Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Organizing Meshes Using Distributed Ledger Systems, Jeff Venable, Greg Shepherd, Alok Nikhil, Ralf Rantzau, Ijsbrand Wijnands

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques described herein provide innovation relating to directing traffic through a distributed network. A first node can receive packets that are directed to a second node. The first node can determine that the second node is a member of the distributed network based on information within a distributed ledger stored locally on the first node in which the second node is a member based on fulfilling a condition within a smart contract that manages membership. A tunnel from the first node to the second node can be generated to send the packets to the second node. Previously available blockchain systems …

Providing Event Search Results In A Map, Akash Nanavati, Andrew Levine, Aniket Ray, I-Kuei Chen, Andrew Duchi, Bharat Kalyanpur

Defensive Publications Series

Users utilize online maps to search for places as well as events of interest. Current map services are primarily focused on place results and have limited capabilities to return events that match user queries. This disclosure describes techniques to determine query intent and searching for matching places, events, and web results. The matching results are filtered to selectively display places, events, or both events and places, based on the determined query intent. A carousel of events is provided in the results user interface. The prominence of the carousel is determined based on the confidence that the query is for events.

Apparel Information Sharing And Discovery Tool, Sandro Feuz, Miglė Padegimaitė‎

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes sharing and discovery of apparel information between users. Per techniques of this disclosure, an application is provided that enables users to share apparel information with other users that are proximate to the user. With user permission, location information is used to determine proximity and to surface apparel information of proximate users. Links are provided within the app to enable users to obtain information regarding items of interest. Users that share information via the app can be rewarded for discovery and sales of shared items. The described techniques are implemented with specific user permission to use shared items …

Providing Targeted Event Recommendations, Henry Scott-Green, Devvret Rishi

Defensive Publications Series

A significant portion of live event tickets go unsold, mainly due to a lack of awareness among prospective attendees. Providing relevant event recommendations to the potential audience for an event is a significant industry challenge. This disclosure describes techniques that issue personalized event or artist recommendations based on factors obtained with user permission. For example, such factors may include user history pertaining to location, entertainment, search, social media, etc.

Face Recognition For Fast Information Retrieval And Record Lookup, Joseph Edwin Johnson Jr., Rafael Blanes, Daniel Sheng, Arjun Narayanan

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes systems and techniques directed to taking a red, green and blue (RGB) image of a customer’s face, identifying landmarks on the face, creating a face box region, thumbnailing the face box region, sending the thumbnail to a face recognition model where face data is embedded into a vector, and using the vector in a multi-dimensional tree searching algorithm to quickly look up or retrieve information or a record relating to the customer in a database. The face image capture may be performed using standard RGB camera technology to enable broad, cost-effective business adoption. Two-factor authentication may be …

Camera Capture And Frame-Rate Synchronization In A Multi-Camera System, Chris Ye, Sam Chang, Donghui Han, Wen Yu Chien, Zhijun He

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes methods and techniques that align auto exposures, frame length times, frames-per-second frequencies, and frame length lines, in a user equipment, such as a smartphone, that utilizes a multi-camera system. In one aspect, the multi-camera system contains one front-facing red-green-blue (RGB) camera and two front-facing infrared (IR) cameras. When a user utilizes the multi-camera system consisting of RGB camera(s) and IR camera(s) it may be referred to as RGB and IR depth (RGBIRD) image capturing. Although this publication illustrates RGBIRD image capturing with a smartphone with a multi-camera system that contains one RGB camera and two IR cameras, …

Logical Camera Module For A Heterogeneous Camera System, Zhijun He, Donghui Han, Sam Chang, Colin Ko, Wen Yu Chien, Michael Schoenberg

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques and apparatuses that enable a smartphone, with a heterogeneous camera system (e.g., cameras having different physical specifications) to combine image information from multiple cameras utilizing a logical camera module. Cameras having different physical specifications include color cameras (e.g., RGB cameras) and near-infrared (NIR) cameras. In one aspect, the logical camera module is implemented in an operating system of the smartphone and the logical camera module is accessible to applications on the device through an application programming interface (API). Applications may access the API to obtain color, depth, or color and depth image information.

