Computer Engineering Commons^™

Inventions On Extending Ldap Functionality- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The LDAP server stores the directory information in a database. The client makes a TCP/IP connection and sends requests to an LDAP server. The LDAP server executes the client requests and returns a response to the client. LDAP offers nine basic functional operations, viz., add, delete, modify, bind, unbind, search, compare, and modify distinguished name and abandon. Apart from the above basic operations, LDAP v3 includes new mechanism called Extended Operations, which allows additional operations to be defined for services not available in this protocol, for instance digitally signed operations and results. Using this feature it is possible to provide …

Inventions On Ldap Data Management- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The data model of LDAP is same as X.500 data model. The LDAP protocol assumes there are one or more servers, which jointly provide access to a Directory Information Tree (DIT). The tree is made up of entries. Entries have relative distinguished name (RDN), which must be unique among all its siblings. The concatenation of the relative distinguished names from a particular entry to an immediate subordinate of the root of the tree forms the Distinguished Name (DN) for that entry. (IETF, RFC 2251).

LDAP provides add, delete and modify operations for data modification. Each of these LDAP update operation …

Inventions On Ldap Administration- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an IETF open standard to provide directory services in the network. LDAP was initially developed at the University of Michigan with an objective to include most of the features of X.500 directory structure, while eliminating the burdens and difficulties of the same. The LDAP protocols offer the following basic functional operations, viz., add, delete, modify, bind, unbind, search, compare, modify distinguished name, abandon and extended operations. The LDAP server stores the directory information in a database. It offers a rich set of searching capabilities and provides the capability for directory information to be queried …

Inventions On Data Searching In Ldap- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Searching is one of the most basic operation provided by an LDAP server. LDAP offers a rich set of searching capabilities. The search operation allows a client to request the server to perform a search on its behalf. The search operation locates specific users or services in the directory tree. The LDAP server executes the search (or update) command and returns a response to the client. Upon receipt of a Search Request, a server will perform the necessary search of the DIT. The server will then return to the client a sequence of responses in separate LDAP messages. The search …

Inventions On Ldap Access Interface- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

LDAP server may store data in a Flat file, in RDBMS or in any other database. The LDAP client applications can use LDAP directory interface without having knowledge on the underlying data storage mechanism. LDAP can be mapped onto any other directory system so long as the X.500 data and service model as used in LDAP is not violated in LDAP interface. The individual entries are stored in the directory server. But different clients may need the same data in different format. LDAP specification does not provide any mechanism of accessing data in different format. This article is a TRIZ …

Inventions On Using Ldap For Different Purposes-Part-3, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Unlike other parts of the study which have tried to improve certain aspect of LDAP technology and application, this article includes the inventions that use LDAP for various different purposes. This article is divided into 3 parts for convenience of size. The first part of the article includes 6 patents using LDAP for “e-commerce” and “Policy Management”. The second part includes 10 patents using LDAP for “Network Management” and “Telecommunications”. The third part of the article includes 11 patents using LDAP for “World Wide Web” and “Java and CORBA”. This is the third part of the article which analyses patents …

Inventions On Using Ldap For Different Purposes (Part-2) - A Triz Based Analysis Of Us Patents, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The objective of this article is to know how is LDAP used for Network Management and Telecommunications. The analysis of patents shows which Inventive Principles have been used to solve those inventions. Unlike other parts of the study which have tried to improve certain aspect of LDAP technology and application, this article includes the inventions that use LDAP for various different purposes. This article is divided into 3 parts for convenience of size. The first part of the article includes 6 patents using LDAP for “e-commerce” and “Policy Management”. The second part includes 10 patents using LDAP for “Network Management” …

Inventions On Integrating Ldap With Other Directories - A Triz Based Analysis Of Us Patents, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Thus the LDAP architecture allows multiple LDAP servers work together on the same directory tree or multiple directory trees. Besides, LDAP being built on an open architecture, it is quite possible to integrate with other directory servers. LDAP can be mapped onto any other directory system so long as the X.500 data and service model as used in LDAP is not violated in LDAP interface. LDAP server may store data in a Flat file, in RDBMS or in any other database. The LDAP client applications can use LDAP directory interface without having knowledge on the underlying data storage mechanism. However, …

Inventions On Ldap Security- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The specifications of LDAP v.3 provide facilities for simple authentication using a cleartext password as well as any SASL mechanism.SASL allows for integrity and privacy services to be negotiated (RFC 2251, www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2251.txt). Use of cleartext password is strongly discouraged where the underlying transport service cannot guarantee confidentiality and may result in disclosure of the password to unauthorized parties. The protocol allows other security mechanisms like SASL to be implemented in LDAP. The protocol also permits that the server can return its credentials to the client, if it chooses to do so. This article is a TRIZ based study on patents …

The Revised 40 Principles For Software Inventions, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Applying 40 Principles is one of the earliest and most popular techniques of TRIZ. There are no controversies on application of 40 principles by any of the TRIZ schools. Although they are fundamentally sound, there is some difficulty in applying those in software related problems. As they were originally developed for mechanical or technical problems, the meaning of many terms like 'thermal', 'aerodynamic', 'hydrodynamic', 'ultrasonic', 'infrared', 'temperature', 'liquid', 'gas' etc. are embarrassing in a software context.

