Digital Commons Network^™

Runtime-Configured State-Machine Control Of Program Logging, Christopher J. Phoenix

Defensive Publications Series

When debugging complex software control flows and interactions, it can be difficult to log exactly the right level of detail to capture the bug. Consequently, a debug cycle can go through dozens-to-hundreds of recompiles and restarts as a programmer attempts to set up logging with sufficient granularity to capture the bug, which adds to the cost and complexity of software development.

Per the techniques described herein, debug components such as a state machine, a ring buffer, etc., are incorporated into a program such that log statements can be enabled or disabled at runtime depending on various states across modules of …

Bot For Order Placement And Pickup, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

Many establishments that serve food and drinks provide an option to place orders and have the items be packed for takeout. Customers can place such pickup orders in-person at the counter, via a drive-through, on the phone, online via the establishment’s website, through third party apps and services that provide pickup and delivery features, etc. Once the order is placed the customer typically receives an estimated time when the order will be ready for pickup. However, these estimates are independent of relevant contextual information, such as the customer’s current location. This disclosure describes techniques to support pickup orders various establishments …

Dynamically Updated Personalized Recommendations For Broadcast Television, Marcos Calvo, Joan Pastor

Defensive Publications Series

The large number of channels available on television can make the process of searching for the appropriate TV channel cumbersome and time consuming. This disclosure describes techniques to make real-time personalized recommendations for live TV programming, implemented with the user’s permission. The recommendations are based on the application of a trained machine learning model. Upon being turned on, the TV is automatically tuned to a channel showing the program that is identified as being most likely to be watched by the user, chosen from all programs available at that time. Further, the user is shown a dynamically updated personalized shortlist …

Multiplexing Ink Supply Slot Detection, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

In all inkjet printers the ink cartridges are arranged in a slot array where is required to insert each ink

supply (cartridge containing ink of a certain colour) on the right slot position. Installing an ink cartridge

in the wrong slot may lead to the mixing of different ink colours inside the printer’s ink delivery system

causing a severe service issue which basically consists of purging and cleaning all the internal ink tubes.

The innovation presented in this paper takes advantage of the electrical circuitry to allow the printer to

identify the ink supply and verify that it has been …

Discreet Dialogues During A Conference Using Stereo Audio Mixing Capabilities, Jerremy Zrihen

Defensive Publications Series

During a conference, when some events occurred, the emission of an audio dialogues can appear. For example, we can often hear “User X joins the conference” to inform all participants of a conference when a new user joins the conference … or “User X leaves the conference” to inform all participants of a conference when a new user leaves the conference; but also, many others kind information. The issue in such circumstance, is that the audio of the conference is cut during the emission of the dialog. This can be very disruptive.

Private Conversion During A Conference Using Stereo Audio Mixing Capabilities, Jerremy Zrihen

Defensive Publications Series

During a conference, we want to have the possibility to initiate a discreet conversation with another participant of the conference with following facilities.

• As a participant in the conference, I can hear at the same time the conference and my private discussions.
• Only participant(s) of my private discussion can hear me.

Protecting User Privacy By Monitoring Api Queries, Matthew Sharifi, Bernhard Seefeld

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes a method for protecting user privacy from targeted application interface program (API) queries made to a prediction service on a computing device. More specifically, the method involves utilizing an API Query Manager to monitor API calls made by applications to the prediction service. If the API Query Manager determines a lack of positive feedback (e.g., screen content presented on a display of the computing device does not match the personalized prediction returned from an API call), then the API Query Manager can throttle further API calls made by the application to protect user privacy.

Spam Identification Using Set-Cover Algorithm On A Channel Similarity Graph, Alexandru Moșoi, Andreas Noever

Defensive Publications Series

A method for selecting potential spam channels for human review by applying a minimum set-cover approximation algorithm to a similarity graph of channels. The nodes of the similarity graph represent channels and the edges between nodes represent similarity between channels. Channels may be reviewed by human reviewers to determine if they are spam. If a channel is connected to a certain number of identified spam channels then they can also be identified as spam channels and suspended. The algorithm may be an iterative process of selecting a channel to review that is connected to the most number of other channels …

Optimize Wireless Local Area Networks For Voice And Video Call, Kai Shi, Ning Zhang, Ahmed Elarabawy

Defensive Publications Series

When a user is making a voice or video call on a user device over a wireless local area network (WLAN), the characteristics of a WLAN call can cause high power consumption on the user device, latency, and poor transmission which leads to an unfavorable quality of service. The user device can optimize the WLAN for voice and video calls by detecting timing information of a WLAN call and then optimizing the device’s software and hardware during the WLAN call. The device may use a target wakeup time (TWT) protocol to reduce power consumption. The device may reduce the number …

Dynamical Link Metric Adjustment Using Classification And Regression Tree (Cart) And Software Defined Networking (Sdn) Technologies, Lele Zhang, Yajun Xia, Jim Lu, Yinfang Wang

Defensive Publications Series

Presented herein are techniques to dynamically switch between different link metric algorithms based on Classification And Regression Tree (CART) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies.