Hyperspectral Data Fusion For Multifactor Face-Based Authentication, Sean Korphi, Vincent Mei

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes systems and techniques directed to hyperspectral data fusion for multifactor face-based authentication. The described systems and techniques include a user equipment with electromagnetic wave modules for emitting and/or sensing multiple spectrums of electromagnetic waves. Based on hyperspectral data associated with electromagnetic waves reflected from the face of a person, a data fusion manager application of the user equipment performs computations to authenticate the person. The hyperspectral data is, in effect, a multifactor face-based authentication key.

Mmwave Radar Return For Characterization Of Burned Skin, Sean Korphi, Vincent Mei

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques and systems directed to classifying skin injury using a radar propagation technique to measure the health of tissue below the surface of the skin. The millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum can be broadcast from an active sensor(s) (e.g., transmitting antenna(s)) on a computing device towards the skin of a person. The mmWaves penetrate the skin and reflectively scatter differently for various tissues and burn types due to changes in dielectric properties. Sensor(s) (e.g., receiving antenna(s)) on the computing device can sense the scattering of the mmWaves reflected by the skin and collect data for …

Automatic Display Brightness Control With Multiple Sensors, Jung Ook Hong, Yi Zhang, Andrew Lehmer

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes a user equipment (UE), such as a smartphone, that supports automatic display brightness control by using multiple sensors and interpreting the context in which a user utilizes the UE. The UE may automatically control the display brightness using different methods. In one embodiment, the UE may measure the ambient light (lux) using a frontfacing ambient-light sensor (ALS) and a rear-facing ALS. In one embodiment, in addition to the front-facing and rear-facing ALSs and/or front and rear cameras, the UE may utilize edge ALSs. In one embodiment, in addition to the front-facing and the rear-facing ALSs, the UE …

Volume Control Based On A Determined Context, Alok Chandel, Kaycie Nakata

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques directed to an electronic device equipped with audio speakers and a volume-control manager application. Instructions included in the volume-control manager application, when executed by a processor of the electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform multiple operations that manage output volume of the audio speakers. Such operations include sensing, through one or more sensors of the electronic device, conditions surrounding the electronic device to determine a context and provide output-volume control options to a user in accordance with the determined context.

Switching Of Control Inputs Modes For A Wearable Display Device, Anonymous Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure describes a switching system capable of switching a control input mode provided to a wearable display device between a hand tracking mode and a controller tracking mode. In the hand tracking mode, user’s hand gestures are used as a control input to the wearable display device, whereas in the controller tracking mode, controller’s inputs, for example button-based inputs, are used as the control input. The wearable display devices may include, but not limited to, virtual reality (VR) headsets or an augmented reality (AR) headset such as a head-mounted display (HMD) unit, an optical head-mounted display (O-HMD) unit, …

Pre-Provisioning For Protected Content Playback In Closed Network Environments, Xiaohan Wang

Defensive Publications Series

Closed network environments, such as in-flight entertainment (IFE) where users connect their own devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. are becoming common. In such environments, playback of protected content on devices is made possible by the presence of streaming and licensing servers that are present within the closed network environment, e.g., aboard a flight. The provisioning server for such content, however, is hosted by a third party and is generally unavailable within the closed environment, which causes playback to fail. This disclosure describes techniques of pre-provisioning without imposing a requirement on the user to download additional applications, such that …

Method To Increase Navigation Location Accuracy With A Target Endpoint, Jonathan Hurwitz

Defensive Publications Series

A system is described that enables a computing device A (e.g., portable device or mobile device) to more accurately determine the location of the computing device relative to a computing device B (e.g., user equipment or handheld device) by using Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) signals. Computing device A may first generate a key (e.g., a random identifier string or a unique key) and push the key to a server. Computing device B may retrieve the key from the server. Once both devices have the key, computing device A may use GPS to find an approximate location of computing device B. …

Mechanisms To Address Personal Area Network (Pan) Change Failures, Yajun Xia, Feiliang Wang, Chuanwei Li, Veselin Ganev

Defensive Publications Series

Presented herein are techniques to address Personal Area Network (PAN) change failures. The techniques presented herein take advantage of, for example, a DODAG Information Object (DIO) poisoning mechanism, a Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) sequence in DAO/DAO ACK, and/or a NS/NA mechanism to address the issues associated with PAN change failures caused by the use of a compresses PAN identifier (ID) in Upper Layer Application Data (ULAD).

