams participate in a bargaining process and each team bargains pursuant to a majority rule. The method includes determining at least one critical first team member from the first team using the first plurality of attributes, and at least one critical second team member from the second team using the second plurality of attributes. The at least one critical first and second team members are determinative of an agreeable outcome of the bargaining process. The method includes generating suggested bargaining terms likely to result in the agreeable outcome of the bargaining process between the first and second teams according to the at least one critical first and second team members. | 03-26-2015 |
20160133061 | Anomaly Detection For Road User Charging Systems - A computer readable medium embodies a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a processing apparatus to perform operations including determining information corresponding to a number of differences in distances between ending points of journeys taken by a vehicle and starting points of consecutive journeys taken by the vehicle, and transmitting one or more representations of the information. Another computer readable medium tangibly includes instructions for, for each of a number of vehicles, receiving one or more scores corresponding to a vehicle, and determining a ranked list containing at least a portion of the scores, and outputting the ranked list. Another computer readable medium includes instructions for, for each of a number of vehicles, receiving information corresponding to a vehicle, using one or more metrics, calculating one or more values from the received information, and communicating one or more representations of the one or more value to one or more entities. | 05-12-2016 |