Connecting Drone Devices Using Different Cellular Technologies Across Geographies With Control Center, Praveena Sridhar, Salahuddin Kamran

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques are described herein for extending the connectivity and management of the drones across multiple cellular technologies. Traditional control centers can manage connected cars, connected robots, connected vending machines, etc. The mechanisms presented herein enable control centers to manage connected drones using similar cellular technology (e.g., Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), etc.).

Blockchain For Multiparty, Large-Scale Autonomous Vehicle Management, Jeffery Klopfenstein

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques are described herein to utilize blockchain for multiparty, large-scale autonomous vehicle management. In particular, techniques described herein utilize a permissioned blockchain to incentivize multiple parties to participate in a shared, trusted, secured, and coordinated Autonomous Vehicle (AV) messaging system that ultimately serves to benefit city and/or transportation authorities by enabling them to control AV traffic and manage congestion on a large scale.

Synchronization Of Frequency-Hopping Scheduling In A Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (Fhss) System, Wenjia Wu, Ling Wei, Chuanwei Li, Li Zhao

Defensive Publications Series

Presented herein are device synchronization techniques in a frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) system without time synchronization when a neighbor's channel hopping table is known. These techniques presented herein reduce the cost and improve performance of synchronization in FHSS, particularly in a low power or battery-powered system.

Voice Interaction To Send A Screenshot And Audio Recording To Another User To Ask For Help, Alena Fong, Nik Hanselmann

Defensive Publications Series

Users often ask others for help with using a computing device, e.g., to navigate the user interface. When a person who provides help is not physically co-located with the user seeking help with using the device, the user must describe the problem by providing the details of the content of the device screen or taking a screenshot and sending it to the person who is helping. Alternatively, the user can search online for relevant solutions by issuing queries or asking questions via online platforms such as search engines, forums, etc. This disclosure describes techniques for a user to solicit help …

Triggering Context-Appropriate Reminders Dependent On User Activities, Victor Cărbune, Andrii Maksai, Sandro Feuz

Defensive Publications Series

Users often set reminders to be alerted for performing specific tasks. Such reminder functionality often deals with tasks connected to specific times and/or places. However, some tasks, such as those that require planning based on dependencies between multiple actions, require a more nuanced understanding of the context. This disclosure presents techniques to trigger a reminder for a given action that is dependent on another action that will be performed by the user. The techniques infer a user’s future actions with permission from the user. Alternatively, or in addition, if the user permits, the user’s likely future activities can be inferred …

Intelligent Traffic Delineators, Verena Blunder

Defensive Publications Series

No abstract provided.

Novel Techniques To Distinguish Fading For Adaptive Modulation In A Low Power And Lossy Network (Lln), Wenjia Wu, Pascal Thubert, Ling Wei, Li Zhao

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques are described herein to distinguish fading for adaptive modulation in a Low power and Lossy Network (LLN). The techniques include splitting large frames into small fragments at the physical (PHY) or Media Access Control (MAC) level. Fragments are possibly acknowledged (e.g., using draft-ietf-6lofragment-recovery), which gives a bitwise signature of a transmission. Those signatures are appended to one another in a bit stream. In that bit stream, scattered losses mean fading whereas continuous losses for a brief time indicate a collision. In the former case, a node can increase power or decrease modulation and/or speed; however, in the latter case, …

Detecting Hardware Damage Using A Resistive Grid, Jonathan D. Hurwitz, Christina L. Gilbert

Defensive Publications Series

Dropping a mobile phone or other electronic device can damage not only the enclosure but also internal components, e.g., batteries, printed circuit boards, etc. Sometimes the damage is only internal, with no apparent damage to the casing. Continued use of damaged internal components can result in further damage, e.g., continued use of a damaged USB bridge or battery can result in short circuits or explosions.

Per techniques of this disclosure, a variable resistive matrix is embedded within the casing of the electronic device. If the casing is dented or otherwise damaged, even invisibly, the resistance of corresponding rows and columns …

Media Authentication Via Blockchain, Logan Sweet

Defensive Publications Series

Computing devices often include media capture devices, such as cameras, video recorders, and/or microphones. Advances in computing, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), are enabling computing devices to modify or alter media (e.g., images, video, or audio), or even create such media (also called deepfakes), such that it may be difficult to determine whether the media is authentic or legitimate. As described herein, when capturing media, a switch built into the software media-capture operating system enables a computing device to selectively generate a unique fingerprint for the media, for example, by means of a hash function, a checksum, or other function. …

Swift Node Migration Mechanisms For Low Power And Lossy Networks, Dapeng Zhu, Xiaopu Zhang, Yuping Wang, Caijun Jiang

Defensive Publications Series

Techniques are described herein to refine Personal Area Network (PAN) migration processes and shorten offline duration using various mechanisms, including: 1) performing a re-authentication and key exchange with a target PAN's Field Area Router (FAR) over a current PAN's FAR while performing migration between the two PANs; 2) eliminating a re-authentication process by sharing the same pairwise master key (PMK) for one node between all FARs in one service set; 3) synchronizing with a target PAN over current PAN's FAR, which can be quicker than synchronization over the air; and 4) eliminating Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) version 6 (DHCPv6) …

User Account Suggestions For Access-Restricted Online Resources, Christina L. Gilbert, Jonathan D. Hurwitz

Defensive Publications Series

Mobile device users often have multiple account credentials, e.g., personal accounts, corporate accounts, etc., stored on their devices. A given webpage, document, or URL may be configured with permission for access via one user account but not for other user accounts. This disclosure describes techniques that automatically use or recommend credentials stored on a device to gain access to protected content.