This article reviews the 40 principles in the context of software industry and rephrases the principles and their applications to make them suitable for …

Inventions On Ldap- A Study Based On Us Patents, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an IETF open standard to provide directory services in the network. LDAP is based on X.500 directory architecture, intended to provide directory services in Internet compatible environments. LDAP is used to provide directory services to applications ranging from e-mail systems to distributed system management tools. LDAP is becoming more and more popular with its wider usage in the Internet.

This report on LDAP is based on a study of 60 selected patents on LDAP from US patent database. The objective of this article is to present the distribution of patents according to different features …

Evolution Of User Interfaces For The Visually Impaired- Part 2, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Physically or mentally challenged people cannot use a computer in the same way a normal people can. For example, a person with disability in hands cannot use a standard keyboard or mouse efficiently. People having hearing problem, visual challenge etc. cannot interact with a computer like a normal person. So it is necessary to specially design the computers, interfacing devices and software interfaces, which can be used by the physically challenged people.

This article analyses the types of visual disabilities, different assistive technologies for different visual disabilities, guidelines for developing user interfaces for the visually impaired, software products available for …

Patentability Of Software Inventions, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Software is very expensive to develop but very inexpensive to copy. Just by copying a software you create an exact duplicate of the original software and all with the same functionality. There is no difference between the original (which is bought) and the copy (pirated). The worse is when the source code is copied. The copier can even claim to have developed the software where the credit of the developer might go. The software developers use various methods to protect their source code such as copyright, trade secrets etc. but each having limitations. The developers are keen on finding legal …

Can A Triz Software Help You Inventing?, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

A software on TRIZ and/or Innovation can certainly supplement human brain and memory in order to speed up an innovation job. There are various TRIZ and Innovation software available in market. Some are too complex to use, some deal with only limited number of TRIZ techniques and some are having good features of innovation without much emphasis on TRIZ. An obvious task remains to evaluate them and find which software can help you best in inventing.

This article does not recommend or reject any TRIZ software per se. It only describes the expected features of a good TRIZ software and …

Evolution Of User Interfaces For The Visually Impaired- Part- 1, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Physically or mentally challenged people cannot use a computer in the same way a normal people can. For example, a person with disability in hands cannot use a standard keyboard or mouse efficiently. People having hearing problem, visual challenge etc. cannot interact with a computer like a normal person. So it is necessary to specially design the computers, interfacing devices and software interfaces, which can be used by the physically challenged people.

There are many special devices like mouse, keyboard, pointers, and touch screens etc. to assist the visually challenged users. It is a challenge for the inventors and manufacturers …

Inventions On Menu Interfacing For Gui Applications, A Triz Based Analysis, Part-3, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

This article analyses 15 patents on Menu System from a TRIZ perspective to find out their IFRs and Contradictions. The previous two parts of this article analysed ten patents on the menu interfaces. This part analyses five more patents from TRIZ perspective and draws out the conclusion that the TRIZ process and methodology is perfectly applicable to software inventions.

Inventions On Menu Interfacing For Gui Applications, A Triz Based Analysis, Part-2, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The first part of the article analyzed five patents on menu interfaces. This part analyses five more patents from TRIZ perspective to find out their IFRs, Contradictions and which Inventive Principles have been applied to achieve those solutions.

Using Triz To Design The Future Keyboard, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

A keyboard is the most common and widely used input device for a computer. Using the keyboard is often vital to interact with a computer. There are several aspects of a keyboard such as size, key layout, convenience and ergonomic features etc., which are continuously under improvement by keyboard designers and manufacturers. TRIZ is an efficient methodology in product designing. Using IFR and Trends we can well predict the directions of the future keyboards and using Contradictions and Principles we can overcome the current limitations. This article analyses the critical features of a keyboard, does a functional analysis, derives the …

An Ideal Computer Keyboard- A Case Study Of Applying Ideality On Keyboard Evolution, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Any product or system moves towards its ideality. If we know the Ideal Final Result (IFR) it becomes easy to predict the future generation of the product or system. The author made a study of over 100 patents on computer keyboards. Each of these inventions tries to achieve some new feature or functionality. But what is the ultimate keyboard? This article makes an attempt to find the features of an Ideal Keyboard.

Inventions On Menu Interfacing For Gui Applications, A Triz Based Analysis, Part-1, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

During last two decades, the computer menu system has been improved from a text based multiple choice to highly adaptive, self organized menu system. This has been possible by hundreds of inventions. This article analyses 15 patents on Menu System from a TRIZ perspective to find out their IFRs and Contradictions. Besides we will also see what Inventive Principles have been applied to achieve those solutions.