Public Land Mobile Network Selection During International Roaming, Stan Lin, Taylor Lo, Rukun Mao, Terry Chiu, Lynn Lu, Shivank Nayak

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques and apparatuses directed to Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selection during international roaming. In aspects, roaming activity data is collected and compiled into a database of roaming activity data of Home PLMNs and associated Roaming PLMNs. The Roaming PLMNs are Visited PLMNs operated by a roaming partner that a subscriber’s operator has a roaming agreement with. An Optimized Preferred PLMN List (OPPL) is created from the compiled roaming activity data and the OPPL is stored on user equipment (UE). During international roaming, the UE can utilize the OPPL to determine a suitable PLMN for which to …

Song Sentiment Recognition Based On Implicit User Feedback, Joseph Edwin Johnson Jr., Shiblee Hasan, Chris Hluchan

Defensive Publications Series

Computing devices utilize user feedback (e.g., explicit and/or implicit feedback) to determine a user’s sentiment towards a song or music played by the computing device or another speaker within a given environment. The computing device may determine the user’s sentiment, emotion, reaction, or opinion towards a song and utilize that information when selecting music, tunes, or songs to include in a playlist or otherwise output to the user. In one example, to determine the user’s sentiment towards the song, the computing device executes a sentiment recognition algorithm that utilizes implicit feedback, such as a user singing along with the song, …

Classifying And Separating Messages, Alerts, And Notifications, Yameng Lee Thorp, Hideaki Matsui

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques and apparatuses that allow a user to classify messages, alerts, and/or notifications based on their significance to the user and allow the user to separate them to be displayed in a first or a second part of a display screen of a smartphone. A machine-learned (ML) model aids the user by classifying and separating messages, alerts, and/or notifications of little or significant interest. By doing so, the user can better-manage their amount of time the user spends in front of the display screen of the smartphone and the user can utilize their smartphone more effectively.

Intelligent Media Creation Utilizing Passive Song Detection, Kody Ferguson

Defensive Publications Series

A system is described that enables a computing system (e.g., mobile phone, camera, tablet computer, etc.) to associate images with a sound that has been detected when an image was captured. The computing system may passively capture an audio sample when a user clicks a photo and compare the audio sample with a song database (e.g., as detected by one or more input device). If a match is found, information, such as the title of the song and the name of the musician, may be retrieved and correlated to the photo. A user may play a song associated with a …

Re-Synchronization Of Battery-Powered Edge Devices In Channel Hopping Low Power And Lossy Networks, Zaochun Zhang, Rui Huang, Xiao Xu, Xiaopu Zhang

Defensive Publications Series

The techniques presented herein propose to overlay a virtual channel-hopping schedule on a mains-powered devices’ unicast (Ucast) and broadcast (Bcast) schedule that allows for a relatively large synchronization error for devices that cannot afford to resynchronize often. The virtual channel-hopping schedule does not occupy actual slot time of the mains-powered devices, does not reduce the overall robustness of a Low power and Lossy Network (LLN) to interference and channel agility, but may reduce the re-synchronization time between mains-powered devices and battery-powered edge devices. These techniques may be helpful to extend the lifetime of energy constrained devices in a channel-hopping network …

Emulating In-Cluster Networking In An External Workstation, Jimmy Cao

Defensive Publications Series

Machines external to a computer network typically access network resources via a proxy server internal to the network. However, external machines lack access to the network directory service; therefore, such machines cannot refer to internal network resources by their canonical names.

Per techniques of this disclosure, an external machine maintains a key-value file that acts as a directory service. When the external machine connects to the network, the key-value file is used to map network service names to the network address of the reverse proxy to resolve names of internal network resources. The reverse proxy uses the network resource name …

Automatic Grammar Enhancement For Virtual Assistant, Tao Feng, Hongjie Chai

Defensive Publications Series

Grammar rule generation for virtual assistant applications is difficult to scale due to the need for manual labeling. This disclosure describes a scalable solution to automatically generate enhanced grammar rules in predefined verticals. The techniques enable incremental improvements to interpretations of voice commands by a virtual assistant application. Queries that have not already been processed for a target vertical are identified and extracted from a corpus of user queries, e.g., a time-limited corpus in a particular language. Queries are analyzed to discover arguments and patterns that are specific to the vertical. Grammar rules are generated based on the arguments and …

An Improved Routing Metrics Algorithm For Wireless Mesh Network Using Page Rank Theory And Linear Regression, Lele Zhang, Pascal Thubert, Chuanwei Li, Li Zhao

Defensive Publications Series

An existing metric algorithm in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) adopts samples generated by itself. In other words, the existing algorithm sends some probe frames and then counts the returned acknowledgments (acks). This leads to two inherent defects: wasting limited bandwidth to send too many probe frames; and detecting metric changes insensitively.

