Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090089865 | NETWORK ACCESS AND PROFILE CONTROL - A method and apparatus for managing network profiles and/or access to a network. Network profiles stored in a computer may be deleted and/or a connection to a wireless network may be disabled when a corresponding access period for the network has been exhausted. The access period may define an amount of time, a number of connections, a number of bits or packets of information, or other measure of connectivity to a network and/or maintenance of profile information related to the network that may be limited in some fashion. | 04-02-2009 |
20090103481 | MAINTAINING MULTIPLE, SIMULTANEOUS WIRELESS NETWORK CONNECTIONS USING A SINGLE RADIO - A method and apparatus for managing simultaneous virtual connections with multiple wireless networks. A plurality of ports in a hardware driver may be each associated with a corresponding wireless network and maintain a unique MAC state relative to other ports. Each port may have a corresponding virtual NIC that communicates directly with the radio hardware via a hardware virtualization layer that multiplexes communication between the virtual NICs and the radio hardware. Simultaneous virtual connections may be made with one or more infrastructure networks or adhoc networks, and/or the computer may function as an access point for one or more of the networks. | 04-23-2009 |
20090254924 | OPERATING SYSTEM INTERFACES FOR VIRTUAL WIFI AND SOFTAP CAPABLE DRIVERS - Some embodiments of the invention provide an interface between programmed instructions (e.g., an operating system) and a miniport driver configured to communicate with radio hardware on a computer. The interface may include components operable to invoke various wireless connectivity-related functionality implemented by the radio hardware and/or miniport driver. The functionality may, for example, include a capability whereby the computer may maintain simultaneous connections on a plurality of wireless networks using a single radio, and/or a capability whereby the computer may function as an access point for a wireless network. | 10-08-2009 |
20090265720 | EXTENSIBLE PRIVATE DRIVER INTERFACE - A computer with an extensible framework for facilitating communication between a software component installed on the computer and a device driver that executes functions in response to vendor-specific command objects (e.g., OIDs). The framework defines data structures and a standardized format for defining and implementing private interfaces. After selecting a private interface that is commonly supported by a software component and a driver, a private communication path may be established by an operating system component to facilitate the transfer of command information from the software component to the driver. The private communication path allows commands packaged as OIDs to be routed from software components to intended drivers. By defining private interfaces which route commands from software components to intended drivers, the extensible framework mitigates potential incompatibilities that may arise when drivers created by different vendors include OIDs with the same OID value. | 10-22-2009 |
20090271518 | ETHERNET EXTENSIBILITY - A networked computer with a networking framework that can operate in accordance with a standard protocol or may be configured to perform one or more functions that alter or extend processing according to the standard. The framework includes extensibility points and a mechanism to receive plug-ins that may perform extensibility functions. Network profile information indicates configuration of the extensibility points, including specific extensibility functions to be executed at the extensibility points. This information may be used to configure the extensibility points so that, as the computer operates, the extensibility functions are selectively executed instead of or in addition to standard functions. | 10-29-2009 |
20090303921 | LOW COST MESH NETWORK CAPABILITY - A wireless device that utilizes a single network interface to simultaneously connect to an infrastructure network and a mesh network. The device has a driver layer with a media access control module for each network type. A multiplexing module and transceiver module within the driver can direct received information associated with one of the networks to an appropriate media access control and then to an appropriate network adapter. For transmitted data, the multiplexing module can receive data from the application layer through an appropriate network adapter and route it to an appropriate media access control module for processing. The processed data can be interleaved by the transceiver for transmission. | 12-10-2009 |
20100115278 | SUPPORT OF MULTIPLE PRE-SHARED KEYS IN ACCESS POINT - A method of operating an access point (AP) configured to support multiple pre-shared keys at a given time to authenticate its associated client devices. Each client device associated with the AP is provisioned with a key. To authenticate the client device tat attempts to connect to the AP, the AP determines which pre-shared key (PSK) of the multiple supported pre-shared keys (PSKs). if any, matches information including the key received from the client device. When the information matches, the client device is allowed to connect to the AP. Provisioning the AP with multiple PSKs allows selectively disconnecting associated client devices from the AP. The AP may be configured to support PSKs of different lifetime and complexity. Removing a PSK of the multiple PSKs supported by the AP and disconnecting a client device that uses this PSK does not disconnect other client devices using different keys to access the AP. | 05-06-2010 |
20100131618 | COMMON CONFIGURATION APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE - A network and connection provisioning framework for configuring and provisioning multiple aspects of network connectivity (e.g., multiple networks, media types, and/or connections). The framework may comprise a unified configuration interface that enables an administrator to configure multiple different types of network connectivity. A single configuration file comprising settings for multiple aspects of network connectivity may be generated based on preferences entered by a system administrator, or by exporting current settings from a particular computing device. Global configuration policies or other configuration settings that span multiple types of network connectivity may be also created and stored in one or more configuration files. Stand-alone media managers and/or plug-in modules may implement one or more standardized application programming interface functions so that they may interoperate with the network and connection provisioning framework. The standardized API may be used to ensure that configuration information is handled and stored in a standardized manner by different media managers and/or plug-in modules. | 05-27-2010 |