Inventions On Computer Keyboard- A Triz Based Analysis, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Every stage of evolution takes a product towards its ideality. This also happens in case of the Computer Keyboard. Today’s keyboards are outcome of hundreds of inventions in past. This article analyzes some interesting inventions on computer keyboard from TRIZ perspective. The inventions improve various aspects of computer keyboards like increasing operating (typing) efficiency, reducing size, improving ergonomic features and so on. This article was first published in TRIZ Journal (http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/2003/11/) in November 2003.

Inventions On Selecting Gui Elements, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Selecting an object or element is a fundamental operation in any graphic user interface. It is necessary to select an object before doing any operation (such as, dragging, copying, opening, deleting etc.) on that object. The GUI may provide features to select any single object or even multiple objects. The feature of selecting multiple objects can provides tremendous power to the GUI as the user can do complex operations on multiple objects in one go. However, the process of selection is not as simple as it appears to the user of a GUI. The internal logic of a selection mechanism …

Inventions On Displaying And Resizing Windows, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Windows are used quite frequently in a GUI environment. The greatest advantage of using windows is that each window creates a virtual screen space. Hence, although the physical screen space is limited to a few inches, use of windows can create unlimited screen space to display innumerable items. The use of windows facilitates the user to open and interact with multiple programs or documents simultaneously in different windows. Sometimes a single program may also open multiple windows to display various items. The user can resize the windows and move their location time to time as desired. However, there are several …

Inventions On Drag And Drop In Gui, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Drag and drop operation is one of the key capabilities of any Graphical User Interface. The user can do quite complex operations simply by visually dragging and dropping objects from one location to another. It saves user from remembering and typing a lot of commands. The result of a drag and drop operation may vary depending the type of source object and type of destination object. For example dragging a file and dropping on a folder may copy or move the file to the destination folder, dropping that file to a remote ftp location may upload that file using internet, …

Inventions On Color Selections In Graphical User Interfaces, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Color is an important aspect of any graphical user interface. Color is used to make a GUI attractive and meaningful. But, there are difficulties in using colors too. Improper use of color can give adverse effects. Wrong colors at wrong place make the GUI look clumsy and confusing. Besides the aesthetics issues there are many other issues involved with colors. One of the contradictions relating to usage of color is “The color of the GUI should be customizable to suit user preference. But at the same time it should not be customizable, as that will cause annoyance and confusion to …

Inventions On Gui Aesthetics, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Aesthetics or “look and feel” is one of the most important features of any graphical user interface. Better aesthetics makes the interface user-friendlier and more popular. Better aesthetics helps the user to understand the meaning of various components and memorize the navigation paths. A better look and feel ultimately makes a GUI more efficient and effective. Various methods are adopted to improve the aesthetics of a GUI, such as, by using colors, using 3D graphics, using pictorial icons, using sound etc.

It is important to provide links to all the features on the desktop or a quick access panel. But …

Inventions On Using Sound And Speech In Gui, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Voice recognition facilitates a human interaction with the machine. VR may be used to replace the manual task of pushing buttons on a wireless telephone keypad. This is particularly useful when the hands of the user are busy with other activities like driving a car.

However, the VRS system has several limitations. The VRS requires lot of training and customization in order to be effectively used by individual users as each individual falls into different voice patterns. Besides the voice interface is complex and is not as reliable as the keyboard or mouse. This article illustrates some interesting inventions on …

Inventions On Presenting Textual Items In Graphical User Interface, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Although a GUI largely replaces textual descriptions by graphical icons, the textual items are not completely removed. The textual items are inevitably used in window titles, message boxes, help items, menu items and popup items. Textual items are necessary for communicating messages that are beyond the limitation of graphical messages. However, it is necessary to harness the textual items on the graphical interface in such a way that they complement each other to produce the best effect. One has to keep various considerations in mind while applying textual items in Graphical User Interface. This article illustrates a few inventions on …

Inventions On Gui For Touch Sensitive Screens, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

A touch sensitive screen displays the information on the screen and also receives the input by sensing a user’s touch on the same screen. This mechanism facilitates system interaction directly through the screen without needing a mouse or keyboard. This method has the advantage to make the system compact by removing keyboard, mouse and similar interactive device. However there are certain difficulties to implement a touch screen interface. The display screens of portable devices are becoming smaller thereby leaving lesser space for display of data, menu or touch screen interaction. Besides some screens need to display so much of information …

Inventions On Gui For Eye Cursor Controls Systems, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Operating a GUI through eyeball is a complex mechanism and not used as often as mouse or trackball. But there are situations where eye-mouse devices can play a tremendous role especially where the hands of the user are not available or busy to perform other activities. The difficulties of implementing an eye-cursor control system are many. The article illustrates some inventions on eye-cursor control system, which attempt to eliminate the difficulties of the prior art mechanisms.