Presented herein is an improved routing metrics algorithm for WMNs that uses page rank (PR) theory and linear regression. To solve the problems mentioned above, PR theory and multiple linear regression (MLR) methods are introduced in metric calculation to generate metrics closer to real values by conditionally referring sibling …

Automatic Alerts Based On Departure From Routine, Lingyi Zhang, Cliff Chin Ngai Sze

Defensive Publications Series

Research indicates that a task or item that is forgotten is presaged by a change in routine. This disclosure describes techniques to automatically determine that a user may have forgotten a task or item. The determination is made based on analysis of user permitted data such as calendar appointments, location, etc. that indicate a change in routine. Upon determination that the user is likely to forget a task or item, e.g., due to change in routine, an alert is provided to the user.

Teleprompting Service For Virtual Meeting Applications, Eric Bellamy

Defensive Publications Series

A method is proposed for efficiently presenting text on a screen of a virtual meeting application. The method includes receiving, by a teleprompter service of a virtual meeting application, a text file comprising meeting notes of a presenter. The method further includes displaying at least a portion of the text file in an overlaid layer on a screen of the virtual meeting application. The method also includes advancing the text displayed on the screen of the virtual meeting application at a predetermined speed. The method further includes receiving, by the teleprompter service, a command to adjust an advancement of the …

Intelligent Teleprompting System For Delivering Presentations, Sandro Feuz, Thomas Deselaers

Defensive Publications Series

A system is proposed for intelligently and automatically advancing presentation text on a teleprompter User Interface (UI) as the presenter speaks. The system includes receiving, by a teleprompter system, a text file comprising speech of a presenter via the UI. The system further includes displaying contents of the text file on a UI screen. As the presenter speaks, the system further includes recording presenter speech according to predetermined criteria. The system also include running machine learning speech recognition tool to transcribe the recorded speech into recognized text. The system also includes semantically comparing text from the text file with the …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Retail Endcaps Using Iot Sensors And Machine Learning, Samrat Saha, Matthew Delacey, Rob Vogelbacher, Logan Vadivelu, Tom Peterson

Defensive Publications Series

In retail, an endcap is a display for products placed at the end of an aisle. An endcap is believed to give a brand a competitive advantage and is often leased at a premium price. This disclosure describes techniques to measure the effectiveness of retail endcaps by embedding internet-of-things (IoT) sensors, e.g., proximity sensors, within the endcap. Effectiveness is measured, for example, based on factors such as the amount of foot traffic, the amount of time customers dwell on the products displayed in the endcap, etc. Machine learning is used to discern customer behavioral patterns, such that the investment of …

Simultaneous Display Of User Interface Text Elements In Multiple Languages, Steffen Meschkat

Defensive Publications Series

Many operating systems and other software applications include features that enable users to customize the language used for text elements in the user interface. At runtime, the software renders the UI using text elements corresponding to the language chosen by the user or a default language. Currently, it is a requirement that a single UI language be selected and active at any given time. In certain situations, e.g., when the user is learning a new language, users can find it beneficial to have the text elements of the UI displayed in more than one language at the same time. This …

Predicting The Impact Of Maintenance Work On Networks, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

In large or complex distributed systems and networks, it is difficult to predict the impact of a maintenance task. Sometimes, multiple maintenance tasks are carried out concurrently, increasing the chance of outage due to inadvertent interaction between the maintenance tasks. In a bid to minimize the chance of outage, network managers often approach network maintenance in a conservative manner, resulting in a loss in the velocity of maintenance changes. This disclosure describes techniques that automatically vet the impact of network change requests by predicting network topology, modeling demands, simulating the effect of the change request, and reporting the impact back …

Multilingual User Interface For Collaborative Software, Steffen Meschkat

Defensive Publications Series

Many operating systems and other software applications include features that enable users to customize the language used for text elements in the user interface. At runtime, the software renders the UI using text elements corresponding to the language chosen by the user or a default language. In certain situations, e.g., for collaborative software that multiple users use simultaneously, this can be less than ideal, e.g., when the different users have different language preferences. This disclosure utilizes a suitable form of UI composition that makes UI text elements available in multiple languages at the same time. With user permission, user preferences …