20100131619 | CREATING CROSS-TECHNOLOGY CONFIGURATION SETTINGS - A network and connection provisioning framework for configuring and provisioning multiple aspects of network connectivity (e.g., multiple networks, media types, and/or connections). The framework may comprise a unified configuration interface that enables an administrator to configure multiple different types of network connectivity. A single configuration file comprising settings for multiple aspects of network connectivity may be generated based on preferences entered by a system administrator, or by exporting current settings from a particular computing device. Global configuration policies or other configuration settings that span multiple types of network connectivity may be also created and stored in one or more configuration files. Stand-alone media managers and/or plug-in modules may implement one or more standardized application programming interface functions so that they may interoperate with the network and connection provisioning framework. The standardized API may be used to ensure that configuration information is handled and stored in a standardized manner by different media managers and/or plug-in modules. | 05-27-2010 |
20100131622 | UNIFIED STORAGE FOR CONFIGURING MULTIPLE NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES - A network and connection provisioning framework for configuring and provisioning multiple aspects of network connectivity (e.g., multiple networks, media types, and/or connections). The framework may comprise a unified configuration interface that enables an administrator to configure multiple different types of network connectivity. A single configuration file comprising settings for multiple aspects of network connectivity may be generated based on preferences entered by a system administrator, or by exporting current settings from a particular computing device. Global configuration policies or other configuration settings that span multiple types of network connectivity may be also created and stored in one or more configuration files. Stand-alone media managers and/or plug-in modules may implement one or more standardized application programming interface functions so that they may interoperate with the network and connection provisioning framework. The standardized API may be used to ensure that configuration information is handled and stored in a standardized manner by different media managers and/or plug-in modules. | 05-27-2010 |
20100214959 | AUTOMATIC NETWORK ADDRESS ASSIGNMENT IN A WIRELESS MESH - A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports. | 08-26-2010 |
20100214979 | GATEWAY ADVERTISEMENT IN A WIRELESS MESH - A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports. | 08-26-2010 |
20130024911 | EXTENSIBLE ACCESS CONTROL ARCHITECTURE - Software for managing access control functions in a network. The software includes a host that receives access control commands or information and calls one or more methods. The methods perform access control functions and communicate access control results or messages to be transmitted. The host may be installed in a network peer seeking access to the network or in a server controlling access to the network. When installed in a peer, the host receives commands and exchanges information with a supplicant. When installed in an access control server, the host receives commands and exchanges information with an authenticator. The host has a flexible architecture that enables multiple features, such as allowing the same methods to be used for authentication by multiple supplicants, providing ready integration of third party access control software, simplifying network maintenance by facilitating upgrades of authenticator software and enabling access control functions other than peer authentication. | 01-24-2013 |
20130031078 | CONTEXT-AWARE PARAMETERIZED ACTION LINKS FOR SEARCH RESULTS - Parameterized actions are provided with search results to allow users to enter parameter values and perform the actions directly from the search results. By analyzing websites in a category, a parameterized action available at the websites and common parameters may be identified. When an end user performs a search that returns a web page result from a website having the parameterized action, an indication of the parameterized and common parameters may be provided as part of the search result. Additionally, user interface elements may allow the end user to enter parameter values to perform the parameterized action directly from the search result. In some instances, user context may be employed to pre-populate parameter values in the search result. | 01-31-2013 |
20130151675 | AUTOMATIC NETWORK ADDRESS ASSIGNMENT IN A WIRELESS MESH - A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, anode to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports. | 06-13-2013 |
20130238627 | INTEGRATING SEARCHES - Methods, systems, and computer-storage media having computer-usable instructions embodied thereon, for integrating searches are provided. An entity index may be compiled that includes entity files for a plurality of identified entities such that any information known about a single entity is contained in a single entity file and is easily accessible. Web indexes, including web page information, may be referenced in order to associate web pages with entities, or entity files. Once identified as related to an entity, a web page may be associated with an entity identifier that is associated with the related entity such that a search query for the identified entity results in both entity information for the entity and web pages associated with the entity. | 09-12-2013 |
20130262430 | DOMINANT IMAGE DETERMINATION FOR SEARCH RESULTS - Architecture that computes a dominant image from one or more images on a webpage. A dominant image classifier scans webpages in an offline-created index to identify the prominent images in the webpages. In a more specific implementation the image selected is the image associated with a name query. Face detection technology can be utilized to identify which of the images on a given webpage contain faces. A query classifier identifies queries that contain people names. In the context of search engines and search result pages, the web results for name queries can further include prominent people face images as thumbnail images. Additional facts (structured data) can further be included that together with the results elements of caption title, snippet and attribute (uniform resource locator (URL)) provide an improved summary of the person on the page. | 10-03-2013 |
20140233427 | LOW COST MESH NETWORK CAPABILITY - A wireless device that utilizes a single network interface to simultaneously connect to an infrastructure network and a mesh network. The device has a driver layer with a media access control module for each network type. A multiplexing module and transceiver module within the driver can direct received information associated with one of the networks to an appropriate media access control and then to an appropriate network adapter. For transmitted data, the multiplexing module can receive data from the application layer through an appropriate network adapter and route it to an appropriate media access control module for processing. The processed data can be interleaved by the transceiver for transmission. | 08-21-2014 |
20140365454 | ENTITY RELEVANCE FOR SEARCH QUERIES - The relevance of entities to search queries is determined using a triangulation approach. The triangulation approach determines the relevance of entities to documents and the relevance of documents to a search query. The relevance of each entity to the search query is then determined as a function of the relevance of the entities to the documents and the relevance of the documents to the search query. The entity/query relevance determination may be employed when returning a search result experience in response to search queries. | 12-11-2014 |
20140372232 | SERVICES ADVERTISEMENT IN A WIRELESS MESH - A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports. | 12-18-2014 |