Achieving Network Safety By Continuously Limiting Authorization Rates, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

Changes in network parameters can generally be made only with authorization. However, an authorized person or workflow can quickly make large changes to the network and destabilize it. This disclosure describes techniques that account for the rate and magnitude of recent changes made by an authorized person or workflow. If preset limits to rates or magnitudes of changes are met or exceeded, authorization is declined for a certain period of time, thus ensuring continued network stability.

Xr Extensions, Anonymous Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A system for exposing a webXR API (application program interface) to a web developer for addition of new features is disclosed. The webXR API acts as an interface between an XR (extended reality) application and a webXR runtime. The webXR runtime is a software, which implements the webXR API. The webXR API is a layered API having a number of API layers. The webXR API is exposed to the web developer for adding a set of new webXR functions or modifying a behavior of a set of existing webXR functions. The web developer inserts new API layers for adding the …

Shell Multitasking, Anonymous Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A system for switching among 2D application views or showing multiple windows for different applications at a same time on android in a virtual reality environment is disclosed. The applications render into one or more surfaces using layers, wherein the surfaces are managed by an out-of-process compositor. The layers are means of defining rendering for each of the surfaces during a time warp, which can produce a higher quality and performance of a rendered output. The time warp is a technique that warps a rendered image before sending it to a display. The rendered image is warped in order to …

Alert The User On Unsecure Print, Hp Inc

Defensive Publications Series

Printers have become a regular household device. Printer owners or IT administrators do not see

them always as fully equipped network computers. Printers sitting in one corner of the office or

house and quietly going about the business of copying, printing, scanning & faxing might not seem

to pose any real security threat. But hackers increasingly find them very attractive for malicious

intents. So like any other networked device, if not properly managed, they can expose sensitive

campus or personal data to unauthorized access and misuse.

Anchoring, Anonymous Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A system for recovering information, which is lost in a first transformation from a three-dimensional (3D) environment to a two-dimensional (2D) environment is disclosed. The information needs to be recovered because a second transformation is to be carried out from the 2D environment back to the 3D environment. The system recovers the information using anchors, which hold anchor nodes, while the second transformation is being carried out. The system includes a 2D view hierarchy having views and a 3D node hierarchy having 3D entities (i.e. 3D nodes and the anchor nodes). The 2D view hierarchy is an inverted tree structure …

Utilizing Eye-Tracking To Develop Contextual Suggestions, Jeff Palm

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes techniques aimed at developing improved contextual suggestions for predictive text services (e.g., query suggestion, autosuggest, autocomplete) on computing devices utilizing a weighted, multi-item clipboard function. The techniques incorporate the utilization of machine-learned modules that cooperatively analyze user-attention to on-screen entities, such as images or text, and develop corresponding (weighted) contextual suggestions.

Poll-Optimized Adaptation Of Pci-Express, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

CPUs monitor the network interface by spin-loop polling or by the use of interrupts. Spin-loop polling delivers high performance but consumes significant amounts of power and generates heat. The use of interrupts is less power hungry but causes substantial latency.

This disclosure describes techniques that introduce, for certain CPU requests, a bounded (<10 μs or so) delay in the return of a completion packet from the peripheral device to the CPU. This reduces the energy spent by the CPU on read/compare/repeat loops and enables operations like direct memory access to get more bandwidth while retaining the high performance of spin-loop polling. The techniques leverage the multiple-outstanding-transactions and out-of-order completions features of the PCIe (or similar) buses to achieve zero or near-zero delay penalties while substantially mitigating the power and thermal consequences of spin-loop polling.

Emulating Wifi Networks For Latency-Sensitive Applications, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

Latency is an important performance parameter for online applications such as video conferencing, multiplayer video games, etc. The performance of such applications over WiFi networks, which sometimes gather packets in a queue until airtime becomes available, is of interest. This disclosure describes techniques to emulate WiFi transmission without actually adding WiFi networks to a hardware testbed such that the performance of latency-sensitive applications can be evaluated quickly in real time.

Answering User Queries Based On Aggregate Information, Ashish Duggal

Defensive Publications Series

People often consult others in their neighborhood for recommendations regarding specific household needs, such as appliances, furniture, kitchenware, etc. Many common household objects have the capability to connect to the Internet. However, there are no current mechanisms to obtain and present aggregate information about these items, e.g., for geographic neighborhoods. This disclosure describes techniques that use permitted information gathered from smart objects in households in a neighborhood to provide appropriate answers to user queries. The information is obtained with permission of the respective users that own the smart objects and can be incorporated within rule-based and/or machine learning based